Why I Do Not Celebrate Easter

Every spring millions of Christians celebrate Easter with sunrise services, eggs, baskets, and the Easter bunny.

How did a pagan celebration become part of Christianity? Many believers have begun asking an important question: Is Easter the way the earliest Christians celebrated the resurrection of Jesus?

When we look carefully at Scripture and church history, a surprising story emerges.

The Resurrection Was Originally Celebrated as Passover

The death and resurrection of Jesus happened during the Jewish feast of Passover. The earliest Christians, therefore, connected the resurrection directly with Passover rather than with a separate spring holiday. The apostle Paul wrote: "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." — 1 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV) In the earliest centuries of the church, the resurrection celebration was called "Pascha", the Greek word for Passover. Believers remembered Christ's death and resurrection during the Passover season because that was when the events actually occurred. This practice was common throughout the first and second centuries.

Early Christians Warned Against Pagan Religious Customs

Many early Christian leaders warned believers not to mix Christianity with pagan religious traditions. One of the earliest Christian writers, Tertullian (around 200 AD), warned: "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" "Prescription Against Heretics". His concern was that the church could gradually absorb the religious customs of surrounding cultures. For the first few centuries, Christian worship was very simple. Gatherings included prayer, Scripture reading, teaching, and communion. Seasonal symbols and elaborate religious festivals were largely absent.

The Date Was Changed in the Fourth Century

In 325 AD the Roman emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea. At this council, the church decided that the resurrection would always be held on a Sunday and would no longer be observed on the Jewish Passover calendar. Constantine even wrote that it seemed improper for Christians to rely on the Jewish calendar for determining the date. This decision separated the celebration of the resurrection from its original Passover timing. However, the celebration was still called "Pascha".

The Word "Easter" Came Much Later

The name "Easter" did not appear in the early church. The English historian Bede wrote in the 700s that the Anglo-Saxon month of April was called "Eosturmonath," named after a spring goddess called Eostre. When Christianity spread through England, the name of the month eventually came to be associated with the Christian celebration of the resurrection. In most other languages the original Passover name is still used today: Greek — Pascha Spanish — Pascua French — Pâques Italian — Pasqua Only English and a few Germanic languages use the word "Easter."

The Easter Bunny and Eggs Came from German Folk Traditions

Many familiar Easter customs appeared much later in European folklore. In the 1600s in Germany there was a tradition of an "Easter hare (Osterhase)" that brought colored eggs to children. German immigrants later brought this custom to America in the 1700s. Egg decorating also became popular in medieval Europe because eggs symbolized new life in spring. While these traditions are widely loved today, they did not originate in the New Testament or in the earliest Christian worship.

Why Some Christians Choose Not to Celebrate Easter Because of this history, some believers choose not to observe Easter as a religious holiday. Their reasons often include:

• The New Testament never commands Christians to celebrate Easter

• The earliest Christians connected the resurrection with Passover

• Many modern Easter traditions developed centuries later through culture and folklore

• The resurrection of Jesus is something Christians celebrate every day, not just once a year As Paul wrote: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above."— Colossians 3:1 (KJV)

Remembering the Resurrection

Whether one observes Easter or not, the central truth remains unchanged: "Jesus Christ rose from the dead." That message transformed the early church and continues to transform lives today. The question many believers are now reconsidering is not whether the resurrection matters—it certainly does—but "how the earliest followers of Christ remembered it."