Why do we always celebrate Christmas on the 25th December, yet Easter is on a different date each year?

Answer 1

Easter:

Fixing the date on which the Resurrection of Jesus was to be observed and celebrated triggered a major controversy in early Christianity in which an Eastern and a Western position can be distinguished. The dispute was not definitively resolved until the 8th century. In Asia Minor, Christians observed the day of the Crucifixion on the same day that Jews celebrated Passover, that is, on the 14th day of the first full moon of spring, 14 Nisan (see Jewish calendar). The Resurrection, then, was observed two days later, on 16 Nisan, regardless of the day of the week. In the West, the Resurrection of Jesus was celebrated on the first day of the week, Sunday, when Jesus had risen from the dead. Consequently, Easter was always celebrated on the first Sunday after the 14th day of the month of Nisan. Increasingly, the churches opted for the Sunday celebration, and the Quartodecimans (“fourteenth day” proponents) remained a minority. The Council of Nicaea in 325 decreed that Easter should be observed on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox (March 21). Easter, therefore, can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25.

Eastern Orthodox churches use a slightly different calculation based on the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar (which is 13 days ahead of the former), with the result that the Orthodox Easter celebration usually occurs later than that celebrated by Protestants and Roman Catholics. Moreover, the Orthodox tradition prohibits Easter from being celebrated before or at the same time as Passover.

In the 20th century attempts were made to arrive at a fixed date for Easter, with the Sunday following the second Saturday in April specifically proposed. While this proposal has supporters, it has not come to fruition.

Christmas:

The precise origin of assigning December 25 as the birth date of Jesus is unclear. The New Testament provides no clues in this regard. December 25 was first identified as the date of Jesus' birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221 and later became the universally accepted date. One widespread explanation of the origin of this date is that December 25 was the Christianizing of the dies solis invicti nati (“day of the birth of the unconquered sun”), a popular holiday in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice as a symbol of the resurgence of the sun, the casting away of winter and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer. Indeed, after December 25 had become widely accepted as the date of Jesus' birth, Christian writers frequently made the connection between the rebirth of the sun and the birth of the Son. One of the difficulties with this view is that it suggests a nonchalant willingness on the part of the Christian church to appropriate a pagan festival when the early church was so intent on distinguishing itself categorically from pagan beliefs and practices.

A second view suggests that December 25 became the date of Jesus' birth by a priori reasoning that identified the spring equinox as the date of the creation of the world and the fourth day of creation, when the light was created, as the day of Jesus' conception (i.e., March 25). December 25, nine months later, then became the date of Jesus' birth. For a long time the celebration of Jesus' birth was observed in conjunction with his baptism, celebrated January 6.

Answer 2

Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. However, a caveat must be introduced here. The "full moon" in the rule is the ecclesiastical full moon, which is defined as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always occur on the same date as the astronomical full moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.

Answer 3

Currently, churches on the Gregorian calendar calculate Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon that comes on or after the vernal equinox (March 21). This means that Easter can fall within a 35-day period between March 22 and April 25, inclusive. It is all very strange and has caused great confusion throughout the centuries. It should be like Christmas and on the same day every year. It represents Christs resurrection. It is a set day for his birth!

Answer 4

Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th? - Because that's when the winter solstice was, and the people who introduced Christianity just transformed pagan festivals into Christian ones (Jesus was actually born in the Spring).

Why is Easter on a different date every year? - It's based on the ancient Jewish calendar, which relies on the phases of the moon. As a lunar month (i.e. the time for a whole lunar cycle) is 28 days, which is exactly 4 weeks, then if a festival falls on a certain day of the week (e.g. Sunday), then it will always fall on that day of the week.

Answer 5

Emperor Constantine at the First Council of Nicaea decided that Easter was to be the first Sunday after the full moon after the Spring Equinox. Approximately anyway... :o)

Christmas was fixed on a set date. Simple!

Answer 6

Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. (So Easter can never occur before March 22).

Answer 7

You know, that's a good question. But I belive it is because Easter has to be on a Sunday. It does kinda get on my nerves though. Kinda like here in SC, sometimes the kids can't trick or treat if Halloween falls on a Sunday. They have to do it the next day. Feels like sometimes we get cheated on our holidays huh?

Answer 8

Because Easter always has to be on a Sunday, and Christmas can be on any day.

Answer 9

Easter is always on sunday. If it were on lets say the 8th every year then every year the day of the week would change. So lets Easter sunday is on the 7th. Next year if it were on the 7th the day would be Monday.

Jesus rested on the 7th day and rose again on the 7th day? I believe. So therefore we always celebrate on a sunday.

Answer 10

re xmas- it had something to do with the egyptians/romans- they had a celebratory time that time of the year. So they never changed the dates to keep things festive on the exact same time of the year- very brief- i'm sure someone else will have more to add to this- i forget most of the detail.

Easter i have no idea about- maybe something to do with the solar/lunar calender like with practically every other religion....?