Easter thread

Lamb

God's Lil Lamb
Community Team
Administrator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
32,649
Age
57
Gender
Female
Religious Affiliation
Lutheran
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
The links to pagan fertility goddesses seem too strong to be coincidental.

Firstly there's the name (Ishtar/Eostre/Eoster), eggs are obvious fertility symbols and I'm sure I don't need to explain how rabbits are related. They are certainly more related to fertility than anything relating to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even getting eggs into the Christian ceremony seems a bit of a stretch, I remember as a child being told that the stone in front of the tomb was shaped like an egg, I've heard other kids being told the egg is a symbol of new life and so on. None of it explains chicks and bunnies.

Either way, the pagans will do what the pagans will do and in the meantime we can celebrate Christ's resurrection. Interestingly I don't see any specific mandate to commemorate the day that it happened, only the fact that it happened.

Nothing in the bible about chicks or bunnies as part of the celebration but they're awfully cute. A tomb isn't cute.

Yesterday I read a headline from an article that the stores are moving further away from anything religious pertaining to Easter stock. That's sad.
 

Lamb

God's Lil Lamb
Community Team
Administrator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
32,649
Age
57
Gender
Female
Religious Affiliation
Lutheran
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
goodfriday.jpg

I hope this doesn't offend anyone but it made me chuckle!
 

psalms 91

Well-known member
Moderator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
15,282
Age
75
Location
Pa
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Charismatic
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married

tango

... and you shall live ...
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
14,695
Location
Realms of chaos
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
As far as I am aware the only historical link is from saint Bede saying that the Saxons had a goddess whose name was related to the spelling for Easter in his time. That is a rather weak link.

If that was all it was then I'd agree. But celebrating something on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox, celebrating it with all sorts of symbols of fertility (eggs, rabbits, chicks etc) as well as it having a name that appears to have very little to do with Jesus and a lot to do with a pagan fertility goddess does raise a few questions.

Despite the usual objections to Christmas at least it has a name that includes Christ.
 

tango

... and you shall live ...
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
14,695
Location
Realms of chaos
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
Nothing in the bible about chicks or bunnies as part of the celebration but they're awfully cute. A tomb isn't cute.

Yesterday I read a headline from an article that the stores are moving further away from anything religious pertaining to Easter stock. That's sad.

A tomb isn't cute, but then people seem quite happy with the imagery of Jesus as a man on a cross clad in a loincloth and with a neat little circlet of branches with a couple of thorns on his head, with maybe just a little spot of blood where one of the thorns nicked his brow. The modern day image of Jesus on a cross doesn't look particularly unpleasant in so many ways, yet the reality was so far different. Of course if we actually showed a man hanging naked on a cross, bruised and bloodied, and showed just how brutal crucifixion was as a death nobody would want to buy the images for their offices or to hang around their necks.
 

psalms 91

Well-known member
Moderator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
15,282
Age
75
Location
Pa
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Charismatic
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
And maybe they should be shown the true image and realize that Jesus is no longer on the cross
 

MoreCoffee

Well-known member
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
19,194
Location
Western Australia
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Catholic
Political Affiliation
Moderate
Marital Status
Single
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
If that was all it was then I'd agree. But celebrating something on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox, celebrating it with all sorts of symbols of fertility (eggs, rabbits, chicks etc) as well as it having a name that appears to have very little to do with Jesus and a lot to do with a pagan fertility goddess does raise a few questions.

Despite the usual objections to Christmas at least it has a name that includes Christ.

Eggs, rabbits, and so forth are not specifically Christian symbols, they are symbols of the surrounding culture.
 

psalms 91

Well-known member
Moderator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
15,282
Age
75
Location
Pa
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Charismatic
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married

psalms 91

Well-known member
Moderator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
15,282
Age
75
Location
Pa
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Charismatic
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
Not if you go back, you would find that a lot of the symbolism is related to fertility goddesses
 

MoreCoffee

Well-known member
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
19,194
Location
Western Australia
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Catholic
Political Affiliation
Moderate
Marital Status
Single
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
Not if you go back, you would find that a lot of the symbolism is related to fertility goddesses

chocolate bunnies are surely a recent invention.
 

psalms 91

Well-known member
Moderator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
15,282
Age
75
Location
Pa
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Charismatic
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
But where did the rabbit come from and what does it represent
 

MoreCoffee

Well-known member
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
19,194
Location
Western Australia
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Catholic
Political Affiliation
Moderate
Marital Status
Single
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
But where did the rabbit come from and what does it represent

Rabbits came from the hand of God when he created them and they represent bunnies.
 

tango

... and you shall live ...
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
14,695
Location
Realms of chaos
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
Not so much pagan as secular and commercial.

So why all sorts of things that relate to fertility?

If it were purely secular and commercial I'd expect a combination of spring-themed things rather than things that related so closely to fertility.

Spring is a time of rebirth in that the things that died down over winter spring back into life in the spring (which has a parallel in Eze 8:14 where the women were weeping for Tammuz) so there's obviously a link to the concept of new life whether we look at things through a Christian, pagan or secular lens.. But if it were purely secular and commercial I'd expect to see things like daffodils or crocuses thrown in as well, given they are brightly colored and associated with this time of year. Eggs have little to do with spring and rabbits are a bit of a stretch.
 

MoreCoffee

Well-known member
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
19,194
Location
Western Australia
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Catholic
Political Affiliation
Moderate
Marital Status
Single
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
Pagan culture

Not so much pagan as secular and commercial.

So why all sorts of things that relate to fertility?

If it were purely secular and commercial I'd expect a combination of spring-themed things rather than things that related so closely to fertility.

Spring is a time of rebirth in that the things that died down over winter spring back into life in the spring (which has a parallel in Eze 8:14 where the women were weeping for Tammuz) so there's obviously a link to the concept of new life whether we look at things through a Christian, pagan or secular lens.. But if it were purely secular and commercial I'd expect to see things like daffodils or crocuses thrown in as well, given they are brightly colored and associated with this time of year. Eggs have little to do with spring and rabbits are a bit of a stretch.

You got the wrong end of the stick. The surrounding culture is secular and commercial not the eggs and bunnies.
 

psalms 91

Well-known member
Moderator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
15,282
Age
75
Location
Pa
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Charismatic
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
Rabbits came from the hand of God when he created them and they represent bunnies.
Wow, you are so good at deflecting and that is what drives me crazy with you as well
 

MoreCoffee

Well-known member
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
19,194
Location
Western Australia
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Catholic
Political Affiliation
Moderate
Marital Status
Single
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
Wow, you are so good at deflecting and that is what drives me crazy with you as well

The truth is no deflection even if it frustrates your purposes. Rabbits are God's creatures and the represent nothing but themselves as his creatures. It is a blessing to see things as they are rather than as one wants them to be or as superstitions teach.
 

psalms 91

Well-known member
Moderator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
15,282
Age
75
Location
Pa
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Charismatic
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
It is also a problem when people refuse to see things as they are. I guess you think the pentagram is ok as well among many other signs and symbols used for pagan abnd satanic worship. I see so many Christians that dont recognize the power in tese symbols and it is a shame. No wonder that the church is in the state it is in when it cant recognize power from the other side and cant walk in the power that God has either.
 

MoreCoffee

Well-known member
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
19,194
Location
Western Australia
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Catholic
Political Affiliation
Moderate
Marital Status
Single
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
It is also a problem when people refuse to see things as they are. I guess you think the pentagram is ok as well among many other signs and symbols used for pagan and satanic worship. I see so many Christians that don't recognize the power in these symbols and it is a shame. No wonder that the church is in the state it is in when it cant recognize power from the other side and cant walk in the power that God has either.

The pentagram was a Christian symbol before it ever became associated with Satan and Satanism. It represented the five wounds of Christ. But times and opinions change and make good things appear to be evil. That is how Satan has always worked; by corrupting the good with his lies thus making it seem wicked.
Western symbolism
The pentagram was used in ancient times as a Christian symbol for the five senses, or of the five wounds of Christ. A Christian use of the pentangle occurs in the 14th-century English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which the symbol decorates the shield of the hero, Gawain. The unnamed poet credits the symbol's origin to King Solomon, and says the symbol is key to understanding the work. The poet explains that each of the five interconnected points represents a virtue tied to a group of five. Gawain is keen in his five senses, dextrous in his five fingers, faithful to the salvation provided through the Five Wounds of Christ, takes courage from the five joys that Mary had of Jesus, and exemplifies the five virtues of knighthood.

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and others perpetuated the popularity of the pentagram as a magic symbol, attributing the five neoplatonic elements to the five points, in typical Renaissance fashion. By the mid-19th century a further distinction had developed amongst occultists regarding the pentagram's orientation. With a single point upwards it depicted spirit presiding over the four elements of matter, and was essentially "good". However, the influential writer Eliphas Levi called it evil whenever the symbol appeared the other way up.

(Wikipedia)
 

Lamb

God's Lil Lamb
Community Team
Administrator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
32,649
Age
57
Gender
Female
Religious Affiliation
Lutheran
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
WHY is it that in some of the threads that try to celebrate Christ we have people wanting to turn our focus away from Him? So what that Pagans practiced some similar things or used similar names. Please stop trying to turn people from Jesus and by wanting to worship Him.

This is an Easter thread and I asked early on for no debate and yet here again we see people wanting to turn it into a pagan thread. I don't like this. I want the focus on Jesus our Savior.
 
Top Bottom