Please explain what holdings Christians have over it. I know it was converted to Christmas from the original pagan holiday(sorry, I don't know the name of it) in order to convert pagans to Christianity. I also know that historically Christ was not born in December but rather in April. Why do we not have a REAL Christmas in April? Isn't it a lie to celebrate a day that doesn't exist in that time frame? If so why is it so widely recognized as a Christian holiday eventhough it isn't?
2006-09-16 04:42:07 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Christmas
I looked it up and Jesus was born sometime in April, nowhere near December.
2006-09-16 07:29:56 · update #1
Shhhh, don't tell the Pope he's actually does Pagan Worship !!!
He's already pi*s*d the Muslims off this week. We might be next week!!!!
2006-09-16 08:08:41 · answer #1 · answered by masterwitchphd 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
here's an excerpt from a religion paper I had to do back in March about pagan-based Christian holidays:
One Catholic holiday that originated from a pagan celebration is Christmas. It comes from Saturnalia, the Roman feast commemorating the dedication of Saturn’s temple on December 17th. It was expanded to a weeklong celebration through December 23rd. In 274, Emperor Aurelian placed the celebration on December 25th. A theory says that fourth century Christians placed Christmas on December 25th because pagans already celebrated it as a holiday. Another idea is that the day was chosen because of the pagan belief of the coming of light after the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. Early Christians decided that placing Jesus’ birthday a few days after the winter solstice would show that Jesus was the true light of the world.
2006-09-16 22:37:08 · answer #2 · answered by liz_enator 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Christmas may well have been called Yuletide in England, but Christianity did not originate there.
The twenty-fifth of December was chosen to celebrate the birth of Christ because it co-incided with a Roman holiday and midwinter (Dec. 21st). Christmas is actually part of Advent which begins on the first Sunday in December and marks the beginning of the Church's year.
Easter co-incides with the Jewish Passover, but the original method of calculating the date for Easter contained an error. This was later corrected.
Christianity began in Jerusalem and reflect a good deal of Jewish tradition - it has little or nothing in common with paganism.
2006-09-16 16:11:30 · answer #3 · answered by latics7 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Pagans celebrate the winter solstice, on Dec 21st. They did all sorts of rituals which are still used today. They used to decorate their surroundings and exchange gifts to celebrate the solstice. It was a popular customs among the commoners, and the Christians decided that they would adopt a similiar holiday(dont forget that January and February used to be the last two months of the year). They picked Dec 25 to celebrate Christ's birth, and thats how Christmas day came about.
2006-09-16 11:54:52 · answer #4 · answered by Julius L 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In the early years of Christianity, when it was just one of many new and young religons, one of the Popes (I forget which one) decided to have all the Christian major Feasts/Festivals/Holidays on the same day as the other, more common religions. This was so a person couldn't go to a Pagan holiday today and a Christian holiday tomorrow; he would have to choose between them. He then ordered everyone to make sure that the Christian holiday feast/ceremony was better than the other ones.
So Christ's Mass was celebrated at Yule, All Saint's day was moved to Samhain, Easter to Ostara, etc......
At one time, Christian practice was to allow other Gods to be worshipped in their churches, along with the Christian God. As time went on, and Christianity gained preference (and thereby power), the other Gods were removed, and later, demonized.
2006-09-16 11:55:00 · answer #5 · answered by tyrsson58 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Pagan holiday is Yule. Has nothing to do with the Christian God. More with season change I think
2006-09-16 16:41:07 · answer #6 · answered by ~Jen~ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Pagan holiday is Yule.
2006-09-16 11:47:27 · answer #7 · answered by Ravenhawk 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I herad Christ was born in the fall not Dec.? And that people have truely gotten so for into debt with trying to inpress others that they miss the HOLE true meaning of it anyway. It is sad for those people.
2006-09-16 13:54:46 · answer #8 · answered by Purple Passion 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Good question, heres another one, most people that celebrate Christams teach their kids that santan clause is coming, but if you take a close look at santa you can see the letters SATAN CLAUSE,. I celebrat christmas too, but just recently rethought the whole thing.
2006-09-16 15:35:00 · answer #9 · answered by theladylooking 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It was the only way to get the Norsemen to convert from the worship of the one true god Odin.
2006-09-16 11:50:36 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋