How Christmas Came To Be

The Christmastime that most of us think of--decorated trees, families gathered to exchange gifts, cards from loved ones--has not been around forever. In fact, it's kind of a recent development considering the real history of Christmas. The festivities of December 25th as we know it today actually took hundreds of years to develop and really didn't catch on until about the middle of the nineteenth century.

Everyone assumes that Christmas has been celebrated ever since the birth of Jesus Christ but that's not the case. The truth is most scholars are a bit unsure about the actual day or month that the baby Jesus arrived. Biblical records have led these scholars to believe the year was around 3 B.C. or 4 B.C. If you look at the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, you will find many of the elements of age-old Christmas story.

Luke's tale of the shepherds and angels are the essence of many of the world's most famous Christmastime songs. This Gospel highlighted the trials and tribulations of Joseph and Mary; weary travelers forced to spend the night in a stable because there was no room at the local inn. And there, in this stable, the baby Jesus is born and put in a feeding trough (a.k.a. a manger) to take the place a baby cradle.

The Gospel of Matthew gave birth to The Star of Bethlehem and the Three Wise Men as Christmas symbols. Over the years, astronomers have tried to explain or dispute the Star of Bethlehem claim. Some say that it must have been a comet, but world records do not corroborate any comet sightings during 3 or 4 B.C. The best explanation to date for the Star of Bethlehem has come from astrologists who point out that, in the year 7 B.C., Jupiter and Saturn were aligned in the constellation of Pisces. Astrological legend dictates that such an alignment is a sign of the Messiah. Although astronomical findings back up the fact of such an alignment, the fact that this occurred in or around 7 B.C. makes is a bit too late to coincide with Jesus' birth based on today's common religious scholarship's findings.

A very interesting finding if you look closely at the Gospel of Matthew is that the Gospel never clearly indicates that there were THREE wise men. The Gospel only mentions men and three gifts. More than likely popular culture jumped to the assumption that three gifts must've been brought by Three Wise Men. Some scholars even question if these men were actual kings. A passage in Psalms refers to kings bearing gifts, but they are also referred to as Magi.

So how did all this sketchiness of the Gospels lead us to a specific time and date for the birth of Jesus? It wasn't until 306 AD that Christianity really took hold in the world. That's when Roman Emperor Constantine came to power and converted himself and the empire to Christianity. Some thirty years later Pope Julius declared December 25th the official birth date of Jesus and in 567 AD the day was finally declared a civic holiday by Emperor Justinian.

Why December 25th? It wasn't an arbitrary date, but rather a calculated choice that reflected the importance of winter solstice festivals for Europe and Asia. In this way, Christian worship could slowly be incorporated into the most deep-rooted non-Christian celebrations. And the calculated choice worked. By 598 Christmas had made its way to merry old England as the first Archbishop of Canterbury, Saint Augustine, not only embraced the holiday but also became the prime architect of England's Christmas celebration. Christmas came to Germany in 813 AD, via the Synod of Mainz, and was brought to Norway in the mid 900's by King Hakon the Good. By the end of the ninth century, Christmas was observed all over Europe with trees and lights and feasts. The items that had held significance for the old religions were either tossed aside or altered to fit within a Christian context.

The years that followed were trying times for Christmas celebrations in England. Public rowdiness led to religious objections and the adverse social conditions that grew out of the Industrial Revolution dampened any Christmas spirit that remained. The German, however, took the Christmas ball and ran with it. They espoused the idea of keeping the spirit of Christmas alive in one's heart and mind and celebrating this spirit in mass. Although they did not invent the Christmas tree, the Germans most assuredly perfected it. With decorated trees, gingerbread houses, cookies, feasts and carols, a German Christmas was a Christmas of childhood joy and wonder. And, last, but surely not least, let's not forget that the Germans gave the world the timeless holiday carols "Oh, Christmas Tree" and "Silent Night."

Thankfully Queen Victoria came to power in England and Christmas, once again, had an important place in English life. With Charles Dickens influence, people were reminded of what the holiday truly meant and all that it could bring to their lives. The Christmas card was created and carols became so popular that they were sung even in church. In fact, most of the images we have of outdoor carolers come from these Victorian times.

Interestingly, the custom of gift giving on Christmas Day did not come about until the late 1800's. Until then most celebrations had adhered to the old Roman tradition of waiting until New Year's Eve. Can you imagine staring at those gifts for a whole additional week? The kids had to be beside themselves. Somewhere along the line in the next twenty year the giving of gifts was switched to Christmas Day (maybe it was the kids pushing for it or maybe it was the merchandisers who made and sold and reaped the profits of the gifts). However this turnabout came to be, by the twentieth century Christmas was fully established as a worldwide holiday as we know it today. So the next time you sing a carol on Christmas Eve or rip open a gift on Christmas Morning, you should give a tip of the hat to the Romans, the English, and the Germans for the happiest holiday of the year.

 

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