Every spring, like clockwork, claims resurface connecting Easter to ancient goddesses and mysterious pagan rituals. Could there be any truth to them? Let’s separate historical fact from Internet fiction and see if there truly are any pagan roots hidden in the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

Ishtar and Easter

Perhaps the most popular myth about Easter is that it somehow evolved from Ishtar, and there are at least three glaring problems with this claim. First, it is based on a superficial similarity between the words Easter and Ishtar. Yet, the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection wasn’t originally called “Easter.” In fact, Christians had been commemorating the Resurrection for more than 700 years before that English word came into existence. Even today, most languages refer to the Easter holiday using some form of the Hebrew word for Passover: Pesach (פֶּסַח). In Italian, Easter is called Pasqua. In French, les Pâques, in Spanish, Pascua de Resurrección, in Norwegian, Påske. So, the phonetic similarity between Easter and Ishtar adds up to a whole lot of nothing. In fact, etymologically speaking, the name Ishtar translates into English as Esther, not Easter.

Second, the timeframe doesn’t line up. Babylon, a major center for Ishtar worship, fell to Cyrus the Great (Persian Empire) in 539 BCE. Cyrus’s tolerant religious policies notwithstanding, subsequent Persian rulers did not actively support or propagate Mesopotamian religious practices. Without state support, Babylonian religion and worship declined significantly, and Ishtar worship all but died out by about 400 BC. From there, it would be at least another 500 years before the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus started to emerge in the early Church.

Third, and most importantly, the Christian celebration of Easter has zero historical or religious connection to Ishtar. None. Ishtar wasn’t even a feast or celebration; she was a goddess of war and love. Moreover, ancient Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic; they worshipped several primary gods and thousands of lesser gods. This is the polar opposite of the monotheism of Christianity, and it raises an important question. What does a mythical Mesopotamian warrior-sex goddess have to do with the resurrection of a real, historical Jewish man? The answer, of course, is nothing. There is no religious link between the two.

In fact, Ishtar and Easter aren’t even in the same category. One is a mythical deity, the other is a commemorative feast. There was no ancient Ishtar that evolved into Easter. And considering the sheer number of early Christian writers who wrote robust polemics denouncing pagan worship—including Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria, Augustine of Hippo, and others—it’s untenable to imagine early Christians would have ever considered resurrecting (pun intended) a long-dead ritual of Ishtar worship. So, let’s put that silly myth to rest once and for all. Other than similar-sounding names, Ishtar has nothing to do with Easter.

Easter’s Pagan Origins

Internet historians will also claim that the English word Easter was derived from Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility, hence the connection with bunnies and eggs as symbols of fertility. However, bunnies and eggs have nothing to do with the Christian story of Easter. In fact, nowhere in Scripture are eggs or bunnies used as symbols of anything. More than that, Easter has nothing to do with fertility.

So, how does someone end up claiming that Easter was derived from Eostre? This is another case of drawing errant conclusions based on superficial connections. The earliest recorded use of the English word “Easter” appears in the writings of the Anglo-Saxon monk Bede (673–735 AD). Specifically, it first occurs in his 8th-century work, De Temporum Ratione (“On the Reckoning of Time,” c. 725 AD). In that text, Bede mentions a month called Ēosturmōnaþ (“Easter-month”), named after a goddess he calls Ēostre, whose festival was celebrated in that month. He wrote this:

“Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated as ‘Paschal month,’ and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month.” (De Temporum Ratione, ch. 15)

This reference by Bede is the earliest known use of the English term “Easter,” marking its entrance into the historical record. Amazingly, it is the only surviving ancient mention of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Ēostre. No inscriptions, archaeological artifacts, or other literary sources explicitly reference Ēostre by name. Nor does the goddess appear in Old English poetry or earlier Germanic mythological texts. Here again, there is no connection between Ēostre and Easter other than similar sounding names.

Paganism v. Christianity

These sorts of claims about the pagan roots of Easter are based on a shallow understanding of both paganism and Christianity. The two belief systems couldn’t be more different. In the pagan worldview, a spring feast was an annual attempt to appease the gods and goddesses in the hope they would bless the people with fertile wombs or an abundant crop in the next season. That entire enterprise is foreign to the Christian celebration of Easter. Resurrection Sunday isn’t a forward-looking event full of hope for agricultural or reproductive success. It is a remembrance commemorating the most significant event in human history when God raised His Son from the dead.

Unlike pagan rites, Christians don’t make sacrifices God in the hope of earning His favor. In fact, it’s just the opposite. At Easter, we remember the sacrifice that God made for us! We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the eternal Passover Lamb, who was sacrificed for the sins of the world and three days later was resurrected, defeating sin and death.

It’s worth noting that pagans do not observe the Christian holiday of Easter. And that’s because it isn’t pagan. While cultural traditions like bunnies and colored eggs may have distant connections to pagan rituals, no one celebrating Easter today worships the Easter Bunny or uses eggs in a religious capacity. Those things are fun, cultural traditions that carry no religious meaning and are not connected to anything in the Bible. We’re free to celebrate the holiday with or without them. What we worship is what we set our hearts and minds on. And at all of the Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday church services across the world, believers are ultimately focused on remembering the glorious resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.