Is Easter Pagan?

Is Easter Pagan?

The purpose of this article is to prove that Easter cannot be traced back to pagan roots. Why is this important? The lengthy article discusses those facts.

If we are to be biblically sound, we need to have correct context, and history must be accurate. Here is a summary statement upfront. Passover week is a Jewish holiday given to the people of Israel as a sacred time of remembrance. Christians in the Western world typically only celebrate the day of the Resurrection. However, that day may not align with Passover, as it did in 2025. By not understanding the Jewish context of scripture, people will be robbed of rich truths. We don't want to miss these. 

What are they robbing themselves of? They are robbing themselves of the incredible richness of the Passover, the types and shadows of the Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice for the Jewish people and humanity. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the final end of the passover and the purpose of the Passover, should be our focus. Dr. Baruch of Loveisrael.org and his project coordinator, Aaron Treesh,  have created excellent tools for Christians who are not Jewish to learn about Passover from a scriptural perspective. https://biblestudycompany.com/laravel-filemanager/files/121/Ideas_to_Keep_the_Passover_02.pdf,

Well, Ric, then why did you write this article? Because there is much hype around saying Easter is pagan. I heard this for a long time, but never researched it myself. When I did, I was surprised that it was not. Now, if you don't like my research, I have many people who are listed as references. I want to ensure that I am accurate when communicating with others. I will state this upfront and confidently, there is no linkage to pagan holidays, or the word Easter is a god of some kind. The article shows my search. This is a time to share the Gospel. 

Warning: BSC does not advocate for the celebration of Easter over Passover. We understand that Easter, or as some prefer to call it, Resurrection Day, is part of the Passover week celebration, which will be explained in the article.  We believe that everyone should conduct their research. That helps in our Bible study. Being a good researcher is crucial to drawing accurate conclusions. We intend only to accept narratives that we have researched ourselves, and our purpose is never to offend. However, going against established narratives to uncover the truth can lead to offenses. We apologize in advance.

Not long ago, I was sitting with someone I respect at the Christian church we were attending. He said, “Easter is pagan." I inquired as to how he arrived at that knowledge, and he mentioned something about the goddess Ishtar and Easter being the same. I said Easter was a Germanic word for spring, so how could it be Ishtar?

Biblical History scholar Wes Huff shows clearly that Easter does not have pagan roots. https://youtu.be/q31k28_rdTg?si=uqNyQHH5ruFBbbqR

It's commonly asserted that many of our modern Easter traditions — including the name of the celebration itself — have pagan origins. This idea, although popular on the internet and in popular shows, when actually dug into (much like the accusation around the pagan origins of Christmas) really start to fall apart. "Why Christmas isn't pagan" -    • Christmas isn't pagan and here's why   Time stamps: 0:00 - Intro 0:29 - Origins of the name (Ishtar and Ostara) 4:44 - The Easter bunny 7:09 - Easter eggs

No, Easter is not pagan or has pagan roots. "Well, Ric, when I searched on Google for the origins of Easter, it showed that it had pagan roots." "Ah, the Internet," I said with a frustrated sigh. To be correct, we must dig deeper as researchers. Easter is not from a pagan goddess. Ishtar was a Babylonian goddess who "SOUNDS LIKE" Easter; however, there is no link in etymology (origin of words), as the article below will show.[1] 

Here is a humorous video from Lutheran Satire on this topic. 

This article explains the background of Easter from Baylor University. "Well, Ric, what about Easter bunnies and eggs? Aren't they pagan?" They are not pagan, and they are recent modern inventions. The article provides details.

https://news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2016/why-easter-was-never-anything-christian-holiday 

After reading the article, we will continue to study why Christians celebrate Easter Sunday.

A Time for the Gospel

Those opposed to Easter and Christmas share the same talking points. "Christmas and Easter are pagan." The assumption is that a good Christian will not celebrate Easter at this time of the year because someone said it is pagan, or worse, someone who celebrates Easter is worshipping pagan deities. 

Worshipping pagan deities is a serious charge. When one worships a pagan god, there are several rituals of literal worship. Today, I had lunch with a friend who shared that his definition of "pagan" is consumerism, which he defined as buying Easter eggs, the stores marking up eggs in the store, and buying candy and toy bunnies. In Jeremiah, there are several instances of pagan worship. Jeremiah 7:18 For Easter and Christmas, we see no one worshipping deities as defined by pagans. People often associate consumerism with paganism, but this is not the case. Consumerism is a heart issue and cannot be judged from the outside. 

If these accusations are not true about Easter, is there a problem of laziness on our part due to a lack of research? Worse, if a group in our circle of influence believes this and we are unaware of why they think it is true, are we succumbing to a form of adult peer pressure? A passionate argument that Easter is pagan can stem from good motivation, but the person echoing this claim may not have conducted any research. The person does not want to offend God. Good idea. However, if proper research is done, we will find that the concerns are not valid in actual history. Why are people sharing about something they have not researched?

We can celebrate Easter in peace because Christ's resurrection has given us peace with God. What if the result is to focus on not celebrating Easter because it is pagan, and we lose an opportunity to share why we celebrate Easter and do not present the Gospel? Like Christmas, this time of year is a celebration of the Gospel.

Another close friend came to Christ just over a year ago and prayed for his family to go to the knowledge of salvation. His youngest sister shared with him that she had no idea Easter was about the Lord Jesus Christ, and she was not a churchgoer. My friend used the opportunity to share the Gospel, and she came to Christ! Three weeks later, she died of a heart attack! Christmas and Easter are times to focus on Christ and what He did for us on the cross, and share that truth with others who do not know why they are celebrating. Others believe Easter is pagan and tell us not to celebrate Easter for another reason: to celebrate the Jewish Passover.

And then learn about the Passover, and here are excellent resources from Loveisrael.org: https://biblestudycompany.com/blog/article/288

Should a Christian celebrate Passover (Jewish) or Easter (Christian)?

Now that we have settled that Easter is not pagan, we can move on to another problem. Our faith in Christ has its roots in Jewish tradition. The Jewish nation was founded on leaving Egypt as slaves to become a nation around their belief in God. To leave Egypt, they observed the Passover meal, which involved the sacrifice of a lamb. But first, those who believed in God were warned that the Destroyer would come and kill the firstborn children throughout the land. To prevent the Destroyer from visiting their homes, the Hebrews had to kill, eat, and sprinkle the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. Believing in God's word and acting on it caused the Destroyer to "Passover" the house. Therefore, between 1.5 and 2.5 million people left Egypt.[2] The Jews were to celebrate Passover every year. The feast is called “unleavened bread” because the Jews left Egypt quickly without leavening their bread. Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on the Passover without sin, because He is God, and was designated as the Passover Lamb. Exodus 12.

Yet, for some reason, Christians celebrate Easter versus Passover. Why should that be? Simply because of calendars, the resurrection, and unleavened bread.

Christians view the first day of the week (Sunday) as the day Christ rose from the dead and therefore refer to it as "the Lord’s Day." The celebration of Easter is not tied to the Jewish calendar, but to a specific day. Sunday became the traditional day for worship for Christians (Jews and Gentiles in Christ), although many celebrated the Sabbath and still do. It was natural to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday. The resurrection symbolizes Christ's defeat of sin and death. We can find records of the early church celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday, the first day of the week. We can also find documents that both Jews and Gentiles kept the Sabbath and also worshipped on the Lord’s Day. Acts 20:7-12

Judaism celebrates Passover because they do not accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Some Jewish people who believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah will still honor the Passover. "Remember, Ric, that Passover is not the end of the story," said Dr. Daniel Goepfrich. He paused and continued, "The resurrection is the end of the story, which is why we celebrate the resurrection." (paraphrase)

Jewish people also use a calendar based on the new moon, which can include Passover and unleavened bread during the week. In other words, Judaism is not tied to celebrating the Passover on any specific day, such as Sunday, but rather celebrates Passover on the 14th day of Nissan, which can fall on a different day of the week each year. Notice that Passover is a weeklong celebration, and Christianity instead focuses on the day of His resurrection.

Let’s Review

Christians believe that the feast of unleavened bread, which removes sin in our lives because we exchange His righteousness for our sinfulness, was fulfilled in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who made atonement with His sinless blood for all mankind. Jesus is the Passover lamb. In Contrast, the Passover focuses on the Exodus of Egypt (a type and shadow of what the Lord Jesus Christ would fulfill), which now finds fulfillment in Christ's resurrection. Heb 7:26-8:5.[3] Christians focus on Easter Sunday because they recognize Christ as the Messiah, and Christ’s resurrection is on Sunday, the first day of the week. Mark 16:9

Why don't Christians celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread? The symbolism of yeast is sin. Therefore, in preparation for Passover, one must remove sin in one's life by cleaning one's house of all things touched, or that might have been touched by yeast (ovens, utensils, mixing bowls, etc.). If you have ever tried to go a week without yeast products, it is tough to accomplish. A person cannot work hard enough to have sin/yeast removed from their life. We are thankful for the Lord Jesus' sacrifice as the Passover Lamb to wash away our sins with His blood. Therefore, this feast is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ.

We ask the final question: Is Easter pagan? No. Should Christians celebrate Passover? We found that immersing ourselves in learning how Christ fulfilled most feasts is a beneficial experience. Seder meals, such as the Last Supper, are instructive for Christian believers to understand that Christianity is rooted in Judaism. The focus of Passover is the blood on the doorposts. The subject of Easter Sunday is the blood of Christ on the cross, which forgives our sins, and that He has risen from the dead, thereby canceling our sin debt to God, as Christ said on the cross. Christ rose from the dead and was witnessed by over 500 people; then, the Holy Spirit came, as promised in Acts 2, which is our assurance of eternal life. 1 Cor 15:6. No other person in history was raised from the dead. 1 Cor 15:13. Our God has risen!

We can focus on the Passover, which points to the lamb's blood in Egypt, or believers in Christ can celebrate the fulfillment of Passover on Easter Sunday, a day (rather than a week) of Christ's resurrection! And if you like, add Easter bunnies and cute eggs for kids that point them to new life in Christ as a teaching tool, as these are a modern invention.

Enjoy your holiday. People are open this season to know what Easter is about, so share the Good News! Christ has risen! And learn about all the Jewish festivals with BSC and Loveisrael.org.