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Historical Facts Regarding Easter Sunday

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 4, 1907

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 14.

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Historical Facts Regarding Easter Sunday

By Arthur L. Manous

ARTHUR L. MANOUS
What day of the week is Sunday?
“Sunday: The first day of the week.”—Webster.
On what day of the week did Christ arise?
“Now when he was risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven devils.” Mark 16: 9, R. V.; Luke 24: 1, 21; John 20: 1, 19.
What is Easter Sunday called?
“It is the chief feast of the whole year, as being the solemnity of our Lord’s resurrection.”—“Catholic Christian Instructed,” page 260.
In memory of what event is Easter said to be observed?
“Easter: The greatest festival of Christendom, observed in commemoration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.”—“Cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.”
What is said of the “Easter kiss”?
“On Easter day the people saluted each other with the ‘Easter kiss,’ and exclamation Surrexit (He is risen); to which the reply was, Vere Surrexit (He is risen indeed).”—“The Columbian Encyclopedia.”
Where only is the word “Easter” found in the Bible?
Herod had apprehended Peter, but was “intending after Easter [the Passover, R. V.] to bring him forth to the people.” Acts 12: 4.
What is said of the word “Easter” in Acts 12: 4?
It is “wrongly associated with the Saxon Easter festival, and the Jewish Passover feast, but corrected in the Revised Version. Acts 12: 4.”—“Boyd’s Bible Dictionary.”
What is said of the origin of the word “Easter”?
“The word ‘Easter,’ Anglo-Saxon, Eastré, Easter; German, Ostern,—like the names of the days of the week, is a survival from the old Teutonic mythology.”—“Encyclopedia Britannica.”
From what is the word “Easter” supposed to be derived?
“The word ‘Easter’ is of Saxon origin, and is supposed to be derived from Eoster, the goddess of love, or the Venus of the North, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated by our pagan (‘heathen,’ Webster) ancestors in the month of April.”—Dr. Barnes on Acts 12: 4.
Was Easter observed in the days of the apostles?
The Easter festival is “not traceable to the times of the apostles.”—“The Columbia Encyclopedia.”
Is there any evidence in the book of Acts for Easter observance?
There is not “the slightest evidence that any such festival was observed at the time when this book was written.”—Dr. Barnes on Acts 12: 4.
Does the New Testament anywhere speak of celebrating Easter?
“There is no trace of the celebration of Easter as a Christian festival in the New Testament or in the writings of the apostolic fathers.”—“Encyclopedia Britannica.”
Was Easter observance instituted while the apostles lived?
“It was not until after apostolic times that this festival became an instituted observance of the Christian church.”—“Cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.”
When was the date of Easter fixed?
“This feast was fixed by the (Roman) Council of Nice, 325 (A. D.), to be held on the Sunday which falls upon or immediately after the full moon which happens next after the twenty-first of March.”—“New Century Encyclopedia and Dictionary.”
When and by whom was Easter introduced?
“At the opening of the fourth century, ‘the mystery of iniquity’ (which from the days of Paul had been hard at work, 2 Thess. 2: 7) had introduced that foul, profane caricature of the Passover, the pagan Easter.”—“Pagan Counterfeits,” page 104.
Does the New Testament record the institution of any festivals?
“The New Testament nowhere records the formal institution of any distinctively Christian festival.”—“Encyclopedia Britannica.”
What are all festivals said to be?
“The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance.”—“Neander’s Church History,” translated by Rose, page 186.
What is the “human ordinance” which is the foundation of “all” festivals?
“Sunday and holidays all stand upon the same foundation, namely, the ordinance of the [Catholic] church.”—“Catholic Christian Instructed,” page 253.
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