Difference between revisions of "Christmas"

Revision as of 12:45, December 26, 2017 (view source) PeterKa (Talk | contribs) (→‎Relationship to pagan festivals: add Yule) ← Older edit		Revision as of 14:04, December 26, 2017 (view source) PeterKa (Talk | contribs) (→‎Relationship to pagan festivals: footnote) Newer edit →
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	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.<ref>"In 578 CE a church Council at Auxerre, Burgundy, forbade disguisings, and another Council, in the year 614, stated it was “unlawful to make any indecent plays upon the Kalends of January, according to the profane practices of the pagans.” (Pennick, Nigel, ''[https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=1620553902 Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition: Customs, Rites, and Ceremonies]'', 2015.)</ref> The Roman end-of-year celebrations transferred to [[Epiphany]] in the Early Middle Ages and later to the Twelve Days of Christmas.		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.<ref>"In 578 CE a church Council at Auxerre, Burgundy, forbade disguisings, and another Council, in the year 614, stated it was “unlawful to make any indecent plays upon the Kalends of January, according to the profane practices of the pagans.” (Pennick, Nigel, ''[https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=1620553902 Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition: Customs, Rites, and Ceremonies]'', 2015.)</ref> The Roman end-of-year celebrations transferred to [[Epiphany]] in the Early Middle Ages and later to the Twelve Days of Christmas.
−	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.<ref>"[http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2012/01/20/bede-on-yule/ Bede on Yule]"</ref> 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 the Good (r. 934–961) of Norway assigned Yule to December 25 to correspond with the date of Christmas, according to the account of Snorri Sturluson.<ref>Snorri Sturluson, ''Saga of Hákon the Good''</ref>	+	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.<ref>"[http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2012/01/20/bede-on-yule/ Bede on Yule]"</ref> 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 the account of Snorri Sturluson.<ref>"[Hakon] 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." (Snorri Sturluson, ''Heimskringla, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway'', "Hakon the Good's Saga," Chapter 15.)</ref>
	==Modern-day cultural significance==		==Modern-day cultural significance==

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Revision as of 14:04, December 26, 2017

Christmas is a holiday which celebrates the birth of Jesus. It is celebrated on December 25. 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 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.

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. Both of these dates are traditional and merely approximate.^[1] According to an ancient Jewish tradition, the equinox is the anniversary of the first day of Creation. Influenced by this tradition, Christians in the Middle Ages celebrated New Year's Day on March 25. The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336.^[2]

In Western countries, during the Christmas season people generally hang up colored lights, place a Christmas tree (typically an evergreen tree) in their house, sing carols (songs), 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.

History

Nativity narratives feature prominently in both Matthew and Luke. 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. They proposed a wide variety of dates.^[3] The choice of December 25 as the birthdate of Jesus was influenced by universal historians. These writers wanted to present history in the form of cycles. In 221, Sextus Julius Africanus gave March 25 as the date of the first day of Creation and of the conception of Jesus in his universal history. This conclusion was based on solar symbolism, with March 25 the date of the equinox. It implies a birth in December, although Africanus did not calculate a date of birth himself.^[4] Solar symbolism was extremely common among Christian writers of the time.^[5] It was justified by the identification of Jesus as the "sun of righteousness" mentioned by the prophet Malachi.^[6]

The Chronography of 354 records that a Christmas celebration took place in Rome in 336.^[7] 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.

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.

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.

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^[8] 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

In an essay published in 1889, German scholar Hermann Usener argued that Christmas is an "appropriation" of an earlier pagan festival.^[9] According to Usener, the Church placed Christmas on December 25 as a kind of marketing strategy to absorb pagan solstice festivals into Christianity.

The end of the year was a "holiday season" of varied celebration in pagan Rome, and it remains so in modern times. 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.

The cycle of solstice and equinox is a natural phenomena significant to religions of widely varying character. "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 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," as Steven Hijmans wrote in Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome.^[10]

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.^[11] The Roman end-of-year celebrations transferred to Epiphany in the Early Middle Ages and later to the Twelve Days of Christmas.

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.^[12] 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 the account of Snorri Sturluson.^[13]

Modern-day cultural significance

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.^[14]

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.

Outside of America, in Britain for example, powerful lobbies are trying to remove all the Christian connotations in the name of being politically correct.^[15] This is similar to the idea of CE in that it ignores the religious/historical basis of Christmas. See also: War on Christmas and Atheism and Christmas

Biblical mentions

Christmas trees may be mentioned in the book of Jeremiah as pagan idols, in verses strikingly similar to the popular Christmas song, "Deck the Halls".

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. Jeremiah 10:2-5 (KJV)

Rejection

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^[16]; Armstrongites^[17]; some adherents of Messianic Judaism; most Sabbatarian denominations, such as the True Jesus Church and the Church of God (7th-Day); the Iglesia ni Cristo; the Christian Congregation in Brazil; the Christian Congregation in the United States; certain reformed and fundamentalist churches of various persuasions, including some Independent Baptists,^[18] Holiness Christians, Oneness Pentecostals,^[19] Amish-Mennonites, and Churches of Christ congregations.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

See also

• Jesus Christ
• 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

• Christmas Customs
• Welcome to The North-Pole

References