Big Bubba - The Holidays Threads Merged

[ImOnStandby221]

"Easter" has its origins in babylon. the name is derived from Ishtar, a fertility goddess, hence bunnies and eggs as symbols.

the true holiday is the Jewish Feast of Firstfruits though most Christians don't call it this of course.

"Easter" is mentioned once in Acts 12:14 though some think since Acts was written in Greek by Luke (who was a gentile) that it may have been a subsitute word for Pesach or Passover. even if it doesn't mean this, the verse is a reference to king herod, not the believers so there's no theological problem in thinking that herod was well aquainted with pagan holidays.

a lot of "Christian" traditions are celebrated by well-meaning believers who really don't know the origins of what they're observing. i doubt anyone is consciously celebrating Ishtar in an easter egg hunt but i personally don't think that eggs and bunnies have any part in celebrating the day of our Lord's resurrection.

[godlycontentment]

Saxons celebrated the spring/fertility goddess called Eastre by giving eggs to each other.

The name of Easter and the Easter egg hunts are deeply rooted in paganism and I think it is sad that most Christians don't know (and don't really care).

Also, the only holiday that Jesus celebrated was Passover and He is our example and our Passover.

[fan4sure]

This thread reminded me of the day Hubs and I were driving past a large local Baptist church. It was Halloween last year. Every child in 3 counties dressed in costume must have been lined up, standing outside the door. I immediately got that weird "whats wrong with this picture" feeling. :sad

[Genesis22]

I run the children's ministry at my church, and I decided to have an egg hunt for the kids this year; here is why:

In children's church, I always spend the month before Christmas and the month before Easter teaching the kids about the upcoming holiday and what it means. For this Easter season, one of the things that we focused on was having new life in Christ. I like to teach using parables and analogies, because I think that the kids understand it better. So, I used chicks hatching from eggs and flowers blooming as symbols of new life- and we talked about how our spirits can have new life, why we need new life, and what Jesus did for us. We even made these little wooden flower push puppets (which are these little toy flowers that when you push the bottom of it, it bends over and "dies" ....and when you let go it pops back to life) to explain how our spirits were dead from sin until Jesus took our sins away and gave us new spiritual life.

We have a carton of 12 plastic eggs, and each egg has a piece of the Easter story in it (for example, one had a plastic horse to represent Jesus being born in a barn). Each week leading up to Easter, we opened a few of the eggs that went along with that week's lesson. On Easter Sunday, we are going to open the last egg, which is empty (becuase Jesus' tomb was empty). We are going to then have an egg hunt. Each child will search for one color egg, and each child will find a total of 12 eggs. Inside of their eggs will be the pieces that tell the whole Easter story that we have learned over the past few weeks. They are going to each be given a carton to put their eggs in and then decorate their cartons. That way, they can each bring home a set of the eggs with the story inside and go over it with their families. It's easier for kids to remember something when they actually see it, so this way they can take home a visual that shows them the whole Easter story, and reminds them of the parable of the Easter egg (new life).

And yes, I do think that too much of the eggs, bunnies, etc. can still be a distraction from Jesus even if you are relating it back to Jesus......so I will not be doing this every year and will not make it a regular part of Easter. It will be a one-time thing since we are focusing a lot on new life this year. Next year we will do something else, leaving out the eggs and bunnies and everything.....That way, it won't become a regular part of Easter. I think if we did it every year, it would become so routine that they would forget the meaning. But I think just once could be a good learning experience.

Even if the egg symbolism originally was a symbol of a false goddess, I don't really care about the origins....I only care what it means to my kids. And when they see Easter eggs, they will think of the new life that we have in Jesus. That's all that matters to me.

[Cindy S.]

I run the children's ministry at my church, and I decided to have an egg hunt for the kids this year; here is why:

In children's church, I always spend the month before Christmas and the month before Easter teaching the kids about the upcoming holiday and what it means. For this Easter season, one of the things that we focused on was having new life in Christ. I like to teach using parables and analogies, because I think that the kids understand it better. So, I used chicks hatching from eggs and flowers blooming as symbols of new life- and we talked about how our spirits can have new life, why we need new life, and what Jesus did for us. We even made these little wooden flower push puppets (which are these little toy flowers that when you push the bottom of it, it bends over and "dies" ....and when you let go it pops back to life) to explain how our spirits were dead from sin until Jesus took our sins away and gave us new spiritual life.

We have a carton of 12 plastic eggs, and each egg has a piece of the Easter story in it (for example, one had a plastic horse to represent Jesus being born in a barn). Each week leading up to Easter, we opened a few of the eggs that went along with that week's lesson. On Easter Sunday, we are going to open the last egg, which is empty (becuase Jesus' tomb was empty). We are going to then have an egg hunt. Each child will search for one color egg, and each child will find a total of 12 eggs. Inside of their eggs will be the pieces that tell the whole Easter story that we have learned over the past few weeks. They are going to each be given a carton to put their eggs in and then decorate their cartons. That way, they can each bring home a set of the eggs with the story inside and go over it with their families. It's easier for kids to remember something when they actually see it, so this way they can take home a visual that shows them the whole Easter story, and reminds them of the Easter egg (new life).

And yes, I do think that too much of the eggs, bunnies, etc. can still be a distraction from Jesus even if you are relating it back to Jesus......so I will not be doing this every year and will not make it a regular part of Easter. It will be a one-time thing since we are focusing a lot on new life this year. Next year we will do something else, leaving out the eggs and bunnies and everything.....That way, it won't become a regular part of Easter, it will just be a parable that they will use to help them to remember. I think if we did it every year, it would become so routine that they would forget the meaning. But I think just once could be a good learning experience.

I think that sounds like a good idea.

[ImOnStandby221]

I run the children's ministry at my church, and I decided to have an egg hunt for the kids this year; here is why:

In children's church, I always spend the month before Christmas and the month before Easter teaching the kids about the upcoming holiday and what it means. For this Easter season, one of the things that we focused on was having new life in Christ. I like to teach using parables and analogies, because I think that the kids understand it better. So, I used chicks hatching from eggs and flowers blooming as symbols of new life- and we talked about how our spirits can have new life, why we need new life, and what Jesus did for us. We even made these little wooden flower push puppets (which are these little toy flowers that when you push the bottom of it, it bends over and "dies" ....and when you let go it pops back to life) to explain how our spirits were dead from sin until Jesus took our sins away and gave us new spiritual life.

We have a carton of 12 plastic eggs, and each egg has a piece of the Easter story in it (for example, one had a plastic horse to represent Jesus being born in a barn). Each week leading up to Easter, we opened a few of the eggs that went along with that week's lesson. On Easter Sunday, we are going to open the last egg, which is empty (becuase Jesus' tomb was empty). We are going to then have an egg hunt. Each child will search for one color egg, and each child will find a total of 12 eggs. Inside of their eggs will be the pieces that tell the whole Easter story that we have learned over the past few weeks. They are going to each be given a carton to put their eggs in and then decorate their cartons. That way, they can each bring home a set of the eggs with the story inside and go over it with their families. It's easier for kids to remember something when they actually see it, so this way they can take home a visual that shows them the whole Easter story, and reminds them of the parable of the Easter egg (new life).

And yes, I do think that too much of the eggs, bunnies, etc. can still be a distraction from Jesus even if you are relating it back to Jesus......so I will not be doing this every year and will not make it a regular part of Easter. It will be a one-time thing since we are focusing a lot on new life this year. Next year we will do something else, leaving out the eggs and bunnies and everything.....That way, it won't become a regular part of Easter. I think if we did it every year, it would become so routine that they would forget the meaning. But I think just once could be a good learning experience.

Even if the egg symbolism originally was a symbol of a false goddess, I don't really care about the origins....I only care what it means to my kids. And when they see Easter eggs, they will think of the new life that we have in Jesus. That's all that matters to me.

i have to respectfully disagree that origins don't matter. i think they matter tremendously. we are not to be like the world, we don't need pagan symbols to teach Christian lessons. i think the Resuurection can be explained to children in a very simple and straightforward way without borrowing from satanic (and yes, they are satanic) origins.

again, does participating in an easter egg hunt mean kids are worshipping ishtar? of course not. but i'd still pray about a better alternative for a lesson.

[BarbT]

Recently, I watched just a few minutes of a video that showed how many of "our" holidays and their symbols had pagan origins..Yes, those videos have been circulating for many years causing Christians to legalistically denounce the celebration of Christ's birth.

Think about the poor witness this brings before non-believers whose only exposure to Jesus may come during the Christmas season. How confusing to someone who expects to see the light of Christ in a believer only to be told about obscure "discoveries" about paganism that may or may not be completely accurate. What a turn off.

I happen to believe {as many historians do} that the early Christians overtook certain rituals and traditions and used them to glorify the Lord. But we don't have to know the exact day of His birth or understand precisely how the Christmas tree became a symbol of the season. The spirit of joyfully celebrating the fact He was born --and letting the world see it -- is the important thing.:nod

As for those videos claiming superior knowledge of evil origins, I wonder why they don't also warn about the meaning behind the days of the week which were named in worship of created things and pagan gods. :thinking

* Sunday: Sun's Day. The Sun gave people light and warmth every day. They decided to name the first (or last) day of the week after the Sun.
* Monday: Moon's Day. The Moon was thought to be very important in the lives of people and their crops.
* Tuesday: Tiw's Day. Tiw, or Tyr, was a Norse god known for his sense of justice.
* Wednesday: Woden's Day. Woden, or Odin, was a Norse god who was one of the most powerful of them all.
* Thursday: Thor's Day. Thor was a Norse god who wielded a giant hammer.
* Friday: Frigg's Day. Frigg was a Norse god equal in power to Odin.
*Saturday: Seater's Day or Saturn's Day. Saturn was a Roman god.
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/funfacts/daysoftheweek.htm

Shouldn't we refuse to say these pagan names and perhaps number the days of the week 1-7 instead? :hehee

[Lynn]

I feel that easter eggs are a distraction from the Easter miracle and santa claus is a distraction from the birth of Jesus. A deliberate distraction.

I agree. These issues have bothered me for a long time, but they are so deeply ingrained in our culture. It's hard to 'turn that ship around' so to speak. I guess all that we can control is what happens at our own homes.


Saxons celebrated the spring/fertility goddess called Eastre by giving eggs to each other.

The name of Easter and the Easter egg hunts are deeply rooted in paganism and I think it is sad that most Christians don't know (and don't really care).
Yes, this is right, and I, too, think it's sad that Christians have just blindly accepted this without question as an okay thing to do, simply because the 'everybody' does it, and they did it, too, when they were kids. We should have teaching in our churches to help parents understand some of these issues from a Biblical perspective.

Also, the only holiday that Jesus celebrated was Passover and He is our example and our Passover.
This is the point that I was planning to make when I joined this thread. You just got there first. :lol2 If the church families would educate their little ones about the Perfect Passover Lamb, and celebrate the season with a Seder, there would be less temptation to cross over to the pagan tradition of egg hunts, etc. Our church sponsored one on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, and I was not in attendance (told them in advance I wouldn't be there). I hope to be able to teach the children more about the Passover Lamb, but this year, I was not in a position where I could. My heart yearns for this beautiful truth to be taught, not only to the children, but also to their parents. There is usually a meal prepared with significance of certain dishes that are served explained. It is a picture of Jesus and how He is the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb which is described in Exodus.

[Genesis22]

I don't agree with making eggs and bunnies and all of that a big part of Easter even if you are relating it to Christ- because it can still become too much about those things and not enough about Christ. But I think it's okay to use it as a parable once to show your kids what you are trying to explain. I still wouldn't use eggs and bunnies and everything as decorations though, because I think that makes the holiday about them instead of Jesus.....but I would use them as a parable or lesson about new life. I prefer Easter decorations to be crosses, palm leaves, tombs, crown of thorns, etc. And I prefer Christmas decorations to be ribbons and lights (just as a symbol of celebrating Jesus), mangers, angels, stars, etc. I don't really care for Christmas trees because I can't find any way to relate them to Christ. Yes there are some parables of trees, but they are so far-fetched and you really have to stretch your imagination to relate them to Jesus' birth. That's the difference for me- is this something that will make learning about God easier for my children, or is it something that I'm just desperately trying to relate to God so I don't have to get rid of it? That's the difference for me between the Easter egg and the Christmas tree and why I use one but not the other.

And again, I definitely don't think that anyone is any less of a Christian for having a Christmas tree or telling their kids about Santa.....I just personally don't feel right doing it. If you are able to do it and still have your holiday be about Jesus, then great, do it. But I can't.

[twinkle]

One of my favorite verses:

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.