"Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their faces toward the east, and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Then he said to me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger; and lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury; mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."

(This is the only place in the Bible where men are described as observing a sun rise worship service. As millions do every Easter Sunday morning as the sun rises in their worship service.The pagans turned their backs on God's temple, faced the sun at its rising and worshiped the mythical sun god and the goddess of spring, "Easter".)

Jer. 7:1819   
"The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?"

(These cakes are still baked today at Easter and called hot cross buns. The cross or X is an ancient symbol for the solar wheel and is the symbol of the sun and the 'queen of heaven' or Semiramus, the motherwife of Nimrod. Some feel that these hot cross buns are Satan's counterfeit for unleavened bread.)

Ex: 12:24 
"And ye shall observe this thing for as ordinance to thee and thy sons forever."
(Passover is forever)

(Jesus, early apostles and converted Gentile Christians observed the holy days mentioned in Lev.23 and
Acts 2:1, and 18:21, and 20:6 &16,and 1Cor 5: 78, and 16:8.) ~

from The American Book of Days by Douglas article Easter
"The name of a feast, according to the Venerable Bede, comes from Eostre, A Teutonic goddess whose festival was celebrated in the spring. The name was given to the Christian festival in celebration of the resurrected Eostre, it was who, according to the legend, opened portals of Valhalla to recieve Baldur, called the white god because of his purity and also the sun god because his brow supplied light to mankind. It was Baldur who, after he had been murdered by Utgard Loki, the enemy of goodness and truth, spent half the year in Valhalla and the other half with the pale goddess of the lower regions.
There is no doubt that the church in its early days adopted the old pagan customs and gave a Christian meaning to them.
The egg, as a symbol of New Life is much older than Christianity and the coloring of it at the spring festival is also of very ancient origin. The Egyptians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans used it this way. Eggs were eaten during the spring festival from very early times. Children are told that the rabbit lays the Easter eggs in a garden for the children to find. This is an adaption of the pagan custom of regarding the rabbit as an emblem of fertility, that is, of new life."

(What most people don't know.
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary shows that the word Easter comes from the name of an old Teutonic goddess of spring.)

Funk and Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend p 341 "Early in history the egg became a symbol for sex, reproduction and life. The egg represented a resurrection and after life and was used to cast magical spells'
(Long before Jesus was born eggs were used in religious worship)

 

Encyclopedia BritannicaEasterpopular customs
"Around the Christian observance of Easter as the climax of the Liturgical Drama of holy week and good Friday folk customs have collected, many of which have been handed down from the ancient ceremonial and symbolism of the pagan spring festival brought into relation with the resurrection theme. When the medieval miracle plays of Northern and Central Europe came to an end in the 6th century, under the pressure of the reformation, the way was open for the gradual revival of the calendar customs and folk drama, in spite of puritan opposition of revels, acting and dancing. Thus the liturgical portrayal of the death and resurrection of Christ enacted in the ecclesiastical Easter plays gradually found its secular counterpart in the popular survivals of the ancient seasonal ritual connected with the spring equinox.
These took a variety of forms which Easter eggs, formerly forbidden to be eaten during Lent have been very prominent as symbols of new life and resurrection. In Lancashire on Easter eve boys and men have been in the habit of touring the town and village as 'pace eggers'. Begging for eggs before performing the 'pace egging' or pasch (Easter) play. This was the Easter version of the St George mummer's play. This death and resurrection theme recurs in the sword dances which were also of frequent occurance among the traditional ritual dances at this season. The widespread belief that the sun danced for joy on Easter morning at dawn led to the custom of going to the hills at sunrise to see and take part in this event. A practice that was still prevelent in the British Isles in the 19th century. Rolling colored eggs down slopes on Easter Monday remains a popular observance especially in the North of England. Formerly Easter eggs, sometimes were consecrated for ceremonial use in churches, and at Chester Cathedral the bishop and dean are said to have engaged in an egg throwing match with the choir boys when the antiphon Quem Qaeritis was sung on Easter Day.
The hare, the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, a symbolism which is kept in Europe is not found in North America and its place is taken by the Easter Rabbit, the symbol of fertility and periodicity both human and lunar accredited with laying eggs in nests prepared for it at Easter, or with hiding them away for children to find. But it was not until the later part of the 19th century, especially during the civil war, that Easter customs were observed in the U.S. except in a few states, such as Louisianna and Virginia, not dominated by the Puritan element. Then those who had died in the war were commorated in the churches which were decorated with flowers on Easter Day. This brought the festival into prominence and gradually some of the folk customs were revived, notably under Irish influence."

Funk and Wagnall Encyclopedia Easter
"Annual festival commerating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the principle feast of the Christian year. It is celebrated on Sunday on varying dates between Mar 22nd and Apr 25th, and it is therefore called a moveable feast. The dates of several ecclesiastical festivals, extending over a period between septuagesima Sunday (the ninth Sunday before Easter and the first Sunday of Advent, are fixed in relation to the date of Easter.)
Connected with the observance of Easter are the fortyday penintential season of Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding at midnight on holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday; holy week, commencing on Palm Sunday, including Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion and terminating with holy Saturday and the Octave of Easter, extending from Easter Sunday through the following Sunday. During the octave of Easter in early Christian times, the newly baptized wore white garments. White being the liturgical color of Easter and signifying light, purity and joy.
PreChristian tradition Easter, a Christian festival, embodies many preChristian traditions. The origin of its name is unknown. Scholars however, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th century English scholar, Saint Bede, believe it probably comes from Eastre, the Anglosaxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April, her festival celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter Rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored Easter eggs, originally painted with gay hues to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Eaaster egg rolling contests or given as gifts.
Such festivals and myths and legends that explain their origin, were common in ancient religions. A Greek myth tells of the return of Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of the earth, from the underworld to the light of day; her return symbolized to the ancient Greeks the resurrection of life in the spring after the desolatiion of winter. Many ancient peoples shared similiar legends. The Phrygians believed that their omnipotent deity went to sleep at the time of the winter solstice and they preformed ceremonies with music and dancing at the spring equinox to awaken him. The Christian festival of Easter probably embodies a number of converging traditions; most scholars emphasize the original relation of Easter to the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pasch. The early Christians, many of whom were of Jewish origin, were brought up in the Hebrew tradition and regarded Easter as a new feature of the Passover festival, a commeration of the advent of the Messiah foretold by the prophets.

What can we know about Easter, its history and origins?

The Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th edition) says in the article Easter:

"The name Easter, like the names of the days of the week, is a survival from the old Teutonic mythology. According to Bede [an eight century monk] it is derived from Eostre, or Ostdra, the AngloSaxon goddess of spring, to whom the month answering to our April, and called Eostermonath, was dedicated."

Later studies indicate the word may be derived from an ancient festival celebrated in the spring in honor of the rising sun.

Many of the customs associated with Easter harken back to ancient and nonChristian religious practices. The Encylopaedia Britannica says, regarding the egg:

"the egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewed life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of colouring and eating eggs during their spring festival." (article Easter).

Jesuit author Francis X. Weiser in "The Easter Book", pages 15, 181 and 188, says:

"Just as many Christian customs and similar observance had their origin in preChristian times, so, too some of the popular traditions of.... Easter dates back to ancient nature rites... The origin of the Easter egg is based on the fertility lore of the IndoEuropean races...The Easter bunny had its origin in preChristian fertility lore. Hare and rabbit were the most fertile animals our forefathers knew, serving as symbols of ... new life in the spring season".

So we see that Easter, its celebrations and traditions long predates Christianity, but few ever stop to ask, just what does all this have to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

History shows that Easter was not a tradition of the Apostles and the early Church. The Encyclopedia Britannica further states about the holiday in its article entitled Easter:

"There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers. The sanctity of special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians, who continued to observe the Jewish festivals, though in a new spirit, as commemorations of events which those festivals had foreshadowed. Thus the Passover, with a new conception added to it of Christ, as the true Paschal Lamb and the first fruits from the dead, continued to be observed, and became the Christian Easter."

The Change From Passover to Easter

How did this change from Passover to Easter come about, and by whose authority was it made? Do we find any instruction in the Bible to celebrate Christ's resurrection?

We do find Easter mentioned in the Bible in Acts 12: 4, but only in the King James version. The New King James and almost all other versions correctly translate the word as Passover. However even in the King James there is no indication in this passage of the celebration of an Easter Festival in commemoration of Christ's resurrection.

Looking again to history we can find much about the change of Passover to Easter. By the second century there began to be many changes in the Christian Church. Writer J.L. Hurlbut in his book The Story of the Christian Church, (page 41), says that at that time,

"we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul".

It was in the second century that the emphasis began to change from the commemoration of Christ's death at the Passover to celebration of His resurrection at the same time. Eusebius, a church historian who wrote in the fourthcentury, says:

"There was a considerable discussion raised about this time, in consequence of a difference of opinion respecting the observance of the paschal [Passover] season. The churches of all Asia, guided by a remoter tradition, supposed that they ought to keep the fourteenth day of the moon for the festival of the Savior's Passover, in the which day the Jews were commanded to kill the paschal lamb...it was not the custom to celebrate it this manner in the churches throughout the rest of the world...Hence there were synod and convocations of the bishops on this question; and all unanimously...communicated to all the churches in all places that the mystery of our Lord's resurrection should be celebrated on no other day than [Sunday]" (Ecclestical History, book 5, chapter 23).

Easter Established

By the fourth century the controversy had reached the point that the Roman Emperor Constantine decided to step in and bring it to an end. Constantine decided to intervene, not for religious reasons, but for political reasons. He saw Christianity as a means of securing unity in his empire but first he must insure unity in the Christian church.

In A.D. 325 Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology in the article "Easter" has this to say concerning the Council of Nicaea:

" ...despite the efforts in Asia Minor to maintain the Jewish Passover date of 14 Nisan for Easter (hence the name Quartodecimans), the Council of Nicaea adopted the annual Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox (March 21)".

So we see Easter adopted by the professing Christian Church not on the authority of God, but rather by the authority of men.

Now Christianity had adopted Easter as its official dogma and with Constantine's patronage and protection the Church began to grow. All manner of people began to convert to Christianity. J.L. Hurlbut in his Story of the Christian Church, page 79 writes concerning that period:

"Everybody sought membership in the Church and nearly everybody was received. Both good and bad, seekers after God and hypocritical seekers after gain, rushed into communion... The services of worship increased in splendor, but were less spiritual and hearty than those of former times and replaced the nighttime Passover service that was a commemoration of Christ' death. Not only had the date and time been changed but the whole meaning of the festival was changed. "

Does it make a Difference?

Humanly it seems that it would be a wonderful and reasonable thing to celebrate Christ's resurrection. Because it does seem that it must be the right thing to do many, over the years from the second century onward, have embraced Easter as a way to worship Jesus Christ.

But what does God say in His word? Does it make a difference? Nowhere in the Bible is there any commandment that we should commemorate Christ's resurrection. But there are very specific commands that we should keep the New Testament Passover not with the sacrifice of a lamb as the Israelites did, but with the unleavened bread and wine that Christ presented to His disciples at the Last Supper. These were symbols of Christ's sacrifice for us as the perfect Passover Lamb. If we are Christians shouldn't our goal be to order our life according to the standards God sets in His Word?

The dilemma we face with Easter is that it follows the traditions of men and not the clear commands of God. So we are placed in the position of having to decide if we will do what seems humanly right and follow the traditions of men, or if we will follow the clear commands of Christ and the example of the Apostles and live according to ever word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and not according to the traditions of men?

Christ Himself addressed this dilemma and said it was possible to worship him in vain by following tradition: "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honourth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" Matthew 15: 89,  , and He also said that it was not enough to call Him Lord, we must also do what He commands: "Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not the thing which I say." Luke 6: 46 ~. Are we going to be found guilty of worshipping god in vain, following men's traditions rather than obeying God commands? It does make a difference to God. Are we willing to follow and obey Him even though it may mean going against the traditions that all those around us are following?