Christmas

From Conservapedia - Reading time: 9 min

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Christmas is a holiday on December 25 which celebrates the birth of Jesus, since at least AD 336. The word "Christmas" comes from "Christ's mass." A few churches, including the Russian and Ukrainian churches, still celebrate according to the Julian calendar. December 25 on the Julian calendar corresponds to January 7 on the Gregorian calendar.

The Bible does not give a date for the birth of Jesus. The holiday is exactly nine months following Annunciation on March 25. On the Roman calendar, March 25 was marked as the spring equinox while December 25 was considered the date of the winter solstice. Christmas is often connected to pagan festivals such as Saturnalia or Yule, especially by those who oppose Christian traditions. However, the symbolism of a solstice date appealed to the Church Fathers for reasons unrelated to any pagan festival.

During Advent, people hang up colored lights, place a Christmas tree (typically an evergreen conifer tree) in their house, sing carols, and exchange gifts. Gift-giving commemorates the gifts given to the Christ child by the magi and is symbolic of the fact that Jesus came as gift to mankind from God. Most towns and cities do this on an elaborate scale in public places, putting a large tree in the public square, and hanging large arrangements of lights with Christmas themed designs over the streets weeks before Christmas Day, removing the tree within a few days or the week following Christmas Day and safely discarding it, often leaving the other forms of public decoration and display in place for weeks afterward, even to the end of January.

History[edit]

Biblical basis[edit]

The story of the birth of Christ is told in the opening chapters of the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. Each contains different elements of the Christmas story. The visit of the Archangel to the shepherds and the birth of Jesus in a manger are from Luke. The story of the Star of Bethlehem and the visit from the magi bringing gifts of "gold, and frankincense and myrrh" are from Matthew.

Selecting a date[edit]

Early Christians had a great deal of interest in establishing the date of the birth of Jesus. But no evidence could be found in the gospels. According to historian Steven Hijmans:

“

Clement of Alexandria [c. 150 – 215], for instances mentions (and dismisses) proposals that Christ was born on April 19 or May 20 and himself calculated the date as November 17, 3 BC. Other suggested dates included March 28 and April 2, but not December 25. None of these dates were influential, or enjoyed any official recognition.[1]

”

The solstice and the calendar[edit]

On the Roman calendar, December 25 was the date of the winter solstice, called bruma in Latin.^[2] The Julian Calendar was designed by Sosigenes of Alexandria and introduced to Rome by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. Sosigenes intended March 25 to be the date of the equinox. The Julian calendar has a leap year, or additional day, every four years, and thus an average year of 365.25 days. The astronomical solar year is 365.242 days, so the equinoxes and solstices "drift" by three days every four hundred years. The Gregorian calendar, instituted in 1582, reestablished the calendar alignment as it was at the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325. By modern calculations, the equinox is on March 21 or 22 and the solstice is on December 21 or 22.

Sextus Julius Africanus[edit]

In 221, Sextus Julius Africanus wrote a universal history that gave the spring equinox not only as the first day of Creation, but also as the date of incarnation.^[3] On the Roman calendar, the equinox was March 25, now celebrated as Annunciation. From this, it can be calculated that Jesus was born in December, nine months later.^[4]

Solar symbolism was common among Christian writers of the time.^[5] This symbolism was justified by the identification of Jesus as the "sun of righteousness" mentioned by the prophet Malachi.^[6]

Augustine[edit]

In the late fourth century, Augustine explained why it was appropriate to celebrate on the solstice date:

“

Hence it is that He was born on the day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase.[7]

”

Isaac Newton[edit]

Although Englishman Isaac Newton is best-known for his scientific work, he also wrote extensively on religious subjects. Like Augustine, Newton connected the date of Christmas to the solstice:

“

The times of the Birth and Passion of Christ, with such like niceties, being not material to religion, were little regarded by the Christians of the first age. They who began first to celebrate them, placed them in the cardinal periods of the year; as the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, on the 25th of March, which when Julius Cæsar corrected the Calendar was the vernal Equinox; the feast of John Baptist on the 24th of June, which was the summer Solstice; the feast of St. Michael on Sept. 29, which was the autumnal Equinox; and the birth of Christ on the winter Solstice, Decemb. 25.[8]

”

Introduction of the feast[edit]

Nativity celebration must have arisen sometime after 300 as earlier writers were not aware of it.^[9] The Chronography of 354 records that a Christmas celebration took place in Rome in 336.^[10]

The creation of the feast may be a response to the Trinitarian controversy that was raging at the time. It was introduced to the Eastern Roman Empire after the death of Emperor Valens, who favored the Arian heresy, in 378. Christmas has a unique three-mass liturgy that gives a priest three opportunities to inveigh against heretics. Once Arianism died out, the status of Christmas declined.

Middle Ages[edit]

In the Early Middle Ages, Christmas was overshadowed by Epiphany (January 6). The holiday regained prominence in the time of Charlemagne, who was crowned as emperor on December 25, 800.

Reformation[edit]

With the Reformation, Christmas fell into disrepute. It was banned under Cromwell. In the early 19th century, the Oxford Movement led a revival of the holiday. Many of the customs we have come to associate with Christmas developed in Victorian England, notably the Christmas tree, which originated in Germany and was introduced in England by Prince Albert. The concept of Christmas as a family-centered celebration and a time of generosity, good will, and friendliness to neighbors, was popularized by Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol.

Post-Reformation[edit]

In the United States, the image of Santa Claus (i.e. Saint Nicholas) and his reindeer has been shaped by Clement Moore's poem, "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (with the famous opening line "'Twas the night before Christmas.") Christmas was declared a national holiday by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870. In other countries, the depiction of Santa vary widely. For instance, in The Netherlands, Santa Claus is shown in a bishop's miter. In some countries, Saint Nicholas is not associated with the holiday at all; for example, in Spain it is the magi who bring gifts to children, and in Hawaii it is the jolly native Kamaunamauna. However, the tradition of Christmas gift-giving is prevalent in all cultures.

In the United States, during the twentieth century, gift-giving assumed a greater and greater role, and by mid-century had become of great commercial importance, to the point where some felt the religious aspects were becoming forgotten. As Stan Freberg put it^[11] in 1958, "There are two S's in Christmas and they're both dollar signs." The single week before Christmas currently accounts for 25 percent to 30 percent of all retail sales.

Relationship to pagan festivals[edit]

That pagans and Christians both celebrated on the date of the solstice should not be understand to mean that Christmas is derived from a pagan holiday. The cycle of solstice and equinox is a natural phenomena significant to religions of widely varying character. As Hijmans writes:

“

It is cosmic symbolism ... which inspired the Church leadership in Rome to elect the winter solstice, December 25, as the birthday of Christ, and the summer solstice [June 24] as that of John the Baptist, supplemented by the equinoxes as their respective dates of conception. While they were aware that pagans called this day the “birthday” of Sol Invictus, this did not concern them and it did not play any role in their choice of date for Christmas.[12]

”

Sol Invictus[edit]

In an essay published in 1889, German scholar Hermann Usener argued that Christmas is an "appropriation" of an earlier pagan festival.^[13] According to Usener, the Church placed Christmas on December 25 as a kind of marketing strategy to absorb the pagan solstice festival Dies Natalis Sol Invicti into Christianity.

Although Usener's theory has become quite widespread, Hijmans counters that fourth century homilies concerning the birth of Jesus routinely refer to the solstices and equinoxes, but rarely to pagan feasts.

Hijmans examined a homily that Usener quoted to support his pagan origin theory and found that it fits better with a solstice origin.^[14] The homily not only connects the birth of Jesus to the winter solstice, it also placed the birthday of John the Baptist on the summer solstice. Usener cites this homily for an aside that mentioned that December 25 is the birthday of Sol Invictus. But this is done only to argue that the pagan festival is of no significance.^[15]

Saturnalia and Kalends[edit]

The end of the year was a season of varied celebration in pagan Rome. Saturnalia began on December 17 and lasted for three to five days. It was followed by Dies Natalis Solis Invicti on December 25 and Kalends on January 1 to January 4. Saturnalia was exclusive to Italy while Sol was a sun god associated with emperors Aurelian and Constantine.

Both Saturnalia and Sol Invictus were overshadowed by Kalends, a new year celebration. While there is no trace of either Saturalia or Sol Invictus persisting into Christian times, various churchmen noted how difficult it was to suppress Kalends.^[16] The Roman end-of-year celebrations transferred to Epiphany in the Early Middle Ages and later to the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Yule[edit]

The connection between Christmas and Yule, a Scandinavian pagan holiday, is often misunderstand. Writing in the eighth century, Bede did not know Yule as a holiday. He refers to it only as a month of the Anglo-Saxon calendar.^[17] Christmas was popularized by Charlemagne's coronation in 800. As Yule did not appear as a festival until later, it was likely created in response to Christmas. When the Christian calendar was introduced to Scandinavia, King Haakon I (r. 934–961) of Norway assigned Yule to December 25 to correspond with the date of Christmas, according to a saga by Snorri Sturluson.

“

[Haakon] made a law that the festival of Yule should begin at the same time Christian people held it, and that every man, under penalty, should brew a meal of malt and ale, and therewith keep the Yule holy as long as it lasted.[18]

”

Modern-day cultural significance[edit]

See also: War on Christmas and Atheism and Christmas

The tension between religious and secularized Christmas has waxed and waned periodically over the years. The pendulum swung toward secularization in the middle of the twentieth century. One marker was the emergence of songs like I'll Be Home For Christmas (1943), The Christmas Song, (1946), and Silver Bells (1951), which have become a beloved part of Christmas in America despite their lack of any religious content. Bing Crosby, a devout Catholic, initially was reluctant to sing the secular 1942 song White Christmas, which was to become his biggest hit.^[19]

In recent years, the celebration of Christmas has become part of the "culture wars." Fox News analysts John Gibson and Bill O'Reilly claim that Christmas has come under attack by liberals. Some Christian conservatives want an increased recognition of the religious core of the holiday, and want to maintain a separation between Christmas and other holidays occurring at the same time of year.

In Japan, Christmas is mostly a secular holiday, due to most of the population practicing Shinto as a religion. However, due to a very successful marketing campaign^[20], it is customary to celebrate it by purchasing from KFC.

Rejection[edit]

Some Christian churches, sects, and communities reject the observance of Christmas for theological reasons. Christian sects that don't celebrate Christmas include Jehovah's Witnesses;^[21] Armstrongites;^[22] some adherents of Messianic Judaism;^[23] most Sabbatarian denominations, such as the True Jesus Church and the Church of God (7th-Day);^[24] the Iglesia ni Cristo;^[25] the Christian Congregation in Brazil; the Christian Congregation in the United States; certain reformed and fundamentalist churches of various persuasions, including some Independent Baptists,^[26] Holiness Christians, Oneness Pentecostals,^[27] Amish-Mennonites, and Churches of Christ congregations.^[28][29]

See also[edit]

• Jesus Christ
• X-mas
• Carols by Candlelight
• Christmas Carol
• Pantomime
• Santa Maria
• Saint Nicholas
• Christmas Paintings
• Christmas in the Holy Land: an essay
• Christmas in Conservapedia
• I Believe in Father Christmas

External links[edit]

• Christmas Customs
• Welcome to The North-Pole

References[edit]