The Christmas season begins at sundown on 24th December and lasts through sundown on 5th January. For that reason, this season is also known as the Twelve Days of Christmas.
The idea to celebrate Christmas on December 25 originated in the 4th century. The Catholic Church wanted to eclipse the festivities of a rival pagan religion that threatened Christianity's existence. The Romans celebrated the birthday of their sun god, Mithras during this time of year. Although it was not popular, or even proper, to celebrate people's birthdays in those times, church leaders decided that in order to compete with the pagan celebration they would themselves order a festival in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Although the actual season of Jesus' birth is thought to be in the spring, the date of December 25 was chosen as the official birthday celebration as Christ's Mass so that it would compete head on with the rival pagan celebration. Christmas was slow to catch on in America. The early colonists considered it a pagan ritual. The celebration of Christmas was even banned by law in Massachusetts in colonial days.
Showing posts with label Catholic church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catholic church. Show all posts
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Christmas mis-information
I came across this while doing some stuff for work today.
"God is a smart Creator. It?s almost as if he knew that Christmas needed to be placed at the end of the year, because it gives us a chance to cool down from all the stress and frustration that?s built up over the first 11 and 3/4 months."
While, I'm sure it has been a stressful year for the author, they really should check their facts before writing. Especially the part where God didn't choose the date of Christmas. It was chosen by the early Catholic church. They picked this time of year for Christmas since there were already several different celebrations being held for various pagans religions at the time. It's just another way that the Catholics co-oped most of their faith instead of taking the time to create their own. Also, many scholars believe that the time of Christ's birth would have actually been in summer. A long ways away from December!!
"God is a smart Creator. It?s almost as if he knew that Christmas needed to be placed at the end of the year, because it gives us a chance to cool down from all the stress and frustration that?s built up over the first 11 and 3/4 months."
While, I'm sure it has been a stressful year for the author, they really should check their facts before writing. Especially the part where God didn't choose the date of Christmas. It was chosen by the early Catholic church. They picked this time of year for Christmas since there were already several different celebrations being held for various pagans religions at the time. It's just another way that the Catholics co-oped most of their faith instead of taking the time to create their own. Also, many scholars believe that the time of Christ's birth would have actually been in summer. A long ways away from December!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
