Its that time of year again and the false prophets of Armstrongism are going over board in denouncing Lent, Holy Week and Easter. Almost every single one of these guys have gotten their information out of church related works, the debunked Hislop's Two Babylons and other anti-Catholic screeds in print. Reading their drivel makes it painfully obvious that they are totally oblivious of anything connected to the season. This is especially true of Bob Thiel, James Malm, Gerald Flurry, Rod Meredith, Dave Pack and UCG.
As Bereans Did has an interesting posting up about Easter and all the various myths that continue to float around Armstrongism about the season.
Did Easter start in Nimrod’s day?No. That is an outright lie built on terrible etymology and pseudo-history, and passed off as fact due to repetition. There is nothing remotely in the realm of reliable historical evidence to demonstrate this. All of these sorts of Nimrod, Ishtar, Tammuz, etc claims find their beginning with Alexander Hislop. He’s the one who made it all up in the late 1840’s. Maybe you didn’t know that Hislop is completely unreliable. I can hardly blame you for not knowing this. Among the people who promote his writings are Herbert Armstrong and thus the leaders of every one of the COG splinter churches, Dave Hunt, Chuck Missler, Richard Rives, the Christadelphians, the Jehovah’s Witnesses – the list goes on and on. But if you really want the truth about Hislop, then please send away for Mr. Ralph Woodrow’s book “The Babylon Connection”. It will give you the information that you need to know about Alexander Hislop.See our posts “The Babylon Connection” and “The Two Babylons” for more.Think about it… Some people, following Alexander Hislop, say Easter is an ancient Babylonian holiday that was kept continuously by the Catholic Church since Nimrod’s day. But if it was always being kept then it cannot be the result of the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. It cannot be both.
If it was the product of the Council of Nicaea then it cannot be the result of the Catholic Church which only sent two representatives to the Council. It cannot be both.
The first mention of Eostre is in the eighth century, not the first century, nor the fourth century, and certainly not 2,000+ BC. They can’t all be right.The early church called it Pascha and only several centuries later came the name Easter. If Pascha is centuries older tha Easter then Easter cannot be the source of Pascha. It cannot be both.
The article goes on to cover these qucik facts:What kind of coincidence could possibly cause the holiday to be called Easter by the Babylonians, then Pascha by the Greeks and Latins, then Ostern by the Germans, then Easter once again by the English?These contradictions cannot all be true. Who will you believe? Don’t make up your mind yet. There’s more.
Other links they provide:Is Easter a pagan holiday coopted by the Catholic Church?
Was Passover replaced by Easter at the Council of Nicaea?
Should we call Easter by the name Passover?
Is the King James Version right in translating Acts 12: 4 as “Easter”?
Is Easter tied to the Spring Equinox because of paganism?
Is the Pope responsible for the change from Passover to Easter?
Is Easter named after a goddess?
What of the goddess Ostara, then?
What of the Austriahenae inscriptions?
Was Ostara’s consort a hare?
Is Eostra/Ostara actually Ishtar?
Did Ishtar hatch from an egg?
Did Ishtar have rabbits and eggs as her symbols?
Where does the tradition of eggs come from if not from paganism?
Where does the tradition of the Easter Bunny come from?
Is the cross just the first letter of the name Tammuz?
Does Lent come from the weeping for Tammuz?
Where did Lent come from if not from paganism?
How can we fit “three days and three nights” into Friday evening to Sunday morning?
Does the Holy Week support a Wednesday or Thursday crucifixion?
Was there a holy day then a weekly Sabbath in the crucifixion week?
When did the women prepare spices?
Wasn’t Sunday worship itself adopted from paganism?
