On the day this article will be published it should be on one of the 12 days of Christmas, in recent times this isn't really celebrated as much it was in ancient times, but it definitely still has roots in the modern holiday we call Christmas today, as we still have a Christmas carol titled "The 12 days of Christmas". Christmas is a holiday filled with a lot of uncertainties and skepticisms, even in ancient times. it hasn't really ever been a holiday accepted by all people, they were even times some countries banned the holiday, which we will talk more about in this article.
The Evolution of Christmas: From Ancient Festivals to a Global Holiday
Christmas is a holiday that is pretty dynamic and has changed in its traditions over the years, but some stayed consistent in the holiday even up till this time. In time being before the coming of Jesus (the center of this modern holiday to Christians) there were some holidays that were celebrated by the pagan community during this December period, namely Saturnalia and Yule they were early winter solstice celebrations, and there was even another holiday celebrated on the 25th of December which was also "coincidentally" the celebration of the birthday of one of the pagan gods.
But after some times the church wanted to offer a Christian alternative to these holidays and also to bring pagans into the faith thereby absorbing some of the pagan holidays and traditions and giving it a more Christian feel and branding as much as it doesn't go against the doctrines of the bible, just to keep their traditional stances in check but following the more religious takes to those holidays.
And it eventually became a holiday that was successful and accepted globally after a certain period of time by the majority, different countries even had names for the holiday in their native languages.
Jesus's Birth: Why December 25 Might Not Be His Birthday
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This is typically the heart of controversy in this holiday as it is usually depicted as the celebration of Jesus's birthday or even his birthday at that. But we were never given a particular date for the birth of Jesus in the Bible, which makes us to ponder and wonder how the birthday of Jesus was coined.
It's a date that was chosen for liturgical commemoration, not a reflection of his actual date of birth. Christians and scholars have debated for nearly 2,000 years when Jesus was actually born and have not come up with convincing answers. The specific date of the liturgical celebration was almost certainly influenced by the traditional date of his death (March 25), which was not coincidentally also the date for the very ancient Feast of the Annunciation (commemorating Jesus' conception). If you add 9 months to March 25, you arrive at December 25. There are also symbolic and mystical beliefs that are factored in, such as the symbolism of the winter solstice.
Some school of thought believe that knowing the birthday of Jesus isn't that significant, as it wasn't mentioned in the bible, it probably also supports that fact. It should just be a time we celebrate the coming of Jesus into this world in form of a man to save us all from sin.
Santa Claus: From Saint Nicholas to a Global Icon
Santa Claus, in all these, one of the biggest confusions is how a fat man dressed in red and white with long beards is related to the birth of Jesus if truly the holiday is about the birth of Jesus. The creation or fusion of this character into Christmas is inspired by the acts of one Saint Nicholas, it was said that he was a man of good works and of pristine character and grew up to becoming a bishop, he also shared his wealth with people of lower class and was a passionate giver.
At first there was a day he was remembered with exchange of gifts on one of the days of december (December 6th if I'm not mistaken) but was later modernized and fictionalized into our modern-day Santa Claus as he was also recognized by the Dutch as "Sinter Klass". This character was also commercialized by businesses such as Coca-Cola which played a major role in its commercialization and use for advertisements. Some of the modern characteristics we know about Santa Claus are majorly a product of fiction by old time writers.
The Christmas Tree: A Symbol of Ancient and Modern Traditions
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The Christmas tree is assumed to have some roots in Christianity, from the act of a missionary cutting down an oak tree which has pagan values and planting a pine tree now used for Christmas trees to speculations that it might be a representation of the tree of paradise (the tree of good and evil). The tree is an important part of the celebration and started after some evolutions of the holiday and endorsed by people of high status in kingdoms and societies. Even the activist Martin Luter King is said to also be affiliated to these Christmas trees.
The Darker Side of Christmas: Bans and Controversies
Just as said earlier Christmas has always been a holiday that didn't agree with everybody, there were still communities of Christians in times of old that didn't believe in the holiday due to some reasons, there was even a time when a community like this was able to get their leader into power and Christmas was officially banned in the kingdom, these banning of the holiday also happened in other parts of the world like France and Germany, some saw the holiday as too religious which was the cause of banning it.
Conclusion
The big question now should be as a Christian should you celebrate it, well I feel it's a thing of perspective, the holiday may have some of its roots in paganism and fiction but, as far as you know what you are celebrating and are not carried away by the unnecessary additions to the holiday, it should be something we should be able to celebrate, as the birth of Jesus is the one of the most important occurrences in the Bible, therefore there is cause to celebrate it, as we are told in the Old Testament in such passages as Zechariah 2:10: '‘Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the LORD.” Further, the angel that announced the birth to the shepherds brought “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). Surely here is the cause for celebration every day, not just once a year.
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