Xmas Decoded (the Origin of Christmas)
Every year millions of Christians around the world are
busy decorating their homes with Christmas trees, lights, and candles. Malls
and shops are in full steam competing with selling and marketing strategies
through seasonal advertisements, dramatic window decorations, and anything that
would give the consumers a feeling of warmth, in other words, to attract and
make a sale. Whether you like it or not, whether you have a commercial or
religious point of view of it; Christmas season is in the Air. According to
Odon, my younger brother, the smell of Christmas is the smell of burned out
Christmas light bulbs and gift wrappers. But there is something more to unwrap
about Christmas, behind the festive lights, the truth of Christmas is
forgotten, mostly untold.
The holiday that unite Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, all
customs of it, existed long before Jesus Christ was born.
The origin of Christmas is found in the
Pagan time, when Pagans celebrated the last day of winter as the night the
Great Mother Goddess gives birth to the baby Sun God.
The Romans converted this pagan legacy to a celebration of the god Saturnus,
and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice period. Solstice
means “sun stands still”. In the northern hemisphere it is the shortest day and
longest night of the year, occurring on the 20th, 21st or 22nd of December.
The winter holiday became known as Saturnalia and was characterized by
gift-giving, feasting, and singing.
To avoid persecution during this Roman
Pagan festival, early Christians decorated their homes with Saturnalia holly (a
tree having red berries and glossy evergreen leaves with prickly edges).
Time
went by, more Christians observed these celebrations, and as Christianity
spread, the Church became alarmed by the continuing practice among its members to
indulge in pagan customs and celebrate the festival of Saturnalia. The futile
attempts of the Church to prohibit these practices made them eventually decide
to adopt the customs and make them better suited to honor Jesus Christ.
In 274AD, solstice fell on 25th December.
Roman Emperor Aurelian proclaimed the date as "Natalis Solis
Invicti," the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. In 320 AD, Pope
Julius I specified the 25th of December as the official date of the birth of
Jesus Christ.
Five years later, Constantine the Great (the first Christian Roman emperor)
changed the ancient solstice celebrations into Christmas, an immovable feast
celebrating the nativity of Christ.
The real birthday of Jesus, according to
scriptures, is dated around midsummer:
Luke 2: 8: "And there were
shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at
night."
In Palestine - as in the rest of the Middle East at the
time - shepherds stayed with their flocks in the fields only from spring to
autumn. They brought their sheep in during the winter to protect them from the
cold and rain. It is thus unlikely that the shepherds went to Bethlehem in December.
Besides of the Shepherds, there are other references to the possible birth date
of Jesus Christ. In the 6th Century, the Roman monk-mathematician-astronomer
Dionysis Exeguus unintentionally committed what has become “history’s greatest
numerical error in terms of cumulative effect”. In reforming the calendar (as
we know it) to revolve around the birth of Christ, he miscalculated the
Nativity by at least 5 years off. Thus, the reference to the Birth of Jesus
“2000 years ago” is wrong. Knowing this and considering the star that the Magi
followed, also known as the Star of Bethlehem, which could be any of the astral
markers that appeared in 6, 5 and 4BC, Jesus was born in or before 4BC.
Today, many Pagan customs are reflected in
Christmas. The Christmas tree, mistletoe, gift-giving, even the colors (red,
green, gold etc.) associated with Christmas, have Pagan origins. Jesus was not
born in December, yet his birth is celebrated on 25th of December, the time of
solstice.
The meaning of this holiday is more
important, than the origin of the traditions that came along with it. Whether
it is December or some time in September, any day of the year would be a good
opportunity to reflect on Jesus Christ; His life and sacrifice for us.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
