Easter did NOT come from a pagan holiday

You’re probably already hearing the old canards about Easter and its customs being based in pagan festivals.  It’s just not true!  After the jump, links to two documented accounts from Pastor Joseph Abrahamson that gives the historical background and churchly contexts of the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection. On the Origins of Easter.  (The connections to the Jewish Passover, the dating of Easter, the lack of any corresponding pagan holidays, etc.)

On the Name and Customs of Easter.  (There was no fertility goddess named “Eostre,” just the Germanic name of a month.  Non-Germanic languages call the holiday some version of “Pascha” for “passover.”  Why Easter eggs [to mark the end of the Lenten fast] and Easter rabbits [a symbol for life widely used in ancient Christian art]