Is Easter Pagan?

The Empty Tomb

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Easter is maybe one of the most confusing holidays from a imagery standpoint. It's supposed to be all about the resurrection of Jesus, the conquering of death and the redemption of mankind! But what we seem to get is the funny word "Easter", and a magic rabbit that leaves colored eggs all around your house or in the yard.

What's up with that? I always wondered, and for the longest time a straight answer was elusive. Then came the grand conspiracies of secret pagans running the "church", or maybe a bit softer the idea that the holidays were all desperate knock offs of Pagan festivals grasping for attention. And while some of those ideas undoubtedly have a certain dramatic appeal to my often contrarian mind, none of them are ever presented with actual historical context or records. Its the epitome of "Ancient Aliens" type historical logic. Leaping from one vague thing to the next, making only a brief appeal to imagination and conspiracy without standing by an argument. Some people eat that up without any shred of skepticism.

Im not here to convert you, but I am here to try and figure out whats really going on with "Easter" , the "Easter Bunny" and the "Easter Eggs" and what if anything those have to do with the celebration of the Resurrection of the Son of God!

Check this episode out and leave a comment on the bottom of this page and let me know your thoughts, or beliefs on the subject! It's OK if we disagree!

So as mentioned in the episode here is a list of stuff related to this topic, much of it was used in the making of the episode:

Ishtar

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ishtar-Mesopotamian-goddess
• https://www.gotquestions.org/Ishtar-Easter.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inanna

Alexander Hislops "The Two Babylons"

• https://philologos.org/__eb-ttb/sect32.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Babylons
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hislop

Eostre

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ēostre

Bede "The Reckoning of Time"

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reckoning_of_Time

General Easter is Pagan Narrative(s)

• https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/ancient-pagan-origins-easter-001571

Easter Isn't Pagan 

• https://historyforatheists.com/2017/04/easter-ishtar-eostre-and-eggs/
• https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/beyond-ishtar-the-tradition-of-eggs-at-easter/

Easter Bunny Lore

• http://herald-zeitung.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_a92ef55e-67bc-11e0-99ac-001cc4c03286.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Bunny

Lent

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lent
• https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/4.htm

Jesus Resurrection

• https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/28.htm

Ishtar / Inanna / Astarte

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Eostre / Ostara (Modern Depiction as no historical description exists)

Traditional Red Easter Egg, by ΙΣΧΣΝΙΚΑ-888, CC-BY SA 3.0

Music in Episode:

The Complex by Kevin Macleod
https://www.filmmusic.io
Song License Document: FML-26558-1867

Desert City by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3639-desert-city
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sneaky Snitch by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4384-sneaky-snitch
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Gregorian Chant by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3825-gregorian-chant
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/