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o
E
ASTER
1978
t's early. Very, very early. In fact , it's
even darkeroutside your home now than
it was last night when you went to bed.
Somehow you sleepily stumble into
your finest new clothes, wake the kids,
get them dressed, walk out into the chi ll
moming air. It's just a short trip to a
special local hillside, and you arrive at
5:30a.m.
lt's an Easter sunrise service. All your
friends and neighbors are there. You squint to make sure
you recognize them
~nd
hope they will recognize you,
but you can't make out all the faces in the dark.
The services are about to begin.
The ministersoftly intones about the Son ofGod risen.
The audience is led to a quietly emotional clímax and
then the long-awaited momentarrives: the firstsharp ray
oftbe yellow orb peeks over the eastern horizon. Every
head bows in worship.
Lateron in the morning, there isa rompingfamily egg
hunt at home with sorne of the neighbor chi ldren.
Colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, hot cross buns. reallive
dyed (and soon dead) baby chicks, candy eggs- a ll
exciting and fun. Look at the glow in your daughter's
eyes as she searches for, finds, counts and eats the
goodies!
Next comes a more formal 11 a.m. church service,
which the entire family, in their finest new spring
clothing and Easter haberdashery, attends- one of the
two times a year most people darken the church door.
After a pleasantly briefsermon filled with hope, there is
the traditional Easter dinner at G randma's, followed by
rdaxation anda little nap after so long a day.
Then it's all over for another year.
This is Easter, Yourtown- your home- A.D. 1978-
right?
Wrong!
This is lshtar, Babylonia, 1978
B.
C.!
Every one ofthe customs described above dates back
over 4,000 years to Babylonian Ishtar worship. When
Babylon fell, the migrating tribes continued the same
observances. The Teutonic tribes continued the riles for
their goddess of spring: Eostra. These pagan, German
observances were then incorporated into nominal
"Christianity" during the Dark Ages in an effort to win
the European pagans to the fold. Thinly veiled pagan–
ism has survived virtually intact for 4,000 years! As
languages have evolved, developed and formalized , the
word Easter has been pronounced basically the same
way, and the customs remain basically unchanged as
well- only "Christian" names and reasons for obser–
vances are added.
But,so what? Isn't Easter fun? Don't thekids love it?
No!
Children don't love Easter, the holiday. They !ove the
things that attend it: candy, play, food, attention, new
clothes, pink dresses, chocolate eggs, a week's vacation
from school (with church and state absolutely separated,
of course), and eating Grandma 's goodies.
And how about you adults? Do you !ove Easter, the
day, or do you only like buyingnew clothes, meeting old
friends, eating a big mea! , relaxing- and do you really
enjoy that once-a-year sunrise?
Doing these things is not wrong of itself. But, be honest
with yourself. Couldn't you do those things on February
27, or June 4, or even the first Tuesday of every month?
Why do them on that day? Why do you do them on a day
yo
u
never could calculate, but haveto look on a calendar
for: "the first Sunday after the first new moon following
the vernal equinox"?
What is it about Easter that
you
cling to? Can' t you
enjoy the good life
any
day? Ifyou observe it for religious
reasons, surely you can find that observance in the Bible,
commanded and observed by the apostles, or at least
predicted by the prophets, right?
Wrong! The only biblical men,tion ofobservances like
these is in a very condemning context , in the Old
Testament! Maybe you better check into this. Why don ' t
you write for our booklet titled
The Plain Truth About
Easter?
This publication traces the history of Easter
observance and shows how it was injected into thechurch
after
the early apostles had died. In it you wi ll find out
whether or not the Bible really teaches the observance of
Lent ,Good Fridayor Eastersunriseservices.
- Ion Hi/1