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One-hundred-fifty years ago, a German scholar complained that the Easter bunny was “inexplicable.” It remains so today. The egg-delivering hare has no obvious religious meaning nor clear connection to the holiday. It looks, in some ways, like an ancient myth that has been Christianized, but there is no known myth or fable that gave birth to this pesky rabbit. And the true story, in fact, may not clear up much befuddlement. The Easter bunny was invented bit by bit and all at once, as people adopted, adapted, invented, and recreated pieces of an odd folk tradition to suit their celebrations. – Daniel Silliman
This morning I saw a bunny hopping across the road—missing an oncoming car by inches! I was actually cheering for the bunny. I guess you could say I like bunnies as much as the next guy.
So why the headline, “Beware of the Bunny!”? Because I saw other bunnies on my run this morning that gave me pause to think. With Easter coming up, several houses are adorned with decorations of rabbits and eggs. One had a rabbit—and a cross.
What would an alien think about this holiday by just looking at the decorations or walking through an Easter display at a supermarket? Would the alien wonder, Is this some kind of fertility rite?
What are all the little kids to make of it? The Easter Bunny, the Easter egg hunt and all the Easter candy would probably not teach them much about Jesus Christ or His resurrection. And as kids who have watched Veggie Tales cartoons know, it’s not good to set up large statues of rabbits or bow down to bunnies.
The origin of the Easter Bunny – No one Really Knows
Where did the Easter Bunny come from? Checking an encyclopedia or doing a web search, you will find information like this (from a Christian website):
“The origin of the Easter Bunny has roots that go back to pre-Christian, Anglo-Saxon history. The holiday was originally a pagan celebration that worshipped the goddess Eastre. She was the goddess of fertility and springtime and her earthly symbol was the rabbit.”
“Thus the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons worshipped the rabbit believing it to be Eastre’s earthly incarnation.”
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“When the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity, the pagan holiday, which occurred around the same time as the Christian memorial of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, was combined with the Christian celebration and given the name Easter.”
Christians who look to the Bible as their ultimate authority find that the New Testament Church didn’t celebrate Easter but continued to celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
“Originally, there were some very pagan practices that went along with the Easter celebration.”
When ancient Israel entered the Promised Land, God warned them not to seek after the teachings and traditions of the nations that once inhabited the land. And it turns out not just the trappings, but the timing of Good Friday and Easter is wrong.
Christians who don’t celebrate Easter –
Christians who look to the Bible as their ultimate authority find that the New Testament Church didn’t celebrate Easter but continued to celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Consider Paul’s clear statement to the mainly gentile congregation in Corinth: “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
If Paul told the Greek Christians to celebrate the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread decades after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, why shouldn’t we do it today? – Mike Bennett – https://lifehopeandtruth.com/change/blog/beware-of-the-bunny/
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- Ancient Times–600 AD (Pagan Fertility): Hares and rabbits were associated with pagan spring festivals due to their high fertility rate. They were linked to the goddess Eostre/Ostara (mentioned by Bede in the 8th century), although the specific “hare-brained” rabbit myth was formalized much later.
- 692 AD (Lenten Restrictions):
The Council in Constantinople bans eating eggs during Lent, leading to a surplus of eggs that were decorated and used for celebrations, creating the “egg hunt” tradition.
- 1500s (Symbolism of Evil/Purity): During the Middle Ages, rabbits were sometimes seen as symbols of evil. However, in artistic contexts, they were linked to virgin birth (due to misconceptions about their reproduction).
- 1682 (The “Easter Hare”): German professor Georg Franck von Frankenau publishes De Ovis Paschalibus (About Easter Eggs), which is the earliest known mention of the German tradition of a “hare” (not rabbit) bringing eggs.
- 1600s-1700s (The Judgment): The original “Oschter Haws” (Easter Hare) was believed to be a judge of good behavior, similar to Santa Claus, leaving eggs for well-behaved children and nothing for the naughty.
- 1700s (Immigration to America): German immigrants bring the tradition to the U.S., where it eventually shifts from a “hare” to a “bunny” (rabbit), making the figure seem gentler and more appealing.
- 1800s-Present (Commercialization): The figure is completely modernized, commercialized, and detached from its judgmental, pagan-linked history, becoming a popular icon of candy delivery and spring.