Religious Festivals †<

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What is Christmas?

The festival of Christmas gets its name from the term Christ’s Mass, or a mass performed in honor of Christ. It is at this time that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The exact dating of Christmas has never been agreed, although it is now celebrated on December 25th. This date has little to do with actual facts and much to do with attempts by Christians to appeal to potential pagan converts by appropriating their own festivals of Saturnalia and Brumalia. The earliest calendars to list December 25th as Christmas do not appear until 336 CE. 

There is no hint in the Gospels about the time of the year when Jesus is supposed to have been born - except that it couldn't have been winter, because in that part of the world this is the rainy season and shepherds would not be out at night. The very attempt to celebrate the birth of Christ has always been questionable in Christianity. It was a pagan tradition not a Christian one to celebrate Birthdays, Christian saints for example are celebrated on the day of their death.

It is no coincidence that in 274 CE, when the winter solstice fell on December 25th, pagan emperor Aurelian proclaimed this day as Natalis Solis Invicti, the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. Pagan Rome had many celebrations at this time of year. It was an important festival of their God Saturn who died or was displaced by Jupiter, the sky-god. From December 17th to 24th, Romans did not have to work and the exchanging of gifts took place. Much of what we think of as Christian celebration is Germanic in origin these Nordic nations also had their greatest festivals of the year in winter. Evergreen trees and holly became festival symbols, because they continued to hold on to their green colors despite the harshest winters.

So that’s, Dec. 25th, Christmas Trees, Holly and Celebrations of Birth, all are traditions. Ancient pagan celebrations rather than Christian religious symbols. So far I see no reason for Religion in the celebration of the old Winter Solstice.

In fact in the English speaking world, Christmas was very nearly killed off in the late 1500’s by Protestants who objected to Christmas so much that, wherever they held power, they passed laws banning it. The Scottish Presbyterian Church banned it in 1583 and James I had to reinstitute it by force of arms. In 1644 thousands rioted against the Christmas prohibitions enacted by Cromwell in England. Christmas was declared to be a day of fasting and penance, not a day of revelry and celebration. After the Restoration of the Monarcy when the proabitions were lifted, people treated Christmas with a great deal of indifference and without much in the way of religious reverence. Such debates and Arguments continued even as late as the 1700’s. Even today a few Christian groups adhere to this thinking, with the largest of these being Jehovah's Witnesses.

So what is Christmas? Some Pagan traditions and a large number of modern traditions which are nearly all secular and/or commercial in nature. So the next time you consider asking a non-Christian why they celebrate Christmas ask yourself why you do. The truth is religion doesn’t come into it. If you wish to spend time with your loved ones and express your affection for each other with the giving and receiving of gifts, do so it’s a tradition, not religion.

And Christmas isn’t the only non-Christian Christian festival what of Easter surely the death and resurrection of the son of god is a unique. No. Actually the name Easter comes from a pagan figure called Eastre or Eostre who was celebrated as the goddess of spring by the Pagans. A festival called Eastre was held during the Spring equinox which occurs on March 20, 21 or 22 each year. When the second century Christians wanted the pagans to covert, they decided to use the name Easter for this holiday and stage it at the same time of year so that it would match the old Spring celebration. This made it more comfortable for those converts to accept Christianity and still retain their celebrations. The goddess Eastres' earthly symbol was the rabbit, which was also known as a symbol of fertility. Originally, there were some very pagan (and sometimes evil) practices that went along with the celebration. In our day, Easter is almost a completely commercialized holiday, with all the focus on Easter eggs, the Easter bunny, etc. Because of the commercialisation and pagan origins of Easter, many churches are starting to refer to it as Resurrection Day.

- Duncan Rossiter