By Ijaz Chaudry

Why should we not celebrate Easter, other than a holiday!

There is a lot of doubt regarding Easter as a Christian. Here are few of those doubts highlighted.

 Depending on which Bible you read:

 King James (12:4) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

 All other Bibles (12:4) After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

 As you can see the doubt creeping in already, if Easter was a recognisable factor in Christianity than why was it not unanimously so!

 Easter was a custom well before Jesus!

 In other words, Easter was originally a pagan festival celebrated in the spring time. When the King James Bible says “EASTER” in Acts 12:4 and all other translations say “PASSOVER”, it becomes clear that Easter is no more than a glorified festivity without any religious grounds!

 The True essence of Easter!

The true essence of Easter is the arrival of season of spring when flowers bloom and the weather is nice. Bringing times of joy and happiness!

 So called resurrection of Jesus and Easter:

Mark 16:4-8 New International Version (NIV)

⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go; tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to any one, because they were afraid.

[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.]

⁹ When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

¹² Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. ¹³ These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. ²⁰ Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Indeed as you can see above verses (Mark 16:9-20) has no origin. These are the same verses which are the major part of Christianity today and the reason for celebrating the Easter. It is true (Mark 16:4-8) is talking about Jesus being raised from dead. But it stops there and does not explain what that rising was!! Indeed Bible’s words having so much discrepancies does make you think what to believe and what not to believe.

But don’t despair, there is an answer, God has sent the Final Testament (the Quran) which was written down as it was revealed by angel Gabriel to Muhammad. This book is fully detailed, talking about all Major Prophets including Jesus. This book is based on truth and common sense.

This book is the only authentic and true word of God on earth today. You may ask how we know that. We know this based on mathematical evidence. Quran is a numerically structured book. The context of the chapters and verses in the Quran are preserved by this magnificent structure, which allows no corruption!

The new translation of the Quran with its elaborate coding system is being translated as we speak, once it has been translated the e-book translation will be available for all free on the following link however there are 8 other books about Islam already on this link completely free to download;

https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/The_Quran

In order to read e-books, special decrypting software is required and there are many such software on the web, here is one which I use and works for me and you can down load this free from the following link;

https://calibre-ebook.com/download