Explore the inquiry

Available reading and tools

Choose a question, a Christian explanation, a researched essay or a study tool.

Start with a question

Christian understanding

All 17 answers remain available individually and as a complete collection.

Browse the Christian explanations Read the complete collection

Holy days & observances

Four Sundays before Christmas in many Western churches; Eastern preparation follows different traditions.

Advent: learning to wait

Advent prepares Christians for Christmas and invites them to consider the hope of Christ’s return. In many Western churches, it begins four Sundays before Christmas. Its themes include expectation, repentance and attention to other people.

Discover its meaning ↗

25 December in many churches; 7 January on today’s civil calendar for churches retaining Julian-calendar Christmas. Other traditions also exist.

Christmas: the meaning of the Nativity

Christmas celebrates Jesus’ birth. In classical Christian belief, its deeper meaning is the incarnation: God’s Son enters human life. The celebration’s theological meaning and the historical question of Jesus’ exact birthday are separate questions.

Discover its meaning ↗

6 January in many calendars, sometimes transferred to a Sunday; Julian-calendar 6 January currently falls on civil 19 January.

Epiphany and Theophany: making Jesus known

Epiphany concerns the revealing or manifestation of Christ. Many Western churches particularly remember the Magi’s visit. Eastern Orthodox Theophany focuses on Jesus’ baptism and the manifestation of the Trinity. These emphases are related, but they are not identical.

Discover its meaning ↗

Before Easter; Ash Wednesday begins many Western observances, while Eastern Orthodox Great Lent begins on Clean Monday.

Lent and Ash Wednesday: turning toward change

Lent is a season of preparation for Easter through repentance, prayer, generosity and forms of fasting. Ash Wednesday begins Lent in many Western churches. Eastern Orthodox Great Lent follows a different calendar and pattern of worship.

Discover its meaning ↗

The week leading to Easter, beginning with Palm Sunday; dates follow the community’s Easter calendar.

Palm Sunday and Holy Week: follow the whole story

Holy Week follows the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ final days: entry into Jerusalem, the last meal with his disciples, betrayal, suffering, death and burial. Its services prepare for Easter while allowing each part of the story its own attention.

Discover its meaning ↗

The Friday before Easter in the calendar followed by the church.

Good Friday: why remember the crucifixion?

Good Friday commemorates Jesus’ crucifixion and death. Christians understand the event through beliefs about reconciliation, self-giving love and salvation. The day is solemn: calling it good does not mean that cruelty or execution is good.

Discover its meaning ↗

A movable Sunday each year; Western and Eastern Orthodox calculations can produce different dates.

Easter and Pascha: the resurrection question

Easter celebrates the Christian belief that God raised Jesus from the dead. Known as Pascha in Eastern Orthodox usage and many other traditions, it is central to Christian worship. Its meaning reaches beyond the return of spring or a general message of optimism.

Discover its meaning ↗

Ascension is traditionally the fortieth day of Easter, sometimes transferred to Sunday; Pentecost is the fiftieth day, counting Easter Sunday as day one.

Ascension and Pentecost: presence, Spirit and mission

Ascension recalls Jesus’ exaltation and departure from his disciples. Pentecost remembers the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. Christians connect both observances with the disciples’ responsibility to bear witness and the continuing life of the Church.

Discover its meaning ↗

Deeper questions

Research and study

What would you like to explore?