Easter or Resurrection Day

Q: The traditional churches call the day Christ arose Easter, but the new generation churches call it resurrection day. They claim that Easter is a pagan celebration and should not be associated with Christ. How do you respond?

I searched and searched, but I'm still not sure what a "new generation" church is compared to a "traditional" church. I am assuming that your questions comes from a specific experience with a "new generation" church. If you would contact me, I would love to know if there is a specific situation to which you are referring. I would imagine that the "new generation" church, with its insistence of being called "resurrection day" is trying to get to the root of the practice and weed out a bit of the historical adaptation. With that, I wonder what the "new generation" churches do with other adaptations of pagan celebrations?

I'm not sure of the differences in practice between "traditional" and "new generation" churches, but some of the elements of this question are interesting. The Venerable Bede, a late-seventh-century English historian and scholar from Anglo-Saxon England, says that the name Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (pagan), associated with spring and fertility, that it is celebrated around the vernal equinox. In our christianization of a pagan calendar, we adopted the Germanic/Anglo name Eostre, and called the celebration of Jesus' resurrection Easter. There is a great article HERE that explores the topic of Eostre and Easter. Note of interest: A couple other adaptations of "pagan" holiday celebrations can be found in the festivals of Saturnalia (Christmas) and Samhain (All Hallows Eve / All Saints' Day).

I think it may be splitting hairs to insist it be called one thing over another. To the Christian, whether we call refer to it as "Easter" or "Resurrection Day" it is the same thing - the day we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. Those who keep a celebration of the life of Christ in a calendar year (liturgical church traditions like the Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, & Lutherans) celebrate Easter or the Season of Resurrection as a season for 50 whole days!