Easter Heresy

The Limits of Mortal Reference
When a U.S. Citizen wants to validate their position on law, liberty or license they may reference the U.S. Constitution. When the citizen wants to invalidate an opponents position they may say,”that is unconstitutional”. The U.S. Constitution is the American standard whereby we measure our freedoms and responsibilities as American citizens. But the perspective from which we view the Constitution determines the validity of our position.
Some people view the constitution from a subjective perspective called ,”the living document theory”. This perspective interprets the constitution in the context of present day morals and morays of society. Basically this perspective, which the current administration holds, means they can interpret the Constitution any way they desire. There is no objectivity. The opposing view to this is “original intent” whereby the Constitution is interpret from the perspective of the men who wrote it. Original intent strives to understand the mind of the framers in the context of their time and apply the principle to our current age. This is an objective standard that secures truly American liberties for all. The serious danger of the “living document theory” is that ones perspective of all of history is distorted and manipulated to meet their own desires and ignores historic fact.
Even when we use the appropriate original intent approach we may still be left wanting. The Constitution was written by fallen men, heirs of Adams sinful nature and thus subject to flaws. The Constitution is not perfect because it was written by imperfect men but in all of history there is no government document greater and none will ever again reach this pinnacle of civil freedom until the Lord Jesus Christ returns.
When we reference the Constitution to support our position we will often mention the framers. Those men who worked out the concepts found in the document. Many of those framers were brilliant and noble men. All were courageous. But not all had righteous intents. Some were tyrannical in their motives and desired much power.
We find a similar parallel within the visible Body of Christ, the church. When a Christian has a position on doctrine or practice that they attempt to defend they may reference the early church fathers or councils. There were 7 church councils in the early church from 1st Nicean council, 325AD to 2nd council of Nicea 787. The first council of Nicea is considered the birthplace of the catholic church wherein church law, doctrine and practice was first codified and agreed upon by the bishops throughout Christendom. The succeeding councils all addressed doctrinal issues and church practices that were to be universally accepted in the visible church.
The first Nicean council established some very important truths that the church today still accepts. They clarified important doctrinal points relative to the nature of man, God and Christ. They also established the cannon otherwise known as the Bible as we have it today. Much debate occurred as to what would be included in this sacred book. I believe that God honors His word and superintended their debates to bring about Gods word in written form to guide His children through through the ages. The council of Nicea was extremely important for the church even unto this day. However, it was attended by men, heirs of Adam's sinful nature, subject to flaws in matters non-essential to the salvation of man. These non-essentials would be in the matters of religious practices and observance of holy days.

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:...” Colossians 2:16

Unbiblical Choices at Nicea
When determining the date of observing the resurrection of Christ the Council of Nicea abandoned the scriptures and chose a date that coincided with a pagan observance. Adopting pagan customs, traditions and holy days would become a standard practice of the Roman Catholic Church to this day. Religious syncretism is an ancient practice observed by Romans and Greeks alike whereby deities of different cultures are blended with their own deities. Roman Catholicism has carried on this practice and even non-Catholic churches, formerly known as Protestants, follow these same practices. Religious syncretism is happening in a grand scale in many arenas including Evangelicals but we are focusing only upon the syncretistic heresy of Easter.
The Council of Nicea, 325AD determined that Sunday would be the day when Christians observed the resurrection. It would be a fixed day of the week but not a fixed date on the calendar such as December 25th. This differed from churches in Asia Minor who followed the Jewish calendar of 14 Nisan being the date of the crucifixion. The early church observed Passover with Christ the Lamb of God being the final sacrifice. The noted 19th century church historian Philip Schaff states,
“The feast of the resurrection was thenceforth required to be celebrated everywhere on a Sunday, and never on the day of the Jewish Passover, but always after the fourteenth of Nisan on the Sunday after the first vernal full moon. The leading motive for this regulation was opposition to Judaism, which had dishonored the Passover by crucifixion of the Lord. In Constantine's circular letter regarding the council of Nicea he wrote,” we would have nothing in common with the most hostile people, the Jews; for we have received from the Redeemer another way of honoring God(the order of the days of the week)and harmoniously adopting this method, we would withdraw ourselves from the evil fellowship of the Jews. For what they pompously assert, is really utterly absurd: that we cannot keep this feast at all without their instruction...it is our duty to have nothing in common with the murderers of our Lord”

Here we find the council of Nicea and the emperor Constantine overtly and blatantly ignoring the very scripture that affirms Christs prophetic claim of resurrecting Himself
“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” John 10:17-18
The passover feast is a memorial, a memory of how the Lord delivered the Hebrew children out of bondage. The Last Supper was the final Passover feast of the Old Testament and marked a new Passover feast of the New Testament.

“And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22:15-20

How can any Christian read this account of the Last Supper and deny that it was a Passover meal with Christ Himself being the Passover sacrifice? If you don't deny it then why do you observe Easter? I remind you, Christian, that the observance of Passover was a memorial feast to be celebrated FOREVER,
“And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. “ Exodus 12:13-14
The Passover feast memorializing the exodus was a prophetic image pointing to Christ. I am convinced now more than ever that those who have been grafted in to the vine and heirs to the promise of Abraham should observe the New Testament Passover in memory of Christ the Lamb of God by whose blood the judgment of God passes over the believer.

Another God
Easter and Passover are NOT synonymous. Easter is the Saxon word for “Estera” or “Oestra”, the Teutonic goddess of spring. Previously stated, the Romans and the Catholic church have no problem syncretizing their religion with pagan religions and Easter is nothing but syncretized mixing of a false god and pagan practices with Christian practice.* This violates the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” Exodus 20:3. To “have” another god is not restricted to “possessing” or “owning” another god. The word “have” implies merely acknowledging other gods because there are no other gods to acknowledge. There is only ONE God.
The truth of this first commandment became profoundly clear to me when having a discussion with a Jewish woman. I was visiting a local historic synagogue and engaged this women in the discussion of Passover. I made comment that it troubles me deeply that Christians will not acknowledge the Passover in relation to the resurrection of Christ but prefer to name the event after the pagan god Easter. The women responded by saying, “what other god?”. There is only ONE. Christian, when you use the word Easter you not only violate the first commandment but you are guilty of blasphemy when you associate a pagan god with the resurrection.

Another Religion
Most professing Christians who believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ will acknowledge that the customs of Easter such as bunnies and eggs have nothing to do with the resurrection of Christ but they engage in it anyway saying, “its for the children”. God will hold you accountable for teaching your children these pagan practices no matter how “fun” they might be. Also, let me note that the sunrise service on Easter also has nothing to do with Christ. This too is a pagan practice to observe the sun rising for the sun is one of many deities in the pantheon of pagan gods. Christ did not rise from the dead at sunrise.
“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.” John 20:1
Christ arose before the sun came up. So, what is the point of your sunrise service? Its not relevant to the account of His resurrection.
Before all of you write me off as some insensitive religious bully let me acknowledge that we were all raised with this tradition. For many years I used the expression “Easter” in reference to the resurrection. But it always made me feel uneasy to do so. I believe this was the conviction of the Holy Ghost. I pray that God will convict you to turn from this wicked practice and celebrate the risen LAMB of GOD, Jesus Christ.

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” I Peter 1:18-19

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29

"And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb..." Revelation 5

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
Ephesians 5:11

The Hebrew children were commanded to utterly destroy all images and traces of pagan gods when they entered the promised land. So it is when a Christian enters in to new life all things must become new and vain traditions abolished.
“When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee.....thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. 6For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” Deuteronomy 7:1,5

“These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: 3And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. “ Deuteronomy 12:1-3

We are not to even acknowledge the names of pagan gods, like Easter, but destroy them.

“Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. “ Exodus 23:24
The scriptures are replete with commands to destroy pagan altars, images and even the names of false gods yet Christians hang on to this beloved Easter tradition. Bunnies, eggs and the sunrise service are all traditions from pagan practices of spring festivals. The Easter ham is most certainly an anti Jewish tradition probably from Constantine's directive that Christians are to disassociate themselves from the evil Jewish murders. No better way to distance yourself from a Jew than to have an un-kosher animal as the main dish at the resurrection feast.
Even the date whereby Easter Sunday is determined is not in reference to the resurrection but in reference to the pagan observance of the Vernal(Spring) Equinox otherwise known as the first day of Spring, March 21. It is from this date of March 21 that Easter Sunday is determined NOT from the actual date of Christs resurrection which coincides with Passover. To determine the date of Easter Sunday it is the first Sunday following the first full moon after March 21st.
Christian, I admonish you, I plead with you to stop observing this pagan practice. You grieve the heart of God and blaspheme His Holy work.

A Call to Restoration
Its time for the Body of Christ to have a restoration instead of a reformation. The reformation of the middle ages was incomplete and held on to these pagan syncretistic practices. May the Body of Christ throw off these shackles of heathenism and rediscover the beauty of Christ our Passover Lamb. I encourage you to celebrate the Passover Seder this year Friday April 22nd. This is not a celebration of the Jewish Passover but a celebration of the fulfillment of Passover in Christ the Lamb of God. Its a remembrance of our Lord as He commanded us in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 13.
“And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22:14-20

Paul even commands us to keep Passover saying, "Let us keep the feast".
"Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." I Corinthians 5:6-8

Paul is not talking about Easter but the Passover feast. The word Easter appears only one time in the King James Version in Acts 12:4. The word translated as "Easter" is pascha which is Passover. The translators knew exactly what they were doing. This was nothing less than an anti-Jewish inference. Easter is anti-Jewish, anti-Passover and anti-Law. If you are going to deny the Passover observance of Christ our Passover then what else will you deny in the scriptures? The ten commandments?
Easter is an affront to God Almighty. You could just as easily use the word Baal or Molech. They are all false gods which means they do not exist. The church has been brainwashed with Easter and its time you come out from this unholy practice.

*There is some evidence to suggest that Eastre or Oestra were syncretized gods from the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar and subsequent Canaanite and Syrian goddess Astarte also called Ashtaroth mentioned in the scriptures. Judges 2:13, 10:6; I Samuel 7:3-4; 12:10
All false gods and false doctrines can be connected to Nimrod first and ultimately to Satan whose lie in the garden,” you shall not die but you shall be like gods” is found in every false teaching. The essence of man's sin nature is to be a god.
Sources:
1. Budin, Stephanie L. (2004). "A Reconsideration of the Aphrodite-Ashtart Syncretism". Numen 51 (2): 95–145 (Wikepedia)
2. Schaff, Philip (1981 reprint), History of the Christian Church Vol.3,pgs 404-407, Eerdmans
3. Orr, James (1939) International Standard Bible Encylopedia Vol.2 p. 889, Eerdmans
4. McClintock, John; Strong, James(1873) Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, Vol. 3, pgs 12-13, Harper and Brothers
5. Holy Bible, KJV
6. Robertson, A.T. (1950) A Harmony of the Gospels, pgs 190-192, Harper and Row

Three Rules for Sound Bible Study

3 Rules for Sound Bible Study

Rule number 1. Context
Rule number 2. Context
Rule number 3. Context

How many times have you had something you said or written taken out of context and it skews your original intent? We see contextual violations all the time occurring in our society. I remember the Trayvon Martin 911 tapes where MSNBC edited the tape, took George Zimmermans statements out of context and made him out to be a white racist. I was once declared a heretic by an old pastor friend of mine after he took statements I made to him out of context and presented them to his church board.

Historical context is equally important. When I hear or read about the atrocities of how slaves were whipped and beaten we are left with the impression that only blacks were treated this way, therefore it must be racially motivated. When Denzel Washington is whipped in the movie Glory they want to give the impression that whitey is racist. This type of punishment is being taken out of context. Any soldier in that day regardless of color who deserts his post is subject to public whipping. In fact, he should have received a courts martial and been executed. Whipping was a very light sentence. In 1860, any sailor who was insubordinate, not rendering proper respect to an officer, would be flogged before the whole crew. It did not matter what his race was. Historical context is important for understanding history.

When we read the scripture or hear scripture preached or taught we must be careful to consider textual context.

I think the following scripture is taken out of context more than any other:

“And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

A friend of mine just the other day quoted this verse out of context. Many people know the truth and they are not free. I know of people who sit in churches and hear truth all the time and they are not free. Judas knew the truth and was not free. The Pharisees knew the truth and they were in bondage.

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” John 3

Even Satan knows the truth and will always be in bondage, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” James 2:19

Knowing the truth does NOT make you free. We must consider the context to understand what makes us free.

31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8
Continuing in Christs word is what makes us free. It is vital for the Christian to be in the word of God. This is fruit of discipleship in Christ and remaining in all of Gods word, contextually, will make us free.

False doctrines and cults are started by taking a verse out of context and building a theology around it. Its called proof texting. I Corinthians 13:1 is used as a proof text for the Charismatics who claim a “prayer language”.

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. “ I Cor. 13:1

The context of this passage and even the context of the entire chapter encompasses 3 chapters. The love chapter, I Cor. 13 is sandwiched in between chapters 12 and 14 where Paul is chastising the Corinthians for their misuse of the gifts of the spirit. Paul is not endorsing a “prayer language” but rebuking them. The word, “though” can be translated, “If”.

Context is vitally important to much of how we interpret life. Context of a crime is important in a court of law. Context is important in politics. The context of your physical being is important for your doctor to accurately diagnose your condition and context is important for our eternal souls when studying the scriptures.

When reading the scriptures you may find a verse curious. Read over the passage again within context. This can be done by reading several verses before and after the passage in question. Sometimes you may need to read an entire chapter. A good study Bible will often provide the context with a heading at each chapter. For example, Colossians establishes its context in the first chapter with the supremacy of Christ. Everything else in the book is a result of and points back to the supremacy of Christ.

In the Old Testament historical context is important to understanding much of what is written, especially with the prophets. Some study aids that can be helpful in understanding the Old Testament is a bible encyclopedia or a survey of the O.T. I would be cautious about running to your local bookstore and buying the latest O.T. survey. If you want recommendations just respond to this post and I would be glad to oblige.

Keep the scripture in context to keep yourself out of error.