Pop Culture Matters: The Name of Easter

Apr 9, 2025

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Welcome to the fourth episode of Pop Culture Matters, different in all sorts of ways, mostly because it’s just me John Martens and also because Easter, our topic today, is not exactly a pop culture matter, but one thing that does seem to be a pop culture matter are memes telling us that Easter is a pagan holiday. These memes and claims sprout like spring flowers around, ah, Easter!

Every year as Easter approaches I begin to see a number of Ishtar equals Easter memes roll across my Facebook feed, or other social media, as friends or acquaintances of mine decide to spill the hidden truth on the origins of Easter. Or, Christian friends say, this is nonsense and respond with their own memes, showing how silly these claims are. Ishtar is not Easter. But there are still some good questions to ask, such as , where does the name easter comes from? Is there a little modicum of truth to these claims that easter is a pagan goddess or derived from a pagan celebration? What about Anglo-Saxon “Eostre,” or Babylonian “Ishtar,” Hebrew “Ashtaroth,” and Greek “Astarte"?

As we begin, I want to acknowledge that the land on which St. Mark’s is located is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) People. I record this podcast from the land of the Tsawwassen people. We are thankful for their welcome to us so that we can live, work, and pray on their land and learn from first nations people themselves.

This podcast emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC, a centre that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, other religious traditions, and those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.

Here are some of the sources I used for the podcast:

Bede, De Temporum Ratione: "quondam a Dea illorum quæ Eostre vocabatur, et cui in illo festa celebrabant nomen habuit."

"Easter and its Cycle,” 10-13 in the New Catholic Encyclopedia (E. Johnson, T. Krosnicki, eds.; 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 Apr. 2013)

A. R. C. Leaney, "Easter” in The Oxford Companion to the Bible (Bruce M. Metzger, Michael D. Coogan, Oxford Biblical Studies Online. 02-Apr-2013).

John F. Baldovin, “Easter” in Encyclopedia of Religion, 2579 (Lindsay Jones, ed.. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005).

Manfred Lurker, "Ostara" in The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons. (Routledge, 2004. Routledge Religion Online. Taylor & Francis.02 April 2013)

Allen J. Frantzen, Easter" in Anglo-Saxon Keywords (Blackwell Publishing, 2012. Blackwell Reference Online. 02 April 2013), “

Gregory D. Alles and Robert S. Ellwood, "Canaanite religion" in World Religions Online. (Infobase Learning. Web. 2 Apr. 2013).

Upcoming Podcast Epsiodes

Coming up next in some order still to be determined are Dr. Fiona Li, the first Archbishop Ireland Chair in catholic studies at St. Mark’s College, and then Dr. Minelle Mahtani of UBC on growing up in Canada with a Muslim and a Hindu parent, and then Dr Paula Fredriksen, one of the great scholars on early Christianity and Judaism, and Dr. Joan Taylor, another great scholar of early Christianity and Judaism.

Coming out next on Pop Culture Matters will be Martin Strong and me discussing the Season 3 finale and the whole season of White Lotus. Spirituality was a key theme is this season of the television show.

Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear, or at our new Facebook page Centre for Christian Engagement. Or email us with your suggestions to jmartens@stmarkscollege.ca or cceconferences@stmarkscollege.ca.

Upcoming Events

The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. You can find all the information on the speakers and the program on the CCE website. Click here to register.

The cost for the whole conference is minimal and the three keynote speakers are free, but you do need to register for Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo.

Past Events:

Father Andrew Laguna S.J.'s annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment is available on You Tube now.

Dr Ray Aldred's third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, is available on You Tube.

Dr. Michael Higgins lecture on The Monk and the Pope is now on You Tube.

The webinar with Fr. Jim Martin on April 7, Building Bridges: Reaching Out to Those on the Margins, is now available on You Tube.

A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.

I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.

If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!

Thanks again for listening and remember pop culture matters.

John W. Martens