What is the origin of Christmas? | GotQuestions.org

The Meaning of Christmas and Its Historical Origins

Hi there. Many others like you have asked, what is the origin of Christmas? Let's find out shall we? You can also discover this answer and more on GotQuestions .org. Christmas is a popular December holiday celebrated by large numbers of people all around the world.

Christmas or the Mass of Christ has been long known as the Celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and the celebration first began to be observed in the early 4th century. However, some traditions associated with Christmas actually began as a part of pagan culture.

How Christmas Traditions Were Christianized

These were Christianized and given new meaning by the church. The exact date of Jesus birth is unknown as the Bible does not give specific as to the dates of either his birth or Conception. For various reasons the date of December 25th gained wide acceptance at the time of Christ.

Roman culture already celebrated a holiday in December. Saturnalia honored the God Saturn and was celebrated from December 17th to about December 24th. Later, the Romans began celebrating Sol Invictus or the unconquered Sun Associated with a winter solstice and observed on December 25th when Rome eventually instituted Christianity as the state religion.

In the 4th century the Roman Church converted Saturnalia and Sol Invictus to a Christian holiday the Feast of the Nativity in order to commemorate Jesus birthday thus providing a spiritually positive alternative to a pagan celebration.

Whether Christmas Is Acceptable for Christians

The sinful customs and debauchery Associated with Saturnalia were cleaned up and some of the customs were absorbed into the celebration of Christmas. Christians have redeemed December 25th and have celebrated as the birth of Christ ever since the 4th century.

Given the association Christmas had with the ancient pagan calendar the question then becomes is it Acceptable for Christians to celebrate it. It is important to note the Christmas Saturnalia and Sol Invictus were all distinct holidays.

They were never identical to each other. Also, although some elements of Christmas celebrations are mentioned in the history of pagan worship the use of such items in one's home in No way indicates a return to paganism.

In conclusion Christians simply celebrate Christmas to remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Celebrating Christmas is a matter of conscience. All right, that answers your question. What is the origin of Christmas on our website got questions org?

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