Who knows the TRUE meaning of Christmas?

Question

WHo can tell me why it is celebrated and why it has gotten so materialistic? I know what my answers to this question are can you tell me yours?

Answer 1

Sweetheart;

The true meaning of Christmas was the present that God gave to the world, His Son, Jesus Christ, so that we may go back to live with God someday. Jesus is the reason for the season.

Santa is the spirit of Christmas, he represents the spirit of the family fun, the joy of giving and recieving.


The world has become so commercialized in every thing. Christmas things are on the shelves in stores around Halloween, before long they will have them in the stores on the 4th of July. It is because the businesses are so money hungry they figure more months to sell items, more MONEY.

God bless you, with love

Answer 2

Hi,
I will try to answer the TRUE meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ Born. We celebrate cause we believe that christ is the only saviour to reach GOD there is no other way can reach GOD if not from his way. We celebrate cause Jesus came to the earth to take resposibility of all Sin that ppl around the World make from the first sin made until the last sin we will make. Jesus over us get cross, since the most heavy punishment when someone guilty is been killed. If we want to enter GOD kingdom we have to be so clean with not even tiny sin. and Sin only can be clean by punishment. This is why we are really glad that Jesus sacrified his life for us. Believed christian is the only religion when their GOD send his Son to take resposibility of all ppl Sin. All we have to do is trust him and thanks him.

It's came so materialistic at christmas now a days. maybe long time ago there are 3 ppl came with great gift when Jesus born cause they really glad. and this is like tradition that christmas celebrate with big event and also given a gift.

Hope this close to your answer....

Cheers!!
MS

Answer 3

With or without the Christ, it is a celebration of hope at the coldest, darkest time of the year, hope that the poor, the sick and the outcast will be cared for and that the well-off will remember their common humanity and act with compassion and real justice.

Unfortunately, rich or poor, it is easier for mortals to appreciate material goods than noble ideas, and those with profit to make will always be eager to exploit desire. The Good News can get buried under an avalanch of bargain "blessings". The symbol of a God who reduces himself to helpless infancy may be blotted out by perceived obligations to expectant loved ones. And the rules of society keep the rich and poor as far apart as possible to avoid uncomfortable comparisons and the risk of change.

The true meaning of Christmas is not a warm feeling or a perfectly attended reunion. It can often hurt and look very uneven. It is is a hands-on, personal thing. It can't be sold in stores or on TV. It can only be modelled, and caught. It is showing, not just telling, the Good News.

Answer 4

The best answer come from two different sources for me.

There's always the famous speech that Linus gives from the Gospel of Luke, in "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

But my priest used to stand on the back of a truck at Midnight Mass and give the following:

"When the star in the sky is dimmed and the choirs of angels are silent... When shepherds have returned to their fields and kings to their countries... Then and only then can the Message of Christmas be known - to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, pity the afflicted and sooth the dying, all in Christ's Name. Go in peace to Love and Serve the Lord in these ways!"

Answer 5

The Chrismas dinner is to celebrate Jesus's birth and giving and recieveing gifts is too celebrate the gifts that were given to Jesus when he was born....that is the true meaning of why we do Christmas day...but i do agree that Christmas is a very greedy time of the year for most people. And constantly put themselves in debt at this time of year to compete to get the best, and most expensive gifts for their family. Crimes are committed,are always on a rise around X-mas time. This for some, makes what is supposed to be a happy, fun time of the year a very stressful and sometimes painful time.

Answer 6

see the Pagan origins of Christmas

www.zenzibar.com
Most of Christmas traditions come from ancient religions 4000 years old.

www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/magazine/pagan.html
a discussion of the pagan origins of Christmas symbols

bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/.../Christmas-Pagan-Origins-of.htm

the truth about pagan origins of Christmas

Despite all of the Research I believe Christmas is really for the children but also a brilliant time in which we have an excuse to do a kindness for those who may need some without making them feel like it is charity. It is a time for family because too often during the year everyone is working so hard. It's a time for reflection and hope and bringing honor to what you really believe through actions.

Answer 7

Christ was not actually born on Dec 25th. Ironically, most theologians believe that Christ was born on or around the month of April. However, their is no actual solid evidence.

The church selected the Dec 25th date to counter the pagan holidays during the same period of time. The idea of exchanging gifts was to symbolize the sacrifice of God giving his only son as a sacrifice for man.

Unfortunately, this has been forgotten over the years and transferred from the "self giving" viewpoint to the "what can I get" materialistic holiday we see nowadays.

The actual date of Christ's birthdate isn't truly relevant.
The celebration of God's gift to us through his Son is.

Answer 8

well it's supposed to be celebrated to celebrate the birth of Christ the savior of mankind, but over the years people have begun to forget the true meaning and have made it into something materialistic, because of the way society is now-a-days, people really don't teach their children about religion anymore, the mentality is what am I getting for christmas

Answer 9

Hi there,

This will be interesting for you because I am an Orthodox Christian from a country that was once a part of Byzantium (opposite of Roman Empire). We celebrate Christmas in accordance with old Julian calendar. This calendar was made by Julius Cesar. Pope Gregory made more accurate calendar sometimes in medieval and it is called Gregorian calendar. Gregorian calendar is the one everybody uses today. Only few Orthodox Christian countries actually still use Julian calendar but in religion only. Since Pope Gregory was well known by the inquisition cruelty, these Orthodox Christian countries refused to accept his calendar. We celebrate Christmas on 7th of January. We do not receive or give any gifts on Christmas. We celebrate it three days and it is a family holiday. Before the actual Christmas day we hold a lent for 40 days. During these days we do not eat any animal products or meat, eggs or milk. We can eat fish and veggies. These 40 days we spend praying and restraining our selves from any sins and sinful thoughts. The day before Christmas we go to Church to make communion (wine and bread).The main event on Christmas day is a breakfast with your family. The main and only gift of Christmas to us is Christ and Holy Spirit. The rest of the days we spend singing, dancing and celebrating with family and friends. St Nicolas is on 23 Dec and he is the actual Santa. In our tradition, he brings gifts to children only. We don’t have Christmas shopping except the things we need for the party. We have Christmas tree and we make fire on Christmas Eve to warm us up. This fire symbolizes the warmth of Christian grace upon us. People must forgive all debts and bad things to each other before the Christmas Eve because on Christmas they must live with love. We congratulate Christmas by kissing each other and saying not Marry Christmas but “Christ is born” and you reply with “Indeed is born”.

I hope you learned something new.
Regards

Answer 10

There are many different views of our ever-popular Christmas, and unfortunately, as you've said, it's mostly materialistic in today's superficial society. However, the roots of Christmas go far back into the history of mankind. Christmas was based on myth, religion, and even a Pagan holiday, but twisted all together and given some time to develop over the years, it becomes the Christmas we all love so very much.

Christians (myself being Christian as well so I believe this too) believe that on December 25th, a few thousand years ago, a baby named Jesus was born in the manger. The parents of this baby were Mary, the Mother of God, and Joseph, a simple carpenter who trusted and followed God's calling for him. The story says that Mary was impregnated by the power of God and not Joseph, and that when Jesus was born, Mary felt no pain at all. This Jesus is believed to have been the Son of God, who came down from heaven to save us from our own sins, and offer us everlasting life in eternal bliss with Him, God, and the Holy Spirit (which we also believe to be 3 different beings but one entity, often referred to as The Trinity).

As for the Pagan holiday, around this time there was a holiday around the same time as Jesus's birthday where people would congregate and exchange gifts, become intoxicated with drinks and drugs, and have orgies together in some cases. This is most likely where the materialistic and hedonistic aspect of our modern-day Christmas came from.

Finally, the ever-famous myth. This could somewhat tie in with the religion of Christianity as well, I suppose. There's a story every little boy and girl is told about a jolly old man with a big bouncy belly and a white beard named Santa Claus. Santa Claus is known around the world as several things, including Old Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, and much more. This jolly old man dresses up in a red jacket with white fur trim, red pants with white fur trim, black boots and gloves, and a decorative Santa Hat (which is a red sleeping cap with white fur trim and a white pompom on the end of the tassle), and then goes into his magical sleigh pulled by 9 magical reindeer and flies around the entire world to deliver presents to all the little boys and girls in the world. Children often leave cookies and milk out for this old man and hang stockings over their fireplaces, along with setting up and decorating an evergreen tree in their home so he may place their presents underneath it during the night.

Now obviously we all know this man can't possibly exist and that it's just a fun little fantasy for the children until they grow up enough to realize it's just part of the festivites, but there is some solid evidence based behind this jolly old man. There was a Saint Nicholas back in the 1200s I believe (not entirely certain on the date so don't quote me on this part), and he was best known for his undying kindness and love for others around him. One of the famous stories about Saint Nicholas was that a group of sisters were broke because their parents had died, and unless they could make themselves some money, they would have to go into prostitution to make their money. Saint Nicholas wouldn't allow such a terrible fate to fall upon these sweet and innocent girls, so when they had their stockings hung over the fireplace and were asleep, Saint Nicholas snuck by and dropped a few gold coins into each stocking. The next morning they awoke and found the money, and were safe from ever having to resort to selling their body for money.

Now I think you can see exactly how our modern-day Christmas came about. Just swirl those few things together and add on a little time for people to modify the holiday over time, and you have yourself a holiday where everyone is materialistic and present-crazed.