Easter is Christian

In Defense of Easter Celebrations

and

Apr 19, 2025

cave during golden hour — Photo by kiwi thompson on Unsplash

Mark 16:6 [6] And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. (ESV)1

Greetings to the readers of Bellum Nostrae and a hearty welcome to newcomers! I am Conservative Calvinist, and I am joined by a good friend and fellow member of the B.N. publication, Numa, who is serving the role of contributor and editor on this short essay. This is the first of many articles I hope to share with you all. I do not purport to be an expert, but I am rather a layman enjoyer of theological matters and discussion. In this piece, a Protestant defense of celebrating Easter will be given. I was prompted to write on this issue from hearing fellow Christians attack celebrations of this nature, as well as persistent online musings claiming how paganism has seeped into the Church through such celebrations. I hope to give an overview of these critiques and provide a biblical defense of the tradition of Easter in response.

Easter Defined

First, we must start with what the common understanding of Easter is. Laid out in the Encyclopedia Britannica, “Easter, principal festival of the Christian church, which celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his Crucifixion” 2 Another trusted source, the New Oxford Dictionary defines Easter as, “The most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and held (in the Western Church) between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.”3 While these definitions are somewhat rigid, we get a simple and clear understanding of Easter. Easter is defined as a celebration of Christ’s resurrection. It is with this understanding that we can move to the debate on whether the practice is Christian and should be celebrated by Christians.

What We Believe

Some may be asking, “Well, what is a Christian and what do they believe?” Simply, Christians can be defined by what they profess as their faith and beliefs. Below are excerpts of the historic creeds of the Christian faith, which espouse what Christians confess about the resurrection of Christ:

Apostle’s Creed

“I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.”4

Athanasian Creed

“He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father's right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.”5

Nicene Creed

“For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.”6

These historical expressions of the faith perfectly lay out what we Christians believe about the resurrection, which Easter celebrates. This is the focal point of God’s redemptive history, that through the Son’s sacrifice and resurrection, death was conquered and humanity was freed from the curse of sin.

What Easter Is Not

Although the holiday has been co-opted by non-Christians and other secular festivities, i.e. the Easter Bunny, egg hunts, and egg painting, there are good reasons for this holiday to be celebrated apart from hedonistic desires. The biggest standpoint is that Easter symbolizes the Gospel. As a celebration, it praises God’s saving grace and mercy for the sinner through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His ultimate resurrection from the grave. Of course, Easter celebrations can become an idol or might be something secularized. This doesn’t change the Church’s orthodox tradition of celebrating after Good Friday, that Christ rose again on the third day. THIS is Easter. That Christ conquered death on the cross, rose again, fulfilled the Law, and freed us from the bondage of sin.

1 Corinthians 15:55 [55] “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (ESV)7

Objections to Easter considered

Etymology and Paganism

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Paganism. For starters, the goddess Ishtar. While argued that the etymological origins of the word Easter come from this Babylonian goddess, this has been successfully disputed and put to rest by Christian and secular scholars across the board. This so-called pagan influence idea was put forward by Alexander Hislop in his book The Two Babylons.8 It’s a case study for bad historical research and confusion about paganism. While some people might still believe in this conspiracy, it’s patently false and ignorant. It is possible that the English word came from an Anglo-Saxon word reminiscent of a pagan god and springtime festivals, but even the evidence of St. Bede provides is spurious and is rejected by modern scholars.9 While the possibility of the word Easter having pagan roots is alarming to some, it is clear Christians are not celebrating pagan traditions, but rather celebrate the Resurrection during the Springtime. A great scriptural point that illustrates this is 1 Corinthians Chapter 8, in which Paul explains that eating food prepared for idols, whether knowingly or unknowingly, is not intrinsically sinful, as there is but one God.10 Just as celebrating Easter, which may have distant connections to pagan traditions, is not sinful, as there is one God who sent His Son to die, and on the third day He rose again. That is what is being celebrated. And as Paul says, if these celebrations would cause your brother to stumble, you should refrain from them. I would say that applies to excessive celebration, and one in which the lines are blurred between cultural celebration and religious celebration.

The Early Church

There is irrefutable proof that Easter was practiced as early as the 2nd century, something amazingly within 100 years after Christ’s Ascension into heaven, which comes from a homily by Melito of Sardis.11 We also see that during the First Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), the date on which Easter is to be celebrated is debated, establishing the practice as common at the time and worthy of discussion.12 What constitutes correct teaching and practice can be debated, but the tradition of celebrating Christ’s Resurrection on a specific day can’t be argued. Christians have historically celebrated Easter, or as it was referred to in Latin and Greek, Pascha, as it is today by the Eastern Church.

a statue of a man with a hat on top of it

The Puritans didn’t celebrate it

Historically, post-reformation, there have been Christian denominations and sects (many in the Protestant tradition) that have resisted celebrating, namely Easter and Christmas, as well as feasts and other holy days. While I will not take the time to support or defend the latter, the celebration of Easter has been criticized by those calling themselves Christian. One of those groups, which in many ways I look up to and have learned much from, is the Puritans. While having varied beliefs, in Puritan England and Massachusetts, the celebration of Christmas, Easter, and other feasts and saints’ days was banned in June of 1647.13 This was because of the belief that these days took away from the Sunday service and Gospel message as well as resembling Catholic practices, which were rejected. It’s logical that criticism of holy days and celebrations directly followed the fervor of the Reformation. The English reformers saw a need to separate themselves from the Roman church, pointing to the Gospel and using Scripture as the sole source of instruction for the Christian life. Yet, I think in contemporary times were we have had such a moratorium on certain Papist practices in Protestant churches, there should not be as much worry about Easter being a distraction inside the church, insomuch as it doesn’t become so extravagant and secular as there is no reminder, through scripture, of Christ’s resurrection. Now I have personally observed churches where it’s hard to discern exactly why Easter is being celebrated, or secular people celebrating an “Easter” outside of Church, but this is simply a cultural Christianity that is lacking a theological backbone. Frankly, many of these “churches” are more concerned with getting people in the door to make money rather than preaching the word of God. The Puritans’ critiques hold weight, but as a practice that can be traced back to the 2nd Century, and most likely something that the Church has always celebrated, it would be irresponsible for Christians to abandon Easter altogether, thereby abandoning our heritage. Anything can become a distraction if you let it, but should that stop Christians from celebrating the Resurrection and using it as a yearly reminder to ourselves and as a teaching to the mission field or a new convert? Of course not! Colossians 2:16-17 strongly supports Christian liberty regarding Jewish Holy Days, which can easily be applied to more contemporary celebrations, or historically to the Church’s celebrations. If coupled with a service that preaches the resurrection message, Easter Sunday can be both a beautiful reminder and celebration, with moderation in mind.

Easter Today

It might seem daunting to the modern Christian to resist more secular celebrations of Easter. We are called to be in this world but not of it, yet we as Christians live in the world and can use Easter as a way to spread the Gospel, in which Easter is not a Christ-less one, but rather one full of the good news contained in the Gospels. Now while I would caution the Christian who lets their children partake in certain more contemporary secular “celebrations'“ of the season, there is no harm done to your child in seeing the Easter bunny or going on an egg hunt, as long as its clear that it is a cultural celebration rather than a Christian one. Nor is it wrong to have one or two Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs or a Cadbury Bunny during Springtime, as long as it’s done in moderation and the Christian is cognizant that is not central part of the Christian tradition of Easter celebration, but rather a corporate ploy to sell more chocolate to the consumer. There is no need to be Puritanical and ban all good fun and simple pleasures. While I think it is important for the Church to remember the Resurrection every day, I think it would be a travesty for the church not to celebrate yearly as well.

What Easter means to us as Christians

To Christians, Easter stands as the celebration of the single most important moment in history, aside from the birth of Christ, where our Lord took up the cross and died for the sins of the world, rising on the third day, having paid for the sins of those who believe as God’s justice demands. This is the Gospel, distilled to its most central point. This means that Christ has paid our debt, which we had no hope in paying with our works, which are but rags compared to the sinless nature of God and His holiness. A God who is the most high, revealed to us as Holy, Holy, Holy!14 We stand before God on the Judgment Day, appearing sinless due to Christ’s good work. As Paul reminds us, the Christian faith hinges on the validity of the Resurrection.

A Factory of Idols

As the Reformer John Calvin famously said, “The human heart is a perpetual idol factory.”15 Anything and everything under the sun can and will be made into something that will be worshiped or obsessed over by mankind. So this is a fair warning to Christians: we must be careful how we celebrate Easter. If the celebration points us to its Gospel centered message and reminds us of our Savior's life, death, and resurrection, we are on track. If the celebration of Easter becomes something different entirely, one in which the fun in celebration leads to excess and obsession, that’s where we must draw the line. Easter Sunday should be a theological tool for the Church to remind us of Christ’s resurrection and that we, as sinners, should rejoice in the good news. If resisting the celebrations in the Church and as Christians becomes a point of obsession, it very well could be a point of pride. There are things we can all be prideful of, and it is then that we should reexamine our opinions, testing if they are biblically held and supported. If we are obstinate for the sake of being so, this goes against reason.

Takeaway

In conclusion, Easter IS a Christian celebration of the good news of Christ conquering the grave and defeating death. Christians, be joyful, and as Paul tells us, “hold fast” to this truth and rejoice!16 Join me in celebrating the Resurrection of our Savior and worshiping the living God this Easter Sunday!

Isaiah 53:5 [5] But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (ESV)17

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