Casting light on the origin of Christmas (From Gazette & Herald)

Casting light on the origin of Christmas

9:30am Wednesday 23rd December 2009

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CHRISTMAS means different things to different people.

We have our own interpretation of this great Christian festival with many attending church on the day.

For some, however, the holiday has little or no Christian relevance – lots associate it with shopping, colourful lights and decorated fir trees, some depart for holidays and for others it is a good reason for sporting activities or heading into the hills for a brisk walk.

I knew one man who always spent Christmas in a Muslim country because he detested the British commercialism but it must be said that this time is frequently one of lonely sadness for some. Our thoughts and prayers reach out to those in unhappy solitude. Alternatively, it is a time for family gatherings over traditional Christmas feasts.

There have been many attempts to ban Christmas but it has always survived. Even today, those attempts continue with some councils celebrating Winterval or something equally daft. The truth is it will be impossible to ban Christmas – the Puritans tried but failed. Even if a modern authoritarian government declared the celebration of Christmas to be illegal, it would continue in secret to re-emerge in a stronger position.

But with Christmas such a time of worldwide celebration and happiness, how, when and why did it all begin? Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ in Bethlehem – that is its purpose.

However, similar celebrations were occurring in Scandinavian countries and elsewhere long before Christ was born. In Scandinavia they were usually near the end of November and were known as jiuleis or giuli from which our word Yule is derived.

Because there was little pasturage for cattle some were killed and their carcases roasted over a huge fire. This symbolised light as the sun was dying and one feature was a massive log that was rescued from the blaze to represent the fire. That log was kept until the following year when it was used to kindle the new fire and bring luck to the household.

In ancient Rome before Christ’s birth there was a similar pagan celebration called Saturnalia. It started on December 17 and continued for a week, involving processions of people with evergreen garlands on their heads as they carried candles. The poor mingled with the wealthy and many exchanged places, with slaves acting as masters and masters acting as slaves.

At that time December 25 marked the winter solstice and was a sacred to the pagans. It was the day the sun became stronger as winter passed and in AD 274, the Emperor Aurelian selected that day as the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun with lots of celebrations, feasting and drinking. When the pagan Romans invaded nations including Britain, they took those and other celebrations with them, calling them The Golden Age. By this time, the Christian church was growing rapidly from its headquarters in Rome in defiance of the pagans and the question of how and when to celebrate the birth of its founder began to exercise the mind of the pope.

Pope Julius I, who reigned from AD 337 to AD 352, was fully aware of other festivals around the known world, particularly those celebrated by the Jews, and he was also aware that the precise date of Christ’s birth was not known. Based on information gleaned from the gospels it appeared Jesus had been born some time between the end of July and the end of October.

Based solely on tradition, it was believed the day of his birth was on the 25th of the month but no-one knew which month. Experts presented several suggestions, one being that Jesus was born on December 25th, then the date of winter solstice.

There was no way the Pope could declare a particular day to be the precise birth date of Christ but he could end the arguments by declaring a chosen date upon which to celebrate that birth. It is rather like our Sovereign having an official birthday as well as her real birth date and so on some unspecified date during his reign Pope Julius declared that the birthday of Jesus Christ should be celebrated on December 25. His actions were accepted by all except the Eastern Church but by the fifth century, Julius had talks with Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem and they agreed to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25.

It was inevitable that many pagan customs would continue during the new Christian festivities and even today, we make use of Yule logs, candles, evergreen plants and so forth. This does not mean we are pagans because the focus is the birth of the founder of the Christian faith. Indeed, the name was declared as Christes Masse which meant the Mass of Christ.

It is from that name that we get our Christmas.

I wish a happy Christmas to all readers.

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