Easter fluctuating dates confusion

[Soontobe60]

If Jesus Christ existed, he was supposedly born on 25th December and that date never changes. But he was crucified on Good Friday, which changes every year!
How come we know his birth date but not his death date?
When did the 25th December become known as Christmas Day?
When did the day he died become known as Good Friday and the day he rose Easter Sunday?

All questions my Year 4 children asked in school this week.

So Easter is determined I think by the cycles of the moon and it’s why shrove Tuesday moves as well. Good Friday is really Gods Friday as the day Jesus was crucified and Easter Sunday is three days later when he rose. But I think the word Easter comes from a Roman spring festival. Please feel free to add and change this it’s only a best guess!!

Please tell me you aren’t a teacher.

Christmas Day is pretty much the only one (religious festival) not determined by the moon.
I don't know when it became a fixed day.
Interesting to find out....

It’s the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (fixed at 21st March).

The church follows the lunar cycles and the equinoxes are fixed points in the year.

I think the same principle applies to shove Tuesday as this moves each year too.

If she isn't a Religious Studies teacher why should she know?

AFAIK we don't know Jesus's exact birth date. It was just decided to use that date to mark it (possibly because it was already a pagan festival which the new Christians would not be taking part in and would want to encourage others away from but that is just speculation on my part).

There is also the small matter of the change of calendar dates from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1582 to clear up some earlier confusion. This happened in Catholic countries, and the new calendar was adopted by the UK in 1752. Confusing or what?

Christmas is fixed to a solar festival rather than the lunar cycle. It is three days after the winter solstice when the light starts to return, which gave it religious significance rather than it being an exact date of his birth.

I think a lot of religions built up from older ones which only had the sun and moon cycles to work dates from. Probably much more and deeper reasons for why it works the way it does but I don’t know much more about it.

Jesus was celebrating Passover at the last supper, which means the date in relation to the Jewish calendar can be known. Passover is determined by the lunar cycle, therefore Easter also follows the lunar cycle.

Christmas is a day to celebrate the birth, but the date is unknown. Possibly spring time, based on the shepherd watching their flocks on the hills - they wouldn’t have been there during the winter.

Easter is nothing to do with Jesus. It is a spring festival based on moon phases Christians adopted a fertility festival to use as their celebration of the resurrection. They don’t actually know when he was born either and go on a guess. It’s a nice celebration during the coldest and darkest period of the year and before Christianity adopted it it was just Yule on the winter solstice.

There is a lot of evidence which suggests Jesus was a real person - If he was the son of God is the bit which people debate.

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There are precisely two historical references to Jesus which weren’t written by his followers, and one of them is disputed. Yes, most historians do accept that there was, on balance, a historical Jesus, but by no means all.

Because it’s incredibly basic general knowledge.

As noted above, Christmas was grafted on to pagan midwinter festivals, which are obviously around the winter solstice. Firstly Saturnalia in the Roman empire, whose date and length varied over time, but which was always in late December.

Once Christianity spread wider in Europe, midwinter festivals like Yule were taken over.

Rude and unnecessary

Knowing the answer and being able to answer the question in a way that makes sense to y4 children without also insulting various faiths are two completely different things.

Let’s not forget Jesus was a Jew.

I've always been intrigued by the parallels between Mithras and Jesus. The Persian 'God of light', paired with the Sun god, born living from a rock, his followers also celebrated the winter solstice as his 'birthday.' The two religions seem to have evolved side by side and borrowed from each other. He is always depicted surrounded by 12 zodiac signs and his followers used the bread and wine ceremony to celebrate him. He was said to have slain the bull (Taurus) and brought the light, so that may explain why the early Christians commemorated the crucifixion and resurrection in early spring.

I thought there was quite a lot of disagreement as to whether Jesus was actually born on the 25th of December?

He wasn’t born on the 25 of December!!!

Shrove Tuesday is directly related to Easter. It is the day before the start of Lent, which is 40 days before Easter Sunday (excluding Sundays). So Lent always starts on a Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) and finishes on the Sarurday before Easter Sunday (today).
Palm Sunday falls exactly a week before Easter Sunday. And Mothering Sunday is always a week before Palm Sunday.
All these festivals are linked date wise to Easter Sunday, which is the Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon (not necc the same as the actual full moon) after the vernal equinox (always 21st Mar).

Please tell me you aren't a teacher because your reading comprehension needs work. These are not OP's own questions. See the last line of their post.

If OP is not an RE teacher or a devout Christian, it is perfectly reasonable not to know the right answers to these questions when put on the spot.

She may well know that Easter isn't fixed because it's linked to lunar cycles. That won't stop her class asking "Why?". Nor explain why Christmas is linked to the solar cycle.

Still absolutely in the category of basic general knowledge. I mean, I’m not Muslim, but I know why Eid is not on the same day worldwide.

Is it?
I actually don't know why Christmas Day is a fixed date.
I am guessing something to do with industry and keeping the factories going maybe.