Easter or Resurrection Sunday?

Hello everyone! My name is Danny and I was an active Latter-day Saint for 60 years. In my opinion - the most meaningful day of the year is upon us. Because I have already posted a video titled “Atonement: Gethsemane or Golgotha?” that you can find on You Tube or at TalkingtoMormons.com - today I’m going to mainly focus on why Christ’s resurrection is also referred to as Easter. For most people it is primarily known as Easter Sunday. And for others, it is known as Resurrection Sunday. But I think most people attempt to blend the two in various ways. If you walk through the grocery store isles during this season, you have seen many reminders of its approaching. Easter baskets, chocolate eggs, peeps, bunnies, and jellybeans – all a reminder of Spring and Easter. Symbols of birth and rebirth. And like the Christmas Season, a lot of consumer money is spent on marketing and selling products to commemorate the sacred - but also secular - weekend. I think there have been some misunderstandings regarding Easter. Most people around the world understand that Easter Sunday has to do with the resurrection of Jesus in 34 AD. But many, particularly in the Americas - are somewhat confused as to how the resurrection is related to the Easter bunny, peeps, and eggs – especially the little children. And because the adult parents don’t know how to properly explain it – their children are never taught. Thus, the Easter legend is perpetuated. In fact, for most younger children the Easter basket is the highlight of the weekend. The legend of the Easter bunny bringing eggs - appears to have been brought to the United States by settlers from Germany in the 1700s. Over the past 200 years, the Easter bunny has become the most commercially recognized symbol of Easter in the United States. The lore is that the Easter bunny brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy, and sometimes toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter - in much the same way as Santa Clause is said to deliver presents on Christmas Eve. I know that a question Christian parents sometimes struggle with – should they allow their children to participate in traditional activities that refer to the Easter bunny? I mean, there is nothing essentially bad about the Easter bunny - what is important is our focus. If our focus is on Christ, our children will understand that - like Santa Clause, the Easter bunny is merely symbolic or figurative. However, Easter should be a time to reflect upon and to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Essentially, what occurred is that - to make Christianity more attractive to non-Christians, the ancient Roman Catholic Church mixed the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection with the pagan celebrations that involved spring fertility rituals. These spring fertility rituals are the source of the egg and the bunny traditions, which really has nothing to do with Yeshua’s resurrection. As a result, many Christians feel that the day on which we celebrate Yeshua’s resurrection should not be referred to as “Easter Sunday.” Rather, something like “Resurrection Sunday” would be far more appropriate and biblical. Where did we even get the word or term “Easter” from? It is an old English word derived from “Eostre” who, was a Pagan goddess of Spring and of fertility. She was honored on the vernal or spring equinox. The Assyrians and Babylonians called her “Ishtar” which is pronounced just as the English word “Easter.” From her name we get “estrogen,” which is obviously tied to female reproduction. And for more than a thousand years prior to Jesus’ birth, pagans celebrated Spring in her name. Spring festivals revived various sexual rituals which honored the sun’s welcoming and warm rays after the cold of winter with its short daylight hours. Spring not only brought the promise of longer and warmer days but also crops, flowers, and the like. The question is - does the term “Easter” exist in the Bible? The answer is – it does! The King James Bible uses "Easter" only once and it’s in Acts 12:4. Let me it in context, Acts 12:1-4 “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” There it is! For many centuries, the Christian Church only had the Latin Bible which had been translated from the Greek. Then, in 1520 AD, William Tyndale an early Protestant Reformer became the first to translate the Bible (Tyndale Bible) into English. In the process, he incorrectly translated the word “Pascha” meaning “Passover” to “Easter” in this one instance in the Bible. So, Acts 12:4 really should read “intending after Passover (not Easter) to bring him (Peter) forth to the people.” I hope that makes sense. Unfortunately, this mistranslated word “Easter” was also inadvertently carried over into the 1611 King James Version of the Bible. However, all other modern translations of the Bible today use the word “Passover” instead of “Easter” in Acts 12:4. Look, we need to be honest and recognize that we all use words despite their pagan origins. The seven days of our week draw their names from paganism. And in that regard, “Resurrection Sunday” is just as guilty of pagan association as “Easter” because the origin of the word “Sun-day” arose from sun worship. Now for centuries in the Old Testament, the feast of Passover foreshadowed the future coming of the Messiah. Passover or Easter really had nothing to do with Sunday. Passover was tied to a calendar day in the year, not a specific day of the week. Much like one’s birthday or the fourth of July - you celebrate the date, not the day. For example, your individual birthday is not celebrated annually on the exact day of the week you were born. Nor is Independence Day. Each year it most likely is a different day of the week. It seems that because the LDS Church places a priority of its own tradition over the tradition of the rest of Christianity – The LDS Church moved its 2026 Easter Services to Palm Sunday (a week earlier), to accommodate its Semi-annual General Conference, which is customarily held on the first weekend in April. Throughout the New Testament – after the Resurrection – Sunday was simply called the “First day of the week.” It was not even referred to as the “Day of the Resurrection.” You see, the Christian Jews did not have a ceremony for remembering the resurrection of Jesus. The focus was on the important sacrifice God made on that special Passover day. Plus, there is no Biblical command to commemorate the day of His resurrection. An annual, formal celebration of the Resurrection—known as Pascha or Easter—was first recorded in the 2nd century AD. So, while early Jewish Christians linked it to Passover - the Roman Catholic Church solidified a distinct annual celebration on Sunday, following the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Regardless of where the name Easter came from, Easter itself is the celebration of the resurrected Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Yeshua is a critical doctrine of the Christian faith - stating that Yeshua proved to be the world’s Savior by conquering sin and death. The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Romans shows us that BAPTISM is a symbol of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Romans 6:3-5 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized unto his death? Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” What we see is that the true meaning is more than just a memorial for the Resurrection one day a year with a church service. We can celebrate the Resurrection every day of our lives, as we allow Christ’s Resurrection to become a reality in our own lives. Let’s continue, Romans 6:6-11 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” When we acknowledge that Yeshua paid for our sins on the cross, we accept Him as our Savior and our Redeemer, and our old man or woman of sin is crucified with Him. And we become a new creature – alive in Christ! Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Paul in speaking to a gathering at Corinth - who disputed the Resurrection even as some do today, wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that, he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.” That my friends, is the crux of the gospel message. It is the definition of the gospel of Christ. Paul then explains that upon Christ’s Resurrection hangs the importance of the Gospel 1 Corinthians 15:13-18 “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching in vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” In conclusion: Whether we call it “Easter” or “Resurrection Sunday” - what is important is the true reason for our celebration. Which is that Christ rose from the grave and is alive - making it possible for all mankind to rise unto eternal life. There is nothing wrong with painting and hiding eggs and allowing children to playfully search for them. What IS important is our focus. If it is on Yeshua Mashiach aka Jesus Christ, then our children and grandchildren can be taught to understand that hiding eggs is nothing more than a fun game of hide and seek. Children can be taught the true meaning of the day - that Christ died for us so that His Spirit can live within each of us. With the right perspective, there can be a balance in understanding the true meaning of both Easter and Resurrection Sunday. It’s a time of gratitude for what Yeshua has done for us. Resurrection Sunday means there is hope for us to live eternally in the presence of God. And that is cause for celebration. I’ll leave you with this. Yeshua promised in John 14:19 “Because I live, you also will live.” And Yeshua always keeps His promises. He is risen. He is risen indeed! Praise God!!!