Where does Christmas originate from? Why Dec. 25th? Why???

Question

If Jesus was born in the spring, when things were growing and beginning, why would the celebration of his birth be in the winter, when everything has died away? Why is it around the time the Aztecs (our winter-their spring) celebrated the birth of their sun god? Who made up all the symbols of Christmas? In Hebrew scriptures, the tongue which Jesus spoke, his name is Yeshua or Yeshoor. Why does his name start out with 'J', a letter not invented til 1,000 years later. Who changed his name & why? Why is it so close to the name Zeus, the head god of another religion? Why is Mary the name of King James's sister? Why is Joseph another family member of King James? Why do people follow a selfish king such as King Constantine who changed the Sabbath to Sunday? Even in the Spanish language, Sabbath & Saturday are translated into sabado. Why doesn't the Bible speak of Jesus's travels to India? Why doesn't it say he was wealthy? He was the decendant of mighty, King David?...just why?

Yes, I'm sorry, Jesus was born around the High Holy Days...Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur...only right to be born during the time of purifying yourself, repenting, and giving offerings. Which leads to one answer, yes, the sheperds were traveling with an offering...Yom Kippur is one of the few times you give an offering. So, yes, born in the fall...about this time because Rosh Hashannah is this weekend. Hebrew calendar is not crazy like the Gregorian.

Answer 1

because of Rome. There was a time about 300 years after Christ died, that it was illegal to be Christian. This meant that Rome was heading toward a civil war. So the emperor, Augustine, declared that Christianity was the official religion of Rome. Not because he wanted to be a Christian, (in fact he wasn't baptised till he was on his death bed. Even though he couldn't speak and he was dying, he made it clear that he did not want to be baptised, but they did it anyway.) but because he realised that the realm could not stand with two religions and the Christians were the least likely to change their minds. So, Augustine rewrote the Christian calendar to reflect Roman ritual. Dec. 25 was orginally Saturnalia, a holiday celebrated much the way we celebrate Christmas now. To appease the non-Christians and to make people more cohesive as a group, Augustine made the two calendars, pagan and christian, one.

A few centuries later, another emperor, now called pope, was influenced to create a better calendar that took into account matters to make the calendar more stable. For example, if Gregory had not created the gregorian calendar (the calendar we use in the west) Christmas (and december) would be in the middle of the summer by now!
There is a lot of documentation of this matter, and a lot of interesting reading. Go to the Vatican website for more.

Answer 2

Christ was actually born in the spring around the same time as Easter. (The Roman tax season is well documented) The bible tells us that it was tax time, and that back then was about the same time of year it is for us in the US, April or somewhere around there. They were using the Jewish calendar which is still used today to determine when Easter is and that is why it is always moving around on the calendar. When Rome became Christian they started to take this religion to other parts of Europe where pagan religions dominated. To help the locals be more accepting of the "new" Christian religion they adopted some holidays from other religions. Christmas comes at a time in the year when the heathens or pagans celebrated winter solstice. Rome decided if they could draw some commonalities between the two religions then it would be easier for the Non-Christians to convert. That is where many of the symbols come from. From a Christian prospective it is not the time of year that matters but the fact that you worship the birth of Christ. Just like the Sabbath use to be on Saturday, and still is for the Jews and some other religions, but Christians worship on Sunday. The point is that you worship regularly.

Many things were left out of the bible because they were deemed not important to the spiritual aspect. You have to remember that the bible was hand written until the invention of the press, and even then it was only printed for the "Church". Because the bible was handwritten and paper was a premium item they stuck to the religious aspects. The bible was originally written in Greek because the Hebrew language lacked the clear rules on writing and also lacked adjectives as is still does today. The bible was then translated by monks and their translation skills were not always top drawer.

I could keep going but I feel that I many have already overwhelmed you but I hope that it helps.

Answer 3

Christmas is a Christian invention from the Middle Ages. Prior to that, Yule (the pagan winter holiday) was celebrated instead. The Christian church wanted everyone to convert but the only way to do that without causing an uproar was to steal the pagan holidays and customs and take credit for them themselves. Quite a few pagan religions from that period had a deity who was born on Dec 25 or thereabouts so the Church deemed that Christmas.

Anyone who knows anything about sheepherding knows that you don't do so during the winter months, so if the Biblical story is chronologically correct, then Jesus would have to be born during the spring or fall.

The Bible when it was printed was not intended for the average person to own a copy of. Also, there were so many translations over the years (Hebrew to Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English) and errors due to translating (certain words and phrases don't match from one language to another) that it's impossible to know what the original text was.

Answer 4

Well Jesus wasn't born in the Spring, but actually in September, just like the Oktoberfest. I believe it is the 15th, but I am not sure of that. I can't answer the reason for why is name is translated Jesus, but I can say that a lot of names translate differently in different languages. Finally for the names of Joseph and Mary, oh yeah you didn't mention that James was a follower of Jesus, it was very common for people to name their children after Biblical names especially royalty, which I am sure you already knew judging from you question. I would have to ask where did you get the idea that Jesus went to India? The Church of the Latter day Saints believe he came to North America, so maybe they could explain the India thing. Now for the wealthy Jesus, in ancient times only the oldest male inherited the wealth which would have been King Solomon, and so on. Therefore very few of King David's descendants would have been rich.

Answer 5

Christianity "borrowed" an awful lot of bits and pieces from the old pagan religions to make it easier to convert people. Christmas being celebrated in December is because it is close to the shortest day of the year and people would bring ever green trees and leaves into their homes in the hope the days would get longer again, there is evidence of this as far back as ancient egypt. If you look into Christianltiy, you will find these "borrowed" things wherever we claim something for our religion, for example, communion is just a different name for the ancient pagan god eating ceremonies. It is mainly the Catholic Church as it has so much power, it would not write about Jesus being wealthy as it is much harder to control wealth, and they needed the masses to "jump onboard" in the beginning. I am beginning to ramble a bit now, sorry, You can find out much more by reading history books about this time, and a number of researchers are now writing respected works into the real beginnings of Christianity and not the convenient nice, clean, family friendly version the church has bought us all up believing!

Answer 6

Read the Bible and see Jesus wasn't born in winter, or do you people disbelieve the Bible? No one knows exactly when in the summer he was born (or if), but some early Christians thought it'd be a great idea to take over existing winter soltice festivals and put the Christian name on them. They did that to other festivals and to temples. Most of the Xmas symbols are borrowed from other earlier groups, e.g. Druids had wreaths and decorated trees. Moses' god was Yahweh which became Jehovah, as Yeshua became Jesus. I've never heard of Jesus going to India. What gave you that idea?

Answer 7

The Bible mentions Jesus being born when the Shepard's tended their sheep and in the Israeli region that would be in the fall of the year.
The early versions of the Encyclopedia Britannica says December 25Th was a Pagan Holiday called " Saturnalia ". Many religions celebrated that day back then. So the Church compromised and made December 25th a holiday as we know as Christmas. So, you have to ask yourself this question, " are we Christian or Pagan ".

Answer 8

Darby, crack open a book learn something.

Christmas is a prime example of how far Christianity has strayed from its roots. The church at the time was trying to expand their influence and political clout. In order to do this and convert as many people as possible holidays that adopted aspects of pagan celebrations were used to help people to see that "Hey Christianity is just like what you do now, but better".

Compromise for the purpose of popularity is obviously not something Jesus would have endorsed.

We are seeing the same thing today with certain branches of Christianity choosing to accept homosexuality. Instead of remaining true to the moral code in the bible they are compromising in order to retain members and gain political favor.

Answer 9

i can only awsner the question about the date of christmas. (the only one i care to awnser)
long ago the pope and the catholic religion (like alot of messed up things in the christian religoin)decided to convert more people to thier faith by changing the date of christs birth. thats where santa came from. it wuz sum pre weed hippi religion wich celibrated thier holiday on the same day. so the pope altered our holiday to suit them and converted them. want proof?...
1. winters around the area where jesus was born where way to cold. the 3 wise men would not have been outside.
2. he was born in spring or ealy summer not the winter as u already know!
3. the catholics of old have committed many similar corruptios of the bible(easter, ever wonder about that rabit?)
oh and the thing about the j is probably that god is omnipressence so time is no obsticle to him. he may have wanted to show that in his name.
as for the names regarding king james... maybe god has a sense of humor.

Answer 10

too many questions doing the first one mostly
It was pagan once Catholics made it Christian and many ppl were converted...its beautfiul More people converted in Decem than any other month CONSTANTINE was converted and sunday was and is the new day Are you Jewish? Jesus was probably born in fall when flocks are out..