The Origin
Historians are unsure
exactly when Christians first began celebrating the Nativity of Christ.
However, most scholars believe that Christmas originated in the 4th century
as a Christian substitute for pagan celebrations of the winter solstice.
Before the introduction of Christmas, each year beginning on December 17
Romans honored Saturn, the ancient god of agriculture, in a festival called
Saturnalia. This festival lasted for seven days and included the winter
solstice, which usually occurred around December 25 on the ancient Julian
calendar. During Saturnalia the Romans feasted, postponed all business and
warfare, exchanged gifts, and temporarily freed their slaves. Many Romans
also celebrated the lengthening of daylight following the winter solstice by
participating in rituals to glorify Mithra, the ancient Persian god of light
(see Mithraism). These and other winter festivities continued through
January 1, the festival of Kalends, when Romans marked the day of the new
moon and the first day of the month and year.
Although the Gospels describe Jesus� birth in detail, they never mention the date, so historians do not know on what date he was born. The Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 as the day for the Feast of the Nativity in order to give Christian meaning to existing pagan rituals. For example, the Church replaced festivities honoring the birth of Mithra, the god of light, with festivities to commemorate the birth of Jesus, whom the Bible calls the light of the world. The Catholic Church hoped to draw pagans into its religion by allowing them to continue their revelry while simultaneously honoring the birthday of Jesus. The Eastern Orthodox Church took a slightly different course. By the end of the 4th century the Eastern Church in Constantinople had also begun to acknowledge December 25 as Jesus� birthday, but it emphasized the celebration of Christ�s baptism on January 6 as the more important holiday.
Over the next 1000 years, the observance of Christmas followed the expansion
of Christianity into the rest of Europe and into Egypt.
Along the way,
Christian beliefs combined with existing pagan feasts and winter rituals to
create many long-standing traditions of Christmas celebrations. For example,
ancient Europeans believed that the mistletoe plant held magic powers to
bestow life and fertility, to bring about peace, and to protect against
disease. Northern Europeans associated the plant with the Norse goddess of
love, Freya, and developed the custom of kissing underneath mistletoe
branches. Christians incorporated this custom into their Christmas
celebrations, and kissing under a mistletoe branch eventually became a part
of secular Christmas tradition.
During the Reformation of the 16th century, Protestants challenged the authority of the Catholic Church, including its toleration of surviving pagan traditions during Christmas festivities. For a brief time during the 17th century, Puritans banned Christmas in England and in some English colonies in North America because they felt it had become a season best known for gambling, flamboyant public behavior, and overindulgence in food and drink.
Europeans who settled
in North America often found they had to change their Christmas celebrations
because they could not faithfully recreate the traditions of their
homelands. For example, colonists in the American South may have aspired to
recreate a sense of the English Christmas. But colonial accounts of
Christmas celebrations in the South do not mention the presence of mummers
(masked or costumed merrymakers) or waits (musicians or carolers paid to
perform at Christmastime), both of which were central figures of the
traditional English Christmas. Nor do historical accounts describe settlers
engaging in such traditional English customs as feasting on boars� heads or
drinking from wassail bowls (bowls filled with spiced ale or wine).
Colonists from England, France, Holland, Spain, and other countries also gradually modified their Christmas ceremonies as they encountered new cultures and traditions in the New World. For example, in large towns, where diverse groups lived close together, the common ground for celebration could often be found in public and secular festivities rather than in potentially divisive religious ceremonies. Thus, at least in New York City, the winter�s holidays often culminated on New Year�s, not Christmas.
Christmas is a
Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.
No one knows the exact date of Christ's birth, but most Christians observe
Christmas on December 25. On this day, many go to church, where they take
part in special religious services. During the Christmas season, they also
exchange gifts and decorate their homes with holly, mistletoe, and Christmas
trees. The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, an early English phrase
that means Mass of Christ.
The story of Christmas comes chiefly from the Gospels of Saint Luke and
Saint Matthew in the New Testament. According to Luke, an angel appeared to
shepherds outside the town of Bethlehem and told them of Jesus' birth.
Matthew tells how the wise men, called Magi, followed a bright star that led
them to Jesus.
The first mention of Christmas
The first
mention of December 25 as the birth date of Jesus occurred in A.D. 336 in an
early Roman calendar. The celebration of this day as Jesus' birth date 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 god of light. Various peoples in northern Europe held
festivals in mid-December to celebrate the end of the harvest season. As
part of all these celebrations, the people prepared special foods, decorated
their homes with greenery, and joined in singing and gift giving. These
customs gradually became part of the Christmas celebration.
In the late 300's, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman
Empire. By 1100, Christmas had become the most important religious festival
in Europe, and
Saint Nicholas was
a symbol of gift giving in many European countries. During the 1400's and
1500's,
many artists painted scenes of the Nativity, the birth of Jesus. An example
of these works appears in the Jesus Christ article in the print version of
The World Book Encyclopedia.
The popularity of Christmas grew until the Reformation, a religious movement
of the 1500's. This movement gave birth to Protestantism. During the
Reformation, many Christians began to consider Christmas a pagan celebration
because it included nonreligious customs. During the 1600's, because of
these feelings, Christmas was outlawed in England and in parts of the
English colonies in America. The old customs of feasting and decorating,
however, soon reappeared and blended with the more Christian aspects of the
celebration.
Gift giving
The custom of giving gifts to relatives and friends on a special day in winter probably began in ancient Rome and northern Europe. In these regions, people gave each other small presents as part of their year-end celebrations.
Other customs
In the 1800's, two
more Christmas customs became popular--decorating Christmas trees and se
nding
Christmas cards to relatives and friends. Many well-known Christmas carols,
including ``Silent Night" and ``Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," were composed
during this period. In the United States and other countries, Santa Claus
replaced Saint Nicholas as the symbol of gift giving.
The celebration of Christmas became increasingly important to many kinds of
businesses during the 1900's. Today, companies manufacture Christmas
ornaments, lights, and other decorations throughout the year. Other firms
grow Christmas trees, holly, and mistletoe. Many stores and other businesses
hire extra workers during the Christmas season to handle the increase in
sales.
The word Xmas is sometimes used instead of Christmas. This tradition began
in the early Christian church. In Greek, X is the first letter of Christ's
name. It was frequently used as a holy symbol.