PASTOR'S
PEN
“What's In A Name?”
Where
did the word “Easter” come from? It is not of biblical origin, yet it is
the name the Church has assigned to the single day of the year, most believers would agree,
stands alone in importance to the Christian faith. It might surprise you to learn that the word “easter” has come down to us
through many traditions, none of them Christian.
Ishtar and Astarte were Babylonian goddesses who were worshiped in a fertility cult which dates back to the days of the ancient Chaldeans – even before the time of Abraham. The great Babylonian empire spread this cult and its practices throughout their world, including Jerusalem, which it conquered in BC 586. The influence of this cult wormed its way into the hearts and minds of God’s chosen people, some of whom began to offer sacrifices to the “Queen of Heaven”, as Astarte had become known. God spoke through His prophet to condemn the idolatry of the people of Judah, singling out the rites attached to the worship of the pagan goddess:
The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.
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Jeremiah 7:18 NIV
The fertility cult of Astarte survived the demise of the Babylonian empire, spreading into what is now central Europe, where the Festival of “Eostre” – as she came to be known in the Teutonic tongues – was celebrated with the coming of Spring each year. The fertility rites included baby chicks, bunnies and yes, brightly-coloured eggs. Hmmmm…….
The original Christian celebration of our Lord’s resurrection was never called “Eostre” or “Oster” (old German) or “Easter” (the eventual Anglo-Saxon derivation). That would have been unthinkable! From the earliest days of the Church, the celebration of Christ’s victory over the grave was called
Pasch, a term borrowed from the Hebrew word “Peshach”, rendered in English as “Passover”. In modern Greek that word has evolved into Pascha, the name still given by Eastern Orthodox Christians to the most important day in the Christian Calendar. It is unclear how or exactly when the Church appropriated a form of “Easter” for its celebration of our Lord’s resurrection, but the term appears tohave been a part of the Christian lexicon by the time of the earliest Reformers. I’m not sure that’s a good enough reason to keep it around.No need to “get all religious” about this, but I have decided to distance myself from the word “easter” in the context of the Church, since what Christians celebrate on the first Sunday after the full moon (the
pascha moon) after the vernal equinox is NOT the power of the pagan goddess Oster to make women and farm fields fertile, but the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth – the Christ, the son of the living God – who died on Calvary’s cross as God’s perfect paschal Lamb and then rose from the dead, conquering sin and death and hell. His death and resurrection ensured the eternal salvation of all who, by faith, would receive Him as Saviour and Lord. That really is something to celebrate!Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Happy Resurrection Day!