Christas Presents

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Andrews, Peter (1975). Christmas in Colonial and Early America. United States: World Book Encyclopedia, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7166-2001-3. Current tradition in several Latin American countries (such as Venezuela and Colombia) holds that while Santa makes the toys, he then gives them to the Baby Jesus, who is the one who actually delivers them to the children's homes, a reconciliation between traditional religious beliefs and the iconography of Santa Claus imported from the United States. The School Journal, Volume 49. Harvard University. 1894 . Retrieved April 2, 2009. Throughout the Christian world the 25th of December is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus Christ. There was a time when the churches were not united regarding the date of the joyous event. Many Christians kept their Christmas in April, others in May, and still others at the close of September, till finally December 25 was agreed upon as the most appropriate date. The choice of that day was, of course, wholly arbitrary, for neither the exact date not the period of the year at which the birth of Christ occurred is known. For purposes of commemoration, however, it is unimportant whether the celebration shall fall or not at the precise anniversary of the joyous event.

However, in 17th century England, some groups such as the Puritans strongly condemned the celebration of Christmas, considering it a Catholic invention and the "trappings of popery" or the "rags of the Beast". [92] In contrast, the established Anglican Church "pressed for a more elaborate observance of feasts, penitential seasons, and saints' days. The calendar reform became a major point of tension between the Anglican party and the Puritan party." [114] The Catholic Church also responded, promoting the festival in a more religiously oriented form. King Charles I of England directed his noblemen and gentry to return to their landed estates in midwinter to keep up their old-style Christmas generosity. [106] Following the Parliamentarian victory over Charles I during the English Civil War, England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647. [92] [115] Eastern Orthodox Church jurisdictions, including those of Constantinople, Bulgaria, Ukraine [244] (state holiday, Orthodox and Greek Catholic), Greece, Romania, Antioch, Alexandria, Albania, Cyprus, Finland, the Orthodox Church in America. Hyden, Marc (December 20, 2021). "Merry Christmas, Saturnalia or festival of Sol Invictus?". Newnan Times-Herald. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022 . Retrieved February 17, 2023. Around 274 ADᵃ, Emperor Aurelian set December 25—the winter solstice at the time—for the celebration of Sol Invictus who was the 'Unconquered Sun' god. 'A marginal note on a manuscript of the writings of the Syriac biblical commentator Dionysius bar-Salibi states that in ancient times the Christmas holiday was actually shifted from January 6 to December 25 so that it fell on the same date as the pagan Sol Invictus holiday,' reads an excerpt from Biblical Archaeology. / Could early Christians have chosen December 25 to coincide with this holiday? 'The first celebration of Christmas observed by the Roman church in the West is presumed to date to [336 AD],' per the Encyclopedia Romanaᵃ, long after Aurelian established Sol Invictus' festival. a b c Martindale, Cyril Charles (1908). "Christmas". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.3. New York: Robert Appleton Company.Main article: Date of birth of Jesus Mosaic in Mausoleum M in the pre-fourth-century necropolis under St Peter's Basilica in Rome, interpreted by some as Jesus represented as Christus Sol (Christ the Sun). [50] Elm, Susanna (2012). Sons of Hellenism, Fathers of the Church. University of California Press. p.287. Online Etymology Dictionary". Archived from the original on January 13, 2012 . Retrieved December 13, 2011.

Steven Hijmans of the University of Alberta says the idea that the date was chosen to appropriate the pagan festival "has received wide acceptance". He agrees that the Church chose the date because it was the winter solstice, but he argues that "While they were aware that pagans called this day the 'birthday' of Sol Invictus, this did not concern them and it did not play any role in their choice of date for Christmas". [58] Hijmans says: "while the winter solstice on or around December 25 was well established in the Roman imperial calendar, there is no evidence that a religious celebration of Sol on that day antedated the celebration of Christmas". [83] Thomas Talley argues that Aurelian instituted the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti partly to give a pagan significance to a date he argues was already important for Christians. [62] The Church of England Liturgical Commission says this hypothesis has been challenged. [84] According to music scholar Michael Anderson, "Thomas Talley has shown that [...] pagan Rome ironically did not celebrate the winter solstice". [85] [ bettersourceneeded] The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought remarks that the "calculations hypothesis potentially establishes 25 December as a Christian festival before Aurelian's decree". [86] Relation to concurrent celebrations Nativity of Christ, medieval illustration from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)In Britain, the Christmas tree was introduced in the early 19th century by the German-born Queen Charlotte. In 1832, the future Queen Victoria wrote about her delight at having a Christmas tree, hung with lights, ornaments, and presents placed round it. [140] After her marriage to her German cousin Prince Albert, by 1841 the custom became more widespread throughout Britain. [141] Further information: Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union, Kirchenkampf, and Antireligious campaigns in China A 1931 edition of the Soviet magazine Bezbozhnik, published by the League of Militant Atheists, depicting an Orthodox Christian priest being forbidden to take home a tree for the celebration of Christmastide, which was banned under the Marxist–Leninist doctrine of state atheism. [259]

When was the last time football matches in Britain were played on Christmas Day?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014 . Retrieved October 23, 2014. Alkan, Sena (December 19, 2015). "The history behind Christmas and Turkey". Daily Sabah . Retrieved November 30, 2022. West's Federal Supplement. West Publishing Company. 1990. While the Washington and King birthdays are exclusively secular holidays, Christmas has both secular and religious aspects. Christian church of God – history of Christmas". Christianchurchofgod.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010 . Retrieved February 24, 2011.Some early Christians marked Jesus's crucifixion on a date they deemed equivalent to the 14th of Nisan, the day before Passover in the Hebrew calendar. This feast was referred to as the Quartodeciman (Latin for "fourteenth"). Some early Christian writers equated the 14th of Nisan with the equinox on March 25, and made the date of his conception or birth the same as that of his death. [71] Tertullian (d. AD 220), who lived in Latin-speaking North Africa, dated Jesus's death to March 25. [72] McGrath, Alister E. (January 27, 2015). Christianity: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. p.239. ISBN 978-1-118-46565-3. Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p 148 ISBN 0-471-29198-6. a b c Bradshaw, Paul (2020). "The Dating of Christmas". In Larsen, Timothy (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Christmas. Oxford University Press. pp.4–5. Christmas Tradition – The Christmas Tree Custom". Fashion Era. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007 . Retrieved December 18, 2007.