The month of December seems to be a busy month as some people and some businesses year in and year out gear up to the festive season of Christmas. But as conscious lovers of Jesus Christ have we taken time to pause and reflect on the celebration of Christmas.
According to the concise encyclopedia of Christianity, Christmas is the English name for the feast of the nativity, Christ’s Mass, celebrated on the eve and day of the festival. In France, it is the ‘birthday', Noel from Latin Natalis which in old English was a “shout’ or carol, as Chaucer wrote: “And nowel
crieth every lusty man” (The Franklin’s Tale, 1. 527).
It is important to note that the primary sources depicting the life of Jesus which are found in the New Testament and particularly in the first four books: the gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each of these gospels interestingly did not state the exact date of the birth of Jesus Christ.
The date and time of year of the birth of Jesus are unknown and there is no evidence for it having occurred in the bleak mid-winter. Clement of Alexandria suggested the birth might have been in May, but 25 December was decided upon in Rome in 336, taken over from a pagan feast of the Invincible
Sun.
This was a New Year festival, after the winter solstice, and Christ was regarded as the son of righteousness. Christmas became a time for merry-making and Christmas trees were introduced to England from Germany by Prince Albert in the 19th century.
Also according to Lynne Gibson (2002) in the book Living Christianity, posits that “Christmas is a twelve-day celebration which commemorates the birth of Jesus. No one knows exactly when Jesus was born. About 300 years after Jesus death, Christians took over a mid-winter pagan festival and dedicated it to Jesus’s birth” p33.
The Genesis of Christmas Celebration?
Around the world, a time for celebration has been the middle of winter. Before the arrival of the man called Jesus, hundreds of years ago, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter.
Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice when the worst of the winter was behind them and they looked forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.
In Scandinavia, The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language which is the predecessor of the modern Germanic languages of Scandinavia celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January.
Fathers and sons in recognition of the return of the sun would bring home
large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norsemen believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.
In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome.
In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was
believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred day of the year.
Is Christmas Really the Day Jesus Was Born?
In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately,
the Bible does not mention the date of his birth. Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius, I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and
absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century.
By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated.
The question which then arises is was Jesus Christ really born on December 25th, and if not, then who was born on December 25th?
Jesus said “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” John 8 vs 32. I think one of the ways to show respect to a spiritual leader is to dissociate that leader from anything that contradicts the very principles the leader stood for and since paganism which is the worship of idols were an antithesis to the message of Jesus Christ, the celebration Christmas, and association of the day he was born to it, is not only an act of disrespect but outright blasphemy.
I call on the sincere lovers of Jesus Christ to reflect on this and convey the true history and meaning as far as the celebration of Christmas is concerned
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A plastic Christmas tree