Today is Christmas day – the day on which the birth of Christ is celebrated (and has been for millennia). All around the world people will be sitting down to special meals, giving gifts, singing, drinking and attending religious services. In honor of this great holiday (my favorite, in fact), we have a list of Christmas facts. I would like to personally wish everyone reading a joyous Christmas.
In the early Church, Christmas was not celebrated as a major feast. The first evidence of the Church attempting to put a date on the day of Christ’s birth comes from 200 AD, when theologians in Alexandria decided it was the 20th of May. By the 380s, the Church in Rome was attempting to unite the various regions in using December 25th as the universal feast day, and eventually that is the day that stuck. As so often was the case in the early Church, the influence of the pagan feasts of Rome is seen, because December 25 was the festival for the birth of the sun. St Cyprian makes mention of this: “O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born . . . Christ should be born.”
History of Christmas
It is believed that the first celebrations of Christ’s birth were originally grouped together withEpiphany, one of the earliest feasts of the Christian church observed on January 6. This holiday recognized the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles by remembering the visit of the Magi (wise men) to Bethlehem and, in some traditions, the baptism of Jesus and his miracle of turning water into wine. Today the feast of Epiphany is observed predominately in liturgical denominations such as Eastern Orthodox,Anglican and Catholic.
Even as far back as the second and third centuries, we know church leaders disagreed about the appropriateness of birthday celebrations within the Christian church. Some men likeOrigen felt birthdays were pagan rituals for pagan gods. And since the date of Christ’s actual birth had not been recorded, these early leaders speculated and argued about the date.
Some sources report that Theophilus of Antioch (circa 171-183) was the first to identify December 25 as the birth date of Christ. Others say that Hippolytus (circa 170-236) was the first to claim that Jesus was born on December 25. A strong theory suggests that this date was eventually chosen by the church because it aligned closely with a major pagan festival,dies natalis solis invicti (birth of the invincible sun god), thus allowing the church to claim a new celebration for Christianity.
Ultimately, December 25 was chosen, perhaps as early as A.D. 273. By 336 A.D., the Roman church calender definitively records a nativity celebration by Western Christians on this date. Eastern churches maintained the January 6 commemoration together with Epiphany until sometime in the fifth or sixth centuries when the 25th day of December became the widely accepted holiday. Only the Armenian church held to the original celebration of Christ’s birth with Epiphany on January 6.
Mass of Christ
The term Christmas appeared in Old English as early as 1038 A.D. as Cristes Maesse, and later as Cristes-messe in A.D. 1131. It means “the Mass of Christ.” This name was established by the Christian church to disconnect the holiday and its customs from its pagan origins. As one fourth century theologian penned, “We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of Him who made it.”
Although it is true that many traditional Christmas customs find their origins in pagan practices, these ancient and forgotten associations are far removed from the hearts of Christian worshipers today at Christmastime. So much so, it seems a pointless concern. If the focus of Christmas is Jesus Christ and his gift of eternal life, then what harm can come from such a celebration? Moreover, Christian churches see Christmas as an occasion to spread the good news of the gospel at a time when many unbelievers pause to consider Christ.
Today Christmas Sms
Merry Christmas,
Enjoy New Year,
Happy Easter,
Good luck on Valentines,
Spooky Halloween & Happy Birthday.
Now bug off and don’t annoy me for the next 12 months!
This Christmas spread your fragrance
to all those around you and make this world a happy place.
Merry Christmas to the one I love the most.
Christmas is the day to tell your loved ones what they mean to you.
How could I miss this opportunity to pass all my love to the most loved of the lot!
I love you.
Have a Merry Christmas.
Bells are ringing and everyone is singing,
It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year.
Christmas brings chocolates, cakes, candies,
Christmas carols and games.
It also brings Santa Claus,
his reindeer’s and loads of gifts.
But most of all it brings us closer to one another.
