Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? Where Did Easter Come From?

By COGwriter

Although many consider Easter as the most important 'Christian' holiday, is Easter actually Christian? Do you know where Easter comes from?

Did you know that Easter-Sunday was not observed by the second century Christians in Asia Minor? They observed Passover.

Jesus specifically taught that Christians were to observe the Passover as He did at His last one (Luke 22:14-20). Since few who profess Christianity observe the biblical Passover, what happened?

History records many amazing facts about Easter that should give those who think it is Christian to reconsider.

Here is a link to a related sermon video: Amazing Facts About Easter.

Greco-Roman Changes

The old Worldwide and Radio Church of God claimed:

Believe it or not, Easter was being observed 4000 years ago! It was still being observed when the Christ-child was born — during His ministry — when He built His Church. YET CHRIST DID NOT INSTITUTE IT — CHRIST NEVER OBSERVED IT — THE APOSTLES NEVER OBSERVED IT — the Church JESUS BUILT NEVER OBSERVED IT.

EASTER was observed 4000 years ago among the pagans! But you can't find one word in the entire Bible that Jesus or the apostles ever observed it!

Where did you ever find in your Bible that Peter and Paul held Easter sunrise services? That the early Christian women in apostolic days dressed up for an Easter parade? That Christians baked hot cross buns? That the children of Christians dyed Easter eggs and ate chocolate Easter rabbits in honor of Christ's resurrection?

You NEVER found these practices taught by the inspired apostolic Church, did you? — yet these very customs were being celebrated in pagan lands long before apostolic days! (Hoeh H. Four Thousand Years of Easter. Tomorrow's World, March 1971)

Easter came from pagan sun-worship, not from Jesus Christ or the apostles. It is one of those Babylonian customs brought to Samaria after Israel's overthrow (721-718 B.C.) by the colonists from Babylonia. Later it was transplanted to Rome by Simon Magus. Simon Magus, who was the "Great Interpreter" or "Peter" of the pagan mystery, palmed off Easter as if it were Christian. (Anon. Where is "Easter" mentioned in the Bible? Plain Truth, April 1964).

It is possible that Simon Magus brought a version of it to Rome in the first century, that he and his followers observed a version of it, and that they had influence in Rome. But this is not historically certain.

What is certain that certain modern practices associated with it are thousands of years old and came from paganism.

As far as the claimed leaders of the Church of Rome, in the second century, beginning with possibly Telesphorus or possibly Hyginus or maybe Sixtus (there are no contemporaneous records, only an unclear report 5-6 decades later written by Irenaeus), what is now called Easter began to be observed by some in Rome by the Church of Rome. It was NOT an original belief of the catholic church (see also Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church).

So what happened? Well, there was a change in date of Passover from the 14th of Nisan to a Sunday by some who professed Christianity. This is believed to have happened primarily because of the Bar Kokhba rebellion by the Jews (c. 132-135) and that any distancing between Jews and claimed Christians seemed physically advantageous to some (at least to some in Rome and certain ones in Jerusalem). I suspect they made this change because their fear of death was greater than their fear to violate God's word.

In the area of Jerusalem, the Bar Kokhba revolt resulted in Jerusalem being renamed Ælia Capitolina. It was an area that compromised and switched to Sunday around 135 A.D.

Notice comments from Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant scholars:

The shortest-lived Apostolic Church is that of Jerusalem. In 130 the Holy City was destroyed by Hadrian, and a new town, Ælia Capitolina, erected on its site. (Wilhelm J. Transcribed by Donald J. Boon. Apostolic Succession. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I. Copyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York)

In 135 AD the Roman emperor Hadrian builds on the ruins of Jerusalem a new Roman city and names it Aelia Capitolina and permits the Christians to come back. However the Jewish are not permitted to come in town (The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem. http://www.holylight.gr/patria/enpatria.html viewed 11/30/07)

But the Church of Ælia Capitolina was very differently constituted from the Church of Pella and the Church of Jerusalem ... not a few doubtless accepted the conqueror’s terms, content to live henceforth as Gentiles ... in the new city of Hadrian. But there were others who hung to the law of their forefathers ... (Lightfoot, Joseph Barber.  Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians: A Revised Text with Introduction, Notes and Dissertations. Published by Macmillan, 1881. Original from Harvard University. Digitized Oct 16, 2006, pp. 317,)

The quote from The Catholic Encyclopedia demonstrates that even Roman Catholic scholars understand that no real apostolic succession occurred after Hadrian’s takeover of Jerusalem during the 2nd century (more on apostolic succession can be found in the free online book: Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession?).

Notice the statement from the Greek Orthodox that “the Jewish are not permitted to come in to town.” That is correct, but only in a limited sense. It was not just the Jews; it was also those who kept “Jewish” (biblical) practices like Passover on the 14th that were not permitted to come into Jerusalem after its 135 A.D. takeover. Since Passover was such a major Jewish holiday, this was something that the Roman authorities no longer would permit to happen at Passover time.

Should real Christians have changed because a pagan Roman emperor was against biblical observances?

Obviously not!

By this time there were two groups in Jerusalem, the faithful Christians and others who were not.

The Church in Pella had faithful Christians, and the group known sometimes as Nazarenes claimed to have been in Pella. But they, who returned to Jerusalem after Pella, had to leave Jerusalem, then renamed Alia Capitolina, as they would not compromise.

Notice what the historian E. Gibbon reported:

The emperor founded, under the name of Alia Capitolina, a new city on Mount Sion, to which he gave the privileges of a colony; and denouncing the severest penalties against any of the Jewish people who should dare to approach its precincts, he fixed a vigilant garrison of a Roman cohort to enforce the execution of his orders. The Nazarenes had only one way left to escape the common proscription, and the force of truth was on this occasion assisted by the influence of temporal advantages.

They elected Marcus for their bishop, a prelate of the race of the Gentiles, and most probably a native either of Italy or of some of the Latin provinces. At his persuasion the most considerable part of the congregation renounced the Mosaic law, in the practice of which they had persevered above a century. By this sacrifice of their habits and prejudices they purchased a free admission into the colony of Hadrian...

When the name and honours of the church of Jerusalem had been restored to Mount Sion the crimes of heresy and schism were imputed to the obscure remnant of the Nazarenes which refused to accompany their Latin bishop. (Gibbon E. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume I. ca. 1776-1788. The Modern Library, NY, pp. 389-391)

The Nazarenes would not accept a Latin who advocated heresies ,Marcus of Jerusalem, as a faithful Christian leader. He failed to meet biblical criteria (Jude 3), but instead did things that Jesus (Matthew 7:15-22) and Jude warned against (Jude 4-12).

Samuele Bacchiocchi noted that the change to Easter-Sunday from Passover and to a weekly Sunday church service was due to persecution (the new Gentile hierarchy he is referring to are Greek and/or Latin bishops in Jerusalem, which took over after the rebellion was crushed):

The actual introduction of Easter-Sunday appears to have occurred earlier in Palestine after Emperor Hadrian ruthlessly crushed the Barkokeba revolt (A.D. 132-135) ...

The fact that the Passover controversy arose when Emperor Hadrian adopted new repressive measures against Jewish religious practices suggests that such measures influenced the new Gentile hierarchy to change the date of Passover from Nisan 14 to the following Sunday (Easter-Sunday) in order to show separation and differentiation from the Jews and the Jewish Christians ...

A whole body of Against the Jews literature was produced by leading Fathers who defamed the Jews as a people and emptied their religious beliefs and practices of any historical value. Two major causalities of the anti-Jewish campaign were Sabbath and Passover. The Sabbath was changed to Sunday and Passover was transferred to Easter-Sunday.

Scholars usually recognize the anti-Judaic motivation for the repudiation of the Jewish reckoning of Passover and adoption of Easter-Sunday instead. Joachim Jeremias attributes such a development to "the inclination to break away from Judaism." In a similar vein, J.B. Lightfoot explains that Rome and Alexandria adopted Easter-Sunday to avoid "even the semblance of Judaism" (Bacchiocchi S. God's Festival in Scripture and History. Biblical Perspectives. Befriend Springs (MI), 1995, pp. 101,102,103).

J.B. Lightfoot himself specifically wrote:

... the Churches of Asia Minor ... regulated their Easter festival by the Jewish Passover without regard to the day of the week, but…those of Rome and Alexandria and Gaul observed another rule; thus avoiding even the semblance of Judaism (Lightfoot, Joseph Barber.  Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians: A Revised Text with Introduction, Notes and Dissertations. Published by Macmillan, 1881. Original from Harvard University. Digitized Oct 16, 2006, pp. 317, 331).

It is likely that if Telesphorus made this change at the time to attempt to distance himself from the Jews in Rome. If he was the one who did it, and if he thought that this would spare his life, he was wrong as he was later killed by the Roman authorities (circa 136 A.D.). On the other hand, it is perhaps more likely that Hyginus, who was also Greek decided to introduce the Passover Sunday tradition, perhaps to decrease the wrath of the anti-Jewish Roman authorities. Since Anicetus' account (see below) claimed that this practice was began by presbyters who preceded him, it would need to have been no later than the Greeks Telesphorus or Hyginus, as they were followed by Pius who was then followed by Anicetus (it probably did not originate with Sixtus as he preceded Telesphorus, he was not Greek, and he was dead circa 125 A.D.).

Notice also the following related to Pius making it binding:

Pope Pius, who lived about the year 147, had made a decree, that the annual solemnity of the pasch should be kept only on the Lord's day; and in confirmation of this he pretended, that Hermes, his brother, who was then an eminent teacher among them, had received instruction from an angel, who commanded, that all men should keep the pasch on the Lord's day. Yet, notwithstanding this, the Asiatics kept to their ancient custom … (Bingham JW. ORIGINES 49 ECCLESIASTICÆ; OR THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, Volume VII, Book XX, Chapter V. London, 1834, p. 72)

… one of the letters forged in the name of Pius, where one Hermas is mentioned as the author; and it is stated that in his book a commandment was given through an angel to observe the Passover on a Sunday. In our consideration of the authorship we may omit this third witness as not trustworthy and a bungler. (Donaldson J. A CRITICAL HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN LITERATURE AND DOCTRINE FROM THE DEATH OF THE APOSTLES TO THE NICENE COUNCIL. MACMILLAN AND CO., 1864, p. 260)

If this letter was a deliberate forgery, it was invented after Polycarp's time in an effort to lend weight to the new custom of Anicetus, bishop of Rome, who falsely maintained the Sunday observance of the eucharist. If it were not a forgery, then Pius himself was the author of this deceptive letter. ... At any rate, Sunday commenced in the church as a "pious fraud' — Satanic trickery! (Hoeh H. Why Do the Churches Observe SUNDAY? Good News, April 1957, p. 5)

(Pius died just prior to the visit of Polycarp to Rome.)

But the Easter controversy did not end here!

Within 35 years it broke out vehemently between Polycrates of Asia Minor and Victor of Rome, who attempted to "cut off whole churches of God, who observed the tradition of an ancient custom" -- the true Passover.

Here is a part of the forthright answer given by Polycrates to Victor, vindicating the truth of God:

"As for us, then, we scrupulously observe the exact day, neither adding nor taking away. For in Asia great luminaries have gone to their rest, who shall rise again in the day of the coming of the Lord ... I speak of Philip, one of the twelve apostles... John moreover, who reclined on the Lord's bosom. ... Then there is Polycarp ... these all kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in accordance with the gospel, without ever deviating from it, but keeping to the rule of faith."

This remarkable letter is preserved in VOL 8. of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, pp. 772-773.

Polycrates came from that area in which Paul spent most of his time -- in Asia Minor, near Ephesus. This is also where John spent his last days. Here there were many Christians still remaining true to the faith! (Hoeh H. Four Thousand Years of Easter. Tomorrow's World, March 1971)

Note that some Roman Catholic sources amazingly claim that Pius was the one that formally decreed the Easter/Passover Sunday idea:

Pope Pius I is given great credit in establishing customs and norms of the Church. He wrote a decree indicating that Easter should only be on a Sunday, despite whatever customs had been practiced so far. However, it was up to Pope Victor I, at the end of the century, to enforce the decree. (Booton McCoy D. Pope Saint Pius I. Catholic365.com 09/30/15 http://www.catholic365.com/article/2463/pope-saint-pius-i.html retrieved 03/21/19)

Saint Pius I was born in the State of Venice probably Aquileia. ... Several admirable decrees of his are still extant: in particular that which ordains that the Resurrection of Our Lord is always to be celebrated on a Sunday. ... He ordained by his supreme authority that, notwithstanding the contrary custom observed in certain places, the Feast of Easter should be celebrated on a Sunday throughout the entire Church. The importance of this measure and its effects upon the whole Church were emphasized during the reign of Pope St. Victor I, near the end of the same century; for it was he who enforced the decree of St. Pius.

The ancient Breviary lesson of St. Pius I made mention of the decree, attributed in the Corpus Juris to this holy Pope, concerning those who carelessly let fall any portion of the Precious Blood of Our Lord during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. (Saint Pius I, Pope, Martyr. https://reginamag.com/pope-saint-pius-i/ retrieved 03/21/19)

Pius 1 ... While he was bishop, his brother wrote a book in which he set forth the commandment which the angel of the Lord delivered to him, coming to him, in the garb of a shepherd and commanding him that the holy festival of Easter be observed on the Lord's Day.1 ...

1. There is no mention of Easter in the book of Hermas.

(The Book of the Popes Liber Pontificalis to the Pontificate of Gregory I. Translated by Louise Loomis. Reprint Evolution Publishing, 2006,, pp. 14-15)

Should Pius, if he were the one to have changed the date, changed it because his brother allegedly claimed an angel told him to?

No, not according to the Bible. The Apostle Paul wrote:

6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6-8)

Jesus' Passover date should not have been changed.

Irenaeus claimed that Anicetus of Rome (who argued with Polycarp) was following the practices previous Roman bishops, beginning with Sixtus, as Irenaeus around 180 A.D. wrote:

And the presbyters preceding Sorer in the government of the Church which thou dost now rule--I mean, Anicetus and Pius, Hyginus and Telesphorus, and Sixtus--did neither themselves observe it [after that fashion], nor permit those with them to do so (Irenaeus. FRAGMENTS FROM THE LOST WRITINGS OF IRENAEUS. Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Excerpted from Volume I of The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, editors); American Edition copyright © 1885. Electronic version copyright © 1997 by New Advent, Inc).

But because Sixtus (if he existed) was Roman and the change appeared to be a Greek one, Sixtus is not likely to have been the one to initiate a Sunday Passover.

Around 155-160 A.D. Polycarp of Smyrna went to Rome to deal with various heretics and he tried to persuade the bishop not to switch Passover to Easter Sunday. Irenaeus records this:

And when the blessed Polycarp was sojourning in Rome in the time of Anicetus, although a slight controversy had arisen among them as to certain other points ... For neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp to forego the observance [in his own way], inasmuch as these things had been always observed by John the disciple of our Lord, and by other apostles with whom he had been conversant; nor, on the other hand, could Polycarp succeed in persuading Anicetus to keep [the observance in his way], for he maintained that he was bound to adhere to the usage of the presbyters who preceded him. And in this state of affairs they held fellowship with each other; and Anicetus conceded to Polycarp in the Church the celebration of the Eucharist, by way of showing him respect (Irenaeus. FRAGMENTS FROM THE LOST WRITINGS OF IRENAEUS. Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Excerpted from Volume I of The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, editors); American Edition copyright © 1885. Electronic version copyright © 1997 by New Advent, Inc).

The Eastern Orthodox realize that Passover was originally observed at night as one of their priests has written:

Our earliest sources for the annual celebration of the Christian Pascha come to us from the second century ... The feast, however, must have originated in the apostolic period ... According to the earliest documents, Pascha is described as a nocturnal celebration ... (Calivas, Alkiviadis C. The Origins of Pascha and Great Week - Part I. Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1992. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8504 viewed 11/04/2011)

Is it not amazing that those who admit Passover was originally observed by Christians at night--like Jesus and the Apostles did--now supposedly this became an early morning observance known as Easter?

When Was Easter First Celebrated?

Since Passover was originally observed, when was Easter first celebrated by those who professed Christianity?

First, a change to Sunday happened in some areas in the second century.

Then, over time, instead of being a holy day in memorial to Christ's sacrifice, those who claimed to keep Passover on a Sunday, switched it to a resurrection holiday, commonly called Easter.

This is known by scholars:

The first Christians celebrated the death of Jesus with a Pascha meal (eucharist) on the lunar date of the Jewish Passover (note 1 Cor. 5:7-8).

At first there was no annual celebration of the resurrection. Eventually, in the gentile world, the day of resurrection was added to the Pascha festival. That day was Sunday. At the Council of Nicea (325) it was ruled that Easter Sunday would be celebrated on the Sunday immediately following that full moon which came after the vernal equinox. At the same time the Council decided that the vernal equinox would be March 21 in the Julian calendar (Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.18). (Synder GF. Irish Jesus, Roman Jesus: the formation of early Irish Christianity. Trinity Press International, 2002, p. 183)

So, for compromisers, the Passover changed. And it changed a lot. Because they held it on Sunday, some of the compromisers quickly decided to teach that Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday as partial justification (in their view) for the change. But this resulted in major changes to the observance of Passover by those who held to the Greco-Roman position.

Eusebius claims that Irenaeus observed a Sunday resurrection holiday:

11. Among them was Irenæus, who, sending letters in the name of the brethren in Gaul over whom he presided, maintained that the mystery of the resurrection of the Lord should be observed only on the Lord's day. (Eusebius, Church History, Book V, Chapter 24, verse 11)

However, in the extant writings from Irenaeus, I have only seen references to Passover and nothing about a resurrection holiday; Eusebius when he wrote more about this, also left out any reference from Irenaeus for a resurrection observance (Eusebius, Church History, Book V, Chapter 24, verses 12-17). Eusebius may have concluded that Passover and the resurrection observance were one and the same in the late 2nd century as he apparently observed both together in the 4th century.

That date and meaning change did NOT come from God.

Those who think that the compromise was only small and should have been acceptable to God should remember that the Apostle Paul warned:

7 ...Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump (Galatians 5:7-9).

Paul was warning Christians that they should not allow a little compromise with the world (apparently including arguments of friends/acquaintances) should affect them. Paul and the early Christians kept Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

They did not keep Easter.

Let me add that in my view, those who actually keep the Days of Unleavened Bread are those who better understand Galatians 5:7-9.

The Orthodox View

The Orthodox Church reports this brief explanation of the Victor controversy in one of its timelines:

193 A.D. - Council of Rome, presided over by Bishop Victor, condemns the celebration of Pascha on Nisan 14, and addresses a letter to Polycrates of Ephesus and the Churches in Asia.

193 A.D. - Council of Ephesus, presided over by Bishop Polycrates, and attended by several bishops throughout Asia, reject the authority of Victor of Rome, and keep the Asian paschal tradition (Markou, Stavros L. K. An Orthodox Christian Historical Timeline. Copyright © 2003 OrthodoxFaith.com).

So, the Eastern Orthodox realize that Polycrates was an important bishop and that he and others in Asia Minor would not accept the change.

Well, neither should the modern Eastern Orthodox or anyone else for that matter.

What Was Next?

Many decided to make the Roman/Greek change, with probably those in Alexandria the most supportive. Those in Asia Minor mainly refused to switch Passover to Sunday.

Even over a century later, there still were those, even amongst the Romans that wanted to observe Passover on the 14th of Nisan. This was distressing to Emperor Constantine and had this as an agenda item for the Council of Nicaea that he had convened in 325 A.D.:

... the emperor ... convened a council of 318 bishops ... in the city of Nicea ... They passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to the Passover that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God's holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people ... (Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section VI, Verses 1,1 and 1,3. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp.471-472). A Sunday date was selected, instead of Nisan 14 (which can fall on any day of the week).

According to Eusebius' Life of Constantine, Book III chapter 18, the Roman emperor Constantine declared:

Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Saviour a different way.

I do not recall Jesus indicating that Jews were detestable (He was a Jew: Luke 3:23-30; John 4:9-10) or that He changed the date of Passover. But apparently sungod-worshiping Constantine felt otherwise.

And that Sunday observance is now known as Easter. But an amazing historical fact is that, because sun-worshiping practices and the avoidance of practice that were considered to "Jewish," that is really why Easter is observed when it is.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

1170 At the Council of Nicea in 325, all the Churches agreed that Easter, the Christian Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon (14 Nisan) after the vernal equinox (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Imprimatur Potest +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, NY 1995, p. 332).

Notice that the Roman Catholics CLAIM that Easter is supposed to be Passover--many people do not realize that. Further, however, it needs to be understood that Constantine's and his Council's declarations did not stop everyone from properly observing Passover (it also should be noted that "all the Churches" did not agree as no bishop from any the faithful churches attended this Council--for more details see article on Passover).

Because many did not accept this Sunday decree, Emperor Constantine issued his Edict Against Heretics, which deprived some believers of their meeting places and personal property.

But even that did not persuade everybody, and a later Roman Emperor, named Theodosius, decreed the death penalty:

Edicts of Theodosius against the heretics, A.D. 380-394 ... Theodosius ... decreed that ... by the death of the offender; and the same capital punishment was inflicted on the Audians, or Quartodecimans, who should dare to perpetrate the atrocious crime of celebrating on an improper day the festival of Easter {Passover} (Gibbon E. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume III, Chapter XXVII. ca. 1776-1788).

Is killing those that followed the example of Jesus and John to observe the Passover on the 14th instead of Easter Sunday a sign of a true Christian leader or a sign of supporting antichrist?

Another Greco-Roman Catholic supporter wrote this about the Council of Nicaea a few decades later:

Three hundred Fathers or even more gathered together in the land of Bithynia and ordained this by law; yet you disdain their decrees. You must choose one of two courses: either you charge them with ignorance for their want of exact knowledge on this matter, or you charge them with cowardice because they were not ignorant, but played the hypocrite and betrayed the truth. When you do not abide by what they decreed, this is exactly the choice you must make. But all the events of the Council make it clear that they showed great wisdom and courage at that time. The article of faith they set forth at the Council show how wise they were ... At that time the whole synodal gathering, welded together from these champions, along with their definition of what Christians must believe, also passed a decree that they celebrate the paschal feast in harmony together. They refused to betray their faith in those most difficult times [of persecution]; would they sink to pretense and deceit on the question of the Easter observance? (5) Look what you do when you condemn Fathers so great, so courageous, so wise (John Chrysostom. Homily III Against the Jews, III:3,4-5. Preached at Antioch, Syria in September, 386 AD).

Well, I would say it was cowardice or something else non-biblical that got those at Constantine's Council to go along with the unbiblical position. Yet, now it is an article of faith that Roman Catholic bishops had the authority to change the scriptural date of Passover and make it an Easter celebration, even though Constantine said part of why he wanted it to have nothing in common with those he called the detestable Jewish crowd?

This was simply not the faith of the true second century Christians in Asia Minor as Polycrates testified. The last words of his response to Roman bishop Victor about changing the date of Passover to Easter Sunday were:

I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said ' We ought to obey God rather than man.' (Polycrates. Letter to Victor. As quoted by Eusebius. Church History. Book V, Chapter 24) .

So, those who held to the original faith and traditions from the Bible would not accept the change.

At least partially because of Constantine's influence, Easter can never fall on the biblical date for Passover. So, an amazing fact is that those who hold to Easter never observe the Christian Passover on the proper date. That sounds a lot of what Satan would want.

Furthermore, Constantine's comment about having nothing in common with the Jews is consistent with why another practice is associated with Easter:

Ham became popular among early Christians as part of their unifying tradition as some other religions do not eat pork or ham. (http://www.kitchendaily.com/read/easter-dinner-ideas-and-the-story-behind-traditional-easter-menu?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl35%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D289309 viewed 03/28/13)

The reality is that the compromisers who kept Easter-Sunday wanted to avoided possibly being considered Jewish or part of the faithful Christians so intentionally added eating ham as a direct insult. Yet, the Bible NEVER mentions eating ham as part of any biblical holiday and instead teaches that it should not be consumed (see The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats). Those who eat ham on Easter should ask themselves why they intentionally do something that Jesus and the apostles would not do.

Eating ham at that time was also a pagan practice.

Notice the following scriptures:

13 And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” 14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.”

16 So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.

On Easter many worship towards the east.

But , why were women weeping for Tammuz? Tammuz was gored to death by a wild boar in a hunting accident. The forty days of "weeping for Tammuz" concluded by slaughtering a wild boar representing the one that killed Tammz, and eating ham on Easter Sunday. (Rood MJ. The Pagan-Christian Connection Exposed. Bridge Logos Foundation, 2008, p. 109) 

Again, another pagan connection. The above author thinks that Emperor Constantine was behind the ham practice being adopted.

One historical item of potential support for that was the Constantine degreed the death penalty against Christians in Jerusalem if they would not eat pork (Bagatti, Bellarmino.  Translated by Eugene Hoade.  The Church from the Circumcision. Nihil obstat: Marcus Adinolfi, 13 Maii 1970. Imprimi potest: Herminius Roncari, 14 Junii 1970. Imprimatur: +Albertus Gori, die 26 Junii 1970.  Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem, 1971, pp. 13-14).

Easter is Not a Biblical Nor Christian Term

Other than Teutonic languages like English and German, most other languages use some version of the word "Passover," like "pascha," to describe their observances.

Easter itself is not a Christian term but comes from paganism:

The English term, according to the Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v), relates to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring, which deity... Anglo-Saxon, eâster, eâstron; Old High German, ôstra, ôstrara, ôstrarûn; German, Ostern. April was called easter-monadh. (Holweck F. G. Transcribed by John Wagner and Michael T. Barrett. Easter. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V. Copyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York)

Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated ''Paschal month'', and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old time observance. (Bede, originally c. 8th century. The Reckoning of Time. Liverpool University Press, 1999, p. 54)

Ostara (sometimes spelled Eostara or Eostre) is named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring. Her sacred symbols are eggs and hares. Not surprisingly, She's a Maiden Goddess rather than a Mother or a Crone. (O'Gaea, Ashleen. Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Samhain to Ostara: Lore, Rituals, Activities, and Symbols. Career Press, 2004, p. 149)

ISHTAR was one of the most prominent of the deities of the Accadian and Assyrian Pantheon. Se was the Assyrian goddess of Love. She was the ... Ashtoreth of the Jews or Hebrews. She is the planetary Venus, and in general features corresponds with the classical goddess of Love. Her name Ishtar is that by which she was known in Assyria, and the same name prevailed, with slight modifications, among the Semite nations generally. In Babylonia the goddess was known as Nana ...

She may be identified with Eostre of the Germans, or Easter. To this goddess our Saxon or German ancestors sacrificed in April, which was therefore by them styled ... Eostur-monath, and from thence arose our word Easter, which the Saxons retained after their conversion to Christianity, so that our Easter-day is nothing more nor less than Ishtar's day ... The name became attached by association of ideas to the Christian festival of the Resurrection (of Christ), which happened at the time of the passover ... The English name Easter, and the German Ostern, are derived from the name of the Teutonic goddess Ostera (Anglo-Saxon Eostre), whose festival was celebrated by the ancient Saxons with peculiar solemnities in the month of April; and for which, as in many other instances, the first Romish missionaries substituted the paschal feast." The Council of Nice "ordained (A.D. 325) that it should be kept always on a Sunday." Thus we find that it was originally the festival of Ishtar, and occurred on the Sabatu of Elul, or the festival Sabbath of the Assyrians, which occurred in August or harvest time; and that it afterwards became united with the passover or paschal feast of the Jews, and finally adopted by the Christian Church as the Easter Sabbath, changing the date to the spring or seed time, or in April from the harvest month or August. Among the Assyrians it was the feast day of Ishtar and Nergal...

The Phoenician name of Ishtar was Astarte, the later Mendaean form of which was Ashtar. She was called Jeremiah, "the queen of heaven," Jer. vii, 18, and xliv. 17-25 ... she was sometimes called "the goddess of the chase," corresponding to Diana as well as Venus, the goddess of love. Mr. George Rawlinson says: "The worship of Ishtar was widespread, and her shrines were numerous. She is often called the "queen of Babylon" ... It may be suspected that her symbol was the naked female form ... (Hamilton LLC note. Ishtar and Izdubar, the epic of Babylon; or, The Babylonian goddess of love and the hero and warrior king, restored in mod. verse by L.L.C. Hamilton. 1884 Original from Oxford University Digitized Jun 19, 2007, pp. 207-208)

Paganism ... it was precisely in these cults that the worst perversions existed. Ishtar, Astarte, and Cybele had their male and female prostitutes, their Galli: Josiah had to cleanse the temple of Yahweh of their booths (cf. the Qedishim and Kelabim, Deuteronomy 23:17; 2 Samuel 23:7; cf. 1 Samuel 14:24; 15:12), and even in the Greek world, where prostitution was not else regarded as religious, Eryx and Corinth at least were contaminated by Semitic influence, which Greece could not correct. (Martindale, Cyril Charles. "Paganism." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Feb. 2014 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm>)

Ishtar is pronounced about the same as the English term Easter. Perhaps it should be mentioned that there was an Ishtar gate in ancient Babylon, hence there are a variety of connections between paganism/Babylon and Easter.

Some time back, a Roman Catholic writer posted something online to the effect that Ishtar was not Easter. Yet, not only could he not prove that, he neglected to consider the connections to another pagan goddess: Eostre.

Additionally, some “fact checkers,” make similar claims related to Ishtar and Easter (e.g. https://factcheck.afp.com/easter-not-derived-name-ancient-mesopotamian-goddess). Another source claimed that the connection is taught by "faux historians" (phoney ones). One even tried to claim the connection did not arise until in was in Alexander Hislop's 19th century book The Two Babylons, hinting that Hislop originated any type of pagan connection to Easter. Yet, that source and most other deniers I have run across failed to provide proof and also failed to cite the 8th century report from the Roman Catholic historian monk Bede who tied the name in with a pagan goddess--who was, or at least had ties with, Ishtar. Many do not want people to understand that full truth about Easter.

That being said, some have stated that instead of Ishtar, ‘Easter’ was more directly-derived from the pagan-German goddess Eostre/Ostara--those are the names that Bede directly used. Eostre was the ‘bringer of light’ or the dawn, and is sometimes called ‘the queen of heaven.’ She was the goddess of the dawn. Her sacrifice was celebrated each Spring. This would tend to explain why people who keep Easter do so in the early morning as opposed to after sunset like the Passover was kept.

In Northern Europe, Easter imagery often involves hares and rabbits. The first scholar to make a connection between the goddess Eostre and hares was Adolf Holtzmann in his book Deutsche Mythologie. Holtzmann wrote of the tradition, “the Easter Hare is inexplicable to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara; just as there is a hare on the statue of Abnoba.” Citing folk Easter customs in Leicestershire, England where “the profits of the land called Harecrop Leys were applied to providing a meal which was thrown on the ground at the ‘Hare-pie Bank'”, late 19th-century scholar Charles Isaac Elton speculated on a connection between these customs and the worship of Ēostre. (Ēostre. Wikipedia, accessed 03/01/20

Here is something from the Smithsonian:

April 14, 2022

Easter is a celebration of spring and new life. Eggs and flowers are rather obvious symbols of female fertility, but in European traditions, the bunny, with its amazing reproductive potential, is not far behind. ...

Bede noted that in eighth-century England, the month of April was called Eosturmonath, or Eostre Month, after the goddess Eostre. He wrote that a pagan festival of spring in the name of the goddess had become assimilated into the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

While most European languages refer to the Christian holiday with names that come from the Jewish holiday of Passover, such as Pâques in French or Påsk in Swedish, German and English languages retain this older, non-biblical word: Easter.

Recent archaeological research appears to confirm the worship of Eostre in parts of England and Germany, with the hare as her main symbol. The Easter bunny therefore seems to recall these pre-Christian celebrations of spring, heralded by the vernal equinox and personified by the goddess Eostre. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-ancient-origins-of-the-easter-bunny-180979915/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Whether of mot the name originally came from a Babylonian goddess, a later German one, or some other source, ‘Easter’ is not a biblical term, Furthermore, there is no denying that aspects of both pagan goddesses are part of many Easter celebrations.

Basically, the adoption of Easter was the result of compromise with paganism. Some aspects of the adoption of its non-biblical symbols has been obscured, but some legends may cast some information about it.

Another writer who denied any Ishtar connection asked, even it it was true, why does that matter? Well, according to Jesus:

23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24)

Furthermore, the Apostle Paul warned in 1 Corinthians 10:19-21 about combining demonic/pagan elements with Passover. Yet, that is precisedly what Easter does.

Here is one legend about the Easter egg and Easter:

According to ancient Babylonian legend, it is claimed that Ishtar caused the fish-goddess Atargatis to cause a great egg to fall in the Euphrates river where fish pushed it to shore and Semĩramis was miraculously born. The Easter egg - Ishtar egg - does not represent the stone rolled away from the tomb like the medieval church said it did...

The English word “Easter,” however, corresponding to the German Oster, reveals Christianity’s indebtedness to the Teutonic tribes of Central Europe. Christianity, when it reached the Teutons, incorporated in its celebration of the great Christian feast day many of the heathen rites and customs which accompanied their observance of the spring festival. That the festival of the resurrection occurred in the spring, that it celebrated the triumph of life over death, made it easy for the church to identify with this occasion the most joyous festival of the Teutons, held in honor of the death of winter, the birth of a new year and the return of the sun. (Deschesne D. Ishtar The Origin of the Easter Tradition. Fort Fairfield Journal ı April 12, 2006, p. 9)

Notice another view about Easter eggs:

According to Babylonian legend, a huge egg fell from heaven, landing in the Euphrates river. The goddess Ishtar broke out of this egg. Later the feature of "egg nesting" was introduced--a nest were the egg could be incubated until it hatched. A “wicker” or reed basket was used to nest the Ishtar egg (hence the Easter egg basket.)

The Easter egg hunt is based on the notion that if anyone found Ishtar's egg while she was being “reborn,”she would bestow a blessing upon that lucky person. Because this was a joyous Spring festival, eggs were colored in bright Spring (pastel) colors.

The Easter Bunny. Among the Celts, custom dictated that "the goddess" totem would lay eggs for the good children to eat...Eostre's hare was the shape that the Celts imagined on the surface of the full moon...

Since Ishtar or Eostre, was a goddess of fertility--and because rabbits procreate quickly--the rabbit became associated with the sexual act, and the egg became a symbol of "birth" and "renewal." (Chapman TL. God's Law of Love: The Perfect Law of Liberty Jehovah's Ten Commands Still Apply Today. iUniverse, 2010, p. 133)

As there are various legends (including the idea that Ishtar was reborn every Spring from an egg) and ideas, the reality is that the Easter egg has a non-Christian origin. Some have claimed that the Greco-Romans adopted the colored egg because some associated with them in Mesopotamia stained eggs red supposedly to symbolize Jesus' blood--but the Bible uses wine as a symbol of Christ's blood (Matthew 26:27-29; Luke 22:20), not colored eggs.

The Catholic Encyclopedia makes various claims and admissions about Easter:

Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. Leo I (Sermo xlvii in Exodum) calls it the greatest feast (festum festorum), and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter...The connection between the Jewish and the Christian Pasch explains the movable character of this feast. Easter has no fixed date, like Christmas, because the 15th of Nisan of the Semitic calendar was shifting from date to date on the Julian calendar. Since Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, had been slain on the very day when the Jews, in celebration of their Passover, immolated the figurative lamb, the Jewish Christians in the Orient followed the Jewish method ... For this observance they claimed the authority of St. John and St. Philip.

In the rest of the empire another consideration predominated. Every Sunday of the year was a commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ... Because the Sunday after 14 Nisan was the historical day of the Resurrection, at Rome this Sunday became the Christian feast of Easter...

Easter eggs

... The symbolic meaning of a new creation of mankind by Jesus risen from the dead was probably an invention of later times. The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring...

The Easter rabbit

The Easter Rabbit lays the eggs, for which reason they are hidden in a nest or in the garden. The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility (Simrock, Mythologie, 551)...

Men and women

On Easter Monday the women had a right to strike their husbands, on Tuesday the men struck their wives... In the Neumark (Germany) on Easter Day the men servants whip the maid servants with switches; on Monday the maids whip the men. They secure their release with Easter eggs. These customs are probably of pre-Christian origin (Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Das festliche Jahr, 118).

The Easter fire

The Easter Fire is lit on the top of mountains (Easter mountain, Osterberg) and must be kindled from new fire, drawn from wood by friction (nodfyr); this is a custom of pagan origin in vogue all over Europe, signifying the victory of spring over winter. The bishops issued severe edicts against the sacrilegious Easter fires (Conc. Germanicum, a. 742, c.v.; Council of Lestines, a. 743, n. 15), but did not succeed in abolishing them everywhere. The Church adopted the observance into the Easter ceremonies...

(Holweck F. G. Transcribed by John Wagner and Michael T. Barrett. Easter. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V. Copyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York).

Thus, the Romans admit that the name Easter is the name of a pagan goddess, many of its practices are of pagan origin, and that the churches in Asia Minor (which they call the Orient) continued to observe Passover on the date that the Jews did, Nisan 14.

The Church of Rome adopted many of the customs of Easter, and considered the eggs as the emblem of the resurrection. Notice the prayer blessing of Pope Paul V, about 1610, on Easter eggs, which, in English, reads thus:

"Bless, O Lord! we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to thee on account of the resurrection of the Lord." (Easter Eggs. Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 5, T.B. Noonan, 1881. Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison Digitized Jul 10, 2009, p. 558)

But the Bible gives no such teachings about the use of eggs.

Easter was not just a sunrise goddess:

Ishtar, she was both fertility and a war goddess. ... Easter or Astarte is in effect the same worship of an old Babylonian sex cult instituted by Semiramis the warrior queen who had a lust for blood (Kush H. Faces of the Hamitic People. Xlibris Corporation, 2010, p. 164)

Ishtar was seen as the personification of the planet Venus, and together with Shamash, the sun god, and Sin, the moon god, she formed an astral triad. (Littleton CS. Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology, Volume 6. Marshall Cavendish, 2005 p. 760)

So, Ishtar/Easter essentially was a warring sex/fertility goddess and her name suggests that lust (sexual and/or for membership) was behind much associated with Easter. The vast consumption of candy in most cultures associated with Easter suggests that perhaps lust is still a factor about the holiday today.

The Bible itself also condemns certain practices, now associated with Easter, such as hot Easter buns/cakes (Jeremiah 7:18), the worship towards the sun in the east (Ezekiel 8:15-18), and the worship of Astarte/Ishtar/Ashtaroth (other spellings of the word Easter).

Even Protestant commentaries note that:

Jeremiah 7 ... Cakes to the queen of heaven (v. 18). Probably a reference to the Babylonian fertility-goddess Ishtar, goddess of the planet Venus (from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press).

Jeremiah 7... What the sin is with which they are here charged-it is idolatry, v. 18. Their idolatrous respects are paid to the queen of heaven, the moon, either in an image or in the original, or both. They worshipped it probably under the name of Ashtaroth, or some other of their goddesses (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.).

Thus, both Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars acknowledge that Easter/Ishtar/Ashtaroth worship contains pagan elements.

Notice what the Encyclopedia Britannica stated in 1910:

There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers ... The first Christians continued to observe the Jewish festivals, though in a new spirit, as commemorations of events which those festivals had foreshadowed. Thus the Passover, with a new conception added to it of Christ as the true Paschal Lamb and the first fruits from the dead, continued to be observed (Easter. In: The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information Edition: 11 Published by Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1910 Item notes: v. 8 Original from Harvard University Digitized Jul 24, 2008, p. 828).

The biblical Passover has to do with the Lamb of God being killed for our sins--and early Christians kept that, not Easter.

The Easter festival is full of syncretism. It has combined many customs of heathen/pagan/demonic origin with the Christian faith. Hear what Paul warned about this type of practice:

19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:19-21)

(More on the above can be found in the article Marcus, the Marcosians, & Mithraism: Developers of the Eucharist?)

Easter, which is named after the pagan goddess Ishtar/Astarte/Eostre, has to do with a fertility festival involving rabbits and looking to the east in early morning as pagans did. Those who actually keep Passover can have a much better understanding of the plan of God than those who follow supposedly "Christianized" pagan holidays.

What Do Rabbits Have to Do With It?

Rabbits are highly involved with Easter celebrations. In the USA, people often buy bunnies for their children, which according to various news articles causes problems as many of the children are not actually capable and willing to actually take care of them.

But that is beside the point.

The point is that rabbits are not mentioned directly or indirectly in the New Testament. Since they are not mentioned, there is no way that they were intended by God to specifically be part of Christian celebrations.

As mentioned earlier, The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the "Easter Rabbit ... The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility."

Here are more details about that from Roger Meyers:

Just where did the Easter Bunny come from?...

Unut was the Egyptian hare goddess (though she was originally depicted as a snake). Sculptures were discovered in the Men-Kau-Re Valley temple in Egypt which depicted King Men-Kau-Re (grandson of Khufu), the goddess Hathor (the celestial mother of the sun calf), and Hermopolite, or the hare nome, wearing the hare standard. Upper Egyptian nomes, or provinces, were usually represented in the form of a standard. There is an Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for the hare. The Egyptian word for hare was un which meant “to open” or “the opener.” The hare symbol may have been used for the word “to open” because a hare is born with its eyes open. The hare symbolized the opening of the new year and the beginning of new life in the spring at the vernal equinox.

The mythology of ancient people spread all over the world. The Saxon goddess Eostre is synonymous with the Phoenician goddess Astarte, goddess of the moon and the measurer of time. Associating the hare with the moon is thought to be related to the hare’s gestation period of one month, and to the hare’s nocturnal feeding. The association of rabbits and the moon can be found all over the world. In China, figures of hares are commonly found at Chinese moon festivals, where they represent fertility. The “hare in the moon” is far more prevalent than the “man in the moon.”

In ancient Anglo-Saxon myth, the goddess Eostre/Ostara/Astarte, etc., is associated with the spring and fertility, the moon, and also personifiies greeting the rising sun. To amuse children, Eostre changed her pet bird into a hare that layed brightly colored eggs which the goddess gave to the children. Saxons held the pagan festival for Eostra on the vernal equinox, the beginning of spring.

The Easter Bunny came to America in the 1700s by immigrants from Germany where it had been called “Osterhase” – Oster or Oschter being German for Easter (derived from Eostra, Ishtar, etc.), and hase being the German word for hare. (Meyers R. Easter Bunny or Eostre Hare. Commentary, April 19, 2011)

So, it should be clear that rabbits have to do with pagan traditions, not biblical ones. And, if we go back to the Old Testament, the only references to rabbits are that they are unclean and should not be eaten:

6 the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 7 and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you. (Leviticus 11:6-8, NKJV)

7 But of them that chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, you shall not eat, such as the camel, the hare, and the cherogril: because they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, they shall be unclean to you. 8 The swine also, because it divideth the hoof, but cheweth not the cud, shall be unclean, their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. (Deuteronomy 14:7-8, Douay-Rheims).

Notice that the only two passages from the Old Testament that mention hares (a type of rabbit) state that they are unclean and that there carcasses are not even to be touched (for more information on unclean animals and Christianity, please see The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats.). The exalting of rabbits on a day supposedly to celebrate Jesus makes no sense from a biblical perspective--it clearly came from pagan influence.

There is simply nothing in the Bible that hints that rabbits should be part of celebrations for those who wish to follow God.

Was There Any Type of Early Sunday Observance? Wave Sheaf Sunday?

Now was there any actual Christian observance the Sunday after Passover?

Perhaps.

The late Ronald Dart of Christian Education Ministries claimed that there was a Jewish/Christian observance on the Sunday after the Passover crucifixion:

On the evening after the Sabbath was over, the very first sheaf of grain of the early harvest was cut from the ground. It was prepared that night by threshing the barley from the chaff and then parching it over a fire. The next morning, the priest lifted an omer of the grain to God as the presentation of the firstfruits of the harvest. Now, compare this to Christian theology of the resurrection.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

It is clear enough that, in referring to “Christ the firstfruits, Paul is referring directly to that first sheaf offered on the morning after the Sabbath by the priest. His wording leaves no room for doubt. James will refer to this as well: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18). What we see here is Christ as the first of the firstfruits in the resurrection, with the remainder of the firstfruits to follow at his coming.

So this particular Sunday was important to both Jews and Christians. To Jews, it was the day of the offering of the firstfruits, the first day of the seven weeks to the Feast of Firstfruits. To Christians, it was the morning of Jesus’ presentation to the Father and of his first appearances to his disciples after his resurrection from the dead. And it was the first day of the seven weeks to Pentecost.

For the first Christians, the symbolism of the Jewish observance was seen to point directly to Christ. The connection was clear and strong from the start. The early church had not adopted a calendar different from that of the Jewish majority in the first century, the calendar was crucial, because it defined the time of observance of the feasts. There is not a word in the New Testament to suggest any change from the Jewish observance…so the comparison between liturgy and events was, to them, even more apparent. …

It was, for want of a better term, “wave sheaf Sunday” (Dart R. From Passover to Easter. April 12, 2006).

I wish Ron Dart would have provided a citation from early literature to support his claim–but whether or not early Christians observed “wave sheaf Sunday,” none were observing anything resembling modern Easter.

But I was able to find that in the fourth century, this wave-sheaf was alluded to in a song by a Greco-Catholic supporter called Ephraem Syrus who died 373 A.D.:

A wave-sheaf of words offer unto Him from thine imagination, hymns also as first-fruits, and send up clustered hymns thy tongue hath culled (Ephraem Syrus. AD CLERUM: ON SPEAKING OF The DIVINE MYSTERIES).

Now, Jesus was involved as the fulfillment of the wave sheaf.

What professing Christians often seem to forget is that the Bible shows that Jesus ascended to the Father on the Sunday after the Passover the year He was crucified.

The children of Israel observed something called the wave sheaf offering:

4 ‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times

5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.

6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. (Leviticus 23:4-12)

This date was also used to count 50, to get to the date for Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-16). The wave-sheaf offering occurred on a Sunday after the Passover and during the Days of Unleavened Bread and was used to count until the day of Pentecost, the feast of first fruits (more on the meaning of the wave-sheaf and its connection to firstfruits is included in the article Pentecost: Is It More Than Acts 2?). Since it is not called a Feast or holy convocation in the Bible, though acknowledged by groups like the Continuing Church of God, it is not separately kept in groups like the Continuing Church of God (see also How to Keep God’s Festivals). But the date is still used to help calculate Pentecost and is included in the Days of Unleavened Bread, which groups like the Continuing Church of God observe.

Anyway, on the Sunday after His last Passover and His resurrection, the New Testament Jesus offered Himself as the wave sheaf to the Father.

The Roman Catholic and Protestant date for Easter often is on wave sheaf Sunday.

To prove this, consider the following passages of scripture, which also shows something that did happen on a Sunday:

1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early …

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” (John 20:1, 16-17)

9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. (Matthew 28:9)

What professing Christians often seem to forget is that the Bible shows that Jesus ascended to the Father on the Sunday after the Passover the year He was crucified. And that, but not Easter, may have been observed by some Christians.

Easter Sunday is Supposedly THE ROMAN 14th

For those of you who are not Roman Catholic, and even for those of you who are, do you realize that when you observe Easter when you do that you are supposedly observing the resurrection on a date based upon when Passover is supposed to fall? You ARE NOT keeping the wave sheaf Sunday. FURTHERMORE, JESUS DID NOT DIE AND GET RESURRECTED THE SAME DAY! THE WHOLE IDEA IS PREPOSTEROUS BUT THAT IS WHAT MANY UNKNOWINGLY ARE GOING ALONG WIT!

And for you non-Roman Catholics, do you realize that when you observe Easter when you do that you are clearly accepting the authority of the Roman Church for that date?

In addition to what the Roman leaders declared in the second to fourth centuries which was mentioned previously, the writing from the Roman Catholic supporting Epiphanius may be of interest here. Epiphanius wrote:

The Quartodecimans contentiously keep Passover on the one day, once per year ... They keep the Passover on whichever day the fourteenth of the month falls ... Christ had to be slain on the fourteenth of the month in accordance with the law (Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section IV, Verses 1,3;1,6;2,6. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp. 23-25).

It is of interest to note that Epiphanius recognized that Jesus HAD to be slain on the 14th of the month. It is sad that he and others did not believe they needed to observe it when and how Jesus taught.

But you may be saying to yourself, so what? What does that have to do with Easter Sunday? Well in order to try to justify the Sunday observance, that noted Roman Catholic leader claimed the following:

We observe the fourteenth day, then, but we wait until after the equinox and bring the end of our full observance to the sacred Lord's day ... we will miss no one of the observances of this life-giving <festival> of the Passover as the whole truth prescribes them (Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section IV, Verses 3,4. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, p. 25).

Now this should cause major concern for people who observe Easter Sunday.

First, it truly is supposed to be some type of Passover observation. Thus this holiday really is supposed to have its "Jewish" name, instead of the pagan one it now is commonly called in English and German.

Second, Epiphanius is admitting that none of the Passover observances are to be missed. So why don't Protestants, Orthodox, and Roman Catholics wash feet? Why do they generally not take wine as part of their observances?

Thirdly, any who observe Easter Sunday are truly submitting to the authority of the Roman Church as this change of date, emphasis, and observation is due to the decisions of Roman Catholic supporting leaders--it in no way comes from the Bible.

I should also add here that Sunday IS NOT the Lord's day according to the Bible (an article of related interest may be Is Revelation 1:10 talking about Sunday or the Day of the Lord?).

Furthermore, contrary to the insistence of many who rely on a misunderstanding of the Bible and/or traditions of men, another amazing fact about Easter is that Jesus was not and could not have been resurrected on a Sunday. Jesus was raised from the dead on a Sautrday afternoon and left the tomb Saturday evening. For biblical and historical proof, please read the article What Happened in the Crucifixion Week?

Furthermore, even though the Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox observe Sunday, the Orthodox use a calendar calculation more based upon the Bible than the Roman Catholics and Protestants do. Notice why:

Montreal's Eastern Orthodox Christian community - Greeks, Ukrainians, Russians, Serbians, Armenians and Romanians - is observing Holy Week ... There are 11 major Orthodox churches in Montreal, serving about 100,000 people. The differences among them are ethnic or linguistic, not theological.

The spiritual focus today is one of quiet mourning, solemn meditation and strict fasting, recalling Jesus's entombment.

Pascha, or Easter, will be celebrated after midnight tonight.

The two Christian communities - Orthodox and Western rite - observe Easter vigils on different dates because they follow different calendars.

Orthodox churches rely on lunar cycles to fix the date for Easter. The rest of the Christian world accepts the Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.

(Eastern Orthodox faithful celebrate Easter tomorrow. The Gazette, Montreal - April 26, 2008. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=db21a78e-edc1-408d-bbd8-3ea9aa570086).

Hence, Protestants are truly accepting a late date, one finalized by a pope after the Reformation!

As far as the resurrection not being on Sunday and other events around the time of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection--and the views of certain Protestant scholars who agree that Jesus was not resurrected on Sunday, please see the article What Happened in the Crucifixion Week?

More on Easter's Pagan Roots

Even secular sources are aware that Easter has many pagan practices:

The pagan roots of Easter

From Ishtar to Eostre, the roots of the resurrection story go deep. We should embrace the pagan symbolism of Easter

The Guardian, UK - April 3, 2010     by Heather McDougall

Easter is a pagan festival. If Easter isn't really about Jesus, then what is it about? Today, we see a secular culture celebrating the spring equinox, whilst religious culture celebrates the resurrection. However, early Christianity made a pragmatic acceptance of ancient pagan practises, most of which we enjoy today at Easter. The general symbolic story of the death of the son (sun) on a cross (the constellation of the Southern Cross) and his rebirth, overcoming the powers of darkness, was a well worn story in the ancient world. There were plenty of parallel, rival resurrected saviours too.

The Sumerian goddess Inanna, or Ishtar, was hung naked on a stake, and was subsequently resurrected and ascended from the underworld. One of the oldest resurrection myths is Egyptian Horus. Born on 25 December, Horus and his damaged eye became symbols of life and rebirth. Mithras was born on what we now call Christmas day, and his followers celebrated the spring equinox. Even as late as the 4th century AD, the sol invictus, associated with Mithras, was the last great pagan cult the church had to overcome. Dionysus was a divine child, resurrected by his grandmother. Dionysus also brought his mum, Semele, back to life.

In an ironic twist, the Cybele cult flourished on today's Vatican Hill. Cybele's lover Attis, was born of a virgin, died and was reborn annually. This spring festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday, rising to a crescendo after three days, in rejoicing over the resurrection ...

What is interesting to note here is that in the ancient world, wherever you had popular resurrected god myths, Christianity found lots of converts. So, eventually Christianity came to an accommodation with the pagan Spring festival. Although we see no celebration of Easter in the New Testament,...today many churches are offering "sunrise services" at Easter – an obvious pagan solar celebration...

All the fun things about Easter are pagan. Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of Eostre, a great northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. Exchange of eggs is an ancient custom, celebrated by many cultures. Hot cross buns are very ancient too. In the Old Testament we see the Israelites baking sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders trying to put a stop to it. The early church clergy also tried to put a stop to sacred cakes being baked at Easter. In the end, in the face of defiant cake-baking pagan women, they gave up and blessed the cake instead.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/03/easter-pagan-symbolism

So, as the above indicates, Easter is pagan and items such as hot cross bun cakes where allowed as a result of compromise. Notice also the following related to the hot cross buns:

Traditionally served on Good Friday in England, hot cross buns have a long history that dates back to the ancient Egyptians and Grecians who decorated their buns with ox horns to represent protection and rebirth. (http://www.kitchendaily.com/read/easter-dinner-ideas-and-the-story-behind-traditional-easter-menu?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl35%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D289309 viewed 03/28/13)

Thousands of year ago, God inspired the Prophet Jeremiah to write:

18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. 19 Do they provoke Me to anger?" says the Lord. "Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?" (Jeremiah 7:18-19)

Some believe that the "cakes to the queen of heaven" (also known as Ishtar) that God condemned were the same, or at least similar to, modern hot cross buns:

The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now. The "buns," known too by that identical name, were used in the worship of the queen of heaven, the goddess Easter, as early as the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens--that is, 1500 years before the Christian era. "One species of sacred bread," says Bryant, "which used to be offered to the gods, was of great antiquity, and called Boun." Diogenes Laertius, speaking of this offering being made by Empedocles, describes the chief ingredients of which it was composed, saying, "He offered one of the sacred cakes called Boun, which was made of fine flour and honey." The prophet Jeremiah takes notice of this kind of offering when he says, "The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven." *

* Jeremiah 7:18. It is from the very word here used by the prophet that the word "bun" seems to be derived. The Hebrew word, with the points, was pronounced Khavan, which in Greek became sometimes Kapan-os (PHOTIUS, Lexicon Syttoge); and, at other times, Khabon (NEANDER, in KITTO'S Biblical Cyclopoedia). The first shows how Khvan, pronounced as one syllable, would pass into the Latin panis, "bread," and the second how, in like manner, Khvon would become Bon or Bun. It is not to be overlooked that our common English word Loa has passed through a similar process of formation. In Anglo-Saxon it was Hlaf.

The hot cross buns are not now offered, but eaten, on the festival of Astarte; but this leaves no doubt as to whence they have been derived. (Hislop A. The Two Babylons, pp. 107-108).

Those who make and eat hot cross buns on Easter should ask themselves why they intentionally do something like that.

Easter has many pagan trappings:

The Saxons decorated eggs as offerings to the goddess Eostre, which is where modern Wiccans, Druids, and Christians acquired the custom. Ancient Druids also dyed eggs scarlet with furze (gorse) blossoms or madder root in honor of the sun. Hot cross buns, familiar at modern Christian Easter celebrations, are another ancient Pagan custom. The ancient Greeks decorated buns with a solar cross as offerings to the gods, as did the Saxons. Hot cross buns are often used in the cakes and wine ceremony in Wiccan Eostre celebrations. (Cuhulain K. Pagan Religions: A Handbook for Diversity Training. Marion Street Press, 2011)

Notice also the following from World Net Daily's Joseph Farah:

April 13, 2017

More than 1 billion Christians will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus this Sunday.

Who can argue with those numbers?

Some might suggest the idea of getting back to first century observations of the events of Passover week, culminating with Jesus’ rise, is a lost cause – like going against the grain of history.

Yet, more and more Christians, in rediscovering the Hebrew roots of their faith, are doing just that.

There are several good reasons for every sincere follower of Jesus to take a close look at this matter.

• One of the most serious warnings Jesus had for the religious authorities during His brief ministry was to follow the Word of God rather than the traditions of men. Read the gospels with this in mind and it’s hard to miss. It’s literally everywhere. That was the grave error of the Pharisees, as I systematically point out in my new book, “The Restitution of All Things: Israel Christians and the End of the Age.”
• When Jesus came the first time, He fulfilled the true meaning of Passover, arguably the most important holy day in the Hebrew calendar. He also fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits with His rise from the dead. This is important for His followers to understand and embrace and demonstrates conclusively that God’s covenant with Israel is far from finished. It also makes sense that Jesus will fulfill the fall feasts with His Second Coming – another important prophetic sign for believers.
• The traditional timeline for Easter makes no sense because Jesus explained He would be three days and three nights in the tomb. Tradition claims he died just before sundown on Friday and rose from the dead Sunday morning. While He was first seen by His brethren Sunday morning, He could have risen even earlier – like before the end of the Sabbath on Saturday. Jesus wouldn’t say he would be three days and three nights in the tomb if He didn’t mean it literally.
• The celebration of Easter as opposed to Passover week was a coercive change instituted by Constantine, the Roman emperor, a lifelong sun worshiper.
• Easter has all kinds of pagan origins tied to sun worship.

For all these reasons and more, a healthy understanding of the Jewishness of Jesus is of paramount importance to understanding all He accomplished with His death and resurrection.

t would seem that if Passover and the other feasts were good enough for Jesus and His first century apostles and disciples, they would be good enough for today’s Christians. I know Easter has been a predominant tradition in the church 1,700 years – but why?

I would encourage Bible-based believers to consider this question. http://www.wnd.com/2017/04/easter-or-passover-whats-best-for-christians/#b6qBViivZiAay32t.99

I too encourage any who claim to believe the Bible to look into Easter vs. Passover.

Early Christians simply did not keep Easter or anything like it. They did keep Passover--and that was at night, not in the morning.

Odd Medieval Roman Catholic Easter Claims

The medieval historian and Roman Catholic Priest Bede (also known as “the Venerable Bede”) recorded from a Roman Catholic Abbot named Wilfrid, who was trying to justify near the beginning of the 8th century why it was acceptable to not follow the Apostle John’s practices regarding Passover:

Far be it from me to charge John with foolishness: he literally observed the decrees of the Mosaic law when the Church was still Jewish in many respects, at a time when the apostles were unable to bring a sudden end to that law which God ordained ... They feared, of course, that they might make a stumbling block for the Jewish proselytes ...

So John, in accordance with the custom of the law, began the celebration of Easter Day in the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month, regardless of whether it fell on the sabbath or any other day. But when Peter preached at Rome, remembering that the Lord rose from the dead and brought to the world the hope of the resurrection on the first day of the week ... he always waited for the rising of the moon on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month in accordance with the customs and precepts of the law as John did, he proceeded to celebrate Easter as we are accustomed to do at this present time. But if the Lord’s day was due, he waited for it, and began the holy Easter ceremonies the night before, that is on Saturday evening; so it came about that Easter Sunday was kept only between the fifteenth day of the moon and the twenty-first. So this evangelical and apostolic tradition does not abolish the law, but fulfills it, by ordering the observance of Easter from the evening of the fourteenth day of the moon in the first month up to the twenty-first day of the moon in the same month. All the followers of St. John in Asia since his death and also the whole church throughout the world have followed this observance. That this is the true Easter and that this alone must be celebrated ... (Bede. Edited by Judith McClure and Roger Collins. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Oxford University Press, NY, 1999, pp 156-157)

Does that make any sense?

Let’s look at the facts:

1. It is admitted that John and the early Church was fairly Jewish in their practices.
2. The Apostle John said to keep the original teachings and practices and not to be deceived by those who would not abide in them (1 John 2:18-26).
3. It is admitted that keeping Passover on the 14th was a practice of the Apostle John.
4. While Jesus was resurrected by Saturday evening, there is no known early document (such as prior to the 3rd century) that states that Peter changed the Passover observance (a time to proclaim “the Lord’s death” per the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:26) from the 14th of Nisan to a Saturday evening observance.
5. Abbot Wilfrid is arguing that Peter began a Passover service on Saturday night which is why Easter on Sunday morning is now kept.
6. The New Testament is clear that the Apostle John, who Abbot Wilfrid admits kept Passover on the 14th, was often with the Apostle Peter after the resurrection (Acts 3:1-11; 4:13; 8:14; Galatians 2:9) and perhaps even to the time that Peter died (cf. 2 Peter 1:14-15).  Does anyone actually think that John and Peter, who were often together, kept differing dates?
7. Most who now observe Easter Sunday do so during Sunday morning, yet as a resurrection holiday, not as a commemoration of Passover.
8. All those who followed John’s practices, for at least one hundred years after his death in Asia Minor, stated that they did keep Passover on the 14th and not on a Sunday (Eusebius.  The History of the Church, Book V, Chapter XXIV, Verse 6, p. 114). So how could Abbot Wilfrid argue that they kept the same practice as the Romans who chose Sunday?
9. Abbot Wilfrid admits that John followed the Bible in his own practice, but that somehow Peter allegedly made up a tradition that he did not learn from Jesus or the Bible. There is no verse in the Bible that states Passover should be observed on a Sunday. Abbot Wilfred apparently came to this conclusion on his own (or from some spurious source) as there is NO early historical proof that Peter either made, practiced, nor endorsed that change.  And if Peter established the “see” in Antioch, why did it embrace “Jewish practices,” including being Quartodeciman, into the early 3rd century?
10. So while the Roman church does not observe the biblical practice of observing the days of unleavened bread, it apparently believes that the dates in Exodus 12:18 and Leviticus 23:5-6 regarding them need to be used to determine the date of Passover (that is where he would have needed to get the dates of the 15th and 21st from as they are the “days of unleavened bread associated with the Passover), but that the actual date (the 14th) of Passover should not be used unless it is on a Sunday.

Hence, Abbot Wilfrid’s conclusions should be discounted. John and the faithful in Ephesus did what the Bible taught.

Abbot Wilfrid’s claims of a later tradition from an unknown time seem odd. According to this dubious and false tradition, Peter supposedly reasoned that if Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week, then the anniversary of His death should be observed on a Saturday night instead. 

This is illogical, as well as inaccurate. Roman Catholic scholars, like Priest Bagatti, refer to the change from the 14th of Nisan to Sunday in the 2nd century as “new usage”(Bagatti, Church from the Circumcion, p. 10)—in other words, something that was not the original position of the Christians. Nor do I believe that the Apostle John kept the correct date of Passover out of fear of the Jews. There is nothing in the Bible nor in the historic accounts to indicate that this was the case. Furthermore, it is more likely that Sunday was adopted out of fear of the Romans. All Catholics should simply admit that although John kept Passover on the biblically correct date, some of their early leaders changed the date because of compromise and anti-Jewish sentiments.

Priest Bagatti admitted:

Since St. John spent the first years of his apostalate in Palestine, together with James, it is obvious that he had the custom of celebrating Easter {Passover} on the 14th of Nisan from the mother Church. (Bagatti, Church from the Circumcision, p. 80)

If the “mother Church” had that practice (which it did), shouldn’t others have imitated it? Easter Sunday WAS NOT an original practice. Notice that the "mother church" was not Rome and that the 14th, and not a Sunday, was the the practice of the original 'mother church" (for more on original beliefs, see also Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church).

Furthermore, consider that Roman Catholic scholars know that John was important and worked with Peter:

The conferral of the power of the keys of the kingdom surely suggests an imposing measure of authority, given the symbolism of the keys, but there is no explicit indication that the authority conferred was meant to be exercised over others, much less that it be absolutely monarchical in kind ... In Acts, in fact, Peter is shown consulting with other apostles and even being sent by them (8:14). He and John are portrayed as acting as a team (3:1-11; 4:1-22; 8:14). (Galatians 2:11; see also 12-14) (McBrien, Richard P. Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI. Harper, San Francisco, 2005 updated ed., pp. 30-31).

By being a 'team,' this also shows that Peter would have kept Passover the same date as the Apostle John.

Is Easter a Doctrine of Antichrist?

The Bible makes it clear that God’s people are to “keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time (Numbers 9:2b-3).

Early Christians, including the Apostles like John, observed that time. They did NOT believe that God changed the appointed time for Passover or that they had the authority to do so themselves. Passover was not observed on a Sunday morning.

The idea of Easter being on a Sunday by the Greco-Romans led to the acceptance of Sunday worship by most who professed Christ.

Consider that the only person in scripture to actually use the terms Antichrist or antichrists was the Apostle John.

John claimed to faithfully teach what Jesus taught:

This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true (John 21:24).

Regarding antichrists, call that John taught,

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us (1 John 2:18-19).

So what may have been the first specific departure from the practices of John that we have a historical record of (involving John's name)?

The changing of the date of Passover to a Sunday, which later was called Easter!

As mentioned before, several decades after the Apostle John's death, his disciple Polycarp went to Rome to and objected to the Roman practice of changing Passover from an observance on the 14th of Nisan, to a Sunday observance (see Fragments of Irenaeus).

But Roman Bishop Anicetus refused to accept the warning and switch back to the biblical date. Bishop Victor condemned the Christians in Asia Minor for holding to the practices of the Apostle John in this area.

Later, Constantine tried to force Easter Sunday on his empire. Pagan practices also in and were accepted by his followers. Yet, the opponents of Easter were not wiped out.

After making a political arrangement with a king in England, the Roman Pontiff Vitalin learned that those in the Celtic areas still observed the Biblical passover. Notice the following report:

Pope Vitalin ... supported efforts of the king of Northumbria, following the Synod of Whitby (664), to establish in England the Roman, as opposed to the Celtic, date for Easter (that is the Sunday after the Jewish Passover, rather than the Passover itself) and other Roman practices as well (McBrien, Richard P. Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI. Harper, San Francisco, 2005 updated ed., p. 109).

Notice that the above account (written by a Roman Catholic priest and scholar) acknowledges that Rome changed Passover in Britian from the biblical date (which apparently the Celts observed into the 7th century) to the Roman date.

Since the Apostle John kept Passover, and warned that those who professed Christ and did not continue with him were antichrists, might not Easter be a doctrine of Antichrist.

Could the 6,000 Years Have Began on Passover?

The Book of Hebrews begins with the following:

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:1-2)

So, the "last days" began during a time that Jesus spoke.

If there is no 6,000 year plan of human rule followed by a 1,000 year millennial reign, then the New Testament statement above about then being in the last days seemingly make little sense. But, since it looks like God does have a 7,000 year plan, these statements do make sense with that understanding. And that also explains how come the end has not come yet--there is still a little more time in "the last days."

While early leaders that the Greco-Roman Catholics call saints taught the 6,000 year/7000 year plan, this changed after Emperor Constantine (see Could God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?).

Since Jesus was preaching into “the last days,” He seemingly must have been doing some of that in day five of the seven one thousand year days.

Consider also the following statement Jesus made, just before He died:

30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30)

A reader sent me an email where he speculated that was the end of the four thousand years from the sin of Adam when Jesus spoke "It is finished!" And that could be so. Jesus spoke again to Peter and others after that after He was resurrected (John 21:6-23; Acts 1:4-7). And perhaps that is when day 5 of the 7,000 years. Jesus spoke again to the disciples and others after that after He was resurrected (John 21:6-23; Acts 1:4-7)--and presuming that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews, we know Jesus spoke to him in Acts 9:4-16. And perhaps that is when day 5--the last days--began.

If the 4000 years ended when Jesus died, then we would conclude that Adam sinned on Passover when he ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6) and the 6,000 year countdown began.

That, then, looks like it also would tie in with the annual date of Passover. And actually, that may be precisely why Passover is on the date that it is. Jesus, who the Bible says was "slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8), had the need to be slain for humanity on the day that Adam sinned-- which could very well have been Passover. That would be another reason that the date of Passover should never have been changed--which is something that the Greco-Roman Catholics did. And they officially did so after a council was forced upon them by the sun-god worshipping Emperor Constantine.

This Passover date change to Easter Sunday may be one more reason that the Greco-Roman Catholics stopped endorsing the biblical millennium (see also Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism?).

Conclusion

Easter was a result of compromise with scripture and paganism, combined with fear of humans and antisemitism.

First, Passover was switched to Sunday out of fear and compromise.

Second, to try to justify this, the improper teaching that Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday began to flourish. But combining the two was illogical and wrong,

Third, this then changed the meaning of the day to have more to do with a resurrection or renewal than the practices of Passover. To insure acceptance, imperial edicts, including the death penalty, came out to enforce Easter-Sunday

Fourth, because of these changes, it apparently did not seem too much of a stretch to the Greco-Romans to adopt the pagan name Easter and associated Spring-time fertility and other practices which stretched back to ancient Babylon.

Fifth, since this was done long ago, many do not realize that what is considered to be "the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year," by the Church of Rome, was not observed by original Christians.

Sixth, Easter did not come from the Bible. The Bible actually warns against incorporating pagan practices in with Passover as a doctrine of demons (1 Corinthians 10:19-21). Despite that, many modern scholars/news sources, etc. have attempted to blur the truth enough that most do not understand it.

Seventh, scholars realize that Easter was simply not observed by early Christians, nor those who felt that they needed to obey the God of the Bible rather than men.

Eighth, amazingly even though Easter is supposed to be Passover according to Greco-Roman Catholics and Protestants, it cannot (because of dating calculation rules that they use) be observed on the biblical date, it is not a memorial of Christ's death, and Easter as a type of a resurrection holiday has many pagan trappings.

Ninth, Passover observance was backed by both the Old and New Testaments, as well as by the early Christians who claimed to be following the teachings of the apostles and the Bible.

Tenth, Passover was not a resurrection holiday and never should have pagan fertility practices associated with it.

Despite many considering Easter as the most important Christian holiday, Easter is not a truly Christian holiday, nor one actually endorsed in the Bible.

Furthermore, Jesus was not even resurrected on a Sunday.

8 "These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" (Matthew 15:8-9)

Despite amazing facts, most who profess Christ follow traditions, instead of scripture, and observe Easter anyway.

Most do not take the from Jesus seriously enough.

Easter is one of those vain traditions. Easter is not a real Christian holiday.

Here is a link to a related sermon video: Amazing Facts About Easter.

Some other items of related interest may be

Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays?
Is There "An Annual Worship Calendar" In the Bible?
Passover and the Early Church
Should Christians Keep the Days of Unleavened Bread?
What Happened in the Crucifixion Week?
What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days?
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from Protestantism

Thiel, B. Ph.D. Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? www.cogwriter.com (c) 2006/2007/2008/2009/2010/2011/2012/2013/2014/2015/2016/2017/2018/2019/2020 /2021 /2022 /2024 0630

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