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

Mother, father and their little son having fun painting and decorating eggs for holiday together at home. Adobe Stock Photo by Brent Landau, The University of Texas at Austin The date of Easter, when the resurrection of Jesus is said to have taken place, changes from year to year. The reason for this variation is that Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. I am a religious studies scholar specializing in early Christianity, and my research shows that this dating of Easter goes back to the complicated origins of this holiday and how it has evolved over the centuries. Easter is quite similar to other major holidays like Christmas and Halloween, which have evolved over the last 200 years or so. In all of these holidays, Christian and non-Christian (pagan) elements have continued to blend together. What is the origin of Easter eggs? Katie Morrow, CC BY-NC-ND Easter as a rite of spring Most major holidays have some connection to the changing of seasons. This is especially obvious in the case of Christmas. The New Testament gives no information about what time of year Jesus was born. Many scholars believe, however,...