Easter; How It Originated by Margaret Weir

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 2, 1914

Easter; How It Originated

By Margaret Weir

MARGARET WEIR

EASTER is the name given, with some small variation in the several languages and dialects, by the nations of Teutonic descent, to the festival erroneously kept in commemoration of the Lord's resurrection. It is the one great movable feast of the year, and does not fall earlier than March 22, nor later than April 25. The reason for this range is due to the fact that the Christians of the Asiatic churches kept, as the resurrection day, the fourteenth day of the month Nisan (April), which was the day on which the Jewish feast of the Passover began, and the Western churches, remembering that Christ rose on the first day of the week after the Passover began, kept that anniversary on the Sunday following the fourteenth of the month Nisan. This difference caused a very bitter controversy between the churches, which was settled by a decision of the Council of Nice, in 325 A. D., that the first Sunday after the full moon occurring on or next after the twenty-first of March, should be observed as Easter Sunday. It must be remembered, however, that it is not the actual moon in the heavens, nor even the mean moon of astronomy, that regulates the time of Easter, but an altogether imaginary moon, whose periods are so contrived that the new (calendar) moon always follows the real new moon.

Easter derives its name probably from Eostre, a Saxon goddess whose festival was annually kept about the same time as Easter.

"Many of the popular observances connected with Easter are clearly of pagan origin, and traceable to the feast of the Saxon deity Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon name of April having been Easter-monath, which still survives in the German Ostermonath. The worship of this deity, introduced into England by the Saxons, continued to be celebrated in many parts of the north of Germany down to the beginning of the nineteenth century, by the kindling of bonfires and numerous other rites. Like the May observances of England, it was especially a festival of joy. With her usual policy, the church endeavored to give a Christian significance to such of the rites as could not be rooted out. . . . The bonfires can be traced in the great 'paschal tapers,' or 'Easter candles,' sometimes weighing three hundred pounds, with which the churches were lighted on Easter eve."

Some of the medieval customs, especially in France and Germany, were very quaint; for example, that which prevailed in several French cathedrals of a solemn game of ball played by the bishops, canons, and other dignitaries. All these observances had a common purpose,—the expression of joy in the resurrection.

The Pasch, or Easter egg, is one of the most popular features of Easter. In Germany, though, an emblematic print is presented, in which three hens are holding a basket wherein are three eggs; in Vienna, the egg is composed of silver, pearl, or bronze, and filled with knick-knacks. Formerly in England the Easter egg was blessed by the priest, and, being elaborately colored, was often kept as an amulet. The custom of presenting eggs is believed to have had its origin in Persia; it was also prevalent among the Jews.

The early Christian emperors signalized the return of Easter every year by setting minor criminals at liberty.

Gregory, who was bishop of Nyssa, of Cappadocia, in A. D. 380, pictures the joyous crowds who, by their dress and their attendance at church, sought to do honor to the festival. He says: "All labor ceased, all trades were suspended; the husbandman threw down his spade and plow and put on his holiday attire. . . . The poor man dressed like the rich, and the rich wore his gayest and brightest attire, whilst those who had no good clothes of their own borrowed of their neighbors. Even the little children put on their new clothes and were bright and happy." It will, therefore, be seen that the present custom of wearing new clothes on Easter is at least fifteen centuries old.

From its origination and observances we can see that there is nothing in Easter which would permit the keeping of it in commemoration of the Saviour's resurrection. There is no trace of its celebration as a Christian festival in the

entire Bible. The ecclesiastical historian Socrates states that neither Christ nor his disciples enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival, and that the apostles had no thought of appointing festival days, but of promoting a life of blamelessness and piety. The only memorial of the burial and resurrection of the Lord is found in Rom. 6:3-6,— baptism by immersion. This tradition of centuries should make no appeal to the Christian, and should be rejected. God's people should conform their lives to the Bible standard.

Although we may not join in the observance of Easter as popularly practiced by most of the churches today, we may all enter into the sentiment of the following verses:—

"Christ is risen, our Lord and King, Let the whole creation sing; Raise your joys and triumphs high; Sing, ye heavens, let earth reply. "Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Christ, the mighty, to conceal; Death in vain forbids him rise, He hath opened paradise. "Lead us, Lord, where thou hast led,— Thou, our high, exalted Head; Made like thee, by thee we rise; Ours the cross, the grave, the skies."

Takoma Park, D. C.