around when was christmas actually born?

[lifeandliberty]

The Origin and Practices of Christmas: Christian or Pagan ?

____________________________________________________________________

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS AND CALENDARS - AN ENCYCLOPAEDIC HANDBOOK, 1993

Christmas Day

December 25

Christmas is the day on which Christians celebrate the birth of

Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic Church designates it as a day

of holy obligation on which members of the Church must attend

services.

Originally, the birth of Jesus was commemorated in the East on the

Feast of Epiphany (January 6) but by 354, the Christmas Feast had

taken hold in the West and was observed on December 25. Since the

fifth century, most Eastern Orthodox Churches have celebrated the

Nativity on December 25; however, some Eastern congregations,

called "Old Calendarists," still use the Julian calendar and honor

the birth of Christ thirteen days later, on January 7. The Armenian

Church continues to celebrate "Old Christmas" on January 6.

As with many traditions surrounding Christmas, the selection of

December 25 as a commemoration of Jesus' birthday may be an example

of the blending of Christian ideas and the pagan traditions they

replaced. December 25 was the date of the Mithric observance of

the "Birthday of the Invincible Sun." This also coincided with

Saturnalia and the Winter solstice during the period when Mithraism

was practiced in Rome. Since the day was already being kept as a

holiday, Christians may have adjusted the symbolism of the day,

declaring it the birthday of their "Invincible Son." According to

events in the Gospel of Matthew, the date of Jesus' birth may

actually have taken place much earlier in the year.

The word "Christmas" means "the mass of Christ," and originated in

the 11th century as a name for this feast. It was one of the most

popular and universally celebrated holidays in Europe during the

Middle Ages. During the Reformation, however, the celebration of

Christmas began to decline in importance. Reformers engaged in

complex doctrinal arguments in an attempt to prove the celebration

of Christmas was unscriptural.

In some countries, the Protestant reforms brought about a ban of

Christmas celebrations. By the time of the Restoration in 1660,

however, the celebration of Christmas as a much more secular holiday

was revived in these countries. In New England, Christmas remained

outlawed until the mid-nineteenth century, and in Boston classes

were held in the public schools on Christmas Day until 1870, with

pupils who missed school that day being punished or dismissed. The

mass immigration of Irish Catholics to New England brought about the

reinstitution of Christmas celebrations.

___________________________________________________________________

"Christmas.", DICTIONARY OF CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA, 1990

Both the northern European and North American custom of exchanging

gifts at Christmas... are possibly related to pre-Christian celebrations

at the close of the year. The celebration of Christmas has sometimes

been opposed as pagan by religious leaders. New England Puritans*

considered Christmas "popish" idolatry, and the Massachusetts General

Court in 1659 passed an act against its celebration, though the law

was repealed in 1681."

___________________________________________________________________

"Christmas", THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA, Vol. 3, "C-Ch", 1997

"The first mention of December 25 as the birth date of Jesus occurred

in A.D. 336 in an early Roman calendar. The celebration of this day

as Jesus' birth date was probably influenced by pagan [unchristian]

festivals held at that time. The ancient Romans held year-end

celebrations to honor Saturn, their harvest god; and Mithras, the [sic]

god of light... As part of all these celebrations, the people prepared

special foods, decorated their homes with greenery, and joined in

singing and gift giving. These customs gradually became part of the

Christmas celebration."

"In the late 300's, Christianity became the official religion of the

Roman Empire... The popularity of Christmas grew until the Reformation,

a religious movement of the 1500's. This movement gave birth to

Protestantism. During the Reformation, many Christians began to

consider Christmas a pagan celebration because it included nonreligious

customs. During the 1600's, because of these feelings, Christmas was

outlawed in England and in parts of the English colonies in America."

___________________________________________________________________

"Christmas", COLLIER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA, Vol. 6, 1992

"... The suppression of the Mass during the Reformation led to a sharp

change in the observance of Christmas in some countries. In England,

the Puritans condemned the celebration and, from 1642 to 1652, issued

a series of ordinances forbidding all church services and festivities.

This feeling was carried over to America by the Pilgrims and it was not

until the nineteenth-century wave of Irish and German immigration that

enthusiasm for the feast began to spread throughout the country.

Objections were swept aside and the old traditions revived among

Protestants as well as Catholics."

___________________________________________________________________

"Christmas," COMPTON'S INTERACTIVE ENCYCLOPEDIA, 1997

THE CHRISTMAS WREATH

The use of evergreens and wreaths as symbols of life was an ancient

custom of the Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews, among other peoples.

Tree worship was a common feature of religion among the Teutonic and

Scandinavian peoples of northern Europe before their conversion to

Christianity. They decorated houses and barns with evergreens at the new

year to scare away demons, and they often set up trees for the birds in

winter. For these northern Europeans, this winter celebration was the

happiest time of the year because it signified that the shortest day of

the year--about December 21--had passed. They knew the days would start

to get longer and brighter. The month during which this festival took

place was named Jol, from which the word yule is derived. Yule has come

to mean Christmas in some countries.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Trees and decorations. Ancient, pre-Christian winter festivals used

greenery, lights, and fires to symbolize life and warmth in the midst of

cold and darkness. These usages, like gift giving, have also persisted.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING

Gift giving is one of the oldest customs associated with Christmas: it is

actually older than the holiday itself. When the date of Christmas was

set to fall in December, it was done at least in part to compete with

ancient pagan festivals that occurred about the same time. The Romans,

for example, celebrated the Saturnalia on December 17. It was a winter

feast of merrymaking and gift exchanging. And two weeks later, on the

Roman New Year--January 1, houses were decorated with greenery and

lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. As the Germanic

tribes of Europe accepted Christianity and began to celebrate Christmas,

they also gave gifts.

Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia

Copyright

[lifeandliberty]

MESSIAH'S BIRTH AT SUKKOT

By Dr. James Trimm

Shalom All,

There is evidence that Messiah was born at Sukkot (Boothes/Tabernacles) in

4 B.C.E..

The key to calculating the date of the birth of Messiah is Luke 1:5

where we learn that Zechariah the father of Yochanan was a priest

of the course of Abijah.

The priests became to numerous to all serve at the Temple all the time,

so they were divided into 24 courses (1Chron. 24). Each course served

for two weeks each year, once in the former rain (first half of the

year) and once in the latter rain (second half of the year). There were

also three weeks in which all the priests were required to serve, these

were the three pilgrimage festivals (Dt. 16:16). 24 times 2 is 48 plus

three is 51. 51 weeks is 357 days fitting nicely within the 360 day

lunar year.

The course of Abijah is the eighth course (1Chron. 24:10) which

serves the tenth week during the former rain portion of the year (this

is because during Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost) all fo the priests

serve together Dt. 16:16). Zechariah had his vision while serving in

the course of Abijah in the tenth week (It will become apparant that he

was serving his first course not his second as the timing will show as

we progress). Thus Zechariah's vision took place during the 10th week

of the year (The religious year beginning at Nisan/Abib around 14 days

before Passover). We must add two additional weeks before Yochanon

(John) could be concieved, due to the purity laws (Lev. 12:5; 15:19,

25). So Yochanon was concieved in the 12th week of the year. He was

born about 40 weeks later during the 52nd week of the year (12 + 40 =

52) which brings us to Passover. Thus Yochanon was born at Passover,

the very time that Elijah was, according to Jewish tradition, supposed

to appear.

Yeshua was concieved 6 months (about 25 weeks) after Yochanon's

conception. This means Yeshua was concieved around the 37th week around

Chanukah. This would mean the light of the world was concieved during

the festival of lights.

Yeshua was born 40 weeks later (around week 77 that is week 25 of the

following year) this brings us to the time of the fall feasts.

There are several clues that Yeshua was born at Sukkot:

1. Bethleham was "booked solid." This would not have been due

census which would have taken place over the period of a year.

Every Jew was required to come to Jerusalem for Sukkot (Dt. 16:16)

this would have over run Jerusalem as well as Bethleham just

five miles away.

2. Yeshua was born in a stable. The Hebrew word for "stable"

is "sukkah" (as in Gen. 33:17) so it is likely that Yeshua was born

in a Sukkah/booth.

3. If Yeshua was born on the first day of Sukkot then he would

have been circumcised on the "eigth great day" a festival following

Sukkot. This day was the original "Simchat Torah" (Rejoicing in

the Torah) which is now held the following day in Rabbinic Judaism.

So Yeshua would have entered the covenant on the day of "rejoicing

in the Torah."

4. When the angels appeared to the shepherds they made a statement

which closely echos the ancient Sukkot liturgy "...behold, we have come

to declare to you glad tidings of great joy." (Lk. 2:10-11)

5. Sukkot is symbolic of God dwelling in a "tabernacle" (body?)

with us.

Now in Mt. 2:7-8, 16 Herod kills all the children two and under. The

fact that he killed such a wide range indicates that he did not know

quite how long ago Messiah had been born. Yeshua's parants fled to

Egypt until they herad Herod was dead. They were back in bethleham in

time to perform Miriam's (Mary's) purificationa nd Yeshua's dedication

on the 4oth day after Yeshua's birth (as required by Torah) (Luke.

2:22-38. By this time Herod had to be dead or they could not have come

to the Tempole in Jerusalem. Herod had to have died during the 40 days

between Yeshua's birth, and his dedication 40 days later. Herod is

known to have died in September of 4 B.C.E. So Yeshua had to have born

in the fall (this rueles out that Zechariah could have been serving

during Abijah's second course of the year, since that would place

Yeshua's birth in the Spring and not allow for Herod's death during the

40 days after his birth in the fall). This also tells us that the year

of Yeshua's birth was 4 B.C.E.

[Fr Chuck]

Hello, first as it was mentioned, songs are just that, often they hold little value as scripture ( acutally no value unelss they come from bible verses)

There is really no Christian scholar that beleives Jesus was born in Dec or even close to Dec..

I don't have my book with the info here with me,

But basicly in the early church ( 3 or 4 th century) the Bishop of Rome set a date to celebrate the birth of Christ. Because of course being a Chrsitian was still an outlaw religion and you could be killed for it, they picked a date to fall on the same date of a pagan holiday, so when they celebrated no one would know the difference.

It was just a day picked by a man long ago to use.

Those who know sheep and the area, would tell you that the time of the year that shepherds are in the fields with thier flocks are in the spring time.

Also, to really break your song bubble, the wise men did not visit the manger, but visited in the home of Jesus latter.