What are some of the reasons why people give Christmas presents?

Answer 1

Just for the pure joy of giving.

Answer 2

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Three Wise Men brought Jesus gifts. That is what Christmas is all about. Some people don't think of Jesus. All they see is the tree and presents underneath. But I see the beauty of a birth that took place many years ago.

The first time I saw the ocean it was so awesome. Most people would see nothing but a huge body of water. What I saw was Moses raising his staff and saying doubt the Lord thy God no more. And the sea was opened. That is exactly what I thought of when I saw the ocean. What a mighty God I serve.

Answer 3

Man, Myth & Magic is an illustrated encyclopedia of mythology and religion. In its article on Christmas, we uncover a treasure trove of research material on this holiday's origins and history.

"Christmas has its origin in two ancient pagan festivals, the great Yule-feast of the Norsemen and the Roman Saturnalia. Extending from Advent, which begins on 30 November or the Sunday nearest to it, to Candlemas Day on 2 February, it was close enough to the winter solstice to acquire many of the associations of the Norse ceremony: the Yule-log, the evergreen decorations in houses and churches, even the Christmas feast itself. These elements were combined with the Saturnalia of the Romans to provide the basis for the early Christian festival.

"During the Saturnalia, gifts were made by the wealthy to the poor in honour of the golden age of liberty when Saturn ruled the known world, and slaves were allowed to change places and clothing with their masters. They even elected their own mock king who, for the period of the festival, ruled as a despot. The Saturnalia involved the wildest debauchery, and was a festival worthy of Pan himself.

"Naturally it came under heavy censure from the early Church and despite the fact that Jesus Christ and the saints gradually replaced the pagan deities it was long considered completely out of character with the Christian ideal. However, the festival was far too strongly entrenched in popular favour to be abolished, and the [Catholic] Church finally granted the necessary recognition, believing that if Christmas could not be suppressed it should be preserved in honour of the Christian God" (1995, Vol. 3, p. 418).

Do you grasp what this is telling us? We saw earlier that the Dec. 25 date for Christmas came from ancient pre-Christian festivals. Here we see that the same ancient pagan celebrations honoring other gods were continued, with the Catholic Church simply relabeling the festivities and customs as Christian!

Answer 4

It's like a re-enactment of the Wise Men bringing gifts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Except nowdays the wisemen would be expected to work their hineys off and starve for a few months just so they could afford the biggest and most impressive stuff.
I wish America would lose the commercialism and just celebrate the birth of our Lord.

Answer 5

Because society said, you are a jerk if you dont give out presents and expect them. So people just made up a holiday to prevent unthoughtful people from being jerks everyday of the year

Answer 6

Well when Jesus was born, the three magi (there are other ways to call them) came and gave Jesus three presents: myrrh, frankincense, and gold. We give gifts near this time of year to celebrate. :)

Answer 7

Originally because it is Christs birthday and Christians are considered being of the body of Christ.

Answer 8

good people like to do good things for others, and christmas is a designated time to do so, i dont understand why the borgs do it though..

Answer 9

Because the true meaning of Christmas has been commercialised.

Answer 10

Because it's fun to give gifts to others.