So the tree, holly, wreaths, mistletoe, eating of ham, etc are derived from Yule (pre-christianity). When did Christians adapt the Yule traditions and why?
2006-11-25 15:59:39 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The 25th of December was also the birthday of the Roman god Mithras () and the Greek hero Dionysus. Mithras was known as the unconquered sun, hence his association with the solstice time. Early Christianity adopted the 25th as Christ's birthday around the 3rd or 4th century BC birthday, as the early scriptures do not record the day of Christ's birth. This is generally accepted to have been a way of amalgamating Christmas with the older festival of the sun, which was still being observed by the Pagan community. It also helped to replace the worship of Mithras, which once rivalled Christianity in popularity
Footnote
Father Christmas or Santa Claus is based on St Nicholas who is the patron saint of children, canonised after resurrecting three boys after they had been murdered. He was associated with the giving of gifts to the poor and needy, and was widely famed for his generosity. Over the centuries his image became amalgamated with other archetypes to become Father Christmas.
2006-11-25 16:10:51 · answer #1 · answered by A Lady Dragon 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
What God gave man as traditions and cultures before Christianity was not all evil and terrible, because He was the one who gave those traditions in the first place. Did people back then know about Israel and their story? No, they did not. The world was very large and frightening place. Don't assume that all the education we enjoy now makes us superior to our ancestors. What they did was not all bad. You are not their judge. God alone is their judge. Keeping those traditions keep us connected to where we come from, and how God has made sense of the things we do. Even a pagan knows to give their child bread.
In my tradition, well, I don't know any pagan practices that were incorperated into it, since it all seems holy to me. We did not have a tree, but a sheaf of wheat stood in the corner. (Literally translated, it is called a "Grandfather" so maybe that was pagan, I don't know.) We put straw on the kitchen floor to symbolize the manger where the Christ child was born. We hide nuts in the straw for the kids and cats to find. We go outside to looke for the first star of the evening before any prayers are said and the meal begins. All that we eat is vegetables and fish, we eat the bitter with the sweet, and this sparse table is laden with meaning from soup to dessert. But before all this, the animals come first, for it was the animals who witnessed His birth, and were the first to greet Him.
Then, we would go door to door and sing carols to the neighbors.
That all ended with the Communist regime, though. We tried to carry on here in the Americas, but really, it's a fading tradition in the face of all the secularism.
2006-11-26 00:09:02 · answer #2 · answered by Shinigami 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes lady blue is right but you forgot Santa Claus and the yule log and the birth of the sun.
2006-11-26 00:09:54 · answer #3 · answered by DRAGON LADY 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
true Christians never did adapt.read up on the puritans that came to this country.supporting Christmas would be supporting a lie. and true Christians don't lie.
2006-11-26 00:08:34 · answer #4 · answered by gary d 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
around 320ad, to make it more appealing for pagans to convert.
2006-11-26 00:03:17 · answer #5 · answered by ♫O Praise Him♫ 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
lady blue is right.
2006-11-26 00:05:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋