Is
it possible that Christmas as we know it today has it’s origins in the feast of
the Son of Isis, a pagan celebration which
also, coincidentally was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying,
gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of that feast.
At
the same time some historians believe that Christ’s birth probably occurred in
September, approximately six months after Passover. In 350, Pope Julius I
declared that Christ's birth would be celebrated on December 25 possibly trying
to make easing the way for pagan Romans to convert to Christianity.
And when we turn
to the scripture, the New Testament gives no date or year for Christ’s
birth. The earliest gospel – St. Mark’s, written about 65 CE – begins with
the baptism of an adult Jesus. This suggests that the earliest Christians
lacked interest in or knowledge of Jesus’ birthdate.
Academic Joseph A.
Fitzmyer, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at the Catholic University of
America, member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and former president of
the Catholic Biblical Association – writing in the Catholic Church’s official
commentary on the New Testament, writes about the date of Christ’s birth,
“Though the year of Jesus birth is not reckoned with certainty, the birth did
not occur in AD 1. The Christian era, supposed to have its starting point
in the year of Jesus birth, is based on a miscalculation introduced ca. 533 by
Dionysius Exiguus.”
These
days however, for many people, Christmas means a range of things. The most
popular ones are spending time with the family and visiting relatives and
friends. If there are young children in the family then all activities revolve
around them, and parents get very excited for their child’s first Christmas. For
children in particular it means presents and the more the better.
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