Over the years, many Africans have started to discover some irregularities, misconceptions, and deceit in the Christian religion which was brought to them by the Europeans.

What is even more annoying is the fact that certain Christian festivals and beliefs are tied around ancient European paganism. This is the same paganism (African Traditional Religion) that the European colonizers called evil.

European religion (Christianity) which is a mixture of paganism, politics, governance and 'world domination", has over centuries planted itself in the mind of Africans who don’t know any better. Africans who have lost sight of the glory in their religions.

Many Africans believe the Christian God (who is white) and the version of religion that was brought by the missionaries should not be questioned, but here in Liberty Writers Africa, we question everything.

Now, to the subject of Easter, which Christians worldwide celebrate as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a fact that the Roman Catholic church merged many practices in Europe with Christian events. The resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter is one of such practices that was merged with an ancient pagan tradition and festival.

Before we continue, we will like to state Easter Sundays are not fixed. They are chosen to correspond with the first Sunday following the full moon, just after the March equinox. Now, remember that reading/studying of the moon is Astrology.

Astrology was a vital path of the ancient religions and science of Africans, up till this day. So, if African traditions which studied the moon was evil and Christianity was superior, why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ determined by the appearance of the moon?

Think about that!!!

According to scholars of Theology and Religious Studies, such as Dr. Tony Nugent, the Easter story mainly comes from the Sumerian legend of Damuzi (Tammuz) and his wife Inanna (Ishtar). Theirs is an epic myth called the 'Descent of Inanna" which was inscribed on the cuneiform clay tablets that date back to 2100BC.

After the death of Tammuz, Ishtar, out of grief followed him into the underworld. In the underworld, she passed through seven gates, and she was stripped of her worldly attires.  "Naked and bowed low" she was judged, killed, and then hung on display.

While she was in the underworld, the earth lost its fertility. Crops stopped to grow and animals stopped to reproduce new offspring. Something had to be done, if not, life on earth would end.

After the Goddess Inanna (Ishtar) was gone and missing for three days, her assistants went to seek help from other Gods. One of the Gods Enki then created two creatures who carried the 'plant of life' and 'water of life' into the underworld. The creatures sprinkled them on Inanna and Damuzi. They were resurrected and giving the power to return to earth as the light of the sun for six months.

After those six months were up Tammuz returns to the underworld of the dead, and remains there for another six months, while his wife Ishtar follows him into the underworld. This leads the water God Enki to save them again, and the circle continues.

The Sumerian goddess Inanna is known by her Babylonian name Ishtar outside of Mesopotamia. She is called Astarte in ancient Canaan, Aphrodite, and Venus in Greek and Roman pantheons respectively.

During the 4th Century, Christians identified the precise location of the empty tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem, they selected a site there where a temple of Aphrodite (Astarte/Ishtar/Inanna) was standing and pulled it down. Upon the site of the Ishtar temple, the Christians built the holiest church in the world, called "Church of the Holy Sepulcher".

It is important to note that the legend of Ishtar and Damuzi is just one out of the numerous legends of Gods who died and resurrected, which represent the cycle of the season and stars. Some of such legends are the resurrection of the Egyptian Horus: the story of Mithras, who was worshipped at Springtime; and the tale of Dionysus, resurrected by his grandmother.

Conclusion

The accounts above go to correct the impressions Africans have about Jesus being the superior and only way. His resurrection is a mirror of ancient legends of African and European origins. We also hope to teach the African of the true origin of the resurrection story of the Christian character, Jesus Christ.

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