From:    heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
To:      "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Date:    Thu, 25 Dec 1997 23:34:39 +0000
Subject: THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS - Encyclopedia Britannica

From:          Jean McNeal
To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject:       THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS

>
>December 25, 1997 (Fundamental Baptist News Service, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak
>Harbor, WA 98277) - The following information is from the Encyclopedia
>Britannica --
>
>According to a Roman almanac, the Christian festival of Christmas was
>celebrated in Rome by AD 336. In the eastern part of the Roman Empire,
>however, a festival on January 6 commemorated the manifestation of God in
>both the birth and the baptism of Jesus, except in Jerusalem, where only
>the birth was celebrated. During the 4th century the celebration of
>Christ's birth on December 25 was gradually adopted by most Eastern
>churches. In Jerusalem, opposition to Christmas lasted longer, but it was
>subsequently accepted. In the Armenian Church, a Christmas on December 25
>was never accepted; Christ's birth is celebrated on January 6. After
>Christmas was established in the East, the baptism of Jesus was celebrated
>on Epiphany, January 6. In the West, however, Epiphany was the day on which
>the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus was celebrated. 
>
>The reason why Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25 remains
>uncertain, but most probably the reason is that early Christians wished the
>date to coincide with the pagan Roman festival marking the "birthday of the
>unconquered sun" (natalis solis invicti); this festival celebrated the
>winter solstice, when the days again begin to lengthen and the sun begins
>to climb higher in the sky. The traditional customs connected with
>Christmas have accordingly developed from several sources as a result of
>the coincidence of the celebration of the birth of Christ with the pagan
>agricultural and solar observances at midwinter. In the Roman world the
>Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchange of gifts.
>December 25 was also regarded as the birth date of the Iranian mystery god
>Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness. On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses
>were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children
>and the poor. To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule
>rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain, and central
>Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and
>fir trees, and gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of
>this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life,
>have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and
>Christian. Since the European Middle Ages, evergreens, as symbols of
>survival, have been associated with Christmas. Christmas is traditionally
>regarded as the festival of the family and of children, under the name of
>whose patron, Saint Nicholas (q.v.), or Santa Claus, presents are exchanged
>in many countries. 
>
>David Cloud
>dcloud@whidbey.net
>Way of Life Literature
>1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277
>

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