Easter is celebrated by Christians around the world as the joyful commemoration of Christ’s resurrection. Throughout the years, however, critics have often claimed that Easter is actually a pagan holiday, a series of ancient spring festivals coopted by the church. Those same critics attempt to connect names to false gods and pagan symbols. This is a common tactic of Christianity’s critics, always attempting to tear down or make unimportant the historical and fundamental claims of the Christian faith. A closer examination of the history behind Easter reveals critics falling flat on their face.
Many sources, both historic and modern, have attempted to attach the name “Easter” to a pair of Germanic goddesses. The problem is, no historical evidence exists for these figures. In fact, only in English and German does the name Easter appear, appearing in most languages of the region as a derivation of the holiday name “Pascha,” or Passover—a clear connection between Christ’s resurrection and the Jewish Passover celebration.
Other common claims include stories that Easter traditions like eggs and rabbits come from pagan fertility symbols; and yet again, historical evidence suggests otherwise. During the Lenten fast leading up to Easter, Christians traditionally abstained from eating eggs. As chickens didn’t stop laying, the accumulated eggs were later eaten in celebration of the Resurrection. By the 13th century, Christians began decorating these eggs, seeing it as a symbol of Christ emerging from the tomb just as a chick breaks out of its shell. Rabbits, likewise, were not connected with Easter celebrations until the 17th century, long after pagan practices had disappeared from Europe.
Critics have also argued that the story of Jesus’ resurrection was borrowed from ancient myths about dying and rising gods. Christian thinkers like C. S. Lewis have explained the truth is exactly the opposite. Lewis understood these myths were just reflections scattered throughout pagan cultures of the true and historical event of Christ’s resurrection.
In other words, the criticisms that Easter comes from pagan myths has it exactly backward. The Resurrection is the historical reality, and the celebration of Easter rightly honors that moment at the center of the Christian faith.
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