Gary Neal Hansen

Theology. It's good for you.

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You are here: Home / Archives for resurrection

Monday Meditation: RCL Year A, Easter Sunday, Matthew 28:1-10

April 9, 2020 by Gary Neal Hansen 4 Comments

Matthew 28:1-10

Sunday is Easter for those of us in the Western form of Christianity. My Orthodox friends have to wait a week longer. I pray for you that the day is full of joy. And I pray that it is full of hope. These are the great gifts of Easter: joy and hope. As I’ve noted […]

Filed Under: Bible, Church Year, Monday Meditation Tagged With: Easter, RCL Year A, resurrection

Why Easter Eggs? My “AHA!” Moment

April 15, 2015 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

Ever since I was a kid, long before I had much of an active Christian faith, I wondered: Why do we use eggs to celebrate Easter? Why Easter Eggs? It is not at all obvious. There is only one mention of eggs in the whole New Testament, and it isn’t about Easter. Unless we paint Christian […]

Filed Under: Church Year, Theology, Worship Tagged With: Easter Eggs, Fasting, Pascha, Pysanky, resurrection, Symbolism

Singing God’s Praise–The Old Fashioned Way

November 28, 2014 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

All my adult life I have been a Presbyterian. As often as possible during that same adult life I have worshipped among the Orthodox. It has not been that often in the sheer number of occasions–some glorious opportunities to hear the Liturgy St. Vladimir’s Seminary when I was in seminary and graduate school; a smaller number of visits […]

Filed Under: Music, Theology Tagged With: Church Music, Hymnody, Orthodoxy, resurrection, Vespers

Why Is It So Hard to Focus on Easter?

April 25, 2014 by Gary Neal Hansen 6 Comments

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to really give your attention to Easter? I mean the actual resurrection. The main event. It isn’t the marshmallow bunnies and chocolate eggs that distract us. Take, as an example, #1 in the sharefaith.com list of “Top 10 Easter Worship Songs” from last year. (I don’t really know […]

Filed Under: Church Year, Music, Theology, Worship Tagged With: Easter, Easter Worship Songs, Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me), Lord I Lift Your Name on High, resurrection

Vocabulary Lesson: “Easter,” “Pascha”

April 22, 2014 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

Why, you may ask, do Christians call the Sunday Jesus rose from the dead “Easter”? Good question. Apparently Christians are capable of getting their knickers in a knot about this: the word itself derives from an old English word, “Eostre,” which is the name of a pre-Christian deity. What? Were those rascally medievals trying to […]

Filed Under: Church Year, Saints, Theology, Vocabulary Tagged With: Church year, Easter, Pascha, resurrection, Venerable Bede

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Theology. It’s good for you.

I'm a Church historian by trade. My writing, speaking, and teaching explores the Christian past to equip today's disciples. Join me here for regular posts on the best of theology, spirituality, community, and ministry. read more…

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