I just recently sent the following letter to the editor of our local paper.
To the Editor:
It amazes me how little knowledge some Christians have about our history. Each year at Christmas time I see complaints and articles from some people about “putting the Christ back in Christmas”, and “December 25th is Christ’s birthday and nothing else!”
December 25th is not Christ’s actual birthday. It was a day chosen by Pope Julius I as the symbolic day to celebrate around 350 A.D. Historical research indicates that the actual time of Christ’s birth, from information provided in biblical references, was late September/early October during the Feast of Tabernacles. When the church fathers decided to settle upon a date to celebrate the event, they chose a day near the winter solstice, since it coincided with other celebrations. December 25 was a festival day long before Christianity.
As Christianity spread among the peoples of pagan lands, many of the practices of the winter solstice were blended with those of Christianity. In the dead of winter, a celebration of the rebirth of life was symbolized in the birth of Christ. The time of the winter solstice, when days grew longer again, the return of the light became the hope of the world in the birth of Christ, “the light of the world.” Mistletoe, holly, caroling, Saint Nicholas, and Yule Logs all came from different celebrations at this time of the year across the world.
Many Christian churches outlawed the celebration of Christmas in the past. It may be somewhat of a shock to some to learn that in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, many religious organizations in the United States did not celebrate Christmas either. Quakers, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Mennonites, and other groups shared an aversion to paying a special honor to December 25th. Puritans declared Christmas was “an extraeme forgetfulnesse of Christ, by giving liberty to carnall and sensual delights.”
Celebrating Christmas has been controversial since its inception. Since numerous festivities found their roots in pagan practices, they were greatly frowned upon by conservatives within the Church. The feasting, gift-giving, and frequent excesses presented a drastic contrast with the simplicity of the Nativity, and many people throughout history and into the present condemn these practices as opposing the true spirit of Christmas.
Please enjoy your Holidays, Christian or otherwise, as you see fit, and leave others to do the same. Read and study your own Christian history. It’s a fascinating topic that deserves to be accurately portrayed and celebrated.
Happy Holidays to all!
