ax

CHRISTMAS

…The very word itself conjures up festive thoughts of jingle bells, tinsel, candles, trimmings, rich fruit cake, the smell of sherry and walnuts intermingled with the citrus aroma of a freshly peeled satsuma. Big blocks of chocolate, bags of Twiglets, the annual appearance of dates and figs and of course a double copy of the ‘Radio Times’ for us Brits all seem to contribute to that special atmosphere that surrounds Christmas today.

But how do you feel about Christmas? Do you celebrate it for religious reasons or for reasons of tradition? Do you feel that it’s changed so much over the years that “to perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year”[‘The Second Tree from the Corner’ by Elwyn Brooks White]

What now follows, served up in manageable courses so you can digest it easier than a turkey dinner, is something I wrote many years ago. I realise that for many reading this, I will be preaching to the converted – Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th… Christmas is just Saturnalia recycled, etc – but even so, if just one of you finds it interesting, it’ll be worth the hours I’ve spent typing it all out.


TWELVE DRUMMERS DRUMMING:

Years ago, Christmas was a time of goodwill to all men, a church service on Christmas morning, a big traditional Christmas dinner and a time of rejoicing and reflecting for young and old alike. This may still be the way that Christmas is celebrated in your family, but to the majority of people today, Christmas signifies nothing more than a week off work with the chance to over eat, over drink and generally over indulge in other excesses. The real spirit of Christmas seems to have been lost, but what was it like originally? Just what is ‘Christmas’?

According to the World Book Encyclopaedia, ‘Christmas is the day on which Christians celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ’. The Collins English Dictionary’s definition of Christmas is ‘The annual commemoration by Christians of the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th, observed as a day of secular celebrations when gifts and greetings are exchanged [old English ‘Crīstes Mæsse’ or Mass of Christ.]’

It is readily accepted nowadays that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th. So when was he born?

The New Catholic Encyclopaedia says “The date of Christ’s birth is not known… the Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month… it can be calculated only approximately.” [1967, vol III, pg 656]

The Bible indicates that Jesus’ birth took place around the early autumn of the year 2 BC. We can see this by looking closely at the biblical record. Jesus’ death took place in the spring month of Nissan, therefore his ministry which began three and a half years earlier (Daniel 9:24-27) must have begun in the autumn, about the month of Ethanium (sept-oct). John the Baptist’s ministry initiated in Tiberius’ 15th year must have begun in the spring of that year, 29 AD, John’s birth therefore would be placed in the spring of the year 2 BC. Jesus’ birth would come about 6 months later in the autumn of 2 BC. His ministry would start about 30 years later in the autumn of 29 AD and his death in the year 33 AD.

Could Jesus have been born in the winter time at all? At the time of Jesus’ birth the shepherds were said to be in the fields tending their flocks (Luke 2:8-12) What would the weather conditions have been like for those shepherds?

Already by the autumn month of Bul (Oct-Nov) the rainy season was starting (Deuteronomy 11:14) and flocks were brought into protected shelters at night. The next month, Chislev (the 9th month of the Jewish calendar Nov-Dec) was a month of cold and rain (Jer 36:22, Ezra 10:9, 13) and Tebeth (Dec-Jan) saw the lowest temperatures of the year with occasional snows in the highlands area. During the month of December Bethlehem and its surroundings are subject to wintry cold weather, chilling rains and sometimes snow. In that region of Palestine, the temperature in December averages 7ºC (45ºF) by day and a lot cooler at night. During Tebeth rainfall is at its peak. The winter rains are often torrential. The latter part of December brings frequent frosts in the hill country and occasional snow flurries in Jerusalem where roads could even become temporarily blocked.

All this indicates that the weather conditions in Bethlehem during December do not fit the Bible’s description of events connected with the birth of Jesus.

The presence of shepherds in the fields at night therefore harmonizes with the evidence pointing to the early autumn month of Ethanim as the time Jesus was born, as in December the shepherds would be where their sheep have always been at that time of year – in an enclosed shelter.

The book ‘Daily Life in the time of Jesus’ states that “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 Gospels say that the shepherds were in the fields.” [New York 1962, page 228, by Henry Daniel-Rops.)

Also weighing against a December date, is that it would be most unlikely for the Roman Emperor to choose such a wintry, rainy month as the time for his Jewish subjects (often rebellious) to travel “each one to his own city” to be registered (Luke 2:1-3, compare Matt 24:20)

ELEVEN PIPERS PIPING:

So what’s the significance of December 25th if Jesus wasn’t born at that time of year?

The Encyclopaedia Americana informs us “the reason for establishing December 25th 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 re-birth of the sun”. The Encyclopaedia goes on to state that “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 VI, pg 666]

The publication ‘Church Christmas Tab’ says regarding the significance of December 25th that “December was the major month of pagan celebration and December 25th was the high point of winter revelries. Some believe the Bishop of Rome chose December 25th as the birth of Christ in order to ‘sanctify’ the pagan celebrations.”

But what of this Roman ‘Saturnalia’? The Oxford English Dictionary gives the following definition; “An ancient Roman festival celebrated in December renowned for its general merrymaking… a period or occasion of wild revelry.”

The book ‘Paganism in Christian Festivals’ by J.M. Wheeler describes such a celebration as a time when “everyone feasted and rejoiced, work and business were for a season entirely suspended, the houses were decked with laurel and evergreen, visits and presents were exchanged between friends and clients gave gifts to their patrons. The whole season was one of rejoicing and goodwill and all kinds of amusements were indulged in by the people.”

The New Catholic Encyclopaedia says “According to the hypothesis suggested by H. Usener and accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Jesus Christ was assigned the date of the Winter Solstice because on this day, as the sun begins its return to the northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrate the ‘dies natalis solis invicti’ – the birthday of the invincible sun. On December 25th, 274 AD, Aurelian, the Roman Emperor at that time, proclaimed the sun god the principle patron of the empire and dedicated a temple to him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong in Rome.” [1967, vol III, pg 656]

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica says “the date of Christmas was purposely fixed on December 25th to push into the background the great festival of the sun god.” It also says “December 25th, the birthday of Mithra the Iranian God of Light and the day devoted to the invincible Sun, as well as the day after Saturnalia, was adopted by the church as Christmas, the nativity of Christ, to counteract the effects of these festivals.”

The cult of Mithraism has certain affinities with Christianity, for example, Mithra was said to have been born in a cave and shepherds came to worship him and offer him presents…

Just three days before Christmas 1993, Pope John Paul II acknowledged that the celebration of Christmas is not rooted in the Bible. Regarding the date December 25th the Pope admitted “On that day in pagan antiquity the birthday of the Invincible Sun was celebrated to coincide with the Winter Solstice.” So why did the church adopt a festival with obvious pagan origins? The Pope continued “it seemed logical and natural to Christians to replace that feast with the celebration of the only and true sun, Jesus Christ.”

“Logical” and “Natural”? We will see…

ax

NINE LADIES DANCING:

Nowhere in the Bible will you find Jesus or his disciples celebrating his or anyone else’s birthday.

If such a celebration was required of Christians would we not expect at least one of Jesus’ birthdays and the celebrations connected with it to be recorded in the Bible? Would not Jesus himself have informed his own disciples of the obligation, or even that kind of wish on his part? After all, Jesus had commanded his disciples to memorialise his death, for which they had an incontestable date, namely Nissan 14. (Luke 22:19)

As Jesus and his disciples were of Jewish background, they did not celebrate birthdays, for according to the Encyclopaedia Judaica “…the celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” The World Book Encyclopaedia states that “…early Christians did not celebrate birthdays because they considered the celebration of anyone’s birth to be a pagan custom”.

Why did they have this view? An examination of the only two references to birthday celebrations in the Bible may help us to understand. Both were for rulers who were enemies of God and both contained an execution so that the guests could gloat over the death of one who had displeased the King.

In the first instance, Pharaoh the King of Egypt held a big feast for everyone to celebrate his birthday. During the celebrations, Pharaoh executed his chief baker (Genesis 40:20-22).

In the second instance recorded at Matthew 14:6-11 we read that it was king Herod’s birthday. As a favour to a girl whose dancing at the party had pleased him, King Herod had John the Baptiser beheaded and his head served upon a platter. This last account upset Jesus so much that when he found out he had to “withdraw to a lonely place for isolation” in grief.

All this shows that birthday celebrations are not looked upon with favour in the Bible. Yet, has not the Bible focused upon two very exceptional birthdays?

The ancient Jewish historian Josephus reveals that these incidents were not unique. He records other instances of the practice of birthday executions for entertainment.

For example, some occurred after Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 AD when a million Jews perished and 97,000 survived to be taken prisoner. En route to Rome, Roman General Titus took his Jewish captives to the nearby seaport of Caesarea. Josephus write; “… while Titus remained at Caesarea he celebrated his brother Domitian’s birthday with great splendour – putting over 2,500 prisoners to death in games with beasts and flames. After this he moved to Berytus (Beirut) a Roman colony in Phoenicia where he celebrated his father’s birthday by killing many more captives at elaborate exhibitions.” (The Jewish War, VII, pg 37 translated by Paul L. Maier in ‘Josephus, The Essential Writings’.)

It is no wonder that the Imperial Bible Dictionary says “…the latter Hebrews looked on the celebrations of birthdays as a part of idolatrous worship, a view which would be abundantly confirmed by what they saw of the common observances associated with these days.”(London 1874, Vol 1, page 225)

The book ‘The History of the Christian Religion and Church during the First Three Centuries’ by Augustus Neander says that “… the notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of the period in general.” (New York 1848, page 180)

Faithful first century Christians would not have felt like joining in a custom so darkly presented in the Bible and so gruesomely celebrated by the Romans. Jesus’ example is very clear, so shouldn’t Christians be imitating his ways as closely as they possibly can? (1 Peter 2:21)

Shake

So far, very interesting, ax! I look forward to the future installments!

Personally, I just celebrate it out of tradition. On another thread, someone recommended we call it Loveday instead, since love is the spirit of the holiday. I don't feel this misses the mark much, and thus would support that. I feel it's as much a holiday celebrating generosity to our fellow man and therefore has merit.

Keep up the good work!

ax

EIGHT MAIDS A-MILKING:

As previously mentioned, Christmas has taken many customs and traditions from pagan sources. These include decorating homes with pieces of ‘Christmas Evergreens’ such as holly, ivy, mistletoe and trees – plants which are said to bring good luck, being “magical plants bearing fruit in a dead season, symbolising life in a time of darkness and cold”.

Holly was popular with the Celts “to keep the house goblins in order at Winter Solstice time… it could deflect evil, help in the divination of dreams and defend a house from lightning,” says the publication ‘Beautiful British Columbia’.

Ivy was a plant dedicated to Bacchus from the notion that it prevented drunkenness, but in Christian symbolism ivy also typifies everlasting life from its remaining continually green.

The ‘Church Christmas Tab’ says regarding mistletoe that it “came from the Druids in England who used it in strange worship relating to demonic and occult powers,” which also included human sacrifices. For this reason alone it is excluded from church decorations and it is also unlucky to bring it into the house before Christmas. As with many of these Christmas evergreens, mistletoe carries strong fertility symbolism, evidently seen it the tradition to kiss someone underneath a sprig of this plant – an act that couldn’t be further from its earlier Druidic use!

Even the Christmas tree itself, according to the Boston Herald “has precious little to do with Christmas celebrations and a lot to do with the stubborn survival through the millennia of pagan rituals of winter light and re-birth.” The ‘Church Christmas Tab’ admits that “trees with trinkets hanging on them were a part of the pagan festivals for centuries.”

Christmas is also about the giving of gifts to one another, supposedly in imitation of the magi. However, Christmas giving is not patterned after their example because they did not exchange gifts with one another. Their giving of gifts to Jesus was in accord with what was customary when visiting notable people. Their interest in Jesus was as the future King of the Jews. Also, they did not give their gifts at the time of Jesus’ birth but at some later time.

So where did the custom of exchanging gifts come from? The Encyclopaedia Americana states “…during Saturnalia… feasting prevailed and gifts were exchanged.” People had been exchanging gifts on December 25th centuries before Christ as part of those Winter Solstice celebrations. In ancient Rome people would trade simple tokens during ceremonies of sun worship. The book ‘Ancient Italy and Modern Religion’ says “… you were expected at this festival to make some present to all your friends.”

Regarding the custom of gift giving, the New York Times of December 24th 1991 featured an article on the origins of gift giving and Christmas customs. Simon Schama, a professor of History at Harvard University wrote; “… The early Church in Rome had a particularly hard battle against two other great pagan festivals, the week long Saturnalia which began on December 17th and the Kalends which greeted the New Year… it was during the Kalends, when the years changed, that gifts were ritually exchanged, often tied to the boughs of greenery that decorated the houses during the festivities…”
SEVEN SWANS A-SWIMMING:

And what about the bringer of these gifts today? The World Book Encyclopaedia says “…depending upon where you live, children are told that gifts are brought by Santa Claus, St Nicholas, Father Christmas, Père Noël, Knecht Ruprecht, The Magi, The Elf Jultomten (or Julenissen) or a witch known as La Befane.”(1984, Vol III, page 414)

What are the origins of these seemingly harmless characters?

The United Church Herald says “…Santa was stolen from ancient German mythology. Thor was an elderly man, jovial and friendly of heavy build and with a long white beard. He drove a chariot and was said to live in the northland… his element was fire, his colour red. The fireplace in every home was sacred to him and he was said to come down into it through the chimney.”

This imaginary character is said to fill the stockings (or pillowcases!!) of children and even to reward good children and punish bad ones. Of course, none of these stories are true, but when children are led to believe them, doesn’t this deceive the children? Does the telling of such stories build in them a respect for truth? What is best in the end – the truth that brings a tear or a lie that makes a smile?

Children at Christmas… ah yes, it must be time for the Nativity play. What role did you play? Did it occur to you at the time that it was a scene not to be found in the Bible? Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus along with the three wise men, the shepherds and not forgetting the donkey, goats and cows altogether in a manger is a picture of the birth of Jesus that we all seem to be taught from infancy. But just how accurate is this picture?

Firstly, the Bible account does not say that the wise men found Jesus in a manger. Matthew’s gospel clearly states that when they did find Jesus he was by this time in a house (Matthew 2:21) Just as well really for he was about two years of age. Remember, it was upon the basis of the age of Jesus that, when deceived by the wise men who were supposed to tell him where Jesus was, King Herod decreed that all the boys in the district of two years of age and under be killed (Matthew 2:16)

Would Herod have made such a horrific order if he knew his intended victim was only a few weeks old?

Matthew also describes Jesus as an infant and not as a baby when the wise men visited. He was well out of swaddling clothes at this stage and the shepherds had long since returned to their flocks, therefore the two groups of visitors never did meet in that Nativity scene.

Scribleriad

Thank you. I certainly will.

As for you Mr. A, meet me in my office please. Although I agreed to let you use this (being as I wasn't registered at the time), a little bit of credit would have been nice.

As for the rest of you, I will post this, in its entirety, later in the year.

Yours Sincerely,

Scribleriad (Author of the original work entitled "Scrible's Xmas Presence" posted at the Marilyn Manson BBS, Dec 2002).