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 Why Easter is called Easter, and other little-known facts about the holiday

Christians will commemorate Easter on April 12th, the day when Jesus is said to have risen from the dead. The anniversary date varies from year to year.

Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, which explains the variation.

My study shows that this dating of Easter goes back to the complex origins of the holiday and how it has developed over the centuries. I am a religious studies researcher specializing in early Christianity, and my research shows that this dating of Easter goes back to the complicated origins of the holiday and how it has evolved over the centuries.

Easter has evolved in a similar way to other major holidays such as Christmas and Halloween over the last 200 years or so. Christian and non-Christian (pagan) elements have continued to mix in all of these celebrations.

Easter as a rite of spring

The majority of major holidays are linked to the changing of the seasons in some way. This is particularly true during the holiday season. The New Testament makes no mention of the year in which Jesus was born. Many scholars believe, however, that the primary reason Jesus' birth is commemorated on December 25 is that it is the date of the Roman calendar's winter solstice.

It was perfect symbolism for the birth of "the light of the world," as described in the New Testament's Gospel of John because the days following the winter solstice gradually became longer and less dark.

The same was true for Easter, which fell close to another important date in the solar year: the vernal equinox (around March 20), when light and dark periods were equal. The arrival of spring is always greeted with joy by those living in northern latitudes, as it signals the end of the cold winter days.

Spring also signifies the rebirth of new life in the animal world, as well as the return to a life of plants and trees that have been dormant for the winter. It was only natural to commemorate Jesus' resurrection at this time of year, given the symbolism of new life and rebirth.

The name "Easter" appears to be derived from the name of a pre-Christian goddess in England, Eostre, who was honored at the start of spring. The Venerable Bede, a British monk who lived in the late seventh and early eighth centuries, is the only source of information about this goddess. As Bruce Forbes, a religious studies scholar, puts it:

“Bede wrote that the month in which English Christians celebrated Jesus' resurrection was called Eosturmonath in Old English, a reference to the goddess Eostre. Despite the fact that Christians had started to affirm the Christian meaning of the festival, the goddess's name was still used to identify the season.”

Because Bede had such an impact on later Christians, the name stuck, and Easter is still the name used by the English, Germans, and Americans to refer to the celebration of Jesus' resurrection.

The connection with Jewish Passover

While the word "Easter" is commonly used in the English-speaking world, many more countries refer to it as "Passover" (for example, "Pascha" in Greek) – a reference to the Jewish festival of Passover.

Passover is a Hebrew Bible festival that commemorates the Jewish people's liberation from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Book of Exodus. The first full moon after the vernal equinox was and continues to be the most important Jewish seasonal festival.

Passover had a special meaning at the time of Jesus because the Jewish people were once again under the rule of foreign powers (namely, the Romans). Every year, thousands of Jewish pilgrims flocked to Jerusalem in the hopes of being re-liberated as God's chosen people (as they saw themselves).

One Passover, Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival. In a triumphal procession, he entered Jerusalem and caused a ruckus in the Jerusalem Temple. Both of these activities appear to have drawn the attention of the Romans, and as a result, Jesus was executed around the year 30 A.D.

Some of Jesus' disciples, on the other hand, claimed to have seen him alive after his death, experiences that gave rise to Christianity. It was only natural to remember these events so close together because Jesus died during the Passover festival and his disciples thought he was resurrected from the dead three days later.

Some early Christians opted to commemorate Christ's resurrection on the same day as the Jewish Passover, which occurred in March or April around day 14 of the month of Nisan. Quartodecimans (meaning "fourteeners") was the name given to these Christians.

They chose this date to focus on Jesus' death while also emphasizing the continuity with Judaism from which Christianity arose. Others, on the other hand, preferred to hold the festival on a Sunday, as this was when Jesus' tomb was thought to have been discovered.

At the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, Emperor Constantine, who supported Christianity, convened a meeting of Christian leaders to resolve important conflicts. The council's most pivotal decision concerned Christ's status, which is acknowledged as "fully human and fully divine." This council also decided that Easter should be celebrated on a Sunday rather than on Nisan 14th day. As a result, Easter is now celebrated on the first Sunday following the vernal equinox's first full moon.

The Easter bunny and Easter eggs

The Easter festival was much more popular among Catholics than Protestants in early America. Easter and Christmas, for example, were considered too tainted by non-Christian influences by the New England Puritans to be suitable to celebrate. Such gatherings were also known for their heavy drinking and merriment.

Both holidays changed their fortunes in the nineteenth century when they became occasions to be spent with one's relatives. This was done in part to make the celebrations of these holidays less raucous.

Easter and Christmas, on the other hand, were reshaped as domestic holidays as children's perspectives shifted. Children were rarely the center of attention prior to the 17th century. According to historian Stephen Nissenbaum,

“...children were grouped with other members of the lower orders in general, particularly servants and apprentices – who, not surprisingly, were mostly young people themselves.”

From the 17th century onwards, there was a growing recognition of childhood as a period of life that should be enjoyed rather than seen as a means to an end. This "rediscovery of childhood" and the lavish treatment of children had a significant impact on how Easter was observed.

Easter eggs and the Easter bunny become particularly important at this point in the holiday's growth. Given the apparent symbolism of new life, decorated eggs have been a part of the Easter festival at least since medieval times. Easter eggs are steeped in folklore, and the process of decorating them is highly complex in a number of Eastern European countries. Several Eastern European legends link the turning of eggs red (a popular Easter color) to the events surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection.

Despite this, it was not until the 17th century that the German tradition of an "Easter hare" giving eggs to good children became known. Because of their incredible fertility powers, hares and rabbits have long been associated with spring seasonal rituals.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, when German immigrants arrived in Pennsylvania, they brought this tradition with them. In another sign of how the emphasis shifted toward children, the wild hare was supplanted by the more docile and domestic rabbit.

We hope that this article helps you know why Easter is called Easter. How do you celebrate Easter? Easter is not complete without Easter songs, right? Don't play these best Easter songs to celebrate this holiday.