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Irenaeus (c. 130–202) viewed Christ's conception as March 25 in association with the Passion, with the nativity nine months after on December 25.<ref name="Anderson"/> Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) may also have identified December 25 for the birth of Jesus and March 25 for the conception.<ref name="CathChrit"/><ref name="Schmidt">T.C. Schmidt, Hippolytus of Rome: Commentary on Daniel (CreateSpace 2010 ISBN 1453795634) 4 23.3 and [http://www.chronicon.net/chroniconfiles/Hippolytus%20Commentary%20on%20Daniel%20by%20TC%20Schmidt.pdf Hippolytus of Rome: Commentary on Daniel] (Chronicron.net 1st Ed. 2010) 4.23.3. {{wayback|url=http://www.chronicon.net/chroniconfiles/Hippolytus%20Commentary%20on%20Daniel%20by%20TC%20Schmidt.pdf |date=20141221184805 }}</ref> Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160–c. 240) identified December 25, later to become the most widely accepted date of celebration, as the date of Jesus' birth in 221.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web | url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115686/Christmas | title=Christmas | work=Encyclopædia Britannica | date=December 14, 2012 | accessdate=December 16, 2012 | author=Hillerbrand, Hans J.}}</ref> The precise origin of assigning December 25 to the birth of Jesus is unclear.<ref name="Britannica"/> Various dates were speculated: May 20, April 18 or 19, March 25, January 2, November 17 or 20.<ref name="CathChrit"/><ref name=Coffman/> When celebration on a particular date began, January 6 prevailed at least in the East;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&tbo=1&q=bullard+%226+January+prevailed%22&btnG= |title=Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard (editors), ''Mercer Dictionary of the Bible'' (Mercer University Press 1990 ISBN 978-0-86554-373-7), p. 142 |publisher=Google |accessdate=December 25, 2013}}</ref> but, except among Armenians (the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Evangelical Church), who continue to celebrate the birth on January 6, December 25 eventually won acceptance everywhere.<ref name=Coffman>{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2000/dec08.html |title=Elesha Coffman, "Why December 25?" |publisher=Christianitytoday.com |date=August 8, 2008 |accessdate=December 25, 2013}}</ref>
Irenaeus (c. 130–202) viewed Christ's conception as March 25 in association with the Passion, with the nativity nine months after on December 25.<ref name="Anderson"/> Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) may also have identified December 25 for the birth of Jesus and March 25 for the conception.<ref name="CathChrit"/><ref name="Schmidt">T.C. Schmidt, Hippolytus of Rome: Commentary on Daniel (CreateSpace 2010 ISBN 1453795634) 4 23.3 and [http://www.chronicon.net/chroniconfiles/Hippolytus%20Commentary%20on%20Daniel%20by%20TC%20Schmidt.pdf Hippolytus of Rome: Commentary on Daniel] (Chronicron.net 1st Ed. 2010) 4.23.3. {{wayback|url=http://www.chronicon.net/chroniconfiles/Hippolytus%20Commentary%20on%20Daniel%20by%20TC%20Schmidt.pdf |date=20141221184805 }}</ref> Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160–c. 240) identified December 25, later to become the most widely accepted date of celebration, as the date of Jesus' birth in 221.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web | url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115686/Christmas | title=Christmas | work=Encyclopædia Britannica | date=December 14, 2012 | accessdate=December 16, 2012 | author=Hillerbrand, Hans J.}}</ref> The precise origin of assigning December 25 to the birth of Jesus is unclear.<ref name="Britannica"/> Various dates were speculated: May 20, April 18 or 19, March 25, January 2, November 17 or 20.<ref name="CathChrit"/><ref name=Coffman/> When celebration on a particular date began, January 6 prevailed at least in the East;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&tbo=1&q=bullard+%226+January+prevailed%22&btnG= |title=Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard (editors), ''Mercer Dictionary of the Bible'' (Mercer University Press 1990 ISBN 978-0-86554-373-7), p. 142 |publisher=Google |accessdate=December 25, 2013}}</ref> but, except among Armenians (the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Evangelical Church), who continue to celebrate the birth on January 6, December 25 eventually won acceptance everywhere.<ref name=Coffman>{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2000/dec08.html |title=Elesha Coffman, "Why December 25?" |publisher=Christianitytoday.com |date=August 8, 2008 |accessdate=December 25, 2013}}</ref>


The New Testament Gospel of Luke may indirectly give the date as December for the birth of Jesus, with the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist cited by John Chrysostom (c. 386) as a date for the Annunciation.<ref name="CathChrit"/><ref name="bib-arch.org"/><ref name="Gibson"/><ref>"[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9082431/Christmas Christmas], ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006.</ref> Tertullian (d. 220) did not mention Christmas as a major feast day in the Church of Roman Africa.<ref name="CathChrit"/> In ''Chronographai'', a reference work published in 221, Sextus Julius Africanus suggested that Jesus was conceived on the spring equinox.<ref>"[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9082431/Christmas Christmas]", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006.</ref><ref>Roll, p. 79, 80. Only fragments of ''Chronographai'' survive. In one fragment, Africanus referred to "Pege in Bethlehem" and "Lady Pege, Spring-bearer." See "Narrative Narrative of Events Happening in Persia on the Birth of Christ Narrative".</ref> The equinox was March 25 on the Roman calendar, so this implied a birth in December.<ref name="Bradt">Bradt, Hale, ''Astronomy Methods'', (2004), p. 69.<br />Roll p. 87.</ref>
The New Testament Gospel of Luke may indirectly give the date as December for the birth of Jesus, with the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist cited by John Chrysostom (c. 386) as a date for the Annunciation.<ref name="CathChrit"/><ref name="Gibson"/><ref>"[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9082431/Christmas Christmas], ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006.</ref> Tertullian (d. 220) did not mention Christmas as a major feast day in the Church of Roman Africa.<ref name="CathChrit"/> In ''Chronographai'', a reference work published in 221, Sextus Julius Africanus suggested that Jesus was conceived on the spring equinox.<ref>"[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9082431/Christmas Christmas]", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006.</ref><ref>Roll, p. 79, 80. Only fragments of ''Chronographai'' survive. In one fragment, Africanus referred to "Pege in Bethlehem" and "Lady Pege, Spring-bearer." See "Narrative Narrative of Events Happening in Persia on the Birth of Christ Narrative".</ref> The equinox was March 25 on the Roman calendar, so this implied a birth in December.<ref name="Bradt">Bradt, Hale, ''Astronomy Methods'', (2004), p. 69.<br />Roll p. 87.</ref>


The belief that God came into the world in the form of man to atone for the sins of humanity, rather than the exact birth date, is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating Christmas.<ref name="Joan Chittister, Phyllis Tickle">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/?id=inhMGc5732kC&pg=PT40&dq=date+of+christmas+important#v=onepage&q=date%20of%20christmas%20important&f=false| title = The Liturgical Year|publisher = Thomas Nelson|quote=Christmas is not really about the celebration of a birth date at all. It is about the celebration of a birth. The fact of the date and the fact of the birth are two different things. The calendrical verification of the feast itself is not really that important ... What is important to the understanding of a life-changing moment is that it happened, not necessarily where or when it happened. The message is clear: Christmas is not about marking the actual birth date of Jesus. It is about the Incarnation of the One who became like us in all things but sin (Heb. 4:15) and who humbled Himself "to the point of death-even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:8). Christmas is a pinnacle feast, yes, but it is not the beginning of the liturgical year. It is a memorial, a remembrance, of the birth of Jesus, not really a celebration of the day itself. We remember that because the Jesus of history was born, the Resurrection of the Christ of faith could happen. |accessdate = April 2, 2009| isbn = 9781418580735| date = November 3, 2009}}</ref><ref name="Voice-Christmas">{{cite web|url = http://www.crivoice.org/cyxmas.html| title = The Christmas Season|publisher = CRI / Voice, Institute|accessdate = April 2, 2009|quote=The origins of the celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany, as well as the dates on which they are observed, are rooted deeply in the history of the early church. There has been much scholarly debate concerning the exact time of the year when Jesus was born, and even in what year he was born. Actually, we do not know either. The best estimate is that Jesus was probably born in the springtime, somewhere between the years of 6 and 4 BC, as December is in the middle of the cold rainy season in Bethlehem, when the sheep are kept inside and not on pasture as told in the Bible. The lack of a consistent system of timekeeping in the first century, mistakes in later calendars and calculations, and lack of historical details to cross reference events has led to this imprecision in fixing Jesus' birth. This suggests that the Christmas celebration is not an observance of a historical date, but a commemoration of the event in terms of worship.}}</ref><ref name="Harvard University">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/?id=x_kBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA469&dq=date+of+christmas+unimportant#v=onepage&q=date%20of%20christmas%20unimportant&f=false| title = The School Journal, Volume 49|publisher = Harvard University|quote=Throughout the Christian world the 25th of December is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus Christ. There was a time when the churches were not united regarding the date of the joyous event. Many Christians kept their Christmas in April, others in May, and still others at the close of September, till finally December 25 was agreed upon as the most appropriate date. The choice of that day was, of course, wholly arbitrary, for neither the exact date not the period of the year at which the birth of Christ occurred is known. For purposes of commemoration, however, it is unimportant whether the celebration shall fall or not at the precise anniversary of the joyous event.|accessdate = April 2, 2009| year = 1894}}</ref>
The belief that God came into the world in the form of man to atone for the sins of humanity, rather than the exact birth date, is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating Christmas.<ref name="Joan Chittister, Phyllis Tickle">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/?id=inhMGc5732kC&pg=PT40&dq=date+of+christmas+important#v=onepage&q=date%20of%20christmas%20important&f=false| title = The Liturgical Year|publisher = Thomas Nelson|quote=Christmas is not really about the celebration of a birth date at all. It is about the celebration of a birth. The fact of the date and the fact of the birth are two different things. The calendrical verification of the feast itself is not really that important ... What is important to the understanding of a life-changing moment is that it happened, not necessarily where or when it happened. The message is clear: Christmas is not about marking the actual birth date of Jesus. It is about the Incarnation of the One who became like us in all things but sin (Heb. 4:15) and who humbled Himself "to the point of death-even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:8). Christmas is a pinnacle feast, yes, but it is not the beginning of the liturgical year. It is a memorial, a remembrance, of the birth of Jesus, not really a celebration of the day itself. We remember that because the Jesus of history was born, the Resurrection of the Christ of faith could happen. |accessdate = April 2, 2009| isbn = 9781418580735| date = November 3, 2009}}</ref><ref name="Voice-Christmas">{{cite web|url = http://www.crivoice.org/cyxmas.html| title = The Christmas Season|publisher = CRI / Voice, Institute|accessdate = April 2, 2009|quote=The origins of the celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany, as well as the dates on which they are observed, are rooted deeply in the history of the early church. There has been much scholarly debate concerning the exact time of the year when Jesus was born, and even in what year he was born. Actually, we do not know either. The best estimate is that Jesus was probably born in the springtime, somewhere between the years of 6 and 4 BC, as December is in the middle of the cold rainy season in Bethlehem, when the sheep are kept inside and not on pasture as told in the Bible. The lack of a consistent system of timekeeping in the first century, mistakes in later calendars and calculations, and lack of historical details to cross reference events has led to this imprecision in fixing Jesus' birth. This suggests that the Christmas celebration is not an observance of a historical date, but a commemoration of the event in terms of worship.}}</ref><ref name="Harvard University">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/?id=x_kBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA469&dq=date+of+christmas+unimportant#v=onepage&q=date%20of%20christmas%20unimportant&f=false| title = The School Journal, Volume 49|publisher = Harvard University|quote=Throughout the Christian world the 25th of December is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus Christ. There was a time when the churches were not united regarding the date of the joyous event. Many Christians kept their Christmas in April, others in May, and still others at the close of September, till finally December 25 was agreed upon as the most appropriate date. The choice of that day was, of course, wholly arbitrary, for neither the exact date not the period of the year at which the birth of Christ occurred is known. For purposes of commemoration, however, it is unimportant whether the celebration shall fall or not at the precise anniversary of the joyous event.|accessdate = April 2, 2009| year = 1894}}</ref>


In the early 4th century, the church calendar in Rome contained Christmas on December 25 and other holidays placed on solar dates. According to Hijmans<ref name="Hijmans">Hijmans, S.E., ''[http://www.scribd.com/doc/33490806/Hijmans-Sol-The-Sun-in-the-Art-and-Religions-of-Rome Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome],'' 2009, p. 595. ISBN 978-90-367-3931-3 {{wayback|url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/33490806/Hijmans-Sol-The-Sun-in-the-Art-and-Religions-of-Rome |date=20130510231050 }}</ref> "It is cosmic symbolism ... which inspired the Church leadership in Rome to elect the southern solstice, December 25, as the birthday of Christ, and the northern solstice as that of John the Baptist, supplemented by the equinoxes as their respective dates of conception." Usener<ref>Hermann Usener, ''Das Weihnachtsfest'' (Part 1 of ''Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen'', Second edition 1911; Verlag von Max Cohen & Sohn, Bonn.  (Note that the first edition, 1889, doesn't have the discussion of Natalis Solis Invicti); also ''Sol Invictus'' (1905).)</ref> and others<ref name="Christmas"/> proposed that the Christians chose this day because it was the Roman feast celebrating the birthday of Sol Invictus.  Modern scholar S. E. Hijmans, however, states that "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."<ref name="Hijmans" />
In the early 4th century, the church calendar in Rome contained Christmas on December 25 and other holidays placed on solar dates. According to Hijmans<ref name="Hijmans">Hijmans, S.E., ''[http://www.scribd.com/doc/33490806/Hijmans-Sol-The-Sun-in-the-Art-and-Religions-of-Rome Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome],'' 2009, p. 595. ISBN 978-90-367-3931-3 {{wayback|url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/33490806/Hijmans-Sol-The-Sun-in-the-Art-and-Religions-of-Rome |date=20130510231050 }}</ref> "It is cosmic symbolism ... which inspired the Church leadership in Rome to elect the southern solstice, December 25, as the birthday of Christ, and the northern solstice as that of John the Baptist, supplemented by the equinoxes as their respective dates of conception." Usener<ref>Hermann Usener, ''Das Weihnachtsfest'' (Part 1 of ''Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen'', Second edition 1911; Verlag von Max Cohen & Sohn, Bonn.  (Note that the first edition, 1889, doesn't have the discussion of Natalis Solis Invicti); also ''Sol Invictus'' (1905).)</ref> and othersproposed that the Christians chose this day because it was the Roman feast celebrating the birthday of Sol Invictus.  Modern scholar S. E. Hijmans, however, states that "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."<ref name="Hijmans" />


Around the year 386 John Chrysostom delivered a sermon in Antioch in favour of adopting December 25 celebration also in the East, since, he said, the conception of Jesus ({{bibleverse||Luke|1:26|31}}) had been announced during the sixth month of Elisabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist ({{bibleverse||Luke|1:10–13|31}}), which he dated from the duties Zacharias performed on the Day of Atonement during the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar Ethanim or Tishri ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|16:29|31}}, {{bibleverse|1|Kings|8:2|31}}) which falls from late September to early October.<ref name="CathChrit"/> That shepherds watched the flocks by night in the fields in the winter time is supported by the phrase "frost by night" in {{bibleverse||Genesis|31:38–40|31}}. A special group known as the shepherds of Migdal Eder ({{bibleverse||Genesis|35:19–21|31}}, {{bibleverse||Micah|4:8|31}}) watched the flocks by night year round pastured for Temple Sacrifice near Bethlehem.<ref name="Gibson">Gibson, David J. (October – December 1965).[http://nabataea.net/birthdate.html The Date of Christ's Birth]. Bible League Quarterly.</ref><ref name="Edersheim">Edersheim, Alfred (1883). The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Book II Chapter 6, p. 131.</ref>
Around the year 386 John Chrysostom delivered a sermon in Antioch in favour of adopting December 25 celebration also in the East, since, he said, the conception of Jesus ({{bibleverse||Luke|1:26|31}}) had been announced during the sixth month of Elisabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist ({{bibleverse||Luke|1:10–13|31}}), which he dated from the duties Zacharias performed on the Day of Atonement during the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar Ethanim or Tishri ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|16:29|31}}, {{bibleverse|1|Kings|8:2|31}}) which falls from late September to early October.<ref name="CathChrit"/> That shepherds watched the flocks by night in the fields in the winter time is supported by the phrase "frost by night" in {{bibleverse||Genesis|31:38–40|31}}. A special group known as the shepherds of Migdal Eder ({{bibleverse||Genesis|35:19–21|31}}, {{bibleverse||Micah|4:8|31}}) watched the flocks by night year round pastured for Temple Sacrifice near Bethlehem.<ref name="Gibson">Gibson, David J. (October – December 1965).[http://nabataea.net/birthdate.html The Date of Christ's Birth]. Bible League Quarterly.</ref><ref name="Edersheim">Edersheim, Alfred (1883). The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Book II Chapter 6, p. 131.</ref>


In the early 18th century, some scholars proposed alternative explanations. Isaac Newton argued that the date of Christmas, celebrating the birth of him whom Christians consider to be the "Sun of righteousness" prophesied in {{bibleverse||Malachi|4:2|31}},<ref name="Newton"/> was selected to correspond with the southern solstice, which the Romans called ''bruma'', celebrated on December 25.<ref name="SolsticeDate">"[http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/SF/WinSol.html Bruma]", ''Seasonal Festivals of the Greeks and Romans''<br />Pliny the Elder, Natural History, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137&query=head%3D%231117 18:59]</ref> In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday ''Dies Natalis Solis Invicti'' and was therefore a "paganization" that debased the true church.<ref name="SolInvictus"/> It has been argued that, on the contrary, the Emperor Aurelian, who in 274 instituted the holiday of the ''Dies Natalis Solis Invicti'', did so partly as an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already important for Christians in Rome.<ref name="Touchstone"/> In 1889, Louis Duchesne proposed that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after the Annunciation, the traditional date of the conception of Jesus.<ref name="Roll87">Roll, pp. 88–90.<br />Duchesne, Louis, ''Les Origines du Culte Chrétien,'' Paris, 1902, 262 ff.</ref><ref name="bib-arch.org"/>
In the early 18th century, some scholars proposed alternative explanations. Isaac Newton argued that the date of Christmas, celebrating the birth of him whom Christians consider to be the "Sun of righteousness" prophesied in {{bibleverse||Malachi|4:2|31}},was selected to correspond with the southern solstice, which the Romans called ''bruma'', celebrated on December 25.<ref name="SolsticeDate">"[http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/SF/WinSol.html Bruma]", ''Seasonal Festivals of the Greeks and Romans''<br />Pliny the Elder, Natural History, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137&query=head%3D%231117 18:59]</ref> In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday ''Dies Natalis Solis Invicti'' and was therefore a "paganization" that debased the true church. It has been argued that, on the contrary, the Emperor Aurelian, who in 274 instituted the holiday of the ''Dies Natalis Solis Invicti'', did so partly as an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already important for Christians in Rome. In 1889, Louis Duchesne proposed that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after the Annunciation, the traditional date of the conception of Jesus.<ref name="Roll87">Roll, pp. 88–90.<br />Duchesne, Louis, ''Les Origines du Culte Chrétien,'' Paris, 1902, 262 ff.</ref>


==Notes==
==Notes==

Revision as of 09:47, 18 November 2016

Christmas
Christmas Day
File:Nativity tree2011.jpg
A depiction of the Nativity of Jesus with a Christmas tree backdrop
Also calledNoël, Nativity, Xmas, Yule
Observed byChristians, many non-Christians[1][2]
TypeChristian, cultural
SignificanceCommemoration of the birth of Jesus
Celebrationssocial gatherings and feasting etc.
ObservancesChurch services
Date
  • December 25
    Western Christianity and some Eastern churches; secular world
  • January 7 [O.S. December 25]
    Some Eastern churches[3][4]
  • January 6
    Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Evangelical Churches[5]
  • January 19 [O.S. January 6]
    Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem[6]
FrequencyAnnual
Related toChristmas Eve

Christmas or Christmas Day (Old English: Crīstesmæsse, meaning " Christ's Mass") is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus,[7][8] observed most commonly on December 25[4][9][10] as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.[2][11][12] A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is prepared for by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night;[13] in some traditions, Christmastide includes an Octave.[14] Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world's nations,[15][16][17] is celebrated culturally by a large number of non-Christian people,[1][18][19] and is an integral part of the holiday season, while some Christian groups reject the celebration. In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family.

History

Nativity of Christ – medieval illustration from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)

The Christian ecclesiastical calendar contains many remnants of pre-Christian festivals. Although the dating as December 25 predates pagan influence, the later development of Christmas as a festival includes elements of the Roman feast of the Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithra as described in the Roman cult of Mithraism.[20]

The Chronography of 354 AD contains early evidence of the celebration on December 25 of a Christian liturgical feast of the birth of Jesus. This was in Rome, while in Eastern Christianity the birth of Jesus was already celebrated in connection with the Epiphany on January 6.[21][22] The December 25 celebration was imported into the East later: in Antioch by John Chrysostom towards the end of the 4th century,[22] probably in 388, and in Alexandria only in the following century.[23] Even in the West, the January 6 celebration of the nativity of Jesus seems to have continued until after 380.[24] In 245, Origen of Alexandria, writing about Leviticus 12:1–8, commented that Scripture mentions only sinners as celebrating their birthdays, namely Pharaoh, who then had his chief baker hanged (Genesis 40:20–22), and Herod, who then had John the Baptist beheaded (Mark 6:21–27), and mentions saints as cursing the day of their birth, namely Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:14–15) and Job (Job 3:1–16).[25] In 303, Arnobius ridiculed the idea of celebrating the birthdays of gods, a passage cited as evidence that Arnobius was unaware of any nativity celebration.[26] Since Christmas does not celebrate Christ's birth "as God" but "as man", this is not evidence against Christmas being a feast at this time.[8] The fact the Donatists of North Africa celebrated Christmas may indicate that the feast was established by the time that church was created in 311.[27][28]

Many popular customs associated with Christmas developed independently of the commemoration of Jesus' birth, with certain elements having origins in pre-Christian festivals that were celebrated around the winter solstice by pagan populations who were later converted to Christianity. These elements, including the Yule log from Yule and gift giving from Saturnalia,[29] became syncretized into Christmas over the centuries. The prevailing atmosphere of Christmas has also continually evolved since the holiday's inception, ranging from a sometimes raucous, drunken, carnival-like state in the Middle Ages,[30] to a tamer family-oriented and children-centered theme introduced in a 19th-century transformation.[31][32] Additionally, the celebration of Christmas was banned on more than one occasion within certain Protestant groups, such as the Puritans, due to concerns that it was too pagan or unbiblical.[33][34] Also Jehovas Witnesses In Zambia reject Christmas celebration.

Mosaic of Jesus as Christo Sole (Christ the Sun) in Mausoleum M in the pre-fourth-century necropolis under St Peter's Basilica in Rome.[35]


Date

Irenaeus (c. 130–202) viewed Christ's conception as March 25 in association with the Passion, with the nativity nine months after on December 25.[36] Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) may also have identified December 25 for the birth of Jesus and March 25 for the conception.[8][37] Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160–c. 240) identified December 25, later to become the most widely accepted date of celebration, as the date of Jesus' birth in 221.[38] The precise origin of assigning December 25 to the birth of Jesus is unclear.[38] Various dates were speculated: May 20, April 18 or 19, March 25, January 2, November 17 or 20.[8][39] When celebration on a particular date began, January 6 prevailed at least in the East;[40] but, except among Armenians (the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Evangelical Church), who continue to celebrate the birth on January 6, December 25 eventually won acceptance everywhere.[39]

The New Testament Gospel of Luke may indirectly give the date as December for the birth of Jesus, with the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist cited by John Chrysostom (c. 386) as a date for the Annunciation.[8][41][42] Tertullian (d. 220) did not mention Christmas as a major feast day in the Church of Roman Africa.[8] In Chronographai, a reference work published in 221, Sextus Julius Africanus suggested that Jesus was conceived on the spring equinox.[43][44] The equinox was March 25 on the Roman calendar, so this implied a birth in December.[45]

The belief that God came into the world in the form of man to atone for the sins of humanity, rather than the exact birth date, is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating Christmas.[46][47][48]

In the early 4th century, the church calendar in Rome contained Christmas on December 25 and other holidays placed on solar dates. According to Hijmans[49] "It is cosmic symbolism ... which inspired the Church leadership in Rome to elect the southern solstice, December 25, as the birthday of Christ, and the northern solstice as that of John the Baptist, supplemented by the equinoxes as their respective dates of conception." Usener[50] and othersproposed that the Christians chose this day because it was the Roman feast celebrating the birthday of Sol Invictus. Modern scholar S. E. Hijmans, however, states that "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."[49]

Around the year 386 John Chrysostom delivered a sermon in Antioch in favour of adopting December 25 celebration also in the East, since, he said, the conception of Jesus (Luke 1:26) had been announced during the sixth month of Elisabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist (Luke 1:10–13), which he dated from the duties Zacharias performed on the Day of Atonement during the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar Ethanim or Tishri (Leviticus 16:29, 1 Kings 8:2) which falls from late September to early October.[8] That shepherds watched the flocks by night in the fields in the winter time is supported by the phrase "frost by night" in Genesis 31:38–40. A special group known as the shepherds of Migdal Eder (Genesis 35:19–21, Micah 4:8) watched the flocks by night year round pastured for Temple Sacrifice near Bethlehem.[41][51]

In the early 18th century, some scholars proposed alternative explanations. Isaac Newton argued that the date of Christmas, celebrating the birth of him whom Christians consider to be the "Sun of righteousness" prophesied in Malachi 4:2,was selected to correspond with the southern solstice, which the Romans called bruma, celebrated on December 25.[52] In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and was therefore a "paganization" that debased the true church. It has been argued that, on the contrary, the Emperor Aurelian, who in 274 instituted the holiday of the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, did so partly as an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already important for Christians in Rome. In 1889, Louis Duchesne proposed that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after the Annunciation, the traditional date of the conception of Jesus.[53]

Notes

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Christmas as a Multi-faith Festival—BBC News. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  3. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  5. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  6. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  7. ↑ Christmas, Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
    Archived 2009-10-31.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Martindale, Cyril Charles."Christmas". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908.
  9. ↑ Several branches of Eastern Christianity that use the Julian calendar also celebrate on December 25 according to that calendar, which is now January 7 on the Gregorian calendar. Armenian Churches observed the nativity on January 6 even before the Gregorian calendar originated. Most Armenian Christians use the Gregorian calendar, still celebrating Christmas Day on January 6. Some Armenian churches use the Julian calendar, thus celebrating Christmas Day on January 19 on the Gregorian calendar, with January 18 being Christmas Eve.
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named 4Dates
  11. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  12. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  13. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  14. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  15. ↑ Canadian Heritage – Public holidays – Government of Canada. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
  16. ↑ 2009 Federal Holidays – U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
  17. ↑ Bank holidays and British Summer time – HM Government. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
  18. ↑ Why I celebrate Christmas, by the world's most famous atheist – Daily Mail. December 23, 2008. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  19. ↑ Non-Christians focus on secular side of Christmas – Sioux City Journal. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
  20. ↑ "The survival of Roman religion" in the section on the history of the Roman religion in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  21. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  23. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  24. ↑ Hastings and Selbie, p. 605
  25. ↑ Origen, "Levit., Hom. VIII"; Migne P.G., XII, 495.
    partially quoted in "Natal Day", The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911.
  26. ↑ McCracken, George, Arnobius of Sicca, the Case Against the Pagans, Volume 2, p. 83, . "Therefore if this is a fact, how can Jupiter be god if it is agreed that god is everlasting, while the other is represented by you to have a birthday, and frightened by the new experience, to have squalled like an infant."
    G. Brunner, "Arnobius eine Zeuge gegen das Weihnachtsfest? " JLW 13 (1936) pp. 178–181.
  27. ↑ Thomas Comerford Lawler (editor), Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany (of Saint Augustine). Paulist Press 1952 ISBN 978-0-80910137-5, p. 10
  28. ↑ Susan K. Roll, Toward the Origin of Christmas (Peeters Publishers 1995 ISBN 978-90-3900531-6), p. 169
  29. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil). – Ball State University. Swartz Jr., BK. Archived version. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  30. ↑ Murray, Alexander, "Medieval Christmas", History Today, December 1986, 36 (12), pp. 31 – 39.
  31. ↑ Les Standiford. The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits, Crown, 2008. ISBN 978-0-307-40578-4
  32. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  33. ↑ Durston, Chris, "Lords of Misrule: The Puritan War on Christmas 1642–60" Archived March 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine., History Today, December 1985, 35 (12) pp. 7 – 14. Archived March 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  34. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Barnett
  35. ↑ Kelly, Joseph F., The Origins of Christmas, Liturgical Press, 2004, p. 67-69.
  36. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Anderson
  37. ↑ T.C. Schmidt, Hippolytus of Rome: Commentary on Daniel (CreateSpace 2010 ISBN 1453795634) 4 23.3 and Hippolytus of Rome: Commentary on Daniel (Chronicron.net 1st Ed. 2010) 4.23.3. Archived December 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  40. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Gibson, David J. (October – December 1965).The Date of Christ's Birth. Bible League Quarterly.
  42. ↑ "Christmas, Encyclopædia Britannica Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006.
  43. ↑ "Christmas", Encyclopædia Britannica Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006.
  44. ↑ Roll, p. 79, 80. Only fragments of Chronographai survive. In one fragment, Africanus referred to "Pege in Bethlehem" and "Lady Pege, Spring-bearer." See "Narrative Narrative of Events Happening in Persia on the Birth of Christ Narrative".
  45. ↑ Bradt, Hale, Astronomy Methods, (2004), p. 69.
    Roll p. 87.
  46. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  47. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  48. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 Hijmans, S.E., Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome, 2009, p. 595. ISBN 978-90-367-3931-3 Archived May 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  50. ↑ Hermann Usener, Das Weihnachtsfest (Part 1 of Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen, Second edition 1911; Verlag von Max Cohen & Sohn, Bonn. (Note that the first edition, 1889, doesn't have the discussion of Natalis Solis Invicti); also Sol Invictus (1905).)
  51. ↑ Edersheim, Alfred (1883). The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Book II Chapter 6, p. 131.
  52. ↑ "Bruma", Seasonal Festivals of the Greeks and Romans
    Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 18:59
  53. ↑ Roll, pp. 88–90.
    Duchesne, Louis, Les Origines du Culte Chrétien, Paris, 1902, 262 ff.
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