The History and Origin of Christmas

by Frank Dalotto

New Jersey Leisure Guide

The origin of Christmas stemmed from pagan
festivals like the popular Roman Saturnalia, which celebrated Winter Solstice. In the early pre-Christian
era, winter celebrations were very popular and followed pagan rituals. Paganism in Europe
celebrated light and the darkest days of winter, the Winter Solstice.

What is Paganism?

Paganism describes the ancient and modern religions
which identify Nature as the body of the Divine. Pagans often speak of many
Gods and Goddesses. Paganism
refers to the religions of ancient Greece and Rome and the surrounding areas.

Early Europeans
marked the year’s longest night — Winter
solstice  – to
celebrate the worst
of the winter being behind them as they look ahead to longer days and extended
hours of sunlight. During this celebration, they slaughtered livestock
that could not be kept through the winter and feasted from late December
through January. German pagans honored Oden, a frightening god who flew over
settlements at night, blessing some people and cursing others. The Norse in
Scandinavia celebrated Yule tide, with families burning a giant log and feasting
on it until it turned to ash. Sound like today’s Christmas? You Bet!

Nowhere in the New Testament do we see Jesus’ disciples
observing His birthday. Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th. The apostles did
not honor pagan rituals, and accordingly, preached to other Christians to avoid
the pagan rituals. As a result, the early Christians didn’t observe Jesus’
birthday.

No one knows the
birth date of Jesus, or even what year. Jesus, according to many historians was
born in the springtime. The origin of Christmas took place in 336 AD. Pope Julius I declared
the birth and celebration of Jesus’ birthday as Christmas and chose December
25th because it coincided with the pagan traditions of Winter Solstice. The
purpose was to replace the pagan celebrations with the Christian one.

Most
Christmas customs, the decorating the evergreen “Christmas” tree, the hanging of
mistletoe, gift exchanges, and Santa Claus, all came from pagan winter practices and secular traditions
that were celebrated throughout Europe.

Christmas
as we know it today, is not only a mix of ancient pagan practices and hundreds
of years of adopting secular and religious traditions, it also has a Victorian
period influence that affected the practice and acceptance of Christmas.

As
early as the seventeenth century the celebration of Christmas was still
regarded as a pagan festival that was not permitted in England and in many of
the English colonies in America. It took almost 800 years for Christmas to
become the important festival it is today. In the early seventeenth century, England’s
colorful leader Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan who followed the Bible to the word,
banned Christmas as a Pagan celebration. Christmas did not return as a
Christian holiday in England until Charles II came to power.

During
that period in history when the Puritans descended upon America, Christmas was
not recognized as a Christian festivity.

Once
the colonies became independent, English influence and practices declined and
our forefathers restored Christmas.

Over
time, as Christians adopted Christmas and attended Christmas Mass, it became a
tradition at the end of Mass to enter into wild celebrations of drinking similar
to the Mardi Gras festivals, and It wasn’t until the nineteenth century when
the practice of Christmas and the festival like celebrations ceased and gave
way to observing Christmas with family values and traditions.

Several events came into play in the Nineteenth century that changed the
observance of Christmas to become a family focused tradition. New York City
created the first full time, salaried Police Force in America and assigned it a
riot control function to combat the increasing race and industrial riots, as
well as Christmas celebrations that were getting out of control. The other was Washington
Irving who authored a collection of short stories on The Sketchbook of Geoffrey
Crayon, and the celebration of Christmas in an English country house. The
Christmas stories portrayed an English noble man who invited the poor into his
home to celebrate Christmas in a caring, friendly manner to bridge the gap
between the haves and have-not. Irving’s writings were believed to have
widespread influence in establishing the tradition and meaning of Christmas of
being a caring, non- status oriented observance of Christmas.

Christmas
wasn’t declared a federal holiday in the US until June 26, 1870. However, on
December 6, 1999, federal judge U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott ruled that
Christmas has become so secular that the government does not violate the
Constitution by declaring it a federal legal holiday.

Today,
Christmas has evolved to being a multicultural, multi-religious holiday celebrated
throughout the world. In the US over 90% of the population celebrates
Christmas. Depending on national and local customs, it integrates sun worship,
polytheism, pagan nature religions, Christianity, and other later myths and
traditions.

Christmas
has now become for the most part. a secular holiday and a commercial enterprise
with many mass-produced symbols and decorations, including Santa Claus’s red
uniform, designed by Coca Cola.

The celebration of Christmas is enjoyed by
nearly everyone! The non-religious celebrate the joyous traditions. The
Christians believe that Christmas has something to do with Christ and celebrate
religious rituals. The pagans celebrate nature and the tie-in with Winter
Solstice. Commercial enterprises enjoy the profits from the sale of
decorations, symbols, and gifts.

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