Easter Sunday Food Recipes Cooking International Guide
Easter Sunday Celebrating The Resurrection
By Katerina Octanova
Some Christian believers may be a little disturbed at the fact
that Easter Sunday and most of the trappings of this celebration
are much more closely related to paganism than many think.
What would the church in general think if they were really aware
that the Christian Easter gets even its name from an ancient Anglo-Saxon
fertility goddess named Eostre? The fertility elements in this
springtime festival are myriad. The bunny, the eggs, the baby
chicks and even flowers all refer back to concepts of fertility.
Many Of The Rituals Of Easter May Have Been Added On From Pagan Rituals
What Christians think of as Easter, and Easter Sunday in particular,
is something that commemorates their belief that Jesus was crucified
for the sins of the world and was resurrected three days later
when His mission was accomplished. Nobody is even certain whether
it would have been a Sunday when that event supposedly took place.
When you look at most of the traditions of the church that precede
and surround this day, it becomes clear pretty quickly, that almost
none of them have any real connection to the meaning of Easter
which is held by the church.
Resurrection Sunday Without All The Rituals
All that really pertains to Christ in the rituals of Easter Sunday,
many believers say, is the sacrament of the Mass, or Holy Communion.
This was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper. But nothing
else of the many Easter rituals is in fact Biblical, but appears
to have been adopted from paganism.
In light of this, these people would prefer that the church not
celebrate Easter at all. To stay with the true meaning of Easter,
others feel that if the day is going to be celebrated, it should
at least be renamed Resurrection Sunday.
Celebration Of New Life Created From The Old
It’s not very realistic to expect that Easter Sunday and all
the other traditions of this festival are ever going to be rejected
by the church now. Whatever the history of Easter, it’s a celebration
that has been absorbed into Christian practice, and it’s likely
more spiritually meaningful to believers than harmful.
If one thinks of it as a pagan festival that has been sanctified
by the church in the same way believers are said to have been
sanctified by Christ, it might seem less threatening. After all,
the whole point of Easter, as well as those ancient festivals,
has always been a review of new life created from the old.
About the Author:
Katerina Octanova has written a number of articles on Easter, food and cooking including
Easter,
Easter Eggs,
Easter Traditions,
The Passover,
Easter Stories,
Seder.
Keep a lookout for more of her articles on this website.
Did You Know?
What is Christian Easter?
Christian Easter is a holiday celebrated
by Christians, of course, marking the rise of Jesus Christ from
the grave. It is an important holiday and one that is celebrated
by Christians around the world. For Christians it symbolizes Christ’s
sacrifice to humanity through his death and the fact that through
him redemption can be found.
The Sunday of his rising is three days
from when he was crucified for his beliefs and teachings about
God. It is a day where people rejoice that their savior has arisen
and defeated death as he prophesied in his teachings to his disciples
and all who would listen to him. For many it is concrete proof
that only through Christ and his teachings can someone live again
in Heaven.
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