Every single year, especially during the holy seasons of Christmas and Easter, militant atheists, neo-pagans and other keyboard warriors with nothing better to do, bombard us with the same old spiel that all our beloved Christian holy days and traditions are nothing more than re-brandished pagan rituals. Christmas, they claim, is really Saturnalia, Jesus Christ is really the Egyptian god Osiris, and so on and so forth.
One of the most popular and sensational anti-Christian myths that just refuses to go away (talk about flogging a dead horse), is the claim that Easter - the most important feast day in the Christian calendar - is actually a renamed version of Ishtar, an ancient Mesopotamian fertility goddess and, far from having anything to do with the Resurrection of Christ, was in fact used by the "imperialist" Catholic Church to supplant the "diverse", "peaceful" and "tolerant" religions of old. How original...
Claims such as these are widespread and, at first glance, may sound intriguing to those who prop up an itching ear for the latest in sensational gossip. However, in actuality they are quite easily debunked and we will soon see why. But unfortunately, even many self-proclaimed Christians, especially from viciously anti-Catholic circles to well-meaning Catholics themselves, are still falling for this nonsensical drivel. Furthermore, rather than investigating the matter for themselves and discovering what the Church actually teaches about Easter, its origins and why we celebrate it, they take such baseless theories at face value and allow these lies and blasphemies to persist and poison the minds of the uninformed.
Before we continue, I just want to state that I am already aware that this anti-Christian/anti-Catholic myth has been debunked just as many times as the myth itself has resurfaced. Just one other small drop in the vast ocean of information about this topic, this article seeks to expose the man-made myth and to reiterate God's own revealed truth about Easter; the truth recorded in Sacred Scripture, passed on through the Apostolic Tradition and guarded by the Magesterium of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Who is Ishtar?
When you type in the name 'Ishtar' on Google (obviously not an infallible and unbiased source, but it's arguably the first point of reference for most internet users), pictures and articles of an ancient Mesopotamian goddess will show up. Ancient Mesopotamia is roughly where modern-day Syria and Iraq are located today and refers to the historical region rather than the actual civilisations that once resided there.
Ishtar, who was worshiped by the Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians, is actually a "newer" version of Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of sex, love, war, justice and political power (again a simple Google/Wikipedia search will reveal as much). Her symbols include: the eight-pointed star, lions and rosettes. Her various titles included that of "Queen of Heaven", which was quite common among ancient Mediterranean and near-eastern goddesses.
However, Mesopotamian goddesses aside, there is in fact a woman called 'Ishtar' in the Bible. Her Hebrew name was Hadassah, and being one of the descendants of the exiles living in Persia, she also had a Persian name - Ishtar. In English (and most other European languages), we call her Esther. Therefore, the English equivalent of the name Isthar is Esther (which literally means 'star'). And just because Esther and Ishtar share the same name, this does NOT make them the same person! (The same rule applies to the false equivalence between the Celtic goddess Bríd and Saint Brigid, Patron Saint of Ireland).
What is Easter?
Stupid question, you might say. But for simplicity's sake and for ease of reference, let's just remind ourselves of what the word 'Easter' denotes in the Christian faith.
Easter is the name given to the feast day on which we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ - who after being betrayed, scourged, crucified and buried, rose again from the dead on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (as per the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed and of course all four Gospel accounts). Each year we celebrate the day of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday - which is calculated using the Computus formula to ensure that the day always falls on a Sunday. The Easter (or Paschal) Season lasts fifty days and ends on Pentecost, another important feast day in the Church Calendar.
So, why do we call it "Easter"? Well, first of all we should point out that this name for the Resurrection feast is only found in very few - mainly Germanic - languages, e.g. English (Easter), German (Ostern) and Luxembourgish (Ouchsteren). The names of Easter in most other European languages are derived from the Hebrew word Pesach - the feast of the Passover, which commemorates the Angel of Death sparing the firstborn of Israel and the ensuing flight of the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 12-14). It was during the Pesach/Passover feast that the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ took place, hence the symbolic and indisputable connection between the two. Here are some examples of modern languages adopting the word Pesach into their respective tongues: Italian calls it Pasqua; in French it's Pâques; Norwegian, Danish and Swedish use Påske; and in Spanish, which is perhaps the most explicit, it is called La Pascua de Resurección.
In English (and German and Luxembourgish), the name "Easter" comes (surprise, surprise) from the word East (as in north, south, east and west). This, you may be pleasantly surprised to know, is entirely biblical. Just take a look at some of these references to the East in the Bible (Old and New Testaments) where it appears more than 200 times:
The very first mention of the East as a significant cardinal direction is in Genesis 2:8, which states that God planted the Garden of Eden in the east. After the Fall of Man, God posted the cherubim at the east of the garden to guard its entrance (Gen 3:24). Cain dwelt east of Eden (Gen 4:16) and the builders of the Tower of Babel migrated from the east (Gen 11:2). Abraham built an altar to the Lord on a mountain east of Bethel (Gen 12:8) and when Jacob went on his journey, he came to the people of the east where he met his future wife, Rachel (Gen 29:1).
Not only do significant events take place in the east or in relation to the east, but the east is of immense importance in the prophecies of the Old Testament, especially those of the great prophet Ezekiel, whose book is characterised by his great visions of the great Temple in Jerusalem. As prophecised by Ezekiel and his contemporary Jeremiah, another great prophet, the Temple of Solomon would soon be destroyed by the Babylonians (which came to pass in 586 B.C. during Ezekiel and Jeremiah's own lifetimes), only to later be rebuilt with the exiles return to the Holy Land (this also came to pass, beginning in 538 B.C.).
During one of his mystical visions, Ezekiel (who lived in exile, far away from the Holy Land) was taken to Jerusalem by an angel who showed him the deplorable state into which the Temple, its priests and its liturgies had fallen. When the angel shows him the Temple's inner court, the prophet sees twenty-five men standing between the porch and the altar "with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east" (Ezek 8:16). This action is of course condemned by the Lord, but bear this image in mind for later: men worshiping towards the east...
In accordance with the worship and sacrificial rituals of the Old Covenant, the Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple of Solomon (which replaced the Tabernacle) were constructed with the entrance door facing to the east (Exodus 27:9-19).
In the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet describes how God removed His Presence from the Temple as He could no longer dwell in a defiled sanctuary (see Ezekiel 10 for the full account). In the last chapters of the book, Ezekiel describes his vision of the New Temple that would one day replace its desecrated predecessor. Chapter 43 is of particular significance here:
Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory. And the vision I saw was like the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like the vision which I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. (Ezekiel 43:1-5)
In Ezekiel's vision, the glory of God (which had previously left the old and desecrated temple in ch.10) now returns to dwell in the New Temple. And what direction does the Glory of God come from? From the East!
But Ezekiel wasn't the only one to prophesy this. Baruch, another prophet from the exilic period, says the following:
Look toward the east O Jerusalem, and see the joy that is coming to you from God! (Baruch 4:36)
In summary, the Glory of God will come from the east and the people of Jerusalem are to look towards the east in anticipation of His coming. And this is why some languages, such as English and German, refer to the glorious day of the Resurrection of Christ as Easter.
But wait, there's more! Ever since they were first constructed in honour of the Risen Lord, churches are (traditionally) designed with the altar and tabernacle facing east - Ad Orientem. Also, when a priest says Mass "Ad Orientem", instead of facing the congregation in the pews (an innovation that became common practice following the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s), he would symbolically face God by looking east, the direction from which the joy and glory of God comes to bless His people.
Where did the Ishtar/Easter myth come from?
Now that we have identified the difference between Ishtar and Easter, let us take a very brief look at where the false equivalence between Ishtar and Easter came from. Once again, a simple search on Google and Wikipedia (I don't endorse either, but even a broken clock is right twice a day), will explain when, where and how this flimsy theory originated.
It began with a pamphlet called "The Two Babylons" published in 1853 by Alexander Hislop, a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. Hislop is one of many vocal critics of the Catholic Church and was a staunch proponent of the still widely held belief that the Catholic Church is really a disguised version of Babylonian paganism or "The Whore of Babylon" mentioned in the Book of Revelation. In his pamphlet, Hislop claimed that the word 'Easter' was derived from Ishtar. The rest, as they say, is history.
What about Easter Eggs and Chocolate Bunnies?
As Ishtar was a fertility goddess, some proponents of the Easter/Ishtar myth claim that the symbols of eggs and rabbits for Easter only strengthen their theory. However, these (cute and tasty) innovations, which are both symbols of springtime and remnants of ancient pagan fertility cults, have seen a recent revival in the western world mainly due to their commercial value (any excuse to turn a quick buck). Needless to say, they have no basis in Sacred Scripture or the Apostolic Tradition.
As is the case with the Christmas Tree and the Celtic Cross, Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies can be regarded as examples of inculturation, where the Christian faith adopts or absorbs meaningful and wholesome signs and symbols from non/pre-Christian cultures while the Deposit of Faith (Scripture and Tradition) remains untouched. Simply compare the architecture and layout of Catholic churches in western Europe with Catholic churches in Peru, Japan or Uganda. They all share the same faith, but all have their own cultural and artistic expressions with which they celebrate that same faith. In any case, Christ is the point. And if the Easter Bunny is now stealing the spotlight, then it's up to us to bring the focus back on Jesus and the true meaning of Easter.
Conclusion
As we saw above, the word and - most importantly - the feast of Easter has nothing to do with the pagan goddess Ishtar. The words might sound similar, but this, as was clearly demonstrated above, is only the case in modern English. Some Germanic languages, such as English and German have ascribed this special name to the feast of the Resurrection of Christ in accordance with some of the great Old Testament prophecies that point towards the east as the direction from which the glory of God would return to His people.
And on that note, have a wonderful Easter season and may the risen Christ, our Lord and Saviour, bless you all.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen! Alleluia!
