Easter

Our good friend Tenson Mangwinyana contacted me last week, saying he was going on the radio that night (our early afternoon) to discuss the topic of Easter.  He wanted to know if I had any relevant material on the subject.  I gave him what I had — in a nutshell, that Easter is a human creation with pagan origins; that  early Bibles such as the King James Version substituted “Easter” in Acts 12:4, knowing full well the word was “Passover”; that the early Christians celebrated every “Lord’s Day,” including what we call Easter Sunday, by communing with Him in His death at His table. 

I also said I try not to get bogged down in discussions about how people are going to hell for coloring eggs and eating chocolate in the shape of bunnies.  I have yet to meet a false teacher who had not gone awry in a matter more central to the gospel message.  I prefer to avoid majoring in minors.

If there is no Scripture for declaring a church holiday to celebrate the resurrection, there is also no Scripture for condemning people for participating in a non-religious observance of a holiday with religious origins.  In fact, Colossians 2:16-17 seems to prove the other side of the argument.

Most of the names in English for days of the week are derived from the names of pagan gods; if you try to avoid everything in the world with ignoble origins, you are doomed to a far more austere existence than you realize.  For what it’s worth, I’d suggest giving some serious thought to the resurrection story today — and then go out and give  it some more serious thought for the next 364 days in a row.