No, Easter Is Not Derived From an Ancient Pagan Holiday
This myth seems to serve no purpose other than undermining Christianity
Is Easter derived from an ancient pagan holiday? In a word, no — but the myth persists.
Maybe you’ve seen the eyebrow-raising claims on the Internet or elsewhere in the media: rather than celebrating Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and triumph over crucifixion, Easter is really derived from a pagan holiday. Proponents of this theory point to symbols of rebirth and fertility, like eggs and bunnies, that we see at Easter as proof. But the foundation of the claim that Easter is a pagan tradition is the similarity in names: Easter, they say, is the English translation of Ēostre, a Germanic goddess of fertility. (Others claim Easter got its name from the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, or the Ethiopian god Ashtar. That they have trouble keeping their story straight should be your first clue the Easter skeptics don’t have much in the way of actual evidence!) Others take the theory even further, arguing that the story of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection was lifted from ancient mythology — and therefore can’t possibly be true.
It’s intriguing stuff for people who wish to deny the divinity of Christ. But, much like the fertility myths surrounding Ēostre, these claims are more fiction…
