The Easter Bunny hops again in 2010

Easter once again has come around for those with pious religious conviction who celebarate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The New Testament teaches that the resurrection of Jesus, is a foundation of the Christian faith. For most others, Easter represents chocolate Easter eggs and a multitude of chocolate bunnies.

And where did Eggs come from? Apparently as a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in celebrations of spring, the eggs were adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. According to academic literature, the oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs (which is still the case with many Orthodox Christian Churches), but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans. For children, these eggs are often hidden, allegedly by the Easter Bunny, to be found on Easter morning (which is Easter Sunday).

The Easter Bunny is actually not originally an Easter symbol but has origins in Alsace and the Upper Rhineland, both then in the Holy Roman Empire, and southwestern Germany, where the practice was first recorded in a German publication in the early 1600s. The first edible Easter Eggs were made in Germany during the early 1800s and were made of pastry and sugar. So there is nothing particularly religious about the Easter bunny which in most respects has taken on a wholly commercial identity in the modern world.