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

The resurrected Jesus Christ is depicted in the stained-glass windows of Visitors Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Hot Springs, Ark. / The Sentinel-Record/Lorien E. Dahl/File The resurrected Jesus Christ is depicted in the stained-glass windows of Visitors Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Hot Springs, Ark. / The Sentinel-Record/Lorien E. Dahl/File

By Brent Landau / The Conversation via The Associated Press April 8, 2023 7 min read

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.