05/12/2026
IS "EASTER" A BAD WORD?
Easter is just a pagan celebration rebranded.
I have heard that claim for years.
Someone posts the claim online:
"Easter grew out of pagan spring festivals."
The claim gets repeated with increasing confidence.
Yes, ancient people had spring festivals.
Their lives depended on sun and rain and the seasons.
Of course they celebrated when the earth woke up again.
Of course they used the season to talk about life and hope.
But that is not the same thing as Easter.
What struck me this year was that over Easter weekend, I heard,
“Pastor, you really should not use the word Easter.”
And I didn’t hear that from critics of the faith.
I heard it from Christians.
They had heard that the word Easter is tied to pagan religion.
So, I looked into it.
Some argue that Easter is connected to a German word for spring—
Maybe even an old German goddess named Eostre.
Others connect it to Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of new life.
Their reasoning? The two words Ishtar and Easter sound similar.
But that’s not a sound way to trace a word’s history.
The Eostre explanation has more support,
but even there the evidence is thin and debated.
Here is the point:
Even if the English word Easter has older linguistic roots,
a word’s history is not the same thing as a holy day’s meaning.
We understand that in ordinary life:
Words get borrowed. Languages overlap. Meanings shift.
But Easter is not rooted in Spring—It doesn’t rest on the name Easter.
It rests on the name of Jesus of Nazareth because it’s rooted in his resurrection.
Jesus Christ was crucified because of our sins.
Jesus Christ was raised on the third day because of our justification.
All who belong to Christ will also be raised.
That is not a myth. That is not a metaphor.
It is the saving truth of the Gospel.
So yes, we care about history.
and yes, we love the truth.
But we will not be shaken by weak arguments.
And we do not need to fear the word Easter.
Call it Easter. Call it Resurrection Sunday.
But whatever name you use, do not lose the heart of it:
Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed!
Alleluia!
_________________________________________
Pastor Erich Westphal
