Question:
When was Easter instituted, and by whom?
Answer:
The claim, of course, is that it is now held to commemorate the Saviour’s resurrection.
It is almost impossible to tell when any of these voluntary feasts and practices crept into the church. It was at a comparatively early age that the celebration of Easter began. There is no doubt that at an earlier date, the primitive Christians celebrated, in a way, Christ’s resurrection from the dead, but they never designed to set apart a day for that purpose. That is stated over and over again by the early “fathers.” The yearly celebration of that day they connected with the Passover, called the paschal feast. It is an utter mistranslation that places “Easter” in the text of Acts 12:4. Instead of “Easter,” it ought to be “the Passover,” as it is in the Revised Version. Therefore, the early Christians kept it at the time regulated by the Passover. Still, at an early date, the Roman Church endeavored to place the celebration of the resurrection on Sunday instead of on the day of the Passover.
Victor, Bishop of Rome, about the close of the second century, attempted to lord it over his brethren of the East, Dowling tells us, by forcing them to follow the rule which the Western churches in the keeping of the paschal feast observed. He wrote an imperious letter commanding them to observe the same days he did. But the Eastern churches answered the lordly summons by the bishop of Ephesus, Polycrates, that they would by no means depart in this matter from the custom handed down to them by their ancestors, upon which Victor, exasperated, pronounced them unworthy of the name of his brethren, and excluded them all from fellowship with the church of Rome. This Dowling denominates the earliest instance of Roman assumption, but it was not even at that time called Easter.
The term “Easter” comes from the Anglo-Saxon Eostre, the name of the Saxon goddess, worshiped in spring, exemplifying the fruitfulness and productiveness of nature, with offerings of flowers, eggs, and other symbolical characteristics. It was sun and nature worship—purely pagan. As with other heathen festivals, the apostatized church of Rome thought it would be good to connect the Passover celebration with the heathen feast of Easter, so it came into the church. There is no warrant of Scripture for it whatsoever. There is no sacredness in any way attached to the day, and those who observe it in memory of the resurrection of Christ, can well bring home to their hearts the question which the Lord Himself asks, “Who hath required this at your hand?” But is it not well to celebrate the resurrection of Christ? Some may ask. Indeed it is, but the truest, grandest, most fitting memorial of Christ’s resurrection is the godly life of His followers. The resurrection of Christ demonstrated His power over sin. If His followers wish to keep His resurrection before the world, it will be by Christ living within, demonstrating the power of His people over sin. That is one constant, living representation of the resurrection.
