Since I was but a child I never understood how we celebrate Easter. Given I was born-again at a very early age, a few things never made sense to me. Such as... what does rabbits, Easter eggs and candy have to do with Jesus being brought back from the dead? And how do you get 3 days and nights into a time span we observe as "Good Friday" and Easter? At best, equipped with my primary mathematical training at the time I could still see the best you have between 3pm Friday and Sunday morning is but a day and a half! Later on in life while I was in the Marines and had taken an personal interest in reading the gospels I was confused concerning what was written concerning the two crucified with Jesus. It took an effort on my part to learn how God's Word interprets itself. I have no doubt in my mind God directed my steps to a wonderful ministry that teaches Biblical Research Principals that enables a student of the scriptures how to uncover the truths hidden by centuries of wrong dividing and political compromise. By allowing God's Word to speak for itself! Which is the purpose of this blog. To give uninitiated readers of this site perhaps a fresh approach to the scriptures. This post however will deal with some history of the paganization of the resurrection of Jesus.
There is an amazing amount of information concerning the history and practices of many fertility and sex gods/goddesses throughout the history of mankind. The earliest one being Ishtar and from which all others through time are framed. Here's a little background on this pagan goddess from Christian-Restoration.com.
"The 8th century British writer Bede, mentions that the name for Easter is derived from a pagan spring festival of the goddess Astara. The Easter bunny comes from the hare which was sacred to Astara, and the Easter egg is taken from the Ishtar egg, or seed of the serpent. In Spring each year Ishtar, the fertility goddess, was commemorated by decorating the Ishtar egg, a symbol of impregnation or fertility. Witches today refer to her as the spring goddess ‘Ostara’
‘Tammuz’ : In pagan practices he was a Sumerian shepherd who married the goddess Ishtar. When he died, fertility ceased on earth. Since he was a vegetation deity the women of Judah were weeping for him, probably in the spring, in order to restore fertility by bringing him back from the dead’
One author adds detail to this legend behind the feast of ‘Ishtar’..
"Way back in Genesis we read about the beginning of the counterfeit religious system that was born on the plains of Shinar in ancient Babylon, where Nimrod, defying God, built a tower that would reach to heaven. According to legend, Nimrod’s wife, Semiramis, a high priestess, had a son by the name of Tammuz, who was conceived miraculously. When Tammuz grew up, he was killed by a wild boar, but after forty days of his mother’s weeping, he was raised from the dead. It was in this story of Semiramis and Tammuz that the cultic worship of the “Mother and child” began to spread throughout the world. Forty days of lent memorialised the forty days of weeping over the death of Tammuz, and at the end of the forty days, the feast of Ishtar was observed to celebrate the resurrection of Tammuz.
The prophet Ezekiel was called by the Lord to go to the temple and see this cultic practise in process, and there Ezekiel watched the woman of Israel in their ritual weeping for ‘Tammuz’. The Lord rightly called the whole thing an abomination. (Ezekiel 8:13-14)
Gathering at dawn to worship as the sun rose above the horizon was another part of this pagan worship. We the church, have ‘christianised’ this by gathering at dawn on ‘Ishtar Sunday’ to worship Jesus.
Anything to do with Ishtar or her many aliases was and will always be an abomination to God. God’s views are always made clear and explicit...
Deuteronomy 12: 3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.
When, Where and how did all go wrong?"
Fair question. In short, a far as I can see, it falls at the feet of the "first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire," Constantine I. Before Constantine's conversion it was law in the Roman Empire to publicly execute Christians in the coliseums. Constantine The Great's conversion is said to have been credited to a vision he had before a battle. "This vision had assured him that he should conquer in the sign of the Christ, and his warriors carried Christ's monogram on their shields, though the majority of them were pagans. The opposing forces met near the bridge over the Tiber called the Milvian Bridge, and here Maxentius' troops suffered a complete defeat, the tyrant himself losing his life in the Tiber (28 October, 312). Of his gratitude to the God of the Christians the victor immediately gave convincing proof; the Christian worship was henceforth tolerated throughout the empire h (Edict of Milan, early in 313)." - NewAdvent.org Good for our ancient brethren but the foundation of the Roman Catholic Church was beginning to be laid. The acceptance of the Christian faith into mainstream Roman culture produced no small stir. An early attempt to unify the Pagans and the Christians was made at the Council of Nicea in 325, where about 300 bishops condemned the "Arian Heresy" which elevated Jesus to godhood. Which... under political pressure to compromise and unify was accepted later in the Council of Constantinople in 381 which is also referred as "The Nicene Creed." With this compromise came the pagan observations, ceremonies and practices we see today in Christianity concerning Easter and Christmas. (And the names of our months and days. ex. January, from Janus (Roman mythology) the Roman god of doorways and entrances; is depicted with two faces on opposite sides of his head) And... contrary to what the Roman Catholic Churches doctrine states... was the establishment of this religion. This Christian/Pagan mix of man's doing. By twisting of the Truth by way of political pressures and the threat of death the god of this world through his sincere people successfully turned the gospel of the good news of God's reconciling men back to Himself into a tool of controlling the masses that lasted for more than a millenium.
With this compromise comes the Easter rabbit, Easter eggs, egg hunts... Christmas wreathes (representing a vagina,) yule logs (fire logs large enough no one has to be disturbed during the ongoing orgy to tend the fire,)... steeples (a phallic symbol)... and more!... into Christianity. If this is all new to you and it disturbs you... well... it should! Don't be hard on yourself. You've been taught wrong doctrine which has been passed down for hundreds of years and thousands of generations. The great news is... YOU can learn how to rightly divide the Word of God so that you may get past religion and lay hold of Truth! Study the "Biblical Research Principles" page and apply it when you read The Holy Bible. If you're interested in accelerating your spiritual understanding drop me an email and I'll do what I can to direct you to someone that can offer you an environment designed for genuine spiritual growth. And you are invited to follow on Facebook or Twitter!
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