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The Real Easter Quiz How well do you really know the Easter story? This quiz explores the truth about Easter, and its pagan origins, symbols, traditions, myths and misconceptions. The idea of this quiz isn't to stop your enjoyment of Easter Day, tell you it's right or wrong, or give you all the answers, but merely to open your eyes to the fact that something that professes to be Christian might not be in harmony with scripture and encourage you to research the subject for yourself. As always, our advice is to read what the Bible says for yourself rather than relying on church traditions or other sources which claim something is scriptural. True or False? Q1. The word "Easter" is found in the Authorised Version of the Bible? True - Acts 12:4, but the word used ("pascha") would have been much better translated as "Passover", and indeed the other 28 times the word "pascha" is used in the New Testament it is translated as "Passover". Q2. Christ is known in scripture as the Easter Lamb? False - Christ was a representation of the sacrificial lamb used at Passover, and as such, Christ's death and resurrection is closely associated with Passover, not Easter. Q3. Easter is derived from the name of a goddess? True - The Saxon goddess Eostre or Eastre was a goddess honoured around the time of the Passover, ultimately derived from 'east' suggesting it refers to a goddess associated with dawn. The Babylonian goddess Ishtar or Astarte is also linked to the origins of Easter. Q4. First century Christians celebrated Easter? False - Easter as we know it was not celebrated in the 1st century. The first century Christians remembered the death and resurrection of Christ through the breaking of bread and the drinking of wine on a regular basis, instituted by Christ himself at the 'Last Supper' - effectively making an annual celebration of Easter unnecessary and an addition to God's Word. See Mark 7:6-9. Q5. The Easter Sunrise service is held because Christ was resurrected at dawn? False - It was still dark when Mary came to the empty tomb, (John 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre). The tomb was already empty, the resurrection had already happened, perhaps hours before. Yet people gather together each year, face East and watch the rising sun as part of the resurrection service - much like a pagan sun worshipper would! Q6. Hot cross buns were created because of the cross of Christ? False - Hot cross buns come from Greek and Egyptian traditions of eating small cakes in honour to their goddesses they worshipped. The Saxons marked buns with a cross to honour their goddess Eostre. These might even be the same things that Jeremiah spoke of - Jeremiah 7:18. Q7. Christians have adopted Easter eggs to represent Christ's resurrection? True - The egg is a symbol of fertility and new beginnings, but was used as a symbol way before the life of Jesus Christ and was merely adopted into Christianity and not in any directly connected to the resurrection of Christ. Q8. Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar? False - There is no mention of the festival of Easter being required or even celebrated in the Bible and therefore no scriptural significance can be place upon it, in either the Jewish or the Christian calendar. If anything we should be celebrating the Passover rather than Easter, though the Gentiles are no longer required to observe the Jewish feasts. Q9.The 40 days of lent was derived directly from the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness? False - The 40 days of abstinence was borrowed from the worshippers of a Babylonian goddess. Lent is not connected to the death and crucifixion of Christ, and neither are Christians commanded to observe 40 days of fasting. Q10. The Easter Lily is a pagan symbol associated with reproductive organs? True - The Easter Lily has long been revered by pagans of various lands, linked to several goddesses and fertility, long before the resurrection of Christ.
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