Is Celebrating Easter Pagan?
- Thread starter Romans922
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N. Eshelman
Puritan Board Senior
Is it already that time? Last Lord's Day when I got home from church (remember I am a pastor) I looked at my wife and said, "Was today Easter?"
J. Dean
Puritan Board Junior
Oy vei....
---------- Post added at 06:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:12 AM ----------
While I understand the point, I think we need to differentiate between celebrating Christ's resurrection and incidentally calling it "Easter" vs. somebody who believes Easter is nothing more than bunnies that lay eggs and put us into sugar-induced comas with excessive chocolate.
When a fellow believer says "Happy Easter," I'm generally kind enough, judicious enough, and reasonable enough to understand that they're not exalting a bunny over Jesus Christ. Making a mountain out of a molehill doesn't generally contribute to Christian love and unity
---------- Post added at 06:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:12 AM ----------
While I understand the point, I think we need to differentiate between celebrating Christ's resurrection and incidentally calling it "Easter" vs. somebody who believes Easter is nothing more than bunnies that lay eggs and put us into sugar-induced comas with excessive chocolate.
When a fellow believer says "Happy Easter," I'm generally kind enough, judicious enough, and reasonable enough to understand that they're not exalting a bunny over Jesus Christ. Making a mountain out of a molehill doesn't generally contribute to Christian love and unity
The early church celebrated a Sunday close to passover as a day of particular celebration and remembrance of Jesus' resurrection. I don't have a problem with that. Now the goddess and her bunnies and eggs, that's a different matter completely and certainly isn't tolerated in our house.
Unoriginalname
Puritan Board Junior
Well if your church gave out reeds on Palm Sunday and coordinated a large pageant for Easter you wouldn't have forgotten.
That is how I always remembered when I was a wee lad. BTW this was not in a reformed church.FenderPriest
Puritan Board Junior
to the pure, all things are pure...
jwright82
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
I get the whole not celebrating holidays view. What I don't get is making it binding on all christians. That is to say that it is wrong to celebrate easter. My daughter will be getting an easter egg basket with candy. My church puts on the largest easter egg hunt in town, again nothing wrong with that In my humble opinion.
I understand that our confession forbids requiring people to celebrate holidays but doesn't that imply that they can't celebrate them on their own?
I understand that our confession forbids requiring people to celebrate holidays but doesn't that imply that they can't celebrate them on their own?
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J. Dean
Puritan Board Junior
Tend to agree.
Tripel
Puritan Board Senior
Same here. I'll be celebrating, and my conscience is clear on the matter.
With our "holy days" we have a mixture of "holy day" and "holiday" stuff. If we are talking religiously observing them as if they had some significance, even if privately, that is superstition and will worship. On the other, generally I'm thinking no. Certainly, no, if we are talking about the Lord's day; egg hunts on it, etc. In general, I've concluded it is just these "cultural" observances that were the opening that let the camel's nose in the Presbyterian tent. In any event, for either, even if personally indifferent, I see other scriptural rules or reasons to refrain. See at various threads my contention of the biblical rule for gross idolatry (here for instance: )
http://www.puritanboard.com/f67/sign-cross-71095/#post910124
http://www.puritanboard.com/f67/what-do-monuments-past-idolatry-church-64808/
http://www.puritanboard.com/f67/annual-presbyterians-do-not-celebrate-lent-thread-72880/
http://www.puritanboard.com/f67/kneeling-permitted-worship-71723/index2.html#post920037
http://www.puritanboard.com/f67/sign-cross-71095/#post910124
http://www.puritanboard.com/f67/what-do-monuments-past-idolatry-church-64808/
http://www.puritanboard.com/f67/annual-presbyterians-do-not-celebrate-lent-thread-72880/
http://www.puritanboard.com/f67/kneeling-permitted-worship-71723/index2.html#post920037
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Scottish Lass
Puritan Board Doctor
Doing a basket at home is celebrating on your own, but how does your church putting on an Easter egg hunt qualify as "on their own"?
jwright82
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
Thanks for the threads. I can see the point that because something was used for gross idolatry in the past we should refrain from its use now. But I think that proves too much. For one the quotes and bible verses all, it seemed to me, to be dealing with things that were presently religous formaly speaking. Since an easter egg hunt on the saturday before easter sunday (which is when my church is doing the easter egg hunt just to clear that up) is not formally speaking religous, so I don't see how they apply? Bondfires have always been used by pagan religions for their worship, should we refrain from lighting one and sitting around with our friends and family? I think we can all agree that that it is absurd.
This seems a little like fencing the law to me. If you don't ever drink any wine or beer than you cannot ever be tempted to get drunk but presbyterians don't agree with that, not all but most at least. I mean that logic can be applied to almost anything. Again if you don't want to observe it than that is just fine but saying that it is unlawful for any christian to do so just doesn't add up.
Tripel
Puritan Board Senior
I don't see how a church Easter egg hunt is any different than a church picnic on the 4th of July.
Romans922
Puritan Board Professor
Isa 58:13-14: "If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
jwright82
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
Its on the saturday before easter so it is not on the sabbath. But I think the same logic applies. Since an easter egg hunt is not formally speaking religous than it is no different In my humble opinion than anyother kind of community outreach that a church does.
---------- Post added at 12:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:21 PM ----------
The easter egg hunt is on the saturday before easter.
Going to hijack your own thread eh?
Romans922
Puritan Board Professor
I don't think it proves too much An easter egg hunt is specifically associated with the holiday/holy day of Easter. We are not talking about generalities; drinking, campfires, etc. And it is not like this has not already happened; the non religious-fun-cultural practice of the "xmas party" brought into the Sunday School movement and elsewhere, led to the relaxing of views and the eventual appropriating of some of the Roman calendar amongst the liberalizing PCUSA at the beginning of the 20th century.
Constantlyreforming
Puritan Board Sophomore
What about a church that fills the eggs with scripture verses for the children?
Any scholar of Church history could point out that easter goes much further back in Church history than the anglo-saxons. Further, if it's an anglo-saxon feast, why do the Eastern Churches (all branches, including Copts and Syro-Malabar) celebrate it?
Easter is, in fact, the oldest of Christian feast days but it is only called "Easter" in English.
I don't begrudge Ash Wednesday and Lent for Lutherans. I have no problem with those practices so long as they do not interfere with ordinary Lord's Day worship and are not made binding on the conscience of the believer. Now, if Lutherans are binding consciences with this, then naturally I object.
jwright82
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
Analogous or not they are two different things.
How are they associated with a holy day in the pagan sense? Also I am free to participate in any holy day, in the christian sense, I wish. We are not talking about crosses here but eggs filled with candy. To say that they used to be pagan and so they are automoaticaly bad is the genetic fallacy. Just because we have borrowed practices that used to be associated with pagan traditions doesn't make them the same thing. Just because two things have one thing in common doesn't mean they have all things in common.
I merely applied the logic that was used to reach the same conclusion and derived that campfires should also be refrained from. Unless you can show that there is in fact a substantial difference between the two than your distinction seems to me purely abritrary.
I can't argue with that but just because that happened to them doesn't mean it will happen to everyone. Not to get off topic but you quote Gillespi a lot, which one of his works would you recomend to someone who has never read him before?
Jack K
Puritan Board Doctor
In that case, are we redeeming eggs or degrading Scripture?
I don't mean to automatically condemn the practice, but I think that's the first question to ask.
James,
Read the sections in Gillespie's English Popish Ceremonies, that I reference in those threads. He more than qualifies the argument to meet your objections. If you read the threads, you also know of my offer.
Read the sections in Gillespie's English Popish Ceremonies, that I reference in those threads. He more than qualifies the argument to meet your objections. If you read the threads, you also know of my offer.
Tripel
Puritan Board Senior
I agree, Jack.
The idea of scripture-filled Easter eggs makes me a little uncomfortable. Similar to scripture-filled fortune cookies, and "A breadcrumb & Fish" t-shirts. But maybe that's me.
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