How did a Christian world come to accept and celebrate what was at one time pagan religious traditions? Let's pull back the curtain of time and see how and why these foreign customs became part of today's religious heritage.

It was customary in the Spring of each year, on the first Saturday after March 21st, that the pagan or non-Christian European people congregated outside their villages. All the able-bodied gathered wood, placed it around an oak tree and set it alight. As the people encircled the fire, they would kneel and beg the goddess of the dawn to bring the days of Spring.

These folks offered sacrifices to the goddess of Spring on this Saturday evening and retired until early the following morning. Before dawn, everyone again met outside facing the East toward the rising sun and gave thanks to their goddess for bringing the Spring days back again.

This day was considered a holiday with celebrations and games. One game was to search for hidden colored eggs. The main colors symbolized the sun's life-giving rays. Many eggs, the emblem of the seed of life, were given as an offering to the Spring goddess and others were eaten. Hot-cross buns were also baked and offered to the goddess.

After the first century, large numbers of people from Persia, Assyria and eastern lands settled on the European mainland that also worshiped a Spring goddess in celebrations which took place at the beginning of Spring. Some sun worship was involved with a resurrection festival. The merged celebrations came to be known as Easter in honor of the goddess Ishtar. This sun worship came to have a profound impact on the Romans.

Jesus and first-century Christians did not honor or recognize foreign gods, celebrate Easter or any resurrection festivals. These holidays and festivals are unrecognized. The Jewish nation in general was unable to resist the enticement of foreign gods or the peer pressure of nations. Professed Christianity over the generations has not proved to be any different. True Christians are known by their fruit. (Matthew 7; John 15:8; Matthew 3:10)

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." - Exodus 20:2-6

The Roman Emperor Constantine passed a decree in 325 A.D. that forced all within the empire to keep this Sunday resurrection. It was forbidden for any Christian to continue keeping the Jewish Passover. Pagans now professed to be Christians through the mandated state religion and developed a perverted Christian philosophy of their own. As the Roman State religion, Christianity sought to build up influence at the expense of the other religions, so they incorporated the Feast of the Resurrection on the same day as eastern religions worshiped on Sunday. Instead of worshiping the sun, they focused the non-Christians pagans, now Christians, on honoring the Son in the same ways while empowering the Catholic Church and the Roman State in a united kingdom of state ordained religion. The United States claims to be a Christian nation and a Christian people that listen to God's Word. However, you wouldn't know this by the customs most Christians keep and recommend.

"The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods." - Deuteronomy 12:29-31