2006-12-25 13:12:47 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Christmas
The Winter Solstice celebration started long before Jesus. The Romans celebrated the Saturnalia, where they decorated trees with little masks. It is much easier to "borrow" a holiday from others and convert it to your own than to make them give up their holiday and adopt yours. Since many people celebrated some sort of holiday around that period of the year, including those who followed Mithra, who had a Dec 25 birthday, the RCC adopted that date and made it "their" holiday.
2006-12-25 13:24:08 · answer #1 · answered by forgivebutdonotforget911 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
At that exact time there was only a Christian Church, no denominatins at all, all Christians were all in the same group.
About 300 AD while it was still illegal to be a Christian, under sentence of death by Rome ( so guess what Rome could not have started it) The bishop over the church in rome was concerned that Christians were being found during the Winter Holiday because everyone else was celebrating, but Christains were not.
So he came up with the idea to celebrate the birth of Christ during this time, that way Christians could celebrate something, and not stand out amoung the pagans, and not be arrested and killed.
They knew of course this was not really his birth day but it was a celebration for him.
2006-12-25 13:26:09 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Celebration of Jesus birth was timed to coincide with pagan worship of the sun at the winter solstice. Constantine's actions were probably to try to unite his pagan and Christian empire to celebrating on the same day. The longest night is over. The sun is triumphant over darkness. For Christians, the birth of Christ is the first act in Jesus', "the light of the world" triumph over the darkness of satan. That victory was completed on Easter morning.
Christians always celebrated Easter. The celebration of Christ's birth probably did not start until about the time the Catholic Church actually was started.
2006-12-25 13:48:48 · answer #3 · answered by BP 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It started with Jesus, without him there would be nothing to celebrate. The Catholic Church didn't just make up a random holiday, they are celebrating the birth of Christ.
2006-12-25 13:20:46 · answer #4 · answered by ♥chloe♥ 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Jesus
2006-12-25 14:24:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The birth of Jesus Christ was the first Christmas.
The early Christian Church (you can call it Catholic if you like) started celebrating the birth of the Lord in about 200 A.D.
With love in Christ.
2006-12-25 14:02:17 · answer #6 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is a birthday party so it started with Jesus; the celebration of life; the life of the Son of God
2006-12-25 13:18:20 · answer #7 · answered by sml 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
don't know where it started but it didn'e start until long after Christ was gone. Probably started with the guy who picked out what went into the making of the bible.
2006-12-25 13:15:55 · answer #8 · answered by oldsoftee2001 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It started when the Romans hijacked the pagan Winter Solstice festival to use to make it easier to get conquered tribes worshiping the same god they did.
It has nothing at all to do with the Christian Jesus figure.
2006-12-25 13:15:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
With Jesus,He's the reason for the season.
2006-12-25 13:21:29 · answer #10 · answered by rossj12003 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋