When I write, I try hard to be clear, to make it hard to be misunderstood. But no matter how hard I try, I am sometimes blatantly misquoted. Someone named Claude Wilson wrote a letter to the editor of this newspaper last Friday alleging that I wrote things I never did.

He starts off in a complimentary style: "Peter Espeut points to the superstitious nature of people purported to be Christian in his article 'The Cross and the horoscope'. The Roman Catholic deacon cited the example of the widescale belief in horoscope, which basic premise is that 'your future is written in the stars', and rightly calling the practice anti-Christian." So far so good; I did say that.

But at the end of his letter he asserts: "This and many others are examples supporting Mr Espeut's point that traditional christianity is, in many ways, anti-Christian." Now I never said that traditional christianity is in any way anti-Christian, and I don't know how he could have so comprehensively misunderstood me. Clearly Claude Wilson has problems with christianity, and he has a right to his views; but he should not try to put his words into my mouth.

In his letter he trots out two of the usual attacks upon christianity. " ... the same Christian saviour used his own prophet Jonah's misfortune as the sign to prove his messiahship. Paraphrasing, he said, like Jonah in the belly of the big fish three days and three nights so I will be in the grave three days and three nights. Therefore, the Easter observance of two nights and one day, Friday night to Sunday morning, consequently disproves Jesus as the messiah."

AntiChrists

Up front he declares that he does not believe that Jesus is the Christ, so his mission is really an attack upon christianity itself!

In many ways, we live in a post-Christian society, and that's OK; not everyone will accept truth. But shepherds need to guard their flocks against modern antiChrists.

Claude Wilson writes: "In a few weeks, we will celebrate Easter, the most solemn feast of the Christian calendar. But whom do we honour in this celebration? Is it Jesus Christ or Ishtar/Astarte that translates Easter in English. Why would we use the name of the heathen Babylonian spring goddess (Easter) to commemorate the death of the Christian saviour?" So is his difficulty the use of the word 'Easter', or is it with what the word Easter represents? Clearly it is with both.

Claude Wilson has no appreciation of history. I am surprised that he did not attack me for worshipping the Roman God "Woden" since my column is published on Wednesdays (the origin of the word 'Wednesday' is to be found in worship of the Roman god 'Woden'). And his letter was published on a Friday, that day named after the Roman goddess 'Frigga'. Am I to conclude that he is her adherent? And furthermore, he wrote his letter in the month of March, notoriously named after the Roman god Mars! Why is Claude Wilson associating himself with all these pagan Roman gods?

Lame

And, when I look up the meaning of the name 'Claude', I learn that it is of Roman origin, the family name of several Roman emperors of the first century, including the pagan emperor known simply as Claudius, who became famous for persecuting Christians. The word is derived from the Latin claudus meaning 'lame' or 'crippled'. Now I know where Mr Claude Wilson, persecutor of Christians, gets his lame arguments from!

I don't know what anyone can conclude about the nature of Christianity from the etymology of the word 'Easter'. I challenge Claude Wilson or anyone else to find any hint of paganism in the (Roman Catholic) Christian observation of Easter, the joyful celebration of the liberation of humanity from sin and the inauguration of a new age in the history of humanity. Show me any reference to Ishtar to Astarte or any of her accoutrements; or name me any Christian who offers her any tribute or worship whatever.

I defend Claude Wilson's right to be non-Christian or even anti-Christian; but he has no right to assert that, at Easter, Christians honour Ishtar/Astarte rather than Jesus, the Christ, without providing proof. Neither does he have the right to attribute to me the statement that "traditional Christianity is, in many ways, anti-Christian" when I said no such thing.

I hope that Christians everywhere are strengthened by the events of Christ's Passover to carry our cross, which for us, is our sign of victory over the anti-Christs!