(and the birth of some dude who wasn't born even CLOSE to december 25th, but they had to get the pagans somehow didn't they?)
Actually, Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, because back during that time period new years was celebrated December 21st/22nd (solstice), and they celebrated it then to avoid persecution and pass it off as a new years celebration.
Not that it matters. Coming from someone who himself has worked both christmas eve and christmas day, no, I would not be up in arms of 435 congressman had to suffer the grave misfortune of working christmas.
further: (and could someone tell me again how to eliminate the question marks upon transfer?. Yes WoW, your technological skills are much more superior to mine.)
The Encyclopedia Americana informs us: The reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the rebirth of the sun. . . . The Roman Saturnalia (a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun), also took place at this time, and some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration. (1977), Vol. 6, p. 666.
In the book Celebrations, by Robert J. Myers, we read: ?The Biblical narrative of the birth of Jesus contains no indication of the date that the event occurred. However, Luke?s report [Luke 2:8] that the shepherds were ?abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night? suggests that Jesus may have been born in summer or early fall. Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night.?
In Daily Life in the Time of Jesus, by Henri Daniel-Rops, we are similarly told: ?The flocks . . . passed the winter under cover; and from this alone it may be seen that the traditional date for Christmas, in the winter, is unlikely to be right, since the Gospel says that the shepherds were in the fields.?
The Encyclopedia Americana says of December 25: ?This date was not set in the West until about the middle of the 4th century and in the East until about a century later.? Thus, Jesus was not born on that date. And he did not authorize the celebration of Christmas; neither did his disciples or the Bible writers.
Where Did It Originate?Where, then, did Christmas originate? On this, there is general agreement. U.S. Catholic states: ?It is impossible to separate Christmas from its pagan origins.? It adds: ?The Romans? favorite festival was Saturnalia, which began on December 17 and ended with the ?birthday of the unconquered sun? (Natalis solis invicti) on December 25. Somewhere in the second quarter of the fourth century, savvy officials of the church of Rome decided December 25 would make a dandy day to celebrate the birthday of the ?sun of righteousness.? Christmas was born.?
The pagan celebration of Saturnalia took place at the winter solstice. The word ?solstice? comes from two Latin words: sol (the name of a sun god) and sistere (to stop). The winter solstice is the time when the daylight hours stop getting shorter and instead begin to get longer. According to the ancient Julian calendar, the day of the winter solstice was December 25.
Thus, The World Book Encyclopedia states: ?This celebration [Christmas] was probably influenced by pagan (unchristian) festivals held at that time. The ancient Romans held year-end celebrations to honor Saturn, their harvest god; and Mithras [the sun god].? The New Catholic Encyclopedia says: ?On Dec. 25, 274, [Roman emperor] Aurelian had proclaimed the sun-god [Mithras] principal patron of the empire . . . Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome.? The book Celebrations states: ?The clergy eventually brought the . . . world of the Saturnalia into the Church itself.? And the Encyclop?dia Britannica notes that December 25 was regarded ?as the birth date of the . . . [sun] god Mithra.?
Most of the customs associated with Christmas?the yule log, mistletoe, Christmas tree, Santa Claus, lavish gift giving, revelries?are also rooted in paganism. They have nothing to do with Christ. As James Hastings states in Encyclop?dia of Religion and Ethics: ?Most of the Christmas customs now prevailing . . . are not genuine Christian customs, but heathen customs which have been absorbed or tolerated by the Church. . . . The Saturnalia in Rome provided the model for most of the merry customs of the Christmas time. This old Roman feast was celebrated on 17-24 December.?
So when at times we hear people say: ?Let?s get back to the true meaning of Christmas? or, ?Put Christ back into Christmas,? keep in mind that the original meaning of Christmas is a pagan celebration of nature, and that Christ never was in Christmas. And when some denounce the commercializing of Christmas, keep in mind that the feasting and gift giving of the Saturnalia celebration meant business for merchants. So for thousands of years, the winter solstice has been commercialized.
In 1643, England?s Parliament even outlawed Christmas because of its pagan background, but later it was restored. In 1659, it was also outlawed in Massachusetts, but there too it was later restored. And U.S. Catholic reports: ?Because Christians in the U.S. . . . associated Christmas with pagan customs, they didn?t celebrate Christmas in a big way until the mid-19th century.?
