The History of Easter Laughter

May you laugh in church? The church fathers said ‘no’, but the question resurfaced thanks to a German custom of making the congregation laugh on Easter morning. In 1518, Oecolampadius wrote a book in which Easter Laughter is described for the first time. Until now, his Latin text has never been translated. This study provides a historical account of Easter Laughter in the Early Modern period, traces the controversy it sparked between Catholics and Protestants in the following centuries, and offers some explanations for why a provincial custom has sparked global interest since the 1950s.

The author discusses the role of laughter in church and society, demonstrating how the general assessment of laughter has changed radically in an astonishingly short time. From an almost unbroken tradition of suspicion and prohibition, laughter now enjoys high esteem. This transformation is examined with a particular focus, as the book ventures to ask how it can be a blessing that Jesus did not laugh.

"The entire study invites an examination of a phenomenon that obviously deserves a more intensive theological study […]. It shows the author’s amazing knowledge. There is no question that this is linked to signi_cant insights, especially from an interdisciplinary perspective. Cultural studies and theology are equally addressed when the Easter Laughter is pursued in all its diversity."

(Benedikt Kranemann, translated from his review of the German edition in Thelogische Literaturzeitung, vol. 147/3, 2022)