The Origin of Christmas

Dec 24, 2009 News

By Brushell Blackman

Christmas has been around for as long as all of us can remember, we usually share peace, love and goodwill in an atmosphere that is refreshingly unique. We use the time to reconnect with family and friends, we even eat and wear the most expensive around this time, many times unmindful of what tomorrow may bring with such actions.

However many have never taken the time to really understand where Christmas has its origins. This article attempts to address from where and how Christmas had its origin.

According to religious historians, December 25, designated as Christmas Day, can be attributed to Pope Julius I, sometime in the 4th century A.D. It was set to coincide with the Roman Winter Festivals.

However, the truth about this season is complicated and it depends upon what tradition you’re referring to as Christmas.

Christmas as “Christ’s Mass,” the celebration of Christ’s birthday, originated when the Roman Catholic Church decided to consecrate pagan traditions. The Church wanted to convert the pagans of Europe to Christianity, and as a way of doing so, they established a Christian religious meaning to the important and popular celebration. They chose the birth of Christ because it echoed pagan attributes of the holiday, which celebrated, amongst other things, the rebirth of the Sun. The truth is that, before then, Christians didn’t really celebrate Christ’s birth; it was his death and resurrection that were supremely important, and his birth was a minor point without a fixed celebration.

According to some historians, Jesus ‘’wasn’t’’ born on December 25. In fact, the details in the Bible clearly point to his being born in the spring. Placing the holiday of December 25 was a direct attempt to co-opt solstice traditions.

Christmas as a ‘’modern’’ celebration, including most of the things we associate with it: Santa Claus, gift-giving, carols, etc., were a Victorian invention. A number of writers and politicians, including Clement C. Moore in his book “The Night before Christmas”, popularized Christmas as a family tradition, in part to replace undesirable older traditions that had become part of Christmas.

For a detailed and fascinating account of the Victorian Christmas invention, read Stephen Nissenbaum’s excellent “The Battle for Christmas.”

Other accounts of the celebration indicate that December 25th was initially celebrated as ‘Conquering the Sun Day’, in which the Romans at the time, who worshipped the sun, thought the Sun God was pleased with them as the days started to get longer. They would have celebrations and exchange gifts. Those that believed in Jesus feared for their lives, and wanted to mark a day for his birth, and so did on the same day, under the guise of the Roman beliefs.

So the birth of Jesus was celebrated around 460AD for the first time, and as the Church grew, it eventually took the day over. Further, there is a widespread theory that Christmas started in Rome as a response to the Pagan holiday that was celebrated around the Winter Solstice by Emperor Aurelia in AD 274, and was called The Birth of the Invincible Sun.

Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ began, obviously, after his life and death. There is evidence in early writings that such celebrations began as early as the third century (~200AD). These celebrations began in the areas where Christianity started and spread, the areas around the Mediterranean, including the Middle East, North Africa and southern Europe.

Christmas today is a holiday shared and celebrated by many religions. It is a day that has an effect on the entire world. To many people, it is a favourite time of the year involving gift-giving, parties and feasting.

Christmas is a holiday that unifies almost all of humanity. The spirit of Christmas causes people to decorate their homes and churches cut down trees and bring them into their homes, decking them with silver and gold. In the light of that tree, families make merry and give gifts, one to another. For some when the sun goes down on December 24th, and darkness covers the land, families and churches prepare for participation in customs such as singing around the decorated tree and attending a late night service or midnight mass.