Background
These posts addressed the widespread use of the name of a
pagan prostitute (Ishtar) when referring to the resurrection of Jesus
(so-called Easter). Let me say from the beginning, I believe in the
physical resurrection of Jesus, but I do not frame it in pagan
terminology and celebration. I have actually had friends cut me off because I
reject the paganizing of the Resurrection. While I know that the the
term “Easter” and the bunnies and eggs have a pagan origin and are
actually antagonistic to the message of the Empty Tomb, I do not turn against my brothers and sisters in Christ, who continue to use such defiling
imagery when they celebrate the Resurrection.
Stranger Than Fiction.
Maybe
a good name for a mystery novel would be, "What Ever
Happened to Resurrection?" Or a children's book, "How the
Fertility goddess Stole Resurrection." Or maybe a love story,
"Breakfast at Ishtar's," or maybe a drama, "An Egg is
Hatched," or a comedy, "A Bunny Thing Happened to Me On the
Way to the Empty Tomb."
Seriously, no one would wish
their mom, "Happy Ho Day" on the second Sunday of May. Yet
Christians say, "Happy Easter." The word "Easter"
is derived from the sex goddess, "Ishtar." Ishtar, part of
the Babylonian pantheon, was Satan's counterfeit of the virgin birth
and the resurrection story. The pagan and polluted Babylonians of old
dedicated one of their gates to Ishtar.
Why The Confusion?
Believers are united by the fact of the
resurrection, not by the acceptance of pagan nomenclature, and we
should not be separated from one another because pagan nomenclature
either. Maybe someone can show me why we should call the resurrection
of Jesus by the name of a pagan prostitute.
I've been wondering. Do any of my friends really believe the apostles Peter, Paul, James and John would have celebrated the resurrection of Christ by referring to the name of a fertility goddess and playing with fertility symbols, like eggs and rabbits? Will the Tribulation saints celebrate "Easter?" Will we hunt for eggs in honor of Christ during the Millennium?
I've been wondering. Do any of my friends really believe the apostles Peter, Paul, James and John would have celebrated the resurrection of Christ by referring to the name of a fertility goddess and playing with fertility symbols, like eggs and rabbits? Will the Tribulation saints celebrate "Easter?" Will we hunt for eggs in honor of Christ during the Millennium?
Another Problem.
Think about
this... When children are asked about "Easter," what do
they think about? Is their first thought Jesus hanging on the cross,
or dying for our salvation, or rising from the dead, or conquering
Satan?
I contend that most children think of Easter bunnies and eggs,
which have nothing to do with the greatest event in the history of
the universe. In fact, these trappings are diabolic attempts to
corrupt the message of the Empty Tomb.
Are people so attached
to pagan terminology and practices because their pastors never told
them the danger of such a position or is it because their pastors
don't really know the truth? I have watched for over 40 years, as
this "Easter" thing has actually cost people their souls, because they have been diverted from the message of the Empty Tomb.
Easter Is Not Resurrection.
Our words matter. If words don't mean
what they say, they don't mean anything at all. Pagans, secularists, atheists, cultists, world religionists, and even Larry Flynt understands that “Easter” has nothing to do with Christ. Too bad Christians don't understand.
Why do you reckon
people get upset when I speak against Easter Bunnies and Easter Eggs?
I mean, it is not like those things have anything to do with the
gospel.
Launch Out and Hold Fast,
Pastor David L. Gould
Launch Out and Hold Fast,
Pastor David L. Gould
