The Truth About Easter

Every year, most people that call themselves Christian, celebrate a pagan holiday complete with pagan symbols. In their churches they will sing songs about the resurrection of Christ, while calling the day after a pagan goddess. It just does not make any sense at all. Many churches will then have Easter Egg hunts for the children.
What does pretending that bunny rabbits lay eggs have to do with the death, burial and resurrection of our savior? Nothing, absolutely nothing! Mixing pagan names and symbols with a day celebrating the resurrection of Christ does not teach our children correctly nor is it a proper witness to the lost. What it does is condone being worldly and calling oneself a Christian at the same time. Revelation 3:15-16 KJV “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Isn’t time for Christians to stop just playing church and put God in charge of their whole life?
For the most part, Christians are ignorant of the truth. Partly because they are not told the truth and partly because they are comfortable with their traditions. If told the truth, many will dismiss it, rejecting it completely, without ever investigating it at all. Many will not even read what is written here and many of those that do, will ignore the facts contained here in.
The following is from several well known Bible Dictionarys and an Internet source. I looked up “Easter” in each of them, because these dictionaries are well known to Christians. The problem is that Christians do not study any more. The facts are there, if they would but read them.

Easter

“Pascha, mistranslated “Easter” in Acts 12:4 A.V., denotes the Passover (R.V.). The phrase “after the Passover” signifies after the whole festival was at an end. The term Easter is not of Christian origin. It is another form of Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven. The festival of Paschheld by Christians in post-apostolic times was a continuation of the Jewish [Israelite] feast, but was not instituted by Christ, nor was it connected with Lent. From this Pasch the Pagan festival of Easter was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt Pagan festivals to Christianity.”

from: Vine’s Expositiory Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (words in brackets added).

Easter
“Originally the spring festival in honor of Eastra or Ostara, the Teutonic goddess of light and spring. As early as the eighth century the name was transferred by the AngloSaxons to the Christian festival designed to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. In the A.V. it occurs once, viz., in Acts xii. 4, but is a mistranslation. The original is pascha, the ordinary Greek word for Passover. The R.V. property employs the word Passover.”

from: Davis Dictionary of the Bible

Easter
“Originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honor of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover. Hence the name came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occurred at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word was frequently used as the translation of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version (1611) was formed, the word "passover" was used in all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Act 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper word, "passover," is always used.”
from: Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary

Easter

“She was called Ishtar by the Babylonians, Inanna by the Sumerians, Astarte by the Greeks, and Ashtoreth by the Hebrews. She is a Goddess of Love and beauty, The Giver of All Life, The Maiden, The Mother, The Crone. . . . . . One common characteristic of the early images of Ishtar is the bird-like facial features. These features are also seen on images of the Goddess from the Thracian culture of what is today Bulgaria, the Vinca culture of the Central Balkans, and the Tisza culture of northeastern Hungary, circa 6000-5000 BCE. This bird Goddess of ancient Eastern Europe and the closely related Snake Goddess are frequently associated with the baking of sacred bread. Miniature temples made in the form of the Goddess contain scenes of baking bread being presided over by a priestess. Later, miniature Minoan temples contain images of a Goddess with the same bird-like features. The Greek Aphrodite is often associated with doves which are her symbol also. Like Aphrodite’s consort was the Grain God Adonis, Ishtar is the consort of Tamuz, God of Grain and of bread. . . . . .The priestesses of Her temples were "harlots" detested by the Hebrews, but, in the words of The Great Goddess, "All acts of love and pleasure are my rituals." Ishtar is one of the earliest manifestations of The Great Goddess and the geographic boundaries of her worship may be far greater than is currently believed.”

from: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos172.htm

Easter
O.E. Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from P.Gmc. *Austron, a goddess of fertility and sunrise whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox, from *austra-, from PIE *aus- "to shine" (especially of the dawn).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

Ishtar

Ishtar was held to be the great Mother Goddess in ancient Assyrian and Babylonian mythology. It was believed she was the daughter of the sky-god, Anu, or the moon god, Sin. Gradually over time, she absorbed characteristics of various goddesses and represented various aspects. Her worship spread throughout the Middle East, Greece, and Egypt. She was an oracle, governed over sex and war, and protected men from evil. As the many-breasted Opener of the Womb, she was the giver of all life; as the Destroyer and Queen of the Underworld, she also was the taker of all life. As the moon goddess, her waxing and waning governed the cyclical birth and death of the planet. She was the Heavenly Cow, the Green One, and the Mistress of the Field.
As a war goddess Ishtar was specially honored in Assyria. She was depicted as carrying a bow and quiver, her warlike aspect receiving emphasis with a beard similar to the god Ashur. Inscriptions state that Ishtar was party to choosing of the king. Ashur-natsir-pala II (884-860 BC), so certain of the divine election, was the monarch renowned for his cruelty toward rebels and enemies. He orders of skinning captives live or cutting off their hands became accepted policy. Her son Tammuz, also called the Green One, became her lover when reaching manhood. Ishtar descended into the realm of the dead to rescue Tammuz; a myth similar to those of Inanna and Damuzi, and Demeter and Kore. When Ishtaer descended into the underworld she appeared as a hostile and threatening figure; death overcame her while there, which caused fertility and sexual desire to become dormant, and await her seasonal return.
An Akkadian fragment describes the wailing of Ishtar for Tammuz, whose annual death, resurrection, and marriage strongly indicate a fertility ritual connected to an agricultural cycle. His worship spread into Canaan, where Ezekiel complained that even at "the door of the gate of the Lord's house…there sat women weeping for Tammuz."
As Queen of Heaven, she replaced Sin as the moon deity; she rode through the sky at night in a chariot drawn by goats or lions. The zodiac was known as the "girdle of Ishtar," which also refers to the ancient moon calendar. In this position she was the giver of omens, and prophecy through dreams, and through her magic, others could obtain secret knowledge.
Ishtar was associated with the planet Venus. Both the lion and dove were sacred to her. A.G.H.
Sources:
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, New York: Facts On File, 1989, p. 172
Cotterell, Arthur, A Dictionary of World Mythology, New York, G. P. Putman's Sons, 1980, pp. 36-37
from: http://www.themystica.com/mythical-folk/articles/ishtar.html

There is a lot more that could have been referenced and with the availability of the Internet, one does not even have to have the books.
Is there some actual reason why we can not celebrate our Lord without the pagan names and symbols? I believe that the Lord desires us to worship Him alone, instead of combining Him with the goddess of fertility.
“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
(Matthew 4:10 KJV)

“Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee,. . .”(Deuteronomy 6:14-15 KJV)

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Ephesians 5:11 KJV)

When we make a place for pagan symbols and practices, we are having fellowship with them. We do NOT need to include pagan items in our worship, in fact we should be wise and not foolish.

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.,” (Ephesians 5:15 & 16 KJV)

“. . .Let all things be done unto edifying.” (1 Corinthians 14:26 KJV)

In what way does “Easter” eggs and bunny rabbits edify? I realize that people like tradition and avoid change, but if it takes change and breaking with tradition, to get back to our God, then it is high time to make that change.

Let us put away these pagan symbols and names, repent of our foolishness and worship our God alone!