Why does Easter shift dates year after year?

Question

Hi.

Christmas day falls on the same date every year (December 25th) and so does guy fawkes (Nov 5th) and rememberance day (Nov 11th) and so on...

So how come EASTER day is on a different date every year? Jesus was born on 25th December, so we celebrate this date every year; which make sense.... but it doesn't make sense that Easter is on different dates every year... surely the date when Jesus was crucified, should be the same every year.... Why is it that the Easter date is different every year???

Thanks...

I understand it is something to do with the Spring equinox: but surely if JESUS was crucifed on a 'certain date' - say 15th April for example - then surely it should be the same EVERY year.

He was born on 25th December, (although some argue this fact; I believe he WAS born then...) and we celebrate THAT date the same every year, so why should EASTER be anything to do with the movements of the moon? It is the date when Jesus died... So why should it keep moving, Makes no sense to me...

Answer 1

I really have no idea at all why Easter shifts from year to year; it SHOULD be the same date(s) every year as Christmas is... Although some folk who like to go against tradition, refuse to believe Christ was born on Christmas day; like you; I believe firmly, that The Lord Jesus Christ WAS born on 25th December.

I think it's the wannabe hippies and environmental obsessives who like to follow the movements of the moon, who just HAVE to go against tradition....they are the ones who like to insist that Christ was not born on 25th December. They question why we believe he WAS born on this date; I question why they DON'T believe it.

Christ WAS born on 25th December, and that is a fact. These following-the-moon believers clearly just have different beliefs to us, but their beliefs are wrong.... the Lord Jesus Christ WAS born on 25th December.

I think it's sad that the modern world has put such nonsensical rubbish in peoples' heads and now they don't believe the truth.

As for why is Easter different every year; yes it is to do with the equinox and the full moon, but it SHOULD be on the same date every year, as Christ was only crucified on ONE date.

There are too many meddlesome matties, altering things by putting their own fanciful ideas in. Yes, Easter SHOULD be the same every year, as it marks the crucification and resurrection of Christ our Lord.

Switching it about every year makes no sense; neither does believing that Christmas is any day other than 25th December. I find it so odd that people refuse to believe this.

Answer 2

Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons). Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar, as is the Hebrew calendar.

In Western Christianity, Easter always falls on a Sunday from March 22 to April 25 inclusive.[18] The following day, Easter Monday, is a legal holiday in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions. In the Julian calendar used by Eastern Christianity, Easter also always falls on a Sunday from March 22 to April 25 inclusive, which in the Gregorian calendar, due to the 13 day difference between the calendars between 1900 and 2099, are dates from April 4 to May 8 inclusive.

The rule has since the Middle Ages been phrased as Easter is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal equinox. However, this does not reflect the actual ecclesiastical rules precisely. The reason for this is that the full moon involved (called the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical full moon, but an ecclesiastical moon. The difference is that the astronomical vernal equinox is a natural astronomical phenomenon, while the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is a fixed March 21. Easter is determined from tables which determine Easter based on the ecclesiastical rules, which approximate the astronomical full moon.

In applying the ecclesiastical rules, the various Christian Churches use 21 March as their starting point from which they find the next full moon, etc. However because Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches use the Julian Calendar as their starting point, while Western Christianity uses the Gregorian Calendar, the end point, the date for Easter, may diverge.

Answer 3

Easter is a moveable Christian feast that falls on the first Sunday after the fist full moon after the Spring equinox.

It can fall as early as March 22 and as late as April 23.

This year the first day of spring is March 20, the full moon is March 21, and Easter will fall on Sunday, March 23.

Answer 4

Well, no, we celebrate Christ's birth on the 25th of December. This was NOT his date of birth. Easter is a dynamic celebration based on a dynamic event during the year. You need to ask someone who knows more than I about how this date is determined.

Just return to reading that copy of The Davinci Code you got for Christmas, dear.

Answer 5

the question is, WHY do you believe he was born on the 25th? history and biblical scholars say differently. basically, i think that both Christmas and Easter were set where they are because it helped the early Christians to convert pagans to Christianity. Having something to substitute helped them get away from their bad habits. instead of the pagan solstice celebration, they could celebrate Christmas only a couple days later, and instead of the equinox and the full moon, etc, they could celebrate Christ's rising. it is like people who stop smoking and start to chew gum instead. it helps them not miss the cigarettes as much.

Well, hope that helps.

~Jane

Answer 6

Easter falls on the First Sunday, after the First Full Moon, after the Equinox, (First day of Spring).
The earliest it ever occurred was on March 27.

Answer 7

This is an example of the obscurantism that the priests have used for centuries to elevate their privileged position so that they don't have to go out and work like the rest of us.

Answer 8

Because, like Thanksgiving, it falls in a certain place in the month.