Easter, Pasqua, Passover

[100%atheist]

What does word Easter mean?
Why Pasqua (which has the same meaning as Easter in Christianity) that is derives from Passoever has an absolutely different meaning to Passoever?
What is the relationship of Easter Hare and Easter Eggs to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?

My main question is here:
What were the reasons to keep so many inconsistencies about the holiday that could be more effectively called simply [strike]Zombie[/strike] Resurrection Day?

My own layperson interpretation is that in different cultures there were various efforts to domesticate Christianity by using local holidays and traditions in order to better sell Jesus. But I should admit, I have no any academic knowledge of this subject and I would appreciate your valuable input.

Thanks.

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"harlotry with Constantine"

Ok to explain this in simple detail. The very foundation of very start of the relationship between Constantine and those who would form the catholic church came when Constantine claimed to have received a "vision" from Jesus. Telling him to fight under the symbol of Christianity. The actual symbol that is claimed by historians that he used was the two first Greek letters in the name of Christ an X and a P. These letters where painted onto His solders shields and went on to win the battle against His rival to the throne of Rome.

Now any Christian worth His salt would immediately see it as a false. They would immediately know it was not from God. Jesus message teaches His followers to love their enemies to turn their cheeks, not to resist. Thousands of Christians had been killed in the Roman Empire and they went like sheep to the slaughter not resisting. Even the catholic church kept the records of the deaths of these Christians in the coliseums. But now we have Constantine telling Christians that Jesus came to Him to tell him to go out and kill and conquer in His name??????

Only those who where willing to abandon the teachings of Jesus would have been conned by this clear pitch for support from a desperate claimant for the throne of Rome who in that desperation sought to gain support from a significant minority that no other claimant for the position of emperor was tapping into. Hoping that the extra support would be the critical factor in Him winning the prise.

Once you compromise and deny one teaching of Jesus you're on the slippery slope down to harlotry. And the catholic church (and others since then) have shown the fruit of that corruption. Justifiable war, inquisitions, burnings at the stake, crusades, taking on pagan holidays, child molestation, the list goes on.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

[ThatGirlAgain]

"harlotry with Constantine"

Ok to explain this in simple detail. The very foundation of very start of the relationship between Constantine and those who would form the catholic church came when Constantine claimed to have received a "vision" from Jesus. Telling him to fight under the symbol of Christianity. The actual symbol that is claimed by historians that he used was the two first Greek letters in the name of Christ an X and a P. These letters where painted onto His solders shields and went on to win the battle against His rival to the throne of Rome.

Now any Christian worth His salt would immediately see it as a false. They would immediately know it was not from God. Jesus message teaches His followers to love their enemies to turn their cheeks, not to resist. Thousands of Christians had been killed in the Roman Empire and they went like sheep to the slaughter not resisting. Even the catholic church kept the records of the deaths of these Christians in the coliseums. But now we have Constantine telling Christians that Jesus came to Him to tell him to go out and kill and conquer in His name??????

Only those who where willing to abandon the teachings of Jesus would have been conned by this clear pitch for support from a desperate claimant for the throne of Rome who in that desperation sought to gain support from a significant minority that no other claimant for the position of emperor was tapping into. Hoping that the extra support would be the critical factor in Him winning the prise.

Once you compromise and deny one teaching of Jesus you're on the slippery slope down to harlotry. And the catholic church (and others since then) have shown the fruit of that corruption. Justifiable war, inquisitions, burnings at the stake, crusades, taking on pagan holidays, child molestation, the list goes on.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

It is unclear whether Constantine himself ever claimed to have had this vision. (Eusebius’s later account is like much of Eusebius’s Life of Constantine extremely untrustworthy. He had been castigated by Constantine for speaking out at Nicaea and was looking to get back in the Emperor’s good graces.)

The story actually originates with Lactantius. But the opening of De Mortibus Persecutorum makes it clear that Lactantius sees everything in terms of faith and piety and is not necessarily trustworthy in this regard. In any case it appears that Constantine had already associated himself with other gods.

The oration also moves away from the religious ideology of the Tetrarchy, with its focus on twin dynasties of Jupiter and Hercules. Instead, the orator proclaims that Constantine experienced a divine vision of Apollo and Victory granting him laurel wreaths of health and a long reign. In the likeness of Apollo Constantine recognized himself as the saving figure to whom would be granted "rule of the whole world", as the poet Virgil had once foretold. The oration's religious shift is paralleled by a similar shift in Constantine's coinage. In his early reign, the coinage of Constantine advertised Mars as his patron. From 310 on, Mars was replaced by Sol Invictus, a god conventionally identified with Apollo. There is little reason to believe that either the dynastic connection or the divine vision are anything other than fiction, but their proclamation strengthened Constantine's claims to legitimacy and increased his popularity among the citizens of Gaul.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin ... _rebellion

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge where the vision allegedly occurred took place in 312. Yet in 313 Constantine was still minting coins of himself and the Sun God.

A gold multiple of "Unconquered Constantine" with Sol Invictus, struck in 313. The use of Sol's image appealed to both the educated citizens of Gaul, who would recognize in it Apollo's patronage of Augustus and the arts; and to Christians, who found solar monotheism less objectionable than the traditional pagan pantheon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great

The Edit of Milan finally made Christianity legal in 313. If Constantine were seeking Christian support in maintaining his position as Roman Emperor he would have done this before the Milvian Bridge where his rival Maxentius was defeated. His other rival Lucinius, who owned the eastern half of the Empire also signed the Edit of Milan and honored it for seven years while ruling the Eastern Empire.

[ Source for material below is ]

But Lucinius wanted the entire Empire and worked with the old guard pagan nobility, who had lost their power monopoly when paganism stopped being the official state religion in 313. In 320 Lucinius began to fire Christians from official positions and confiscate church properties. This challenge to Constantine would lead to war in 324 and defeat for Lucinius. The divided Empire once again became one. But the eastern regions were in a troubled state. Christians in Alexandria were violently divided over theological issues, leading to street riots, bloodshed and even assassinations. Alexandria was the main port of Egypt through which poured most of the grain and much of the tax revenue of the Empire. The Persians were once again threatening the eastern borders. Religious arguments were also leading to civil unrest in that area.

Constantine’s solution was to attempt to unite Christianity and end the unrest. This was the purpose of the Council of Nicaea. The various bishops – almost all of them from the eastern regions – nominally agreed on the new Nicene Creed then went home and interpreted it in accordance with their prior theologically assertions. In the end nothing was solved.

If you want to know what happened next and how the Church got united and gained power, check out:


History is never simple and is never amenable to ideological interpretations.