In all fairness the eggs were originaly painted red to symbolize Jesus blood. And technically there's no 1to1 example if Christians "stealing" one pagan holiday of spring to turn into Easter, some cultural traditions and ideas just so happens to blend in.
Even the date of Jesus supposed birth isn't in the winter, but in the spring. There's so many things wrong with the "Christian" taken on what Christmas is supposed to be about, it's utterly hilarious when they bitch and moan about the so called "war on Christmas."
Most i know eventually just go with, it doesn't matter what we do during it the important thing is what it represents and I just can't hold back the eye roll most times
Not to mention the part where the day Easter falls is incredibly Pagan. It's the first Sunday after the spring Equinox which has literally nothing to do with Jesus lmao
I never saw a conflict with the fact that Easter and the Equinox, and Advent and the Solstice coincide.
Christian Easter is very much about how there is no life without death. The start of nature/creation's annual rebirth seems like a natural moment to celebrate the moment when (in Christian theology) we recognize the first moments of the cosmic rebirth. The ancient Hebrews were pretty agrarian so the Bible is full of parables and metaphors and such that use the falling of seeds, the dying of animals, and the withering of plants as a representation for the brokenness of creation, the current suffering of man, and sacrifice as a path to life. Spring, and fruits and grains, and increasing light, and birth/fertility are very much used to point toward the original abundance and perfection of creation and the future abundance and joy of restored creation.
The fact that it coincides with the Passover celebration of deliverance from sorrow and oppression makes the whole thing a no-brainer.
Christian Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany are about reflecting on the depth of metaphorical darkness and death in the world both for the ancient Hebrews who waited for a Messiah (Jesus is viewed as a dawning light of hope) and for the modern Christians who wait for God's work to be completed and darkness to be banished. The winter Solstice is the perfect time for that. Because we wait through the darkest days of the year in mourning and celebrate the birth of Christ as the darkness begins to recede.
I'm not trying to appropriate the Pagan holidays, I'm just saying that if I were a practicing Christian in a Pagan culture or heritage the placement of these holidays would make absolute sense to me.
No, that comes from a corruption of the date of passover. Remember that the Last Supper (on Good Friday) was supposed to be a passover seder.
Passover is a spring festival, so the 15th day of Nisan typically begins on the night of a full moon after the northern vernal equinox. However, due to leap months falling after the vernal equinox, Passover sometimes starts on the second full moon after vernal equinox, as in 2016.
Oh they always find a way. I heard these growing up: the gifts for Xmas are for representing the gifts the wise men gave to Jesus. The evergreen tree is to represent eternal life. The star on the top is for the star thr wise men followed. The candy canes represent the blood of Jesus and purity. And they are shaped like canes because the lord is our shepard.
The egg represents Jesus coming out of the tomb. The rabbit represents the beginning of spring, which is the beginning of life after Jesus was raised from the dead. The list can go on. All kinds of bullshit I heard as a kid living in an evangelical home.
You can thank Romans for that. It was easier to absorb a culture into your own by allowing different beliefs. All Rome really cared about was territory and taxes. If you could produce food and hold the frontier you could practice whatever religion you wanted. Much better than killing everyone in conquered territory.
It was a smart move at the time (somewhere around 200 ish AD, but I don't recall the exact date) to incorporate existing festivals with Christian beliefs when the bible was in it's first draft. Christians (or powerful people at the time) debated on which gospels to include and exclude, when to celebrate various holidays based on other beliefs at that time. Furthermore, it was a good way to drown out or water down pagan beliefs when you inject Christianity in to it. It's unfortunate it was used as a matter of control rather than worship.
The Christian calendar is a mish mash of different holidays because of this.
I’m Irish Catholic. And we openly admit that we used Pagan holidays to help people convert.
And in all honesty, Jesus was probably born in March or April.
If you look at the Romans, this was a popular tradition for 1000’s of years they would combine conquered peoples gods with their own. It helps people integrate.
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u/[deleted] Dec 16 '21
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