In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside. In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down.
For a month, enslaved people were given temporary freedom and treated as equals. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could participate in the holiday's festivities. Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock.
In the early years of Christianity , Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration. Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter? It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival.
First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by and to England by the end of the sixth century. By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated.
By the Middle Ages , Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe.
When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in , they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.
The fire was started with a fragment from the previous years [this refers to the eternal existence of Christ before His birth] log. It speaks of warmth, unity, joy and the security of endless life. Mistletoe was an ancient symbol from the Roman times. It was under mistletoe that old enmities and broken friendship were restored. Bells are associated with ringing out news. Christ is the good news, the best news of all. In , Clement Moore wrote a poem for children that has never been forgotten.
It was entitled, " Twas the Night before Christmas Saint Nicholas was the supposed early Bishop of a church in Asia Minor [the modern country of Turkey].
He became aware of some desperate needs in his congregation, and a family having to sell their children into slavery, so one night he came and left money on their doorstep. It was gold in a stocking. Christmas Cards started in An English artist named William Dobson, drew up some pictures in England for use at this season.
They found local use there and soon spread to America. John Barnett. Among the many accounts claiming to explain the origin of the Christmas tree, the three most popular are from Germany — making it the likeliest place of origin. The stories span from the 8th to the 16th century. All three have some element of historical fact, and they may even loosely connect from one to another. The first story is about St.
In the 8th century, he was a missionary to some of the remotest tribes of Germany. And the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates it on the 6th January! In some part of the UK, January 6th is still called 'Old Christmas' as this would have been the day that Christmas would have celebrated on, if the calendar hadn't been changed. Some people didn't want to use the new calendar as they thought it 'cheated' them out of 11 days!
Christians believe that Jesus is the light of the world, so the early Christians thought that this was the right time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. They also took over some of the customs from the Winter Solstice and gave them Christian meanings, like Holly , Mistletoe and even Christmas Carols! St Augustine of Canterbury was the person who probably started the widespread celebration of Christmas in large parts of England by introducing Christianity to the regions run by the Anglo-Saxons in the 6th century other Celtic parts of Britain were already Christian but there aren't many documents about if or how they celebrated the birth of Jesus.
If you'd like to know more about the history behind the dating of Christmas, then read this very good article on Bible History Daily goes to another site. There's a strong and practical reason why Jesus might not have been born in the winter, but in the spring or the autumn!
It can get very cold in the winter and it's unlikely that the shepherds would have been keeping sheep out on the hills as those hills can get quite a lot of snow sometimes! During the spring in March or April there's a Jewish festival called 'Passover'.
This festival remembers when the Jews had escaped from slavery in Egypt about years before Jesus was born. Lots of lambs would have been needed during the Passover Festival, to be sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews from all over the Roman Empire traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, so it would have been a good time for the Romans to take a census.
Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the census Bethlehem is about six miles from Jerusalem. It's the festival that's mentioned the most times in the Bible! It is when Jewish people remember that they depended on God for all they had after they had escaped from Egypt and spent 40 years in the desert. It also celebrates the end of the harvest. During the festival, Jews live outside in temporary shelters the word 'tabernacle' come from a latin word meaning 'booth' or 'hut'.
Many people who have studied the Bible, think that Sukkot would be a likely time for the birth of Jesus as it might fit with the description of there being 'no room in the inn'. It wouldn't have been practical for Joseph and Mary to carry their own shelter as Mary was pregnant. Then, we are clean and made whole.
We can know that heaven is a place where we can go to when this life is over. We can truly be happy at Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children.
We then become sons and daughters of God. Heaven will be our home one day. Look at Christmas in a new way this year. This is the year to invite Jesus into your heart. You will then have a "Merry Christmas.
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He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. Skip to main content. Search only: All News TV. The Christian Broadcasting Network CBN is a global ministry committed to preparing the nations of the world for the coming of Jesus Christ through mass media. The Real Meaning Of Christmas.
Related Content. Martha Noebel. Luke says: "So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. Jesus Is the Reason for the Season! Used by permission.
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