The Meaning of Christmas
I was reading tonight and I came across something that got me to thinking about the original meaning of Christmas. So, the first thing I did was open up a search of the Bible. I tried several translations and failed to find the search term ‘Christmas’ anywhere in any of the most popular translations of the Bible.
I wasn’t too shocked by this because I have read much of the book, and I didn’t remember anything about Christmas specifically. I do, of course, remember passages about Jesus’ birth and the events that took place shortly before and after, but I don’t recall any instruction to yearly celebrate his birth.
I did a bit more research and came across much the same thing again and again…
Christmas wasn’t celebrated by the early church.
It started around the second century AD by the relatively new Roman Catholic Church.
It immediately took on many of the same rites and celebrations of other religions. These rites/observances/celebrations based around the winter solstice… which was December 25th on the Roman calender.
Many cultures worshiped or celebrated fertility and motherhood in some way, and they often used either images of a woman with child, an evergreen tree, or both. Catholicism adopted these cultural similarities and renamed them putting a Christian spin on all the belief systems and customs of these other people groups. (Kinda reminds me of sampling and remixing.)
Throughout the history of Christmas it has gone through a great deal of innovation and adaptation, and the many words, celebrations, songs, and stories reflect that rich history.
I’ve heard a number of things from different individuals who have issues with the Christmas holiday, and now I think I can agree with their spirit of disdain. This holiday really isn’t anything more than traditions, trappings, and commercialism. We don’t know the exact date of Jesus’ birth, and we never will, which ultimately doesn’t really matter all that much, because the Bible never calls us to celebrate His birth.
Posted by David under Uncategorized |
I agree, indeed, we do not know the exact date of Jesus’ birth and Christmas (accompanied with the whole holiday season) is pretty superficial and without meaning to many people. I will also agree that no where in the bible are we instructed to celebrate the birth of Jesus. However, I’m pretty sure we are supposed to exalt and praise the Lord in any way we can, and if this includes one special day in which we celebrate his birth and sing carols and be a little more benevolent to others all in the name of Jesus, I say it is a beautiful celebration! I hope you appreciate this lovely comment I made on your blog!
Comment by The JenJula — January 8, 2004 @ 3:46 pm