Christmas?
What About Christmas?
Logically, it would make sense if Christmas had existed since the birth of Jesus, or at least since the resurrection of Jesus and the founding of the early Christian church. But, oh no! That would be far too easy! The first Christians didn't celebrate the birthday of Jesus; birthdays weren't considered a big deal in Jewish or early Christian culture. It was over one hundred years after the birth of Jesus that the church first suggested a solemn, respectful feast should be observed in honour of Jesus' birthday, and not until Julius 1st -who was pope from 337 to 352AD- that the date of 25th December was set for this "Feast of the Nativity".
It is not known when exactly Jesus was born - not the day, or the month, or even the year! There have been several big changes made to how dates were recorded throughout history, and as a result of these confusions we now calculate that Jesus was born sometime between 7 and 4 BC ("before Christ"!). Also, we know that it is very unlikely Jesus was born in December because in the story of his birth given in the Bible it talks about sheep out on the open hillside and Mary and Joseph travelling to sign a census, things that would not take place in the wet and cold Judean winter months.
The 25th of December was chosen because that was the day, on or near the winter solstice, that all ancient religions celebrated the births of their various sun gods. These festivals included the use of incense, candles and decorating buildings with evergreens, gift giving, feasting and drinking. The church wanted to Christianise these practises, either to cover-over the fact that pagan religions were still out-stripping Christianity in popularity, or as a genuine attempt to win people over to Jesus.
The name "Christmas", taken from the Latin for "Mass of Christ", wasn't used in Britain until around 1043AD. As Christmas began to rival Easter as the most important Christian festival an extended period of preparation was added to the church calendar called "Advent" (taken from the Latin for "arrival").
The nativity play was invented to teach people about the birth of Jesus in an entertaining and easy to understand way and really helped with the Christianisation of the 25th December. Displacing the winter songs that were traditionally sung in public with carols telling stories with Christian Christmas themes was also effective in spreading the message of Jesus, especially after Francis of Assissi had some translated out of Latin into languages spoken by the average person!
Where do our Christmas traditions come from?
It is not known when exactly Jesus was born - not the day, or the month, or even the year! There have been several big changes made to how dates were recorded throughout history, and as a result of these confusions we now calculate that Jesus was born sometime between 7 and 4 BC ("before Christ"!). Also, we know that it is very unlikely Jesus was born in December because in the story of his birth given in the Bible it talks about sheep out on the open hillside and Mary and Joseph travelling to sign a census, things that would not take place in the wet and cold Judean winter months.
The 25th of December was chosen because that was the day, on or near the winter solstice, that all ancient religions celebrated the births of their various sun gods. These festivals included the use of incense, candles and decorating buildings with evergreens, gift giving, feasting and drinking. The church wanted to Christianise these practises, either to cover-over the fact that pagan religions were still out-stripping Christianity in popularity, or as a genuine attempt to win people over to Jesus.The name "Christmas", taken from the Latin for "Mass of Christ", wasn't used in Britain until around 1043AD. As Christmas began to rival Easter as the most important Christian festival an extended period of preparation was added to the church calendar called "Advent" (taken from the Latin for "arrival").
The nativity play was invented to teach people about the birth of Jesus in an entertaining and easy to understand way and really helped with the Christianisation of the 25th December. Displacing the winter songs that were traditionally sung in public with carols telling stories with Christian Christmas themes was also effective in spreading the message of Jesus, especially after Francis of Assissi had some translated out of Latin into languages spoken by the average person!Where do our Christmas traditions come from?
What do people make of Christmas today?
Why do some Christians NOT celebrate Christmas?
REALLY, REALLY interested in the origins and history of Christmas?? Click on the links for a in-depth explanation of How It All Started or Some of the up's and down's of Christmas since Pope Julius 1st!
Also, see our involvement with Operation Christmas Child
Richmond Park Church, 139 Palmerston Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 4HP
tel: 01202 399448 - email: rpcbournemouth @ gmail.com - www.richmondparkchurch.org.uk
