why is easter celebrated with an easter bunny? where in the hell did the easter come along and help jesus?
538875
The true meaning of Easter has nothing to do with Jesus. Some Christians decided that's when they were going to have one of their festivals because they thought that stealing Pagan dates, etc. would encourage more Pagans to convert to Christianity. Easter, or Eostre, is a Pagan godess of fertility. That's what the eggs and bunnies are all about.
235451
What do we do on Easter.\nUnless your leaving where you are to GO somewhere and hunt eggs.  But egg hunting isn't a destination, so I'm still going with the first question.
440157
Mr Bunny\nAlright i don't think he has one, but this website give you your easter bunny name - although i can't think of a reason why?
418406
Easter was a pagen holiday, for fertility. I know this is cliche, but have you ever heard the term "Multipling like rabbits"? Ergo - Bunnies. I am not entirely certain that is why the bunny is there, but I am certain easter was a fertility holiday.
329486
:{\nIve heard that the Easter bunny is an unfortunate hold over from previous pagan religious celebrations of birth, it goes well however with the concept of Christian rebirth
373132
Please read all it's well worth it.\n\n\nThe Origin of Easter\n\nThe name Easter, used in many lands, is not found in the Bible. The book Medieval Holidays and Festivals tells us that “the holiday is named after the pagan Goddess of the Dawn and of Spring, Eostre.” And who was this goddess? “Eostre it was who, according to the legend, opened the portals of Valhalla to receive Baldur, called the White God, because of his purity and also the Sun God, because his brow supplied light to mankind,” answers The American Book of Days. It adds: “There is no doubt that the Church in its early days adopted the old pagan customs and gave a Christian meaning to them. As the festival of Eostre was in celebration of the renewal of life in the spring it was easy to make it a celebration of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus, whose gospel they preached.”\n\nThis adoption explains how in certain lands the Easter customs, such as Easter eggs, the Easter rabbit, and hot cross buns, came about. Concerning the custom of making hot cross buns, “with their shiny brown tops marked by a . . . cross,” the book Easter and Its Customs states: “The cross was a pagan symbol long before it acquired everlasting significance from the events of the first Good Friday, and bread and cakes were sometimes marked with it in pre-Christian times.”\n\nNowhere in Scripture do we find mention of these things, nor is there any evidence that the early disciples of Jesus gave them any credence. In fact, the apostle Peter tells us to “form a longing for the unadulterated milk belonging to the word, that through it [we] may grow to salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2) So why did the churches of Christendom adopt such obviously pagan symbols into their beliefs and practices?\n\nThe book Curiosities of Popular Customs answers: “It was the invariable policy of the early Church to give a Christian significance to such of the extant pagan ceremonies as could not be rooted out. In the case of Easter the conversion was peculiarly easy. Joy at the rising of the natural sun, and at the awakening of nature from the death of winter, became joy at the rising of the Sun of righteousness, at the resurrection of Christ from the grave. Some of the pagan observances which took place about the 1st of May were also shifted to correspond with the celebration of Easter.” Rather than steer clear of popular pagan customs and magical rites, the religious leaders condoned them and gave them “Christian significance.”\n\n‘But is there any harm in that?’ you may wonder. Some think not. “When a religion such as Christianity comes to a people from outside, it adopts and ‘baptizes’ some of the folk customs which derive from older religions,” said Alan W. Watts, an Episcopal chaplain, in his book Easter—Its Story and Meaning. “It selects and weaves into the liturgy folk observances which seem to signify the same eternal principles taught by the Church.” To many, the fact that their church sanctioned these observances and treated them as holy is reason enough to accept them. But important questions are being overlooked. How does God feel about these customs? Has he given us any guidelines to follow in the matter?\n\nGetting God’s Viewpoint\n\n“Easter Day, the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord, is the greatest of all the festivals of the Christian Church,” said Christina Hole in her book Easter and Its Customs. Other writers concur. “No holy day or festival in the Christian year can compare in importance with Easter Sunday,” notes Robert J. Myers in the book Celebrations. That, however, raises some questions. If celebrating Easter is so important, why is there no specific command in the Bible to do so? Is there any record of Jesus’ early disciples observing Easter Sunday?\n\nIt is not that the Bible fails to give guidelines as to what should or should not be celebrated. God was very specific in this to the ancient nation of Israel, and as note
253879
I am not an attorney, but based upon the change from "Easter Vacation" to "Spring Break" and "Christmas Vacation" to "Winter Break" I would think it ill-advised to have much discussion about Easter in a publicly-funded school.  Because Easter is a Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ I don't know how that could be discussed in a school setting without offending non-Christian parents, atheists, and so on. \n\nPerhaps the Easter Bunny is a safe topic. The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season.\n \nThe bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. And were made of pastry and sugar.  http://www.holidays.net/easter/bunny1.htm\n\nThe Easter Bunny is not a religious figure so I would think you could discuss him. I do not think, however, that you can discuss the Easter egg, as it seems to have ties to Christianity.\nSee http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/8149/egg.html\n\nAltough, it depends upon which website you look at regarding colored eggs.  This site says, "Egyptians and Persians used to dye eggs in spring colors and give them to friends as a symbol of renewed life long before Christ was born." http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=102&category=life\n\nI think I'd play it safe and have a celebration of the return of spring.  :-)
348118
The Easter bunny is a symbol of fertility and rebirth, so I'm told. And a similar line of thought is also applied to the symbolism of Easter eggs. \n\nThe Easter bunny as an entity of itself does not exist, but it is a way to get kids interested in the holiday of Easter and as they get a little older (7+ or so), the real meaning of Easter can be introduced and comprehended by the child. \n\nI do have a vision of what I pictured the Easter bunny to look like when I was little, and it was something along the lines of the man in the Easter bunny costume that I saw at the mall. \n\nI have a lot of awesome Easter memories from my childhood. It did not hurt me to believe in both the Resurrection of Christ AND the Easter bunny. One I outgrew, the other is still with me. Happy Easter to you and your family!
401098
because jesus was resurrected and a giant bunny rabbit flew down and gave everyone chocolate eggs
1607
Easter celebrates the raising of Jesus from the dead, this is the actual point at which the Christian Church began as Jesus appeared to his disciples:\n\nMatthew chapter 28 (TEV)\n\n16 The eleven disciples went to the hill in Galilee where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him, even though some of them doubted. 18 Jesus drew near and said to them, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."\n\nSo as undoubtedly important as Christmas is marking the birth of our Lord, Easter is thefoundation of the Church, and our promise of everlasting life in Heaven.
476830
Easter is the Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus after he had been buried for 3 days after his crucifixion. the best way to find out the story is to look in the Bible.\n\nMatthew chapter 26-28\nMark Chapter 14-16\nLuke chapter 22-24\nJohn Chapter 13-21\n\nor if you can watch the movie "The Passion of The Christ"\nif you have cable it will be on Showtime on Saturday night @9pm EST.
702717
I have an old World Almanac (I think it was 1985's) which actually gave the method for determining Easter, and trust me, it's not something you actually give all the steps of here.  It's truely a mess, and it's this way because the early Church attempted to combine the Jewish and Julian (later the Gregorian) calendars.\n\nIt's actually Easter that is figured, Good Friday is simply the Friday before it.  Easter is supposed to occur on the Sunday after Passover, and if Passover falls on Sunday, then it's the Sunday after that.  Passover, being based on the Jewish calendar, is based on the full moon of a certain month (forget which), and to obfuscticate it even more, the Jewish calendar is lunar, not solar like the Julian/Gregorian calendar.\n\nRoughly, the way it is figured is to take the year and divide it by 19, then throw away everything but thr remainder, then remultiply it to get a certain number (0-18).  You then go to a special chart which gives a date, the date of something called the Pascal Full Moon, no relation to the actual full moon.  Easter is then the Sunday afterwards.  The formula had to be modified with the advent of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th Century, so it really isn't as easy as it sounds.\n\nWithout surprise, there is an ongoing movement to have a fixed date for Easter (in other words, say it's always on  April 10).  The problem is objections by various denominations for various reasons (even a "second Sunday in April" has been attacked).  I suspect the date of Easter will be a mess for a while to come.
443357
There are several variations of the story of the origins of the Easter Rabbit or the Easter Bunny, or perhaps more correctly, the Easter Hare. The hare was was associated with the Pagan festival celebrating the goddess Eostre (also known as Eastre or Ostara), from which the word Easter is derived. Eostre's earthly symbol was the hare or rabbit. The hare is also symbolically associated with the moon and therefore may have indirectly become associated with Easter since the date of Easter is determined by the phases of the moon (the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring Equinox, March 21).
410271
We also call him the 'Easter Bunny' in Australia. Also we have an 'Easter Bilby', but I believe that the choclate marketers here are the only ones cashing in on this their creation.\n\nPersonally I call him 'Ostara'. (The one who brings eggs for health, wealth, and prosperity - and as a sign of fertility)\n\nHey 'bored', I live in Australia and have never seen a 'Easter Bunyip', where the hell do you by one of those.
310666
easter is the day that jesus ressurected and people celebrate it to honor that.  its the day that lint is over and most (religious) people go to church.  the whole easter egg thing probably began because eggs symbolize life and whatnot and somewhere in the past it turned into a hunt for children to do.  and easter is always celebrated on the 3rd sunday of april.  the wednesday before is passover and the friday before is good friday.
334424
Before I answer the question I would just like to tip my hat to Mommyofive. Bravo, you know what you believe and why you believe it. You don't see that much these days ammong christians or even ammong my fellow pagans. \n\nTo answer your question Easter (also called oster or Ishtar) was a pagan firtility holiday that had practical uses in the region that it was observed. Keeping the pagan beliefs while changing the emphasis helped to bolster the early church as well as preventing a disruption of the traditions. Personally though, I would have put Xmass there as Jesus was born in Feb or March rather than the middle of winter.
472158
on palm Sunday or the Sunday before the resurrection when Jesus was going back to Israel he asked his followers to bring him a clean young donkey to carry him into the city \nfor the passover festival \nresurrection is the day (Easter Sunday) the Jesus rose from the dead \ni hope this helps if not then read the bible \nhave a happy and holy Easter weekend