HOLIDAYS CHRISTMAS & EASTER

 Yes they are biblical but the way they are celebrated curtaintly is not biblical. 

 And so the Church decided to replace the most important pagan festivities with new Christian holidays on the same dates – as the calendar remained pretty much the same as before, it was much easier for the one-time pagan populace to adjust to this new faith. 

 Christmas owes its roots to the ancient Roman holiday of Saturnalia, which was a pagan festival which was celebrated from December 17-25 each year. This custom was altered and absorbed into Christmas, and this allowed early Christians to gradually erase these old pagan holidays. 

 Before the end of the fourth century, many of the traditions of Saturnalia—including giving gifts, singing, lighting candles, feasting and merrymaking—had become absorbed by the traditions of Christmas as many of us know them today. 

 Gift giving on the December 25th started way before Christmas. "Easter" is linked to the pagan springtime goddess Eostre, according to Hann. Celebrated during the spring equinox, Eostre was first documented in the eighth century and is associated with some Easter traditions that have lasted to this day.

 Yet many people miss that the word Easter is found in one very common translation of the English Bible. The venerable Authorized or King James Version (KJV) uses the word Easter in one verse in Acts 12.4. 

According to our Bible dictionary, the name “Easter” was derived from “Eostre,” “originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honor of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover.” 

The Christian holiday Easter has several names. The names differ depending on languages, but most are derived from Greek and Latin "pascha", which is taken from the Hebrew פֶּסַח (Pesach), meaning Passover.