XMAS Tidbit #3: Why December 25?

First off, the actual birth date of Jesus is not known. No date is given in the Bible, birth certificates didn't exist back in the first century, and no one wrote down the date! Some think based on Biblical clues that it may have been in the fall sometime, but no one knows for sure. So why is it celebrated on December 25? I wasn't 100% sure myself, to be honest, so I did some research. What I discovered was that there was one popular theory and other less supported ones.

As mentioned in my last “tidbit”, the first recorded date of the birth of Jesus being celebrated, aka Christmas, on December 25th was in 336 AD, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the December 25th. This decision subsequently spread throughout Europe and eventually North America.

The most popular theory for selecting December 25 seems to be the following: During the first two centuries (prior to “Christmas”), the early church celebrated the Epiphany (the revelation that Jesus was God's son) and the Baptism of Jesus on January 6. Jesus's Baptism was originally seen as more important than his birth at that point in time, as this was when he started his ministry. When the idea to celebrate his birth was proposed, possibly as early as 273 AD, people wanted a separate day to celebrate it.

December 25 already hosted two other related festivals: natalis solis invicti (the Roman "birth of the unconquered sun"), and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness" whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers. The winter solstice, another celebration of the sun, fell just a few days earlier. Seeing that the Roman pagans were already exalting deities with some parallels to the true deity, church leaders evidently decided to adopt the date and introduce a new festival to celebrate “the son” rather than “the sun”. Thus December 25th was chosen to celebrate the birth of “the son”.

Other less supported theories include an early Christian tradition that Mary was informed by the angel Gabriel about Jesus (called the Annunciation) on March 25th. Thus nine months later would be December 25. March 25th was also the day some early Christians thought the world had been made, and also the day that Jesus died on the cross.

Another theory is that the Jewish festival of Lights, Hanukkah, starts on the 25th of Kislev (the month in the Jewish calendar that occurs at about the same time as December). Hanukkah celebrates when the Jewish people were able to re-dedicate and worship in their Temple, in Jerusalem, following years of not being allowed to practice their religion. Since Jesus was a Jew, some think this could be another reason that helped the early Church choose December 25.

So there you have it. I’ll admit that I was not aware of much of this, so I hope you’ll find it interesting as well!

XMAS Tidbit #2: The chicken or the egg?

Curious about the history of Christmas, particularly in the United States? Me too. When did we first celebrate the holiday, and when did Santa enter the picture? Did we celebrate the birth of Jesus before or after the arrival of Santa? This is what I found out:

An illuminated manuscript called the “Chronography of 354”, which was produced for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus in 354 AD, stated the following for the year 336 AD: “25 Dec.: natus Christus in Betleem Judeae.” (December 25th, Christ born in Bethlehem, Judea.). So it is widely believed that December 25, 336, was the first recorded celebration of the birth of Jesus, or Christmas. I found it interesting to note that this manuscript was created a mere 300 years after Jesus died, and around the same time the first Bibles were being organized. Why December 25? That’s the topic in XMAS Tidbit #3! 

Christmas commemorating Jesus' birth was officially recognized in England in 816 AD, while the first Christmas in America occurred in 1492 AD.

The modern figure of Santa Clause is widely believed to have originated from Saint Nicholas of Myra, a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province which is now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. Saint Nicholas became known as Sinterklaas in Amsterdam around the same time. In 841 AD, the first story about Saint Nicholas appeared, and his legend began to grow throughout Europe. In 16th century England, a character named “Father Christmas” evolved from the direct influence of Saint Nicholas/Sinterklaas. In the 18th century, Sinterklaas and Father Christmas were Americanized into “Santa Claus”, a name first used in the American press in 1773 (New York Gazette).

The current depiction of Santa Claus was thought to have been based on images drawn by cartoonist Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly beginning in 1863, which he based on Clement Clarke Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.” The first decorated Christmas tree was believed to have appeared in 1510 at Riga in Latvia. The idea of gift-giving was originally meant to remind people of the magi's offerings to Jesus and of God's gift of Christ to humankind. Modern gift-giving (specifically to children) did not become the central Christmas tradition it is today until the late 18th century.

It wasn't until the 20th Century that pop culture began to commercialize Christmas when Christmas trees, Santa Claus, snowmen, holly, mistletoe and eggnog began appearing in movies, plays and songs worldwide. Not surprising, the original focus on Jesus' birth began to diminish some once this started to happen.

So there you have it! December 25 originally began as a celebration of Jesus’ birth, and evolved throughout time to include the Christmas elements we know today. One thing I discovered when writing this is that there is anything but a shortage of resources online that discuss these subjects, that's for sure!

XMAS Tidbit #1: Christmas Carols....how old are they?

After listening to three channels of Christmas music on satellite radio the past couple of weeks, I began to wonder how old some of those familiar carols were. For the most part, there are two types of carols, and, for lack of better names, I'll call them "Nativity carols" ('Silent Night') and "Santa carols" ('White Christmas").

After doing a little research, I was surprised to find how much older the "Nativity carols" were than the "Santa carols". In fact, the most well known "Nativity carols" were written in the 18th and 19th centuries (many not in English), while nearly all of the popular "Santa carols" were penned in the 20th century. In fact, if you look at the chart below, the only Christmas carols in existence prior to 1934 were "Nativity carols". The one exception could be "Jingle Bells", which was written in 1857, but not specifically as a Christmas song. It didn't become one until a 1902 recording.

And with that, I'll let you draw your own conclusions on why!