Monday, March 23, 2026

0:00It is the 23rd of March, 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I'm Dan VanVoris. A very happy Monday to you here at the Almanac. We answer questions from listeners on Mondays and Dave in Levittown PA knows how to get my attention. First he tells me that Levittown in Eastern Pennsylvania is a census designated community. And the second Levittown, I'm sure I'm mispronouncing that, and it's considered the model for the modern suburb, also home to super Joe McEwing, that all purpose utility man for the meds. Dave says his daughter asked him about the meaning of the word Easter, and it sent him down a rabbit hole and that he, quote, knows this one guy, well, at least in the podcasting sense.

1:00And yeah, it gets weird fast. And I get a, what's up with Easter question just about every year about this time of year? And so it's worth breaking down as we head towards the holiday for Dave, for his daughter, and for all of us. Easter is the first universal holy day in the church. The rest of the calendar gets set by it. Of course, it's based on the Passover because of when we read of Jesus' crucifixion in the Gospels. Passover is a Jewish lunar holiday, and Easter, more on the word in a minute, is as well. We determine it based on the Vernal Equinox. That's when we have more daylight than nighttime. It's around March 21st, so we just set that date as the so-called ecclesiastical Equinox. So after that day, you wait for the first full moon. The following Sunday is Easter. There it is, but what is Easter? Well, what is Easter called in any other language you might know? Well in German, it's Austern.

2:02That doesn't help necessarily, except to see that most every other language calls it some variation on Paska for Passover. So it's the minority Germanic tradition which prevails in English where we get Easter. So God bless the venerable bead, he's venerable for pizza, but in his sometimes rambling, but very important 8th century ecclesiastical history of the English people. He notes that the month in which the resurrection is celebrated is called Esther Monath. This is true, and he suggests a goddess named Esther or Easter at the root. He might be venerable, but I think he's wrong as he's the only ancient source who notes this. Once you realize that bead is probably wrong here, the whole pagan thing crumbles. What about the fertility stuff? That's pagan, right? Well, it's spring. What about the eggs? My favorite answer, of course, is that giving up eggs was part of the Lenten fast, but

3:04the chickens don't know that, and they keep laying eggs, and so we might as well have some fun with them if we can't eat them. What about rabbits and bunnies? Well they're mammals, and so no eggs, sorry, but once again, it's the Germans to the rescue as they had a tradition of the Austerhasa. This Austerhasa brings eggs to well-behaved children. I know the promise of an omelet always made my kids behave. It's important to remember that symbolism is used by people. It doesn't hang over them with necessary connotations or meanings. As people focused on the resurrection of Jesus, it would make sense that in a season of new life, we would be keen on tying anything, budding flowers and other things growing as images of the resurrection. Paul does it himself in 1 Corinthians 15 when he writes of the seed and its death and resurrection. That doesn't make seed talk explicitly Christian, nor is it pagan. It's what the people use it for. So Dave and daughter and friends look for new life this season and call it what you will,

4:08but may it all point you to the glorious news of the season, a world waiting, seeing in Christ the first of what will become of us as well. Thanks for the question, Dave. You can keep them coming to me at Dan V at 1517.org. The last word for today, let's call it audible and hear that seed analogy from 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 35. But someone will ask, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come? How foolish. What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as He has determined and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. Not all flesh is the same. People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies.

5:08But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another and the star differs from star in splendor. So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable. It is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown in natural body. It is raised. A spiritual body. This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 23rd of March, 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. This show is produced by man whose Osterhasa brings Shaqshuka and Spek Kukin for the kids. He is Christopher Gillespie, the show is written and read by man who learn to make the perfect egg from his brother-in-law who learned it from Jacques Papan. It s the undefeated, sunny side up egg I m Dan, Van Vores you can catch us here every

6:09day. And remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true. Everything is going to be okay.