Sunday, April 27, 2025

Easter

Easter is the feast of Christ's resurrection. According to Bede*, the word derives from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre. Christians in England applied the word to the principal festival of the church year, both day and season. 

However, the origin of the word Easter is debated. The Venerable Bede (673-735 AD) was fascinated by the dating of Easter, and he postulated that the word derived from an Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre. However he is the only source for this idea, and there is no other mention of this goddess in material which does not derive directly or indirectly from Bede.

Bede is normally relied upon as an accurate source, but some scholars think that this goddess did not exist. The Encyclopedias Britannica says "There is now widespread consensus that..." a Germanic source word led to the English word Easter, via Anglo-Saxon, which also led to the German word for Easter, which is Ostern.

It is thought to come from the word for dawn, which was related to the word for east, because the sun rises at dawn in the east. Eostur-monaþ (Easter month) was the Anglo-Saxon name of the month which we now called April. So the festival of Easter may just be named after the month it usually fell in.

Some people say that we should not use the word 'Easter' because it may refer to a pagan deity, but then so do all the days of our week, which are mainly named after Anglo-Saxon deities. The months January and March are named after Roman gods, and the months July and August are named after deified Roman Emperors. If we stopped using words because in the distant past it may possibly have an etymology derived from a pagan deity, which we have forgotten about and no longer honor nor believe in, then that would invalidate almost all our calendars and diaries, and most church notice boards. 

Today the reality is that the word Easter is associated with a Christian festival, even if it is linked to many non-Christian or quasi-Christin folk traditions like painted eggs. Easter Day is the annual feast of the resurrection, the Pascha or Christian Passover, and the eighth day of cosmic creation. 

Faith in Jesus' resurrection on the Sunday or third day following his crucifixion is at the heart of Christian belief. Easter sets the experience of springtime next to the ancient stories of deliverance and the proclamation of the risen Christ. In the west, Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox. Easter always falls between Mar. 22 and Apr. 25 inclusive. Following Jewish custom, the feast begins at sunset on Easter Eve with the Great Vigil of Easter. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Easter on the first Sunday after the Jewish pesach or Passover (which follows the spring full moon). Although the two dates sometimes coincide, the eastern date is often one or more weeks later. 

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