Jehovah's Witness

Easter

What is the origin of Easter? Easter started after the great flood in Genesis, with Noah’s grandson Nimrod. Nimrod was a king that created the cities of Babel, Ninevah, Asshur, and Calla, all known for sinful lifestyles. When Nimrod died, his wife, Semiramis turned Nimrod into a god, known as the Sun-god, life giver, or Baal. Then, Tammuz, the son of Semiramis, convinced people that he was actually Nimrod reborn, and was the prophesized savior of man from Genesis 3:15. This led people to worship Tammuz as well as Semiramis for her great fertility powers. Semiramis was also called Ishtar, Ashtur, and EASTER. Babylonians also started a fable about an egg that fell into the Euphrates River from heaven and hatched Semiramis. Because rabbits were fertile and tend to have large litters, they were associated with Semiramis as well.

In the first century, the early Christian Church in the first century turned Easter into the celebration of martyrs; those that died for their belief in Christ. In the next few centuries, it became a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, instead of Nimrod. As this gained popularity, churches began to argue over the date of Easter. Easter is calculated to be on the first Sunday after the first full moon, after the 14th day of the 4th month of the year. Why did they make it so complicated? This is because there were two major calendars used during this time, both Julian and Jewish calendars. These two calendars do not match up, so the 14th day of the 4th month is different for both calendars. When the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582, there was even more arguments about the date of Easter. (See Calendars)

In the 1950s, it was tradition for churches to not ring the their bells a few days before Easter, to mourn the death of Jesus. So, Belgium and The Netherlands made up a story for kids that church bells were silent a few days before Easter because they flew out of their steeples. The church bells then returned on Easter with chocolate shaped like eggs and rabbits. Also around the same time, in England, Ireland, as well as Scotland, a tradition started in which children rolled decorated eggs down hills to symbolize the rolling away of Jesus’ tombstone. In the United States, they began a tradition of hiding decorated eggs and having children find them.

Easter has an interesting origin because it originally came from the prophesized savior that God spoke of in the Garden of Eden. However, people simply made their own savior too early on, instead of waiting for Jesus. This led to eggs and rabbits. So it does have some pagan origin, but the pagans got the idea of a savior from God Himself.

Conclusion

The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a cult which claims to have Christian beliefs based on the Bible. However, they use their own version of the Bible, as well as their own publications, to manipulate the beliefs of their followers. They do not even belief that Jesus Christ was God, which is the most essential belief under the term “Christianity.” Also, their definition and requirements for “salvation” is completely different than that of Christians. While Christians believe that being saved or being “born again” is the same thing, Witnesses believe that only those “born again” will enter heaven, while those being “saved” will live forever on an Earthly paradise. They also believe that their blood will allow them to have eternal life, therefore refuse blood transfusions, although there is no Biblical evidence to back this up. Finally, their refusal to participate in most holidays shows more hate than love, and gives further question to their claim to be Christian.

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