The Origin of Easter

Today many members of traditional Christian churches will be observing Easter. Easter is intended by those who keep it to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Millions have decorated Easter eggs, and many parents have hidden those eggs for their children to find. Easter eggs are part of the customs of Easter, as is the symbol of the Easter Bunny.

Why eggs and rabbits?

Eggs and rabbits are fertility symbols in some pagan religions. They have nothing to do with Jesus Christ or Christianity. If you study the origins of Easter, you find that it did not start with Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles. It was not a part of the traditions of the original first century Church. The original Church observed Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, the Day of Trumpets, Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day, all festivals and holy days commanded by God (Leviticus 23:1-44), not Easter or Christmas. Easter, Christmas, and similar days came later, after the majority of those who called themselves Christian had left the original faith. The true Church, which has always been small (Luke 12:32, Matthew 7:13-14), never kept Chrismas or Easter. They obeyed God's instructions not to borrow customs from pagan religions or use those customs to worship God (Deuteronomy 12:32).

But as the majority of those claiming to be Christian moved more and more distant from the original doctrines and customs of the true Church after about 90 A.D., they began to adopt the symbols and practices of the pagan religions and cultures that were popular in the world at that time. They reasoned that it would be easier to get new members into the church if pagans were allowed to keep their pagan customs. So the church adapted pagan customs into their church by using them to celebrate events in the life of Christ or the church, thus Christmas and Easter. They kept the customs, but changed the meaning, contrary to God's command in Deuteronomy 12:29-32.

And just as the majority church disobeyed God in the matter of using pagan customs to worship God, they changed the doctrines of the church more and more, until the mainstream church had little in common with the original Christianity of the first century.

Today, the truth of God, His doctrines, and His commands are preserved, not in the teachings and the traditions of the large, mainstream, traditional churches, but in the Bible. That is why, if you read the Bible and believe what it says at face value, you will find many things that don't make sense if you try to fit them into the traditional teachings of mainstream Christianity. The Bible doesn't fit with traditional church doctrine because traditional church doctrine does not come from the Bible, or from God, or from Christ, or from the original first-century Church. You can prove that yourself if you are willing to examine these matters with an open mind and believe what God says in the Bible.

I explain why the keeping of traditional religious days like Christmas and Easter is wrong in my website. Here is a link:

http://www.truegospelandezekielwarning.org/chapter2.htm#a11

Here is a link to a section that explains the New Testament meaning of the annual Holy Days of God:

http://www.truegospelandezekielwarning.org/chapter2.htm#a03

Here is a link to chapter three which shows proof in the Bible that the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual holy days and festivals given by God in the Old Testament should kept by the Church today:

http://www.truegospelandezekielwarning.org/chapter3.htm