The other day I was given a printout titled, "Why do Christians Celebrate Easter?" by a woman who I admire as she has dedicated much of her life and work to saving babies. She is Protestant and I am Catholic (in case you didn't catch that tidbit about me yet ;-) So why even bring up our different religious beliefs...well, because I am learning a difficult lesson that is worth sharing as it might help others navigate their efforts in ecumenicalism.
The printout explored why we celebrate Easter when we do. In it's exploration it talked about how people used to worship the pagan god, Ishtar as well as other gods and stated that Easter is, in fact, derived from these pagan practices. There were quite a few lines that seemed to make sense at first glance as far as where certain Easter traditions may have evolved from. There was also a main, albeit heartbreaking, hypothesis woven through this piece; dare I say that it was the actual objective to this article? What was the proposition ....that the Catholic Church is responsible for bringing in and propagating these pagan worshipping traditions. Here's a few of the most telling lines in the article:
"By now the readers of this tract should have made the connection that paganism has infiltrated the contemporary 'Christian' churches, and further study indicates that this paganism came in by way of the Roman Catholic System.
and
"The truth is that the forty days of Lent, eggs, rabbits, hot cross buns and the Easter ham have everything to do with the ancients pagan religion of Mystery Babylon. These are antichrist activities!"
and
"Worshippers were to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz, and make the sign of 'T' in front of their hearts as they worshipped."
and, my personal favorite, the line that enraged and hurt me most bitterly as I realized that the undeniable, chosen by God Himself, Mother of Our Lord and Savior, is being mocked, insulted, and placed in such blatant low standing in some protestant circles as to suggest Mary is not only unworthy of devotion, but actually part of and head of an outrageous web of deceit and lies meant to bring worship to the devil. This line also gave birth to the title of this post as I age myself back to a childhood of 'yo mamma' jokes:
"Ishtar, who was now worshipped as the 'Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, continued to build her mystery religion."
I repeat, OH NO YOU DIDN'T.
Hmmmm, what mystery religion could you be referring to?
Which brings me to speak of the difficult lesson that I am learning which is that many protestants think of Catholicism as a non christian religion, and worse, a heretical, idol worshipping, blaspheming, antichrist driven one. You see, I, as a Catholic, apparently insult many of you with my sign of the cross (which is odd as you too, my brethren, believe in the Holy Trinity), I offend you with my Rosary (which is equally strange because those prayers and meditations are taken directly from scripture), and my intercessory prayers make you squirm as you falsely think that I am worshipping and praying to dead people......the list of my Catholic identity-driven behaviors and practices add insult and offense to you. You are insulted by these things that are essential in helping me grow in my faith and helps in my practice of it, but can you not see the error of your ways? Where is this hatred for Catholicism coming from? I am hoping you are not aware of it's true origin because if you are, it increases your culpability in breaking commandment #8.
Jesus is not smiling...and God will not be mocked.
Make no mistake: God is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows,
because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit.f
Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up.g
How can such disunity among Christians be pleasing to him? I need only to think of the promise that someday we will all be united again and that the Catholic church must be a 'sign of contradiction' even in regards to other christian faith communities to put my personal, hurt feelings aside. The big picture of salvation history is truly awesome and I marvel at how God's plan for His church unfolds before us. I look forward to that day when we Christians are all joined together again and am beyond excited for people to come to know some of the fullness of Catholicism and embark on their journeys into exploring the depths, mysteries, and beauties it holds.
I've always harped on, and still believe, that our protestant brothers and sisters have many strong points that we Catholics could really benefit from by mimicking them in those traits. Protestants are great community builders offering amazing support systems. They often have entertaining services, not to mention some pretty hip pastors. And, at least in these parts, have a large young member population which offers a whole slew of enticing attributes- everything from music choice, church social events, community dinners, special small groups that help forge friendships while speaking about God, common interests, mom groups, book groups, playgroups, preschools and even daycare. I credit them and they inspire me in these ways. It would be nice and most welcome, but more than that, extremely POWERFUL if, at the very least, Catholicism was truly respected in thought, word, and action. Do you realize the power (directed in giving glory to God) we will have when we unite?
My response to the printout:
I read the printout you gave me and just wanted to offer a response. I love that you’re passionate about truth- so am I! I have done a bit of research and can see where the author got the idea that Easter and it’s traditions are derived from Ishtar and other pagan gods. While I can understand his or her confusion and subsequent anger and frustration on the topic, I feel they’re not looking at the big picture of salvation history nor are they paying attention to some of the important details! First off, they directly say that the Roman Catholic Church brought this paganism...I wish I could say I’m surprised at the the anti-Catholic rhetoric that was inundated in that piece, but sadly I am not in the slightest. Debunking misconceptions about the Catholic church can quickly turn into a full time job as there are hundreds of them, and sadly, millions that believe them.
“There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”
- Fulton J. Sheen
I’d like to think that you didn’t give me this article that directly attacks and insults my faith to suggest to me that my Catholic faith is actually full of anti-christ driven delusions, but rather that you gave it to me to have me question why we celebrate Easter when we do- and for that, I thank you.
I don’t mean any disrespect in responding to this piece that you shared with me, but it is my duty to defend the Catholic faith, especially when falsehoods are directly attributed to our most holy Catholic Church. As a devout Catholic, I am learning that beneath the amicable facade that most protestants exhibit towards Catholics, there is actually much more hostility than I even thought right beneath the surface. The content in this article is especially deceiving because it has some truths mixed with falsehoods. The line about Ishtar being worshipped as the “Mother of God and Queen of Heaven” continuing to build her ‘mystery religion’ is NOT subtle, but despicable, disrespectful to your brethren, and downright heartbreaking to me. That aside, I don’t disagree that Easter has nothing to do with bunnies and eggs, but I do strongly disagree that we, as united brothers and sisters in Christ, should not be celebrating the day of Our Lord and Savior’s resurrection. To be honest, even if we do celebrate Easter on the day that was once set aside for worshipping a pagan God, who cares?! We might actually want to consider it a ‘job well done’ in dethroning that pagan god and replacing it with a day of praise, worship, and celebration of the rightful King, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The devil must've been fuming when Christians ‘took’ one of the days when people would worship him most, in this case, as he took on the guise of the pagan goddess Ishtar, and now, instead worship the true God, Jesus Christ. The fact is, even if the origins of celebrating mass at sunrise were that of pagan worship of the 'Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and Spring and the annual sacrifices associated with her'- it isn’t any longer! Praise God! We Christians have a universal day to celebrate the greatest, most awesome, event ever! Heaven rejoices with us every Easter.
Here are a few excerpts and links in case you feel called to look into it further. Again, I love and respect you as my sister in Christ. Thank you for the dialogue.
In Christ, -Lisa
*Is Easter Pagan?
by Jimmy Akin 04/04/2012
by Jimmy Akin 04/04/2012
You often hear that Easter is "a pagan holiday." This claim is made, variously, by some Christian Fundamentalists (who want to do away with or re-brand Easter), by some atheists (who want to undermine Christianity), and by some neo-pagans (who want to undermine Christianity and claim Easter for their own).
People advancing this argument will argue that rabbits, eggs, and other symbols associated with Easter are fertility symbols--and we all know that fertility symbols are a dead giveaway for paganism, right?
They'll also say that the very name "Easter" is itself a giveaway--that it's derived from the Mesopotamian goddess "Ishtar." (Hear how her name even sounds like "Easter"?)
Or else they'll say that it's derived from an Anglo-Saxon goddess named "Eostre." And when they say th, they even have a saint and scholar--who just happens to be a doctor of the Church!--on their side. (It's the Venerable Bede.)
But there's more to this story than they suppose.
In fact, it turns out, only a person whose native language is English, or perhaps German, would even advance this kind of argument. If your horizons are a bit broader, the true origin of Easter is devastatingly obvious.
In this video, I go into the whys and wherefores of it all.
If you think the video is helpful, please share it with friends--especially those who have heard or who themselves make the "Easter is pagan" claim.
*Truth about Lent
and
*Was Easter Originally A Pagan Holiday?- Father William Saunders
Recently a Moslem co-worker made the comment that Easter was originally a pagan holiday. Where would he get such a notion?—A reader in Alexandria
I think your Moslem co-worker is confused to say the least. In accord with the gospels, Easter is unequivocally the solemn feast celebrating the resurrection of Christ. In the Western tradition of the Church, Easter has been celebrated on the first Sunday following the new full moon which occurs on or immediately after the vernal or Spring equinox. This dating was established by the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. As such, the dates for Easter may range from March 22 to April 25. (The Orthodox Churches follow a different dating system and will thereby celebrate Easter one, four, or five weeks later).
The confusion in the mind of the co-worker lies in the etymology of the word itself. In the original language of the gospels, the Greek word <pascha> is used for the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word <pesach>, which means Passover. During the first three centuries of the Church, <Pasch> referred specifically to the celebration of Christ's passion and death; by the end of the fourth century, it also included the Easter Vigil; and by the end of the fifth century, it referred to Easter itself. In all, the term signified Christ as the new Passover Lamb. Together, the mystery of the Last Supper, the sacrifice of Good Friday and the resurrection of Easter form the new Passover - the new Pasch.
Latin used the Greek-Hebrew root for its word <Pascha> and other derivatives to signify Easter or the Easter mysteries: for instance, the Easter Vigil in Latin is <Sabbato Sancto de Vigilia Paschali> and in the First Preface of Easter, the priest prays, <"...Cum Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus"> ("When Christ our Pasch was sacrificed"). The Romance languages later used the Hebrew-Greek-Latin root for their words denoting Easter: Italian, <Pasqua>; Spanish, <Pascua> and French, <Paques>. Even some non-Romance languages employ the Hebrew-Greek-Latin root: Scotch, <Pask>; Dutch, <Paschen>; Swedish, <Pask> and the German dialect along the lower Rhine, <Paisken>.
However, according to St. Bede (d. 735), the great historian of the Middle Ages, the title Easter seems to originate in English around the eighth century A.D. The word Easter is derived from the word <Eoster>, the name of the Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and Spring, and the annual sacrifices associated with her. If this is the origin of our word Easter, then the Church "baptized" the name, using it to denote that first Easter Sunday morning when Christ, our Light, rose from the grave and when the women found the tomb empty just as dawn was breaking.
Another possibility which arises from more recent research suggests the early Church referred to Easter week as <hebdomada alba> ("white week"), from the white garments worn by the newly baptized. Some mistranslated the word to mean "the shining light of day" or "the shining dawn," and therefore used the Teutonic root <eostarun>, the Old German plural for "dawn", as the basis for the German <Ostern> and for the English equivalent "Easter". In early English translations of the Bible made by Tyndale and Coverdale, the word "Easter" was substituted for the word "Passover," in some verses.
Even though the etymological root of "Easter" may be linked to the name of a pagan goddess or pagan ceremonies, the feast which the word describes is Christian without question. Exactly why the English language did not utilize to the Hebrew-Greek-Latin root is a mystery. Unlike Christmas which was set on December 25 and "baptized" the former Roman pagan Feast of the Sun, Easter is a unique celebration. Any confusion, therefore, rests with etymology, not theology.”
The truth about easter eggs.
Some salvation history in relation to this.
Truthfully, I have known of the anti-Catholic attitudes that many of my protestant brothers and sisters feel towards us, but I haven't experienced it on a personal level until recently. That makes sense as I went from a Catholic upbringing, to falling away from the Church, to having my St. Paul conversion. Though I've studied a few denominations, I never dabbled in practicing any one of the thousands that exist thanks to Martin Luther's initial split (you might want to look into his life, teachings, and personal decisions a bit more if you're set on following his church or one of the many that followed from that schism from Rome)
The following is from a friend, a former protestant: "If you have no trust at all in the Catholic Church, then why do you trust the collection of scriptures? And the thing is, if you accept the protestant edited Bible, then you 1) have to trust the Catholic Church, and then 2) trust Martin Luther that the Church was right about most of the books and there were no additional letters that should have been included, BUT that they were wrong about those few books that he took out. But who the heck is Martin J Luther? (I just made up the J, lolol). Seriously - Who the heck is he that you should trust him? Why the automatic doubt in the Catholic Church, and the automatic trust of Martin Luther?
If you have never done it, look up the writings of Martin Luther. See the kinds of things he said and whether he sounds like a man who was led by the Holy Spirit in his "revisions" and splitting off from the Church. This is a dude who took vows before God to be a celibate monk, and then he broke them. He then married a nun who also broke her vows. He was seething with hatred of Jews and literally called them pigs and encouraged people to throw animal poop at them in the streets. Seriously. (Google Martin Luther and dung balls, lol. Sad but true.) And if you then looked up Catholic saints and Catholic miracles, prepare to be amazed. Honestly, this is something that protestants usually have no concept of (and I certainly didn't when I was protestant): how charismatic the Catholic Church is... full of super holy, heroicly holy saints who did wonders, resurrected people from the dead, did super-human feats, practiced selfless acts of charity, had visions, conversed with God, battled with demons, etc, etc. Contrast those people with Martin Luther."
Here's the deal, we are all called to love and respect each other, but the thing is, that doesn't mean acting as a doormat for some to trample upon and aid in disseminating falsehoods. It is our duty to defend our faith and do our best to do it in a loving way. Though it's true that sometimes we are called too 'turn the other cheek', we cannot use that as an excuse to not defend our most Holy Catholic Church. If that was the case, why even try to participate in the spiritual works of mercy or even preach the gospels?
Talk about God's timing...I went to daily mass this week and this touched my heart:
Responsorial Psalm
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
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