What religion is Easter associated with?

[LittleBlessings]

What religion is Easter associated with?

[MyLittleWonders]

Christianity.

[jimblejamble]

Christianity, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[Ann-Marita]

Associated with Christianity. And based on ancient earth-centered religions' (Pagan) spring fertility celebrations, hence the eggs, rabbits, etc.

(And there are entire Christian sects who do not celebrate Easter. My father was a member of one.)

But you asked a simple question, so the simple answer is "Christianity".

[karika]

the festival of the fertility goddess, oester is the origin of what is today known as easter. the fertility angle is hence the eggs and bunnies.... it really has nothing to do with christianity. i cant do the link searhes right now, too pressed for time. but the roman catholic church decided to make christmas (festival of lights) and easter a holiday to do wiht their traditions and since the pagans were already celebrating at these times of the year, they just slowly replaced or substituted parts until people forgot it was a pagan tradition. when i was a 'born again christian' for a year, our church did not do anything special on this day, as it is not called for in scripture at all. all jesus said was to remember him on the first day of the week, with the taking of unleavened bread as the symbol of his body and wine as symbol of his blood, on sunday, which is the first day of the week, since saturday is the sabbath and last day of the week always talked of in the bible. most people follow all these traditions blindly and do not stop to examine them. glad you are. oh and now I am of a different mind now. i would call myself spiritual, but in no way religious. i see the truth of 'religion' and the manipulation tactics used are the same as found everywhere else in mainstream society, based on fi ction. god does not care if you worship him, or live any certain way. we are all members of him and jesus is our brother, not to be held in any special regard except to try to realize why he was able to remember who he was while in physicality while we are all under the veil of forgetfullness. we are all members of the body. there is no punishment or hell... ok i am way off track now. i
easter is a pagan holiday which was adapted on a certain date to persuade pagans to celebrate it as a 'religious' holiday.

every day is a holiday, and every day is the same and special. now is all there is. there is only the eternal moment.

[TzippityDoulah]

the quick answer would be "modern pop-Christianity"

the long answer would be paganism. mixed through time with the passover and celebration/remembrance of what Christ did for us on the cross.

it has transformed into a multi-layered quasi-religious holiday. Just as many christian celebrate the Resurrection as non-Christians celebrate the Easter Bunny.

[Watershippy]

Kind of like Christmas, Easter is celebrated both as a secular holiday and as a religious one. And like Karika said, the name was taken from the Pagan holiday, and now the whole thing is a little confused in the general public. But practicing Pagans observe the festival of Oester and Christians observe Eastertide in different ways, since they are actually different festivals.

For Christians, Easter is actually the most important holiday of the year. It is a season, 50 days long from Easter Sunday to Pentecost . For Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians, the Easter Vigil, which is the Saturday night before Easter Sunday, is the longest and most important Mass of the year. Some of us will be spending this week fasting and going to lots of extra services in preparation for the Vigil (this week is called Holy Week, and there are special services for Sunday, Weds, Thurs, Friday, and Sat morning before the Sat night Vigil). Not to mention the 5 weeks of Lent before that (also meant partially to prepare us for Easter).

People think since Christmas has become such a big, money-making day that it is the most important Christian holiday, but Easter is actually our big day.

[Bluegoat]

I would say the modern celebration of Easter is a Christian celebration, where we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and all that it means to us as individuals and as a church. It always follows Holy Week and Lent, which put it in the proper context.

I think it is clear why the church would want to celebrate this event, as it is one of the most important parts of Christian belief. Some people wonder why it includes elements of pagan festivals that preceded it, and why celebrate events at certain times at all. Shouldn't we mourn the Crucifixion and celebrate the Resurrection at all times?

The answer to the first question is that the festivals in Spring typically relate to the rebirth of life. Most people (in places where it is seasonal) feel this rebirth as the winter ends, and it is a powerful feeling and connection with life and the Earth. The Church recognized that and wanted to harness it. They believed that the world and creation reflect God's nature, and seasonal rebirth also reflects God's nature, so it made sense to put those things together. It also made it easy for people who celebrated the pagan holidays to incorporate into their lives and accept. It was a way of taking a concept people already understood and loved and linking it to a new concept. So an egg can be a symbol of new life for a pagan or a Christian, as both share the human experience of seeing new life come from eggs. Some Christians (not all0 think that such pagan festivals were a a way God prepared people for the Christian message before Christ, though that might just be another way of saying they reflect God's creation.

The question of why have these special festivals at all relates mostly to our limitations as humans. We are creatures that live a day to day life, and we can only do a few things at a given time. The church wanted to make sure people had time to reflect on and live all the aspects of what they were teaching. It is difficult, though, for us to fast and feast at the same time, though Christ did both of these things. We can't read the whole Bible every day, and we can't learn everything about Christianity in one day. So, partly based on the Jewish practice, they developed a way of spreading the teachings over the course of a year. Readings for every day, lessons for each day. As the Bible was read over the year, we celebrate or fast or think about mission work or whatever is appropriate to that days message. In this way, despite our limitations, we can in some sense relive the story of the Bible, and manage to keep it all in mind.

[mamabadger]

Originally Posted by karika

the festival of the fertility goddess, oester is the origin of what is today known as easter. the fertility angle is hence the eggs and bunnies.... it really has nothing to do with christianity.

The name of the goddess Oestre is the source of the English word Easter. Her festival was held in in the month named after her, which would roughly coincide with April.

However, Oestre was worshipped in parts of western Europe. Christians in the east were celebrating the Resurrection before Christianity reached that far west, and they celebrated at that particular time of year because of the connection of the Resurrection with the feast of Passover. It was known as the Christian Passover, and in most languages "Easter" is still called by some word deriving from Passover (in French, Paques; in Russian and other Slavic languages, Paska or Pascha; in Greek, Pasxa; and so forth). Only in English is it called Easter, because of the association with the time of year - "Oestre month." Yes, the candy bunnies did come up because the rabbit represented Oestre. Eggs, however, have been a part of the Passover feast since long before Christianity. Unless you want to claim that the Jewish Passover also derived from the cult of Oestre.

I realize there are different idea about Christian celebration of feast days, and their appropriateness, but to claim that the Paschal celebration "has nothing to do with Christianity" is stretching the truth, to say the least.

[moonshoes]

Originally Posted by Bluegoat

I would say the modern celebration of Easter is a Christian celebration, where we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and all that it means to us as individuals and as a church. It always follows Holy Week and Lent, which put it in the proper context.

I think it is clear why the church would want to celebrate this event, as it is one of the most important parts of Christian belief. Some people wonder why it includes elements of pagan festivals that preceded it, and why celebrate events at certain times at all. Shouldn't we mourn the Crucifixion and celebrate the Resurrection at all times?

The answer to the first question is that the festivals in Spring typically relate to the rebirth of life. Most people (in places where it is seasonal) feel this rebirth as the winter ends, and it is a powerful feeling and connection with life and the Earth. The Church recognized that and wanted to harness it. They believed that the world and creation reflect God's nature, and seasonal rebirth also reflects God's nature, so it made sense to put those things together. It also made it easy for people who celebrated the pagan holidays to incorporate into their lives and accept. It was a way of taking a concept people already understood and loved and linking it to a new concept. So an egg can be a symbol of new life for a pagan or a Christian, as both share the human experience of seeing new life come from eggs. Some Christians (not all0 think that such pagan festivals were a a way God prepared people for the Christian message before Christ, though that might just be another way of saying they reflect God's creation.

The question of why have these special festivals at all relates mostly to our limitations as humans. We are creatures that live a day to day life, and we can only do a few things at a given time. The church wanted to make sure people had time to reflect on and live all the aspects of what they were teaching. It is difficult, though, for us to fast and feast at the same time, though Christ did both of these things. We can't read the whole Bible every day, and we can't learn everything about Christianity in one day. So, partly based on the Jewish practice, they developed a way of spreading the teachings over the course of a year. Readings for every day, lessons for each day. As the Bible was read over the year, we celebrate or fast or think about mission work or whatever is appropriate to that days message. In this way, despite our limitations, we can in some sense relive the story of the Bible, and manage to keep it all in mind.

Beautifully said. Thank you.

[soccermama]

It's definitely a Christianity celebration.

[lilyka]

we don't call it Easter and I am not entirely sure why or when the western church stared doing this. We still call it Pascha and we still celebrate it the same time we always have - the week after passover. Jesus ate the passover meal and was resurrected the next Sunday. easy peasy.

the placement of our resurrection celebrations are not random and not just co-opted from other religions (granted anytime a cultural celebrates anything they are going to party in ways that are meaningful to them, this isn't necessarily a religious matter). it is at a certain time for a certain reason. the entire Christian liturgical year rotates around this one event. of course most protestants have ditched the liturgical calendar and can't see this because they have no sense or history with liturgical flow. it is easy for resurrection celebrations (whatever you choose to call them) to seem random and somehow tied in with spring when really they were traditionally tied in with passover (for obvious reasons) which happens to be in the spring for reasons all its own. the whole new birth new life thing is easy to tie in but really has nothing to do with the when and where of it all, just makes for a nice easter sermon.

Easter/Pascha baskets - in some Orthodox churches they bring baskets of food to the church full of treats they have been fasting from during Lent. after the food has been blessed they use it to break the fast. its really as simple as that.

[mommyto3girls]

For a great overview of different origins and celebrations surrounding Spring Equinox/Easter/Passover check out this link
http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter.htm

Pagan Origins of Easter
http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter1.htm

Christian Origins of Easter
http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter2.htm

[mommyto3girls]

Originally Posted by lilyka

we don't call it Easter and I am not entirely sure why or when the western church stared doing this. We still call it Pascha and we still celebrate it the same time we always have - the week after passover. Jesus ate the passover meal and was resurrected the next Sunday. easy peasy.

the placement of our resurrection celebrations are not random and not just co-opted from other religions (granted anytime a cultural celebrates anything they are going to party in ways that are meaningful to them, this isn't necessarily a religious matter). it is at a certain time for a certain reason. the entire Christian liturgical year rotates around this one event. of course most protestants have ditched the liturgical calendar and can't see this because they have no sense or history with liturgical flow. it is easy for resurrection celebrations (whatever you choose to call them) to seem random and somehow tied in with spring when really they were traditionally tied in with passover (for obvious reasons) which happens to be in the spring for reasons all its own. the whole new birth new life thing is easy to tie in but really has nothing to do with the when and where of it all, just makes for a nice easter sermon.

Easter/Pascha baskets - in some Orthodox churches they bring baskets of food to the church full of treats they have been fasting from during Lent. after the food has been blessed they use it to break the fast. its really as simple as that.

What about the usage of The Spring Equinox and Full Moon to determine the dates of Passover and Easter?

Passover was the most important feast of the Jewish calendar, celebrated at the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox.

The equinox occurs each year on March 20, 21 or 22. Both Neopagans and Christians continue to celebrate religious rituals linked to the equinox. Wiccans and other Neopagans usually hold their celebrations on the day or eve of the equinox. Western Christians celebrate Easter on the Sunday on or after the full moon that follows the nominal date of the Equinox -- MAR-21. The Eastern Orthodox churches follow a different calculation; their Easter celebration is often many weeks after the date selected by the Western churches.

[mommyto3girls]

interesting information

Spring celebrations by various faiths - ancient and modern, covers over 15 different faiths/beliefs systems

http://www.religioustolerance.org/spequi2.htm

[mamabadger]

Originally Posted by mommyto3girls

JUDAISM: "In its origin, the Passover dinner itself was a spring fertility festival–the unleavened bread coming from the agricultural past of the people and the paschal lamb from its more distant pastoral years." (skip) It evolved into a celebration of the story of God's liberation of the ancient Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. (Bolding mine.)

This is stated as historical fact, but it is actually an interpretation, and one which basically says that Judaism (and Christianity) is mistaken about the meaning of its own central feast day. I mention this just in case you did not intend to be disparaging.

[mommyto3girls]

Originally Posted by mamabadger

This is stated as historical fact, but it is actually an interpretation, and one which basically says that Judaism (and Christianity) is mistaken about the meaning of its own central feast day. I mention this just in case you did not intend to be disparaging.

I simply copied and pasted information from religious tolerance.org Do you really think I looked up and made my own comments all of those belief systems?

[mamabadger]

Originally Posted by mommyto3girls

I simply copied and pasted information from religious tolerance.org Do you really think I looked up and made my own comments all of those belief systems?

In that case, it is the people at "religioustolerance" who are being disparaging. Sorry I accused you.