Easter And Religion Analysis

Cadbury has recently been embroiled in a row with the Church of England after the chocolate maker dropped the word “Easter” from its annual Easter egg hunt, but there are those who are baffled at the Church’s reaction because they say Easter is not really a Christian festival but one of pagan origin.
In an op-ed published on The Guardian on Apr. 4, Peter Ormerod voiced out his confusion over the negative reactions of the Church of England and even UK Prime Minister Theresa May to Cadbury’s rebranding of its Easter egg hunt. He pointed out that the name of the Christian festival does not have anything to do with Christianity and that Jesus’ disciples did not celebrate His resurrection by looking for substances that resemble chocolate.
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Although the true origin of the festival is unconfirmed, the Venerable Bede claimed in the seventh century that it stemmed from the name of Eostre, the pagan goddess of spring and fertility, The Week explained.
However, there are those who have expressed doubt over Bede’s claims, with some medieval scholars arguing that Easter was derived from the Greek workd “pascha,” of the Hebrew term for Passover. Ronald Hutton of Christianity Today also said Bede’s interpretation of Easter is merely his own and not a “generally agreed or proven fact.”
Actually, many of the popular Easter symbols and tradition have pagan origins. According to the Encyclopedia of Religion, the egg is a symbol of new life after the “death” of the eggshell. The rabbit, on the other hand, is a very fertile animal which signals that spring is approaching.
In light of this issue, Christian blog Thought Company acknowledges that most of the present symbols of Easter cannot be traced back to religion. However, it also said this does not mean that the symbols do not remind Christians of the reason why they celebrate