Did You Worship the Son or the Sun?
by Jim Josephsen

Catholics and Protestants alike have just observed their most venerated of church-ordained holy days, Easter. Many, waking in the early morning darkness, hours before sunrise, rushed to their church’s choice location, perhaps a hill-top or lake front or an open field, perhaps the parking lot, to face the east and view the rising of the sun in a traditional Sunday morning, Easter sunrise service. Those less inclined to awake early on a weekend morning, eventually made their way to church, to perform their Easter duty.

Many, after paying their church obligations, either in a full mass or an abbreviated half hour homily, made their way to a local Easter buffet. Others went straight home so the kids could engage in the traditional Easter egg hunt and family Easter dinner. Oh how the kids love their little goodies; their baskets of candies, toys, plastic eggs, Peeps and chocolate bunnies. Oh how the kids love to look for the decorated eggs, to find more than their siblings or their friends. Still many of those less religious ignored church activity and commenced with the fun stuff.

All of this celebration on a day, which according to the Universal Roman Catholic Church, commemorates the risen Jesus. The keen observer cannot help but notice, Catholic and Protestant holidays are encumbered more with celebration and pleasure, than with honor, solemnity and respect.

The way in which Christianity observes its religious holidays are a sign of the times, a reflection of culture and society. Easter is no exception. Easter is a day of pleasure and celebration. Sure many of the faithful attend some type of religious ceremony; however, after a cursory acknowledgement of the sanctity of the day, party-like festivities begin.

The many Easter activities have taken precedent over its once venerated sacredness. Easter has developed from a “sacred” religious celebration of the resurrected Christ to a mainly commercialized seasonal celebration filled with childish activities, little chicks, bunnies, candies, eggs and baskets of goodies, Easter dresses, bunny ears, lilies and bonnets. Growing more common are trees, indoor and outdoor, decorated with plastic eggs.

The history of the Easter celebration is laid open, clear, transparent and unambiguous. Not only found in many of our booklets and articles, but available to the public on the internet are found thousands of articles, thoroughly researched, exposing the elements of Easter as being nothing more than the preservation of ancient pagan traditions. Modern-day Easter celebrations would please the pagans of centuries and millennia gone by.

When thoroughly researched and logically understood, studying the events of times past, especially religious history and when checked against the doctrines of the Bible, one cannot escape the fact that the celebration of Easter has nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As quoted from the Catholic Encyclopedia, (Vol V, page 224) regarding Easter: “The English term, according to Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v) relates to Eostre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring…”

Alexander Hislop in his seminal book, The Two Babylons (page 103) enlightens the readers with the following: “Then look at Easter. What is the meaning of the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, as pronounced by the people of Nineveh, was identical with the now common use in this country. The name as found by Layard (cf. Nineveh and Babylon, Page 629) on Assyrian Monuments is Ishtar.”

All the primary accoutrements associated with Easter today, bunnies, little chicks, eggs, lilies, hot-cross buns, Sunday morning sunrise services, resurrection-minded observations are ALL pagan in origin and ALL have no bases of belief as defined by the Bible, the very Word of God. Easter has no place in the true worship of Jesus Christ.

The observation of Easter has one purpose; to obscure the truth of God’s Spring Holy Days. Easter obscures the rich and God-ordained meaning of the Lord’s Supper and the death of Jesus Christ, as our Passover Lamb and atoning sacrifice for sins. Easter obscures the truth that Jesus Christ was resurrected on late Sabbath (Saturday) afternoon. The celebration of Easter obscures all the plain and rich truths taught by the Bible.

Most hideous, Easter enslaves Catholic and Protestant Christians, as they annually honor and observe pagan customs, all of which are an abomination to Jesus Christ.

Although many Christians will protest at any harsh objection to such a serene celebration; after all, look at how much fun the kids have, the reality is that Easter is a deception, foisted upon a naïve Christian public by the master-deceiver himself, Satan, the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4), the arch-deceiver (Revelation 12:9), who has transformed himself as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14).

Christianity is quick to parrot scriptures, such as, believe in the Lord; trust in the Lord; Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. Christians take solace in the immutability of God; that God, who cannot lie, changes not. Christians are quick to quote the scriptures. Yet the same God, whom they (perceivably claim to) worship has spoken the following words. “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fires and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread to the Queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 7:16-18 NIV). This Queen of Heaven was none other than the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess Ishtar (pronounced Easter).

The chosen people of God, the children of Judah, who knew better, committed sin by worshipping the pagan goddess, Easter. Today, Catholic and Protestant Christians, who claim to be God’s people, who claim to know better, still worship the pagan goddess, Easter. Only what is worse, they put Jesus in the mix.

Notice also Ezekiel 8:16. “And then he brought me into the inner court of the House of the Lord and there at the entrance into the Temple between the portico and the alter, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down toward the sun in the east.”

Once again, those who knew better engaged in pagan worship. Most hideous they turned their back to God and bowed before the sun, they worshipped the rising of the sun. This action of course was an

abomination to their God, the God of Israel and Judah, the one who became Jesus Christ.

And today, there is no difference. Those who claim to know better, who claim to worship Jesus Christ, who claim to be Christian, turn their back on God, turn their back on Jesus Christ and worship the sun.

Search for yourself. You will learn the truth about Easter. Today’s celebration of Easter is a grand cover up, modernizing ancient pagan practices that are evil, and an abomination to Jesus Christ. Easter does not honor Jesus Christ. Easter leads people away from God’s only ordained and honorable, pure and logical Holy Days.

Easter masks the truth of the only sign Jesus Christ gave of His Messiahship. He would be three days and three nights in the tomb. He died on Passover day, a Wednesday of that year and was resurrected on a Sabbath, some 72 hours, three days and three nights later. Read the scriptures for yourself – the stone was already rolled away, the tomb was already empty, Jesus had already risen before Mary Magdalene arrived, early in the morning, while it was yet dark.

The Roman Catholic Church, originally under the direction of Emperor Constantine, and continuing on through the Council of Nicaea and subsequent councils rejected Biblical truth and in its place, instituted pagan practices, placing Jesus terminology in the mix.

“How then, we ask, did the custom [of Easter] come to be associated with Christianity? Its adoption into the Romish “church” is but further evidence of the great compromise that was made with paganism – a compromise to gain popularity with both sides! As when other rites were adopted by the ‘church’, apostate leaders attempted to find some similarity between the pagan rite and some Christian event; so in this case it was suggested that as the chick comes out of the egg, so Christ came out of the tomb! Thus the fallen leaders – void of God’s Holy Spirit – told the people that the egg was a symbol of the resurrected Christ” (Babylon Mystery Religion – Ancient and Modern by Ralf Woodrow). Just one more example of the direct connection Easter activity has with paganism.

Catholic and Protestant Christians have just completed another Easter celebration. Christians, those who claim to believe in the Lord; those who claim allegiance to Jesus, need to think hard and consider the following question. Did I worship the Son or did I worship the sun?

An honest look at history and by reading the Bible, the very Word of God, will provide the only truthful answer. As a Catholic or Protestant Christian, perhaps once you learn the truth, you will be compelled to no longer worship the sun.