Almost surely. Nearly all Christian holidays were directly pulled from previously existing practices and made to fit some with some new explanation.
Nope. That's not at all how science works and "previously existing practices" doesn't narrow down the list of possibilities anywhere near enough to warrant "almost surely".
I never talked about science, we're talking about religion here, which operates essentially on the opposite end of reason.
Also, did you actually read the article? Easter practices don't really match up with any of the Christian tradition and explanation for the holiday... but a Greek festival that occurred at that time of year, with a focus on the hare, reproduction, a strong connection to baked breads and even references to Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess. It doesn't take a leap of faith to see a connection there that simply doesn't exist if you only look at Christian dogma.
Christianity absorbing festivals like this and shoehorning Jesus into them is exactly what they did to expand their religious influence. Many Christian holidays (pretty much every major holiday) and some practices have traced back to other religions and belief systems that they absorbed over the centuries to make it easier for the converted to accept change. Still having their familiar celebrations makes it much easier for the converted to fall in line. Easter being yet another absorbed holiday to further Christian religious expansion isn't surprising at all.
Almost surely. Nearly all Christian holidays were directly pulled from previously existing practices and made to fit some with some new explanation.
Nope. That's not at all how science works and "previously existing practices" doesn't narrow down the list of possibilities anywhere near enough to warrant "almost surely".
I never talked about science, we're talking about religion here, which operates essentially on the opposite end of reason.
Also, did you actually read the article? Easter practices don't really match up with any of the Christian tradition and explanation for the holiday... but a Greek festival that occurred at that time of year, with a focus on the hare, reproduction, a strong connection to baked breads and even references to Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess. It doesn't take a leap of faith to see a connection there that simply doesn't exist if you only look at Christian dogma.
Christianity absorbing festivals like this and shoehorning Jesus into them is exactly what they did to expand their religious influence. Many Christian holidays (pretty much every major holiday) and some practices have traced back to other religions and belief systems that they absorbed over the centuries to make it easier for the converted to accept change. Still having their familiar celebrations makes it much easier for the converted to fall in line. Easter being yet another absorbed holiday to further Christian religious expansion isn't surprising at all.