Christmas, western culture's winter holiday, is named after a great man who influenced hundreds of people during his life, maybe thousands. Since his death large numbers of people have embraced what is claimed to be his philosophy, interpreted by his disciples and written down in the Christian Bible. In modern times Christian religions have attracted millions of members, claiming Jesus Christ as their founder and the inspiration for their teachings, and also claiming, in most cases, that he is the son of god. Christ's influence is so great that we count our years from his arbitrarily chosen birthday. It's now 2014AD, two thousand and fourteen years after the birth of Christ. So, Merry Christmas to all people whose calendars mark December 25th to be Christmas Day, regardless of your religious affiliation or lack thereof. No need, in my book, to change this greeting to "Happy Holidays".
But Christians do not have a monopoly on this joyful winter festival simply because of its accepted name. Non-Christians, secularists, atheists, humanists, even people of different faiths celebrate the season as well. Santa Claus, Christmas trees and lights, family, friends, neighbors, feasting, gift giving, and parties play an important part in nearly everyone's Christmas, including Christians. It's a way to brighten the gloom of winter's darkest days.
Some form of winter celebration has always been a part of history. Christmas is nothing new. Over time the feast name and reason for celebration has been changed. (A good source about Christmas in history is "Christmas Before Christ: The Surprising Truth! - United Church of God, www.ucg.org/christian-living/christmas-christ-surprising-truth.") Where did Christmas and our traditional forms of celebration come from?
"In the Roman Empire, by the time of Christ, Saturnalia, winter festival, was well known and established. The Roman Church was unable to get rid of the pagan holiday. So early in the 4th Century, the Roman Catholic Church, which was the dominant church in Europe, adopted the holiday and tried to convert it into a Christian celebration by declaring December 25 to be the day of the Lord's birth. They called it the Feast of the Nativity. This custom has been part of western culture ever since." (From "What are the origins of Christmas? | How did Christmas begin ...carm.org/what-are-the-origins-of-christmas.")
"... pagan traditions remained even as Christianity took hold. The Christmas tree is a 17th-century German invention ... but it clearly derives from the pagan practice of bringing greenery indoors to decorate in midwinter. The modern Santa Claus is a direct descendent of England's Father Christmas, who was not originally a gift-giver. However, Father Christmas and his other European variations are modern incarnations of old pagan ideas about spirits who traveled the sky in midwinter..." (From Pagan Roots? 5 Surprising Facts About Christmas - LiveScience, www.livescience.com/25779-christmas-traditions-history-paganism.html. Dec 22, 2012.)
Christmas, then, is a multifaceted holiday. Its roots are deep; its traditions are both ancient and more current. It's basically the celebration of the winter solstice, the beginning of lengthening days. And if you are Christian, it's also a birthday celebration.
No comments:
Post a Comment