Easter vs Christmas.

[Classik]

The other time our pastor asked us the question: HIS Birth and HIS Death, which is more important to man?

Well...lol
Some said HIS Death, others said, HIS Birth.

Some reasons:
HIS Death made our reconciliaton with God possible, HIS ultimate goal.

HIS Birth: No birth - no reconciliation.


What is your opinion?

 

[savedbyhim01]

Both are equally important since both had to happen for redemption to be possible. I kind of like Easter because it has not been as secularized as Christmas yet.

 

[Tina]

IMO, the death of Jesus has much more weight and is far more important than His birth. Placing more importance to His birth will make us no different from the Jews, Muslims and Gnostics who twist the rest of history to promote their false religions. Without the crucifixion, death and resurrection (CDR) of Christ, there is no salvation for man, which makes all the difference. I guess that explains the liberal and lavish celebrations of Christmas by the world, but come Easter, the rest of the world steps back while Christians endear and observe this auspicious season. Because even unbelievers understand that the significance of Christianity lies in the CDR of Christ and not His birth.

 

[Nick]

Both are equally important since both had to happen for redemption to be possible. I kind of like Easter because it has not been as secularized as Christmas yet.

I agree that both are as important as each other. Although it was His death and resurrection that allows us to be a acceptable to God, this could not have happened if Jesus had not been manifested in the flesh, i.e. His birth.

 

[Christ_empowered]

Miraculous as the birth of Christ was, His execution and resurrection carry more weight in my heart (that's just me, btw). Also, as one other poster said, Easter hasn't been quite as secularized and commercialized as Christmas.

On a personal note: 7 years ago, I was in a mental hospital over Easter (not entirely voluntarily). Terrible experience, and led to an incredible rough patch in my life that is just now coming to a close. 7 years later, God helped me escape being committed by the same shrink who "treated" me all those years ago, I'm smart again, and I have Faith.

So for me, its Easter.

 

[Fedusenko]

Well, I don't think that Easter and Christmas are His death and birth as these are not the dates which they happened as any simple research would show.

As for the secularized comment... you are right, though both are still disgusting.

The topic is aimed at which is more important, His birth or death? The death was required for our salvation, but so was His riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. So were all the stories that foretold the Messiah. If they hadn't happened, then He would not be the Messiah promised by God.

As for His death, I think that is what Passover is about and Easter is His resurrection.

 

[rzr]

Was curiours to what a rabbit has to do with Easter and came across this tid bit of info. Thought it was interesting and well put.

What has become today's Easter Bunny is actually a surviving remnant of much older traditions celebrated in pre-Christian days, and still practised today by Pagans around the world. Bunnies, or rabbits, are fertility symbols, sacred to the Goddess of the Dawn, once known as Ostarra or Eostara, which is from where Easter takes its name. Due to the rabbits' ability to procreate at light speed, the rabbit is a perfect symbol for fertility, which is a focus of natural life cycles in the spring. Eggs, too, are a natural symbol for fertility - from the egg comes life.

During Spring Equinox celebrations both past and present, the focus is on Spring growth. All the blossoms on the trees, new shoots of flowers popping up above the ground, and new born animals, including the ever producing rabbit, are all signs for us to see that the season of Spring has begun and nature continues its cycle as ever before.
When Christianity began to spread, one way of getting Pagans to accept the newest religion was to overlap Christian values and ideas with current and much loved pagan customs, to attract the locals to the church and pull them away from their long practised ways of honoring and living with nature. The Easter Bunny and Egg hunts are two such carryovers that, in the beginning, had nothing to do with the Christian faith or belief in Jesus' resurrection. But these pagan ideas helped those wandering priests to get the attention of the pagans they sought to convert. Pagans around Europe loved their goddesses and symbols of life that they understood much more clearly than the Bible, which was not readily available to the common people anyway. Incorporating these pagan practices was discovered to be a key ingredient to bring more people under the church, and it made Christianity itself more acceptable. After all, the most successful missionaries are those who seek to understand the people they wish to convert by living their life without compromising anyone's beliefs. Because the Christian church celebrates the Resurrection of Christ in the spring, it made sense to them to "borrow" from Pagan Spring rites in order to make the attraction to the newer religion plausible.The short answer is: Rabbits (and eggs) have come to be seen as symbols of new life and rebirth, and the Christian celebration of Easter is all about new life, because of Christ's resurrection, and the new life He bought for us.

 

[Aardverk]

Both are equally important since both had to happen for redemption to be possible. I kind of like Easter because it has not been as secularized as Christmas yet.

It is not that 'Christmas' has been secularized, it is actually that 'Yule' (mid-winter festival) has been hijacked by Christians. Not so many years ago Christian celebration of 'Christmas' was banned in both England and the US as it is a Pagan festival. Most people were well aware back then that 25th December was not when Jesus was born.

'Easter' on the other hand is simply the modern spelling of the Old English 'Ēostre' (spring festival) which is also the celebration of the Pagan Goddess Ēostre. Why Christians have never renamed Easter (Ēostre) is beyond me.

The date now used for Easter (the crucifixion and resurrection) is more related to the date of Passover than to any date of execution that we know from any historical record. So maybe we should come up with another name for and a fixed date for the crucifixion and resurrection? As it is today 'Good-Friday', how about 'Excellent-Sunday'?


(The previous post, with similar content, has appeared since I started writing. As there are slight differences, I will leave mine here too.)

 

[Pard]

When I was a kid I used to be amazed that Jesus was born on December 25th and then died only a few months later in April. It never occurred to me that many years spanned between His birth and death., just figured that being God meant He could git'er done really quickly.

Anyways, two years ago I'd have said Christmas, because of presents and all that good stuff. Now, I'd say Easter. It's because of His death that we are saved. Now sure, His birth must happen in order for His death to occur, but to that end the death was of more significance than the birth simply because of what it signified for mankind.

Truthfully, it's a bit odd to compare them, they are not the same beyond being holidays.

As for the pagan stuff, who cares? So we hijacked a some holidays from a bunch of weirdos chilling in the woods with crazy blue tattoos (movie reference FTW!). They are now ours and they have come to signify a different thing. Besides that, technically the pagan holiday is the 21st of December. It was a good recruitment tool... *imagines*

"Hey guys, listen we got this religion and it's better than your weird one. Come join us!"

-"But we get holiday. Holiday mean time and a half pay! We want time and one half pay!"

"Uh, well... Crazy thing, Jesus was born during the same time as your December holiday and then, even crazy, He died close to your bunny holiday. So you can still get your holidays."

-"Sweet! Now we don't have to talk in a stereotypical way to fit the part of the weirdo pagans hanging in the woods! And we still get our time and a half!!!"

And you see, that's pretty much how it happened. I bet the pagans (like the Jews) had a holiday every other week. So of course they would intersect. The death and resurrection happened during Passover, and the pagan one is close to Passover. They didn't really have a good idea about Jesus' birth back in the day, so it wasn't as big of a deal to just plop it down on top of the Yule. Now a days we have a better understanding and can roughly guess that the birth occurred in September, and I bet there is a pagan holiday then too.

 

[Classik]

When I was a kid I used to be amazed that Jesus was born on December 25th and then died only a few months later in April. It never occurred to me that many years spanned between His birth and death.

:toofunny 4 months?

 

[Aardverk]

And you see, that's pretty much how it happened.

You are absolutely right

Now all we need to do is educate people so they don't whinge about 'the true meaning or Christmas' or 'the true meaning or Easter'

 

[Roof]

It is not that 'Christmas' has been secularized, it is actually that 'Yule' (mid-winter festival) has been hijacked by Christians. Not so many years ago Christian celebration of 'Christmas' was banned in both England and the US as it is a Pagan festival. Most people were well aware back then that 25th December was not when Jesus was born.

'Easter' on the other hand is simply the modern spelling of the Old English 'Ēostre' (spring festival) which is also the celebration of the Pagan Goddess Ēostre. Why Christians have never renamed Easter (Ēostre) is beyond me.

The date now used for Easter (the crucifixion and resurrection) is more related to the date of Passover than to any date of execution that we know from any historical record. So maybe we should come up with another name for and a fixed date for the crucifixion and resurrection? As it is today 'Good-Friday', how about 'Excellent-Sunday'?


(The previous post, with similar content, has appeared since I started writing. As there are slight differences, I will leave mine here too.)

My Church uses Pascha which is the Hebrew transliteration of Passover.

 

[Aardverk]

My Church uses Pascha which is the Hebrew transliteration of Passover.

That rings a bell. We also talk about 'Passion Plays', as in Oberammergau, so something along those lines sounds good to me. (Pascha = Passion?)

What about non-English speaking countries? What do they call Easter? Surely the Italians (Pasqua) don't celebrate to an English Goddess's name:o

Definitely - it is high time we changed the name.

A word or warning though............

"The Pascha is a 12 storey 9,000 square metre brothel in Cologne, Germany. With about 120 prostitutes, over 80 employees and up to 1000 customers per day, it is the largest brothel in Europe."​

;)

 

[Fedusenko]

I may have read things wrong, but I am pretty sure that Easter and Passover are not the same... I must have read things wrong.

But to go along with the proceeding comment, along with a name change should we employ a date change to be more appropriate? Maybe have a Risen Messiah Day 3 days after Passover and dismiss this whole Sunday business?

 

[Vic C.]

Read 1 Cor 15 and you will find your answer.

BTW, I dislike the word, Easter. :o

BTW2, Jesus was not crucified on a Friday. ;)

 

[jasoncran]

pescha is the word used and its a greek/latin word for passover.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Read 1 Cor 15 and you will find your answer.

BTW, I dislike the word, Easter. :o

BTW2, Jesus was not crucified on a Friday. ;)

Ah, now Vic you are starting to sound like me! :toofunny

Seriously, "Easter" is more important, i.e. the day of Firstfruits. That was the sole purpose in Christ's 1st coming "to seek and save that which is lost". The birth was necessary for one to die, and goes without saying.

However, one can know the plan of God's redemption of mankind in the feasts. Check out Leviticus 23 --- that's the core plan of God in the bible and in itself contains profound prophecy.

I personally believe Christ was born on the "feast of Trumpets", probably late September at the end of a Sabbath Day (the same day of the week he arose). Likewise, he will come again at that time.

In the ancient Jewish calendar, it was not calculated as it is today. One had to WATCH for the sighting of the new moon--- a spirit of WATCHFULNESS (not predetermined preparation). Astronomically speaking, the new moon in the autumn, at the feast of trumpets, was a little tricky to see since the ecliptic made a shallow angle with the horizon. Therefore people watched for the month because "no man knew the day or the hour" that the moon would appear. But when it would, the "trumpet would sound" and the elect (Israel) gathered together.

So, I think likewise Jesus will return at that time of the year as he came the first time.

 

[sesantek]

The other time our pastor asked us the question: HIS Birth and HIS Death, which is more important to man?

Well...lol
Some said HIS Death, others said, HIS Birth.

Some reasons:
HIS Death made our reconciliaton with God possible, HIS ultimate goal.

HIS Birth: No birth - no reconciliation.


What is your opinion?

Both are important. But there is something about his death that thrills me anytime and also its relevance to our own success aspirations in life.

It would have amounted to a waste if He had come to the earth without visiting the cross. I can't even think about the possibillities-it would have been disastrous for us.

Now to us, it is not just your presence on this earth that matters but you must achieve your God-given purpose. If you don't do this, it would have been better you were not born.

I hope this useful.

 

[thethinkingrebel]

The other time our pastor asked us the question: HIS Birth and HIS Death, which is more important to man?

Well...lol
Some said HIS Death, others said, HIS Birth.

Some reasons:
HIS Death made our reconciliaton with God possible, HIS ultimate goal.

HIS Birth: No birth - no reconciliation.


What is your opinion?

I am going to be a bit naughty and say..neither.

I would say his resurrection was THE single most important thing that has ever happened.

Everyone is born, everyone dies, but were it not for the resurrection of our Lord, Our faith would have no merit. forget these ideas of swanning off to heaven when you die, it doesnt work like that. Life returns when WE are resurrected. Jesus' resurrection was the fulfillment of that promise of eternal life we see in John 3:16, he was the firstborn of eternal life, by being raised, he proved who he was, he defeated death, both figuratively and literally. Thus we have that promise.


Had Jesus not been raised, he would have proven himself insane or a liar, and the disciples would have kicked themselves, recanted, and gone back to their ordinary lives.