Is Easter Still Relevant?

**Janszoon** · 03-24-2010, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vanilla

Personally for Christianity I believe it is, but it's become so over-marketed etc that it has lost it's meaning. If you don't celebrate Jesus rising from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion then why is it relevant to others?

It's always bothered me really, and I'd like to hear what others think on the matter. Feel free to give me a good reason why non-Christians/Catholics etc should celebrate it too?

I was just thinking that it should also probably be mentioned that another reason some non-Christians would celebrate it is that it's actually not exclusively a Christian holiday. Much like Christmas, it is pre-Christian pagan holiday that was co-opted by Christians. Undoubtedly there are still pagans around today who celebrate something akin to its older form.

Neapolitan · 03-24-2010, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Much like Christmas, it is pre-Christian pagan holiday that was co-opted by Christians.

So you are saying that pagans had both holidays for the birth of a Messiah and the resurrection of a Messiah?

Urban Hat€monger ? · 03-24-2010, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

So you are saying that pagans had both holidays for the birth of a Messiah and the resurrection of a Messiah?

I sometimes wonder if this guy is the best wind up merchant around or he really doesn't have a clue.

~~CAPTAIN CAVEMAN~~ · 03-24-2010, 03:56 PM

better question: is christianity still relevant?

**Janszoon** · 03-24-2010, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

I sometimes wonder if this guy is the best wind up merchant around or he really doesn't have a clue.

Seconded.

Freebase Dali · 03-24-2010, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

I sometimes wonder if this guy is the best wind up merchant around or he really doesn't have a clue.

You and everyone else.

duga · 03-24-2010, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

You and everyone else.

Pretty much this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAPTAIN CAVEMAN

better question: is christianity still relevant?

I wondered about this myself...the numbers are still strong so you will obviously get people arguing for Christianity. Me, though, I go with George Carlin, "I was a Christian until I reached the age of...reason."

**Scarlett O'Hara** · 03-25-2010, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAPTAIN CAVEMAN

better question: is christianity still relevant?

Is to me.

Guybrush · 03-25-2010, 04:55 AM

According to the monk Bede who wrote a treatise De temporum ratione (The Reckoning of Time) in 725, the english term Easter itself comes from the old english name Ēostre or Ēastre - the name of a germanic goddess who was celebrated at march equinox.

Modern easter and march equinox don't overlap perfectly (it was march 20th this year), but I would assume that christianity has just taken over a different religious holiday and if that was not the celebration of Ēastre, a feasible hypothesis it seems to me, then it could have been a different one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ēostre

I don't celebrate easter, but I appreciate time off work. The only negatives for me (for purely selfish reasons) are the holy days when the shops close.

**Janszoon** · 03-25-2010, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tore

According to the monk Bede who wrote a treatise De temporum ratione (The Reckoning of Time) in 725, the english term Easter itself comes from the old english name Ēostre or Ēastre - the name of a germanic goddess who was celebrated at march equinox.

Modern easter and march equinox don't overlap perfectly (it was march 20th this year), but I would assume that christianity has just taken over a different religious holiday and if that was not the celebration of Ēastre, a feasible hypothesis it seems to me, then it could have been a different one.

Yep, and don't forget the pagan origins of the fertility symbols associated with Easter like rabbits and eggs.

03-25-2010, 04:55 AM	#19 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	According to the monk Bede who wrote a treatise De temporum ratione (The Reckoning of Time) in 725, the english term Easter itself comes from the old english name Ēostre or Ēastre - the name of a germanic goddess who was celebrated at march equinox. Modern easter and march equinox don't overlap perfectly (it was march 20th this year), but I would assume that christianity has just taken over a different religious holiday and if that was not the celebration of Ēastre, a feasible hypothesis it seems to me, then it could have been a different one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ēostre I don't celebrate easter, but I appreciate time off work. The only negatives for me (for purely selfish reasons) are the holy days when the shops close. __________________ Something Completely Different

03-24-2010, 03:56 PM	#14 (permalink)
~~CAPTAIN CAVEMAN~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: VAN Posts: 2,530	better question: is christianity still relevant?