Christian Holiday: Enter the Easter Bunny

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
2 Corinthians 6:16

"The most famous image of Easter, the Easter Bunny, has a history going back to antiquity. In ancient times, it was widely believed, as

typified by Pliny, Plutarch, Philostratus, and Aelian, that the hare was a hermaphrodite, an idea that held a rabbit could reproduce without loss of virginity. Later, mistakenly, the misunderstood rabbit was associated with the Virgin Mary. 

In Ancient Rome, and even prior, rabbits were associated with rebirth and new life. Because of this, people would include rabbits on their gravestones. According to historians, The Easter Bunny origin, however, can likely be traced back to the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon era where pagans would worship a deity that took the form of a rabbit: Eostre. Known as the goddess of springtime or dawn, Eostre (or sometimes seen as Eostra or Eastre) is associated with rabbits, pastels, and springtime celebrations. 

---A popular legend tells the story of Eostre entertaining a group of children. As part of the demonstration, she transformed her pet bird into a pet rabbit. To the astonishment of the audience, this rabbit could still lay eggs like a bird. And thus, rabbits and eggs become inexorably tied to the Easter tradition. 

Thus, what began as a celebration of a Germanic goddess with an egg-laying rabbit transformed into the holiday we know as Easter today." 

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