Paganizing Easter

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 27, 1913

Paganizing Easter

ADMITTING that it has never felt very keenly over the origin of the Easter festival even though it came from heathenism, the Standard of March 15, 1913, confesses that it views with deep concern the influences which are now at work to paganize this church festival:—

The extent to which this modern paganizing of Easter has gone is indicated, for example, by the fact that most of the magazine articles for several years fail to refer to what is the heart of Easter. One will find discussions about the date of Easter, menus for Easter breakfasts and luncheons, chatty talks about Easter eggs, advice about Easter gifts and entertainments, but not much about the great hope of personal immortality.

When an institution like Easter is founded upon pagan custom rather than upon Scriptural injunction, why should we consider it strange to see it reverting to its old-time use? The very fact that paganizing influences are molding the observance of this institution shows that the church at large recognizes its true origin after all. It would be far better for the church of God to drop out of its reckoning and observance these institutions that have descended from the pagan fathers of the past, giving more regard to those institutions and ordinances and observances which have their foundation in the Scriptures of Truth.

For the Christian church to do this, however, would greatly revolutionize her faith and practise. For instance, she would have to drop out sprinkling for baptism and employ immersion instead; she would need to regard the first day of the week as an ordinary day of labor and observe the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath of Jehovah. It is too much to hope that this will ever be done, but there will be found devoted lovers of the truth, who, through discarding tradition, will take their stand upon the Word, and the Word only, as the foundation of their faith and practise.