Easter time! Celebration of Christ shedding his blood for the salvation of sinners on the earth. Christians everywhere are visiting relatives everywhere.
   Non-Christians and even pseudo-Christians are observing Easter as one of the two times a year that they attend church.
   Children are anxiously awaiting the coming of the Easter Bunny and Easter egg hot. A joyous time for all. There has been much controversy about the Easter egg and Easter bunny throughout our Christianity. Just where did the Easter egg in Easter Bunny come from?
   One offering us to their origin is in the worship of the goddess Diana. Fertility was part of the belief in offering was made at the temple of Diana. That offering consisted of golden eggs offered to the priest of the Temple which was to ensure fertility. Open section orgies were part of that worship and prostitutes were found in the temple as a part of the worship. The Easter Bunny was also found to be a symbol of fertility and symbolizes the same worship as of the egg does.
   So how and why have the Easter egg in the Easter Bunny become a part of a date used to celebrate the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Easter was a celebration of the goddess Ishtar before Christ was even crucified. Since many pagan beliefs bear much similarity, it is not a surprise that many pagan symbols and beliefs would be tied together.
   This was even going on at the time Paul was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Newly converted Gentile Christians were mistakenly mixing some of their old ways of worship with their new belief in Christianity. Paul spoke of this in various passages within the Corinthian books. Although the Christians of that era had taught against such a mixing of pagan and Christian beliefs, over the years, this practice and its origins have been forgotten or ignored until we now find many pagan practices and our Christian worship activities. Among these are Halloween, and one of the most famous of all: the Christmas tree.
   As Christians who are serving the true God Jehovah and the birth and crucifixion of his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility to study and know what we believe and why we believe it. It is responsibility of our pastors and teachers to teach us the truth of our belief and what we should be avoiding. In some cases they are not aware of the truth. This is sad, and I believe, one of the reasons we should take these Bible words more seriously; “study to show thyself approved”.
   We can find these facts in the Bible, history of religions (those other than Christianity), and we can especially find answers to prayer and seeking God for answers.
   The work of the Holy Spirit is to teach Christians in the ways of God. But we cannot learn unless we ask. “You receive not because he asked not”.
   The Bible also says that we are held accountable according to our knowledge of the truth. We have no excuse in this nation of America for not knowing, are being aware of the truth of God and his son, Jesus Christ.