For this he became known as the patron saint of virgins and children. Over time, his generosity was remembered by people giving gifts to children in secret on the feast of St Nicholas, celebrated on December 6 in western Christian countries and 19 December in the eastern churches.
His name in English became Clause, after the Dutch Sinterklaas. Our modern image of Santa Claus as a rotund gentleman of a certain age dressed in a red-and-white suit and matching hat comes from an incredibly successful marketing campaign by Coca-Cola in the s. Since then, suburban Santas always dress in the image created by the Coke brand. But this image comes from an earlier depiction of Father Christmas who had nothing to do with the American Santa Claus until the s. Until the Victorian era, when childhood was recognised as a separate stage of life, and the Christmas feast came to centre around children, Father Christmas, or Lord Christmas as he was also known, was the personification of a mid-winter feast of merrymaking for adults — and he brought no presents.
He was useful as a symbol for Catholic-sympathising writers in the early 17th century who wanted to defend Christmas from attacks by the Puritans , radical Protestants who intended to ban the feast. From the s onwards, the English Father Christmas was depicted as a bearded old man wearing a long red robe trimmed with white fur and a pointed red hat, who brought gifts to good children.
According to the Pew Research Center , about 90 percent of Americans and 95 percent of Christians celebrate Christmas each year, so it's a widely celebrated holiday centered on many much-loved traditions: decorating our houses and putting up a Christmas tree , baking Christmas desserts , attending church services on Christmas Eve , eating lots of holiday foods we've looked forward to for ages, and exchanging gifts on the big day. The Pew Research Center's staggering numbers aren't necessarily surprising: It feels like people start celebrating the holiday as soon as the leaves change color each fall.
It's no secret that Christmastime is busy. So, with all of the excitement around the holiday, have you ever stopped and wondered where it all started? Well, we've done the research on the history of Christmas for you to help you truly understand its backstory. As you probably guessed, the holiday has changed a lot since its inception. This year, when you're taking part in Christmas traditions like putting up your Christmas tree, whipping up a Christmas ham for your family, or even singing carols, you'll have a better grasp on the history of Christmas and a grander appreciation for the most wonderful time of the year.
Check out these interesting Christmas trivia questions, too, plus the history of the Christmas tree and the history of Christmas colors. Officially, Christmas as a holiday most likely began sometime around the 4th century. But let's back up a bit. Now Epiphany mainly celebrates the visit of the Wise Men to the baby Jesus , but back then it celebrated both things!
Jesus's Baptism was originally seen as more important than his birth, as this was when he started his ministry. The Jewish festival of Lights, Hanukkah starts on the eve of the Kislev 25 the month in the Jewish calendar that occurs at about the same time as December. Hanukkah celebrates when the Jewish people were able to re-dedicate and worship in their Temple, in Jerusalem, again following many years of not being allowed to practice their religion.
Jesus was a Jew, so this could be another reason that helped the early Church choose December the 25th for the date of Christmas! The Gregorian calendar is more accurate than the Roman calendar which had too many days in a year! When the switch was made 10 days were lost, so that the day that followed the 4th October was 15th October In the UK the change of calendars was made in The day after 2nd September was 14th September Many Orthodox and Coptic Churches still use the Julian Calendar and so celebrate Christmas on the 7th January which is when December 25th would have been on the Julian calendar.
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'. The correct time for his birth has to be the Feasts of Tabernacles — the Jewish Messianic feast. When I celebrate my birthday, I celebrate the age that I have achieved, not the day of my birth. Nonetheless, the day we set aside to […]. I find the assertion that pagan gods are false to be deeply offensive. How dare the follows of one imaginary being condemn the followers of multiple imaginary beings.
Shame on you. That date coincides with the clues from the Bible, where shepherds are tending to their flocks, […]. This would have Jesus being 33 years and 7 months old. Incidentally, this would be the only time that the so called unpardonable sin would occur.
According to 1 Cor. In fact, the major early writers of Christianity fail to mention the holiday at all, and one of them — Origen of Alexandria — actually made fun of birth celebrations, regarding such […]. It seems to me that there is mention of December 25th before 4th and 5th centuries and before the holiday festivities became a concern. I suspect that the Birth of Christ was adopted for those holidays because it was already there. There are some documents […].
The article How December 25 Became Christmas provides ample evidence debunking the pagan origins myth, showing how it actually began, and even […]. Proverbs Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. As I understand this writer is Christian, so I am confused as to why B.
C and A. Great article, however I find that detail extremely offensive. The early church argued a lot about when to celebrate. In surveying […]. In the introduction it is acknowledged that the Bible offers few clues regarding when Christ was born. And the extrabiblical evidence from both the first and second century is equally silent regarding the date of the birth. As the writer acknowledges, there is no mention of birth celebrations amongst the very earliest of Christian writers.
The writings of Mark and Paul make no reference to the birth of the Messiah, whilst those of Luke and John provide differing accounts of the event, with neither giving a date of birth. In consequence, one noticeable feature of Christian practice in the first two centuries following the birth of the Messiah is that his birthday was not marked.
One wonders whether the explanation for the absence of recorded information relating to the birth of Christ may be in some manner tied into the fact that King Herod had ordered the death of the infant. According to the Book of Mathew II, Jesus was born in a stable, and immediately following the birth Joseph gathered Mary and the infant child and fled as refugees under the cover of darkness to Egypt, where they remained until they received information that Herod had died.
Such a scenario would account for why the early Christian writers could not state exactly when Christ was born with any degree of certainty, would it not? And if this was the case, can we today state with any authority that the Messiah truly was born on Christmas Day?
Of course we cannot! The author points to the fact that c. Augustine of Hippo refers to the Donatists, who the writer believes kept Christmas festivals on the 25th December, but refused to celebrate the Epithany on January 6th as it was considered innovative. Yet proof cannot be extrapolated that Christ was born on December 25th on the strength of this evidence, as earlier writers made no mention of this birth date. It was not until c.
Here we encounter the dual problem of differing birth dates, and the fact that none of these dates were the 25th December. As the author correctly notes, if Christ were born in December the sheep would have been corralled. Therefore, the earliest recorded evidence indicates that Christ was born in the summer months. Such a supposition is supported by the modern science of astronomy. Mr Reneke pinpointed the planetary conjunction, which occurred in the constellation Leo, to the exact date 17th June 2 B.
It was discovered that a bright star really did feature in the sky over Bethlehem 2, years ago — but the date of birth has been calculated as being the summer months, and 17 June in particular — not 25 December.
It is believed that the Christmas star was a magnificent conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter, which came so closely together that they shone like a beacon of light. It is probable that the magi interpreted the light as the beacon sign that they had been waiting for and followed its trajectory eastwards to Bethlehem. There can be no certainty that this natural phenomenon was truly the Christmas Star, but it is a very strong candidate.
Crucially, astronomy is a particularly precise science, and so it is possible to plot where the stars were, and in consequence, it certainly seems that this was the fabled Christmas star.
Herein lies further evidence that Jesus was born in the summer months and not in December. We are left with the question of why December 25th came to be associated with the birth of Christ? However, the writer quickly dismisses this suggestion on the grounds that such an act is not recorded in any early Christian writings. The author singles out the most significant problem with this theory as being the fact that the first mention of a date for Christmas c.
Yes, in the first few centuries A. The date of 25th December C. In sum, modern astronomical evidence verifies the early Christian belief that Christ had been born in the early summer months. In fact, the distance between 20th May and 17th June is not that great at all, being as it is less than one calendar month. In the final analysis, it would seem that in the fourth century C. Christianity adopted the 25th December as the birthdate of Christ.
And the reason for doing so was that it coincided with the pagan solstice festival. After all, Christianity has a long tradition of borrowing from other religions in order to attract followers to the cause. The article How December 25 Became Christmas provides ample evidence debunking the pagan origins myth, showing how it actually got began, and […]. Check out this link for more understanding on the dating of both Easter and Christmas — great […].
I thought I had read once that it was the earliest cookie associated with Christmas, but because […]. Some suggest Christians moved the date to the end of December to hijack pagan festivities such as […]. Some things I want remained you when do start celebrate of Christmas? This contains not just the things you desire to have this December 25, but also things you want to experience and places you want to visit before the year ends. You may […].
My conclusion: Although I was unable to read all above, but if Jesus was and is God, He cannot be born. So, the Bible did not give us His birthday and we should be careful of what we say about His birth.
Creator God was not born, Jesus was presented as a sacrifice to us and we should not focus on His birth for He was from the foundation of the world; He cannot just be attached to a point in human history. If He has no birthday, He has no age, for God is ageless and Jesus as One of the Trinity is ageless for they are all one and the same.
His divinity supersede His humanity; as a Divine being, He was not born by humans-He was a virgin birth, in-explainable though. Modern scripture tells us that April 6th is the day that Jesus was born. The reference can be found in the book of The Doctrine and Covenants, section 20 verse 1. In terms of the East celebrating on Jan 6th, that is actually December 25th on the Julian Calendar, once the West switched to Gregorian Calendar, the Julian calendar is 13 days late.
I am offended by this piece. Whether we celebrate it in winter, spring, summer or fall, the Christmas season is still about Jesus. All of you who responded to the greatness of the article and the author need a lesson in English. Luke tells us when Jesus was born. He assumed that we, the readers of his Gospel, would know that Mary and Joseph would make their census registration trip to Bethlehem during one of their three annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
John would have been born at Passover. Jews set an extra setting or keep a door open for the arrival of Elijah and John is the Spirit of Elijah. Jesus was born on the Feast of Mangers, 4BC! Birth was as an empty vessel but death a full one. Nativity had no interest. They developed tradition of long time visit. Consist also easter material, the communion hymn! Two Christmas dates come from the beginning, other was feasted in Israel area and another locally.
Also different calendars may point to the same day. The time is framework of the christian feast. The month is right but the proper feast is the feast of the trumpets. The trumpeting heralds in the gospels as well as the entire concept of the types and shadows of old testament law conforming to illustrating Jesus support that date. You can get rough estimate of the time of his birth by going back to the birth of John and the Angels announcement to Zachariah of the birth of John.
The Bible does give these times. Christmas is here and you mothatruckers better be ready for Santa. To make sure we are, cable […]. If any Christians wants to be really dogmatic about Christian festivities?! We should be following the Biblical festivities and calendar and not the pagan calendars and feasts.
Ist diese Versicherungsleistung einer Sterbegeldversicherung nicht ausreichend, weil nicht die Absicherung einer Beerdigung im Vordergrund steht, sondern die eines Lebenspartners bzw. And the winter feast, was the Feast of Light, and when did Jesus the Light of the world come to earth? At conception! Bible History Daily, vierailtu Source […]. And I am not arguing that those dates were used to celebrate Pagan festivals. Quite the opposite actually, that those dates were chosen to celebrate Christian events in place of those Pagan festivals.
I don't even know if Santa would be considered "pagan", but I would say that the Christmas tree could definitely be argued as a pagan tradition incorporated into the celebration of Christ's birth. There us no clear date…I will give you speculat…. Constantine was a great Emperor and Christian. He favored Christians. He defended Christians. He built Churches. He returned all confiscated property to Christians. He fought against those who persecuted Christians. He supported all Christian pastors and bishops.
He tried to unite all Christians. He in all likelihood asked Bishops to come up with One Bible. He fought against false teachers. He gave us Christmas. He even got baptized in water at the end of his life, for public reference, cause water baptism is not necessary. Spirit Baptism is. But what is the general opinion even among Christians in our times.
No, he was not a Christian. He was just using them for political reasons. Actually, nobody knows what his truth birthday is. In short, theologians struggled to figure out the exact date, and […]. Sol invicta- feast is good for Jesus, the sun of the rightiousness. Martyrdom also was suitable in this mind.
Also the day of John the Pabtizer was a motive, age difference 6 months. More important as day, is that Jesus was born. Great Article. It is A. This secularizing and dishonoring of Jesus Christ should not be engaged in by His people. Stop pandering to the idiot unbelievers who invent ways to dishonor Christ.
It is AD. These dates were just useful to the early Christians. So, if Christ was actually born, when was he born? It can make it the first choice with the users as well as the most wanted and comfortable P2P torrent engine ever produced in the world. There are a number of small business women can take part in that would not separate them from other site from their responsibilities in your family.
I really love to read more about Christmas and ancient history of Christmas. This is vey helpful for me to share in my prayer service. All of what I've described is written about in more detail here, complete with a bibliography consisting mostly of primary writings from the people I mentioned.
At the end of the day, I think […]. It would seem that the church settled on that date due to some interesting, and probably Jewish-inspired, mental gymnastics. I enjoy what you guys tend to be up too. This type of clever work and exposure! Historical fact is Roman tax day was Sept 2nd. From the time of Babylon Dec 25 was for Tammuz as he resurrected that day and Baal the sun god incarnated him and took him to heaven…….
Per Amos you can find who the Baal worshipers are if you search hard enough. December 25 might not even be Jesus's birthday. There's also that whole thing about […]. These dates were just helpful […]. A lie is a lie. We as Christian are supposed to worship God in spirit and in truth. A true believer will not continue to believe or carry on a lie. Jesus was born without a doubt but he was not born on December If this was all important he would have left some proof as to when, the more important aspect of his life is if you believe a lie then you cannot live the life he died for you to live and that is to get closer to God the father.
Mistletoe and the Yule log come straight from my ancestors, the pagan Norsemen. And the whole gift […]. This was no super-nova. It was a light that moved and stopped at will. The magi astrologers interpreted the light as some sort of star, but no star or supernova would act like this. Can you look up and see a star that is directly above your house. Go a mile from there to another house and see if the star also looks directly above that house. Remember that the magi were astrologers not astronomers.
Astrology was forbidden by Jehovah Yahweh in his laws to the Jews Isaiah 13,14 so it not likely that He would use such persons to announce the birth of the Messiah. Please read all of Matthew Chapter 2 to understand the context of what was happening. In Luke we have the official announcement of Jesus birth from angels telling the shepherds. Charlene seems to have the most biblical answer, leading us to the Feast of Tabernacles. If this brings a link to his second coming at that time of the year, the feast of Trumpets would be a good herald.
Any thoughts? You can check out the article over HERE. Spoiler alert- Jesus was probably, most definitely, not born on December Find out […]. I hate to bring science into this conversation, but in regards to your second hypothesis, the idea that it is exactly nine months is a bit of a problem since the actual gestational period of a human being is weeks.
Maybe messiahs just take a little less time to bake, on average. Reviewing Charles information, it becomes apparent that he has lost track of gestation calculations. That makes Jesus birth in January or possibly end of December. That would fit with the evidence of the new brilliant star. That is not myth, it is documented in astronomy records from China and Korea. Supernova have been documented to be visible to the naked eye up to 21 months.
Contemporary astronomers believe it was likely a nova or supernova rather than a conjunction of planets. Roman historians also mention it appearing during the reign of Cesar Augustus, and it appeared on his coins. That is documented in his Res Gestae which was carved on temples throughout the empire and can still be seen today in his temple in Ankara, Turkey. Contemporary rulers of states outside the empire also put stars on their coins next to the kings portrait, from Phraates IV of Parthia to Celtic tribes in Britain.
Herod , and every other ruler of that time,would have taken this new star very seriously. Christians then co-opted the holiday and Christianized it. They were much more concerned with the resurrection. By about AD there were two dates: December 25 for the west and January 6 for the east.
Great article. Sure, we may spend a few hours in church. Personally, I love midnight mass on Christmas Eve, […]. Most Christians already know that He was sacrificed as the Passover lamb on Passover. Fittingly, He was born on the Feast of Tabernacles autumn , the Hebrew feast that commemorates when God came to dwell with His people in the desert as the pillar of cloud , and then as a baby Jesus.
Get to know the feasts and everything about Jesus will become clear. I believe the evidence presented, convinces me that Jesus was not born on December 25 which has all the trappings of Saturnalia and the god Mithras who was said to have been born on December I believe a balmy night in the fall about late September or early October, 2 C.
E was most likely the correct time. It has been assumed that God sent the star. Since the star apparently led the magi astrologers to King Herod first instead of to Bethlehem, we wonder about the origin of this star. Herod, on being told of the birth and the star, told the astrologers to come back when they found the child and report to him so he could also do obeisance to the child.
Of course Herod actually wanted to kill Jesus while still a child because he no doubt considered him a threat to his dynasty. This strange light, which most certainly was not actually a star, then led the magi directly to Jesus who was now a child in a home.
The magi were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod and thus they went home by a different route. So why the star? Its origin seems sinister to me—an attempt to have the future Messiah killed.
Who else besides Herod would like to see this child killed? Cyclical views of time where significant events fall on certain, specific, special days perhaps borrowing from Judaism may be more informative to the development of these dating traditions rather than linear notions of time, which are quite western. Mark, C. When they finally pin it down, then A. Plus the presence of all of the heralds with trumpets you see in art.
It is a subconscious, anecdotal, verbal history sort of thing. Yeshua may have been a Virgo. The ancients believed that you had major and minor stars. Virgo the harvester, often shown with a loaf of bread is the major sign; the minor sign is six months later; in this case, Pisces. The loaves and the fishes. Now, where have I heard of that before? The Jews put some stock in astrology, due to their time in Babylon.
That puts Yeshua between and , when the flocks were still in the fields. Back then, they were in paddocks by October, being fed hay. Twins Gemini in Genesis; bulls Taurus in Egypt; Rams Aires in the desert; harvester Virgo until now; the lion Leo from here on — Then Cancer, in years — yet to be written — every years it changes, both major and minor signs…Gemini goes with Sagittarius archer — pre-Egypt; Taurus with Scorpio scorpion — Egypt and the desert; Aires goes with Libra scales — The Ram and judgment under the Law; Virgo with Pisces — the harvest and those drawn from the sea of man; Leo with Aquarius the water bearer — the lion of God and living waters; and Cancer the crab with Capricorn the goat.
According to how I read the Revelation. The year ages is relative, adjustable. Now, go and reread your Old Testament.
This will all be in my book someday. Why do you use C. Common Era rather than the more common A. The use of C. Common Era is the term used when secularists want to omit references to the historical Jesus. I know when Yahushua aka Yeshua aka Jesus was born. I know who he was in the OT and when he will return. The Bible is full of seemingly mundane, useless or even boring information and some treat it as unimportant and just read over it.
Ever read Deuteronomy? Lots of numbers dealing with the Jewish tribes, why? After careful analysis one can determine that the Jewish Tabernacle encampment when view from a higher elevation formed a figure of the cross. I put it to you that everything in the Bible is there for a purpose and so the details in the Gospels about the times of the conceptions of John the Baptist and Jesus are there for a reason. The key to figuring out the birthday of Jesus is through the priestly duties of, Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist and subsequent references to the conception and birth of John.
Bear with me as we delve into this. The twelve courses are explained in 1 Chronicles Luk There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. The Bible states the time John began his ministry. Since he was a Levite he could not assume priestly duties until his 30th birthday. Luk Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Luk Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
See para 6e. This puts the birth of John at Apr 2 B. Luk And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. And so, whereas the Feast of Trumpets fell on September 29 back in 2 B. At this time the family fled into Egypt after the Magi departed. Mat And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Mat And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. Mat Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
What do secular historians record about this period? From the Talmud and Josephus. After the New Year, we added another year to our calendar, which should remind us that the entire Western World reckons its calendar from the birth of the One who changed the world more than any other before or since.
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