Wes Huff has emerged as one of the top apologists for Protestant Christianity in the world since his appearance in the Joe Rogan Experience. This week, he took on the Reddit Atheist myth that Easter is a pagan holiday.
The name “Easter” does not derive from the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, nor does it stem from any ancient pagan festival of fertility or sex. Instead, the English word comes from the Germanic term for the month in which the Christian celebration of the resurrection typically fell—a month associated with the Jewish Passover, or Pascha. The Christian observance itself traces directly back to the early church’s commemoration of Jesus’s death and resurrection, not to any pre-Christian deity worship. Claims linking it to Ishtar lack historical support and rest on later misunderstandings or inventions.
The Easter bunny, far from being a pagan fertility symbol carried over from antiquity, is a relatively modern tradition. It originated in 19th-century German folklore and literature as a figure that would judge children’s behavior and deliver treats. German immigrants brought the custom to America, where it evolved into the playful Easter Bunny we know today. In Western countries, where Easter falls during springtime, the rabbit simply became a seasonal, child-friendly symbol—nothing more.
Decorated eggs have an even clearer and later Christian connection in many traditions. While eggs have appeared in various cultures for symbolic reasons across history, the specific practice of giving elaborately decorated eggs at Easter gained prominence in England under King Edward I (also known as Longshanks) in the 13th century. Records show the royal household distributing hundreds of eggs, often gilded or colored, as gifts during the Easter season. Over time, this custom spread and blended with folk practices, but it was never rooted in pagan rites tied to the Christian holiday. In many Eastern Christian traditions, red-dyed eggs have long symbolized the blood of Christ and the new life of the resurrection.
In short, the core of Easter—the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ—stands on firm historical and biblical grounds as the central event of the Christian faith. The bunnies, eggs, and even the English name are later cultural additions that developed within Christian societies, often carrying symbolic meanings of new life, rebirth, and celebration. They do not undermine or paganize the holiday; they are peripheral customs that emerged centuries after the early church began marking the resurrection. This week calls us to focus on what truly matters: the historical reality of Jesus’s sacrifice and victory over death, not on internet myths or supposed ancient origins. He is risen indeed.
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Easter also sounds suspiciously like the German word for rising, from whence we get the word East. Ostern is the German word for Easter, Osterreich, kingdom of the East, is the German word for Austria.