# About Easter

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-easter/138065>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 22, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-easter/138065 "2002-11-22T01:35:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![High\_Deity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9a140/32.png) [@High\_Deity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Deity)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-easter/138065/1 "2002-11-22T01:35:27Z")

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Why is the date of easter determined by the equinox and the full moon afterwards? All other commonly celebrated days in western civilization seem to be on fixed dates.

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**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-easter/138065/2 "2002-11-22T01:53:37Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> All other commonly celebrated days in western civilization seem to be on fixed dates.

Unless you’re Jewish.

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**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-easter/138065/3 "2002-11-22T01:58:13Z")

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Perhaps this will answer your question: [Date of Easter FAQ](http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/easter.html) from the US Naval Observatory. (They’re the offical timekeepers for the U.S. government, which is why they know this stuff.)

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**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-easter/138065/4 "2002-11-22T02:48:05Z")

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I dated an Easter once.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-easter/138065/5 "2002-11-22T02:49:57Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by UncleBill \*  
> I dated an Easter once.

Are you egging us on with that, or waiting for the rabbit to die?

😃

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-easter/138065/6 "2002-11-22T03:23:00Z")

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The Naval Observatory FAQ did a good job of answering _how_ the date is calculated, but it did not really address _why_.

The [Catholic Encyclopedia - Easter Controversy](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05228a.htm) gives a fairly thorough history of the decisions.

The (extremely) short answer is that the Jewish Passover (which is the marker date for the events of Holy Week) does not occur on a fixed date in the solar calendar or on a fixed day of the week. The early Christians first decided to set the celebration to always occur on Sunday, then decided that (while they wanted it _near_ Passover for historical legacy), they rejected using the Jewish calculations out of spite. Having determined those two guidelines, they then chose to place it as near to a full moon as possible so that pilgrims would have more light to travel by.