Christ and the Easter Bunny

Because I am a sentimentalist, I understand why the early Christian church may have been unwilling to do away with some celebrations of the past. Easter does have pagan origins but Christ changed what the Easter bunny represented, in my opinion. I am curious to see if you agree with me after reading this article.

The earliest mentions of Easter are pagan traditions. Ancient Babylonians believed the egg was a sacred symbol. The ancient Babylonians believed a fable about a large egg supposedly falling into the Euphrates River. Apparently, the egg hatched into a goddess who was given the name Eastre.

Eastre was the goddess of fertility and springtime. As such, the holiday to celebrate Eastre came during the spring time. The earthly symbol of Eastre was the rabbit or bunny. Pre-Christians worshipped the rabbit because they believed it was Eastre's earthly incarnation. Due to the time of year and possibly sentimental factors the converted pre-Christians combined this holiday with our Christian celebration of Christ's resurrection. Because of the pagan origins of Easter, many churches are opting to refer to Easter as Resurrection Day.

There are other viewpoints as to how the Easter bunny and Easter eggs relate to Christianity. One source says the word bunny is defined in the Macquarie Dictionary as "one who accepts the responsibility for a situation, sometimes willingly." Christ is the ultimate Easter bunny in regard to this definition. He accepts the responsibility for our sins willingly. This could be a logical response to the bunny being a symbol of Easter but where do eggs come in?

Our pastor and other churches sometimes compare the egg to the Holy Trinity by saying both have three layers. The Holy Trinity is the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. An egg has three layers including the shell, the white part, and the yolk. The shell is representative of the Holy Spirit, fully given to those who ask of it. The white is representative of the Son who is second only to God. The yolk is the creator of all life-our Lord.

When I was a little girl, I never connected the pagan origins of Easter to the holiday. I was in church regularly until age nine and I celebrated the holiday by searching for Easter eggs as do most Christians. While reading these articles, the connection of Easter to Eastre was startling in my opinion. Perhaps the early Christian church who decided to blend the holidays was filled with sentimentalists such as me who enjoyed the activities of Easter and did not separate the two.

The acceptance of Christ should have done away with any reference to worship of a fabled goddess named Eastre but for whatever reason it did not. Now that we know a pagan holiday was blended with the most precious of all holidays, with the possible exception of Christmas, should we do away with the name that is a throwback to pagan belief in other gods? Resurrection Day seems more fitting than Easter.

I am a parent and believe the celebration of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs is harmless if it is told in regard to Christ being compared to the Macquarie Dictionary's definition of a bunny and the egg being compared to the Holy Trinity. The name of Easter for the holiday makes me fear those who are not Christians may have more fuel to add to the fire against us in saying we have too many pagan traditions. Resurrection Day seems more fitting.

The definition of Christ as a "bunny" is fitting for Resurrection Day and an egg being compared to the Holy Trinity is also fitting for the day. We do not have to change a holiday our children enjoy -we only need to clarify the reasons why we have the holiday. A change in the name of Easter as well as references to a bunny and eggs without the word Easter is a beginning.