By George Ramocon, ContributorMR. PETER ESPEUT'S article entitled Easter and the Pagans which appeared in The Daily Gleaner of Tuesday April 18, sought to justify the observance of Easter by Christians. Mr. Espeut and I were members of a panel interviewed by Ian Boyne on a JIS TV special, aired on Friday April 12.
I found Mr. Espeut's article to be grossly lacking in substance as it ignored the clear teachings of scripture and seemingly twisted the historical facts to justify his claim.
How does Mr. Espeut as a Christian church deacon justify his claim that baptism and marriage are of pagan roots when there is clear scriptural evidence that these institutions were established long before the existence of paganism? Marriage was first established in the Garden of Eden (Gen.2:24) and the Bible states that a form of the Christian baptism took place at the time of Noah's flood (1Peter 3: 21).
He also erroneously claims that Easter has its roots in the Passover. Nothing is further from the truth. The roots of Easter are not found in the Passover, but in the death and resurrection of the gods Tammuz, Osiris, and Adonis. Easter is therefore more accurately described as a counterfeit form of the Passover. Mr. Espeut has thrown out a challenge that no one can point to any pagan custom in the Easter observances of the Catholic Church and mainstream Christianity. Evidently, he has overlooked the Easter Sunrise service which traces back to the pagan practices condemned by God (Ezekiel 8:13-16). I challenge him to provide any biblical support for the Easter Sunrise service, and to say exactly when this practice became a part of the church's liturgy.
Mr. Espeut's article also twists the record when he says that the Passover has its roots in the celebration of new life, taking place in the spring season. This is a backhanded way of attributing the Passover to pagan origins. Where is the evidence for this claim? The Bible states that the Lamb of God (Christ our Passover) was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). Obviously God foresaw man's fall and made provision before the creation for his redemption. The root of the Passover is therefore found in the divine plan of God to reconcile man unto Himself, not in a spring festival.
True worship
Mr. Espeut's claim that "Easter could only be a pagan celebration if it were celebrated by pagans, or by persons intending to hold a pagan celebration", shows little understanding about the exactness of God's call to true worship. Throughout the scriptures God consistently warns His people not to use pagan practices to worship Him. God abhors mixed worship or what is called syncretism.
God warned Israel in Deut 12:30-32 "When the Lord your God cut off before you, the nations you go to dispossess, take heed that you be not ensnared to follow them, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? that I also may do likewise.' In Matthew 15:8-9 Jesus says, "in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men."
In the Old Testament God sent His chosen people into Babylonian captivity because they mixed sun worship rites with their worship of God. (Ezekiel 8:16).
In the days of Jeremiah, God rebuked his people for a practice in which ... the women knead their dough to make cakes to the queen of heaven Jer.7:18-20 and Jer 44: 17-19, 25. In this passage the word translated cake "kavvan" means bun as in Easter Bun.
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul converted followers of the goddess Diana of the Ephesians (Acts 19:24-26). The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia tells us that The great Goddess DIANA referred to in Acts 19:24-28; was known as Astarte, a name which appears among the Assyrians as Ishtar (from which Easter gets its name).
It was not until some 300 years after Jesus died that Easter replaced the Passover festival. In 325 a.d. the Council of Nicea under the leadership of Emperor Constantine unanimously decided that Easter was to be observed in place of the Passover, and that 'none hereafter should follow the blindness of the Jews. It is a matter of historical fact that what influenced this decision were racial (anti-semitic) and political (Roman expansionist) considerations.
Consequently, the council voted for an outright rejection of the traditions left in place by the Apostles and the first century church. I urge readers to read the damning account of how all this happened in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, Vol. VIII, pp. 828-829.
Change
During the JIS TV interview of which I was a part, Mr. Espeut admitted that there is no biblical authority for the change from Passover to Easter. He justifies this change on the ground that the Bible came out of the church, so the Bible is subject to the teachings of the church, not the other way around. For him, the Bible is not the sole authority for the Christian faith. Mr. Espeut therefore as a Roman Catholic deacon, stands on a premise that justifies his beliefs. The appropriate debate for Mr. Espeut, therefore is whether or not the Bible is the sole authority for the Christian faith.
My issue therefore is not so much with Mr. Espeut, as with the vast army of Protestant Christians who believe that the Bible is the sole authority for the Christian faith (sola scriptura), yet continue in the traditions of Easter. Protestants do not believe in the authority and infallibility of the Pope as Mr. Espeut does. Mr. Espeut therefore has legitimate claim to dismiss my views when he refers to me as a "Biblian" one whose faith depends entirely upon the teachings of the Bible.
From where do Protestants claim their authority to abandon the Passover in favour of Easter? Jesus observed the Passover throughout His life up to the point of His death and instructed His followers to observe this festival as a memorial of His death till he comes. His apostles and the early church understood this and continued in this tradition. The Encyclopaedia Britannica states, "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".
Even if Protestants disagree that Jesus commanded the observance of the Passover, why celebrate an historically pagan festival in preference to one that is biblically identified with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus?
George Ramocan is a deacon in Church of God International.
