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Easter is the time for chocolate. This can also make it very tricky for parents to manage their kids’ chocolate intake.
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You’d be surprised by how many of your favourite hits are about God or Jesus in one way or another.
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Like a lot of things that happen at this time of year, the Stations of the Cross is a ritual – and an important one to many.
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Who doesn’t love a chocolate egg or two at Easter? Here’s why a little indulgence may not do much harm.
The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.
British Museum
Each Easter we see many images of Jesus on the cross – inevitably wearing a loincloth. But the historical evidence shows victims of crucifixion were fully naked to maximise shame as well as pain.
(L-R) The Rockox Triptych by Rubens (1613–1615), Christ as the Man of Sorrows by Maerten Jacobsz van Heemskerck and The Last Judgement by Michelangelo (1541).
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp/Sistine Chapel
The Bible is full of strong men and pumped prophets.
A mosaic of the Resurrection in the Basilica of St. Paul in Harissa, Lebanon.
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Ideas about resurrection had been developing for centuries before Jesus’ life, but his followers took them in new directions.
A procession at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed by many Christians to be the site of the crucifixion and burial place of Jesus Christ.
AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner
A Christian Palestinian human rights scholar who grew up in Bethlehem writes about the special time of Easter, but also about the restrictions on Palestinian Christians.
The crucifixion of Christ inside Chester Cathedral.
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The ancient tenebrae tradition brings churchgoers face to face with the darkest moments of the Christian story.
Thousands of Catholics travel by foot to Santuario de Chimayo, in northern New Mexico, during an annual Good Friday pilgrimage.
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Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the Santuario de Chimayó throughout the year, but the pilgrimage during the week before the celebration of Easter is the high point.
Christian Palestinian tattoo artist Walid Ayash draws a tattoo on the arm of a Coptic Egyptian pilgrim on April 28, 2016, at his studio in Bethlehem.
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Historically, many Christians got tattoos around Holy Week − usually a cross − to honor Christ’s martyrdom.
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Some conservative Christians have taken to claiming ‘victim’ status in the modern world, but we should be wary of such claims.
Pavias Andreas, The Crucifixion, second half of the 15th century.
National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
The cross was not always the dominant symbol of Christianity, and would certainly not have been worn as a fashion accessory by early Christians.
Easter has its bunnies, but chocolate comes out for every holiday.
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Two food scientists, an entomologist, an anthropologist, a veterinarian and a historian walk into a bar (of chocolate) and tell bitter and sweet stories of this favorite treat.
How did commemorating the Resurrection get tangled up with rabbits and eggs?
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Like Halloween and Christmas, today’s Easter traditions are a blend of Christian and non-Christian influences.
Two children enjoy an Easter game in a postcard from 1900.
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Eggs have long symbolised rebirth and renewal, making them perfect to commemorate the story of Jesus’ resurrection.
A man chooses a palm cross to buy on Palm Sunday near a church in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2022.
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Donkeys and palm leaves are both associated with Christianity’s Palm Sunday – but their symbolism couldn’t be more different.
A Catholic Ash Wednesday service at St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica in Chennai, India, in 2022.
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A roundup of The Conversation’s articles about this holy Christian season and its history.
“Medieval football” is still played annually on Shrove Tuesday in some parts of the UK.
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Pancake Day isn’t just about pancakes.
Resurrection of Christ depicted in 14th-century fresco in Chora Church, Istanbul, Turkey.
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Christians have engaged in passionate debates over the meaning of the resurrection. Baptists may be distinct in that they believe an external religious authority cannot enforce views on such matters.