Jesus was born in the Spring, not in the dead of Winter.
What's up with stealing the Winter Solstice Festival for your new cult, you wacky Christians?! Get your own party date!
2007-03-13 08:59:10 · 36 answers · asked by laffryot 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
He was born in the summer, in August.
The early Christians decided it would be easier to tack it onto an already important pagan festival.
2007-03-13 09:07:13 · answer #1 · answered by johnny_dee 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason why Christians celebrate Jesus' birth in December and not when it really occurred, which may have been in the spring or the fall, was to escape Roman persecution. The Romans had one of their pagan god festivals during this time of year, so the Christians decided that they would escape at least some persecution by celebrating Jesus' birth during the festival, thus confusing the Romans into thinking that they were participating in the pagan festival, when really the Christians were worshipping their saviour and celebrating His incarnation. This has continued even today, as Jesus' birthday is celebrated as being on December 25, which would place it during the Roman god festival. Therefore, Christians adopted, not stole, winter as Christ's birthday, as Christmas ("Christ"mas), to escape some of the Roman persecution they were experiencing.
2007-03-13 09:16:54 · answer #2 · answered by Me 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christmas was originally what is known as a "movable feast", different churches would basically celebrate it pretty much whenever they felt like it. When it came down to converting Pagans, they adopted some Pagan ideas, and moved Christmas to the Winter Solstice /Saturnalia so as to make the converts more comfortable, or make Christianity more appealing to potential converts, and also for the convenience of having a set date on the calendar...Kind of like the way we stopped celebrating Washington and Lincoln's birthdays separately and made sure it would fall on a monday so as to enjoy a 3 or 4 day weekend..People are more agreeable to having a celebration in the winter in general, because the days are shorter and darker, we have more time on our hands without things like yard work, we are holed up inside all day, and generally need cheering up....
2007-03-13 09:26:45 · answer #3 · answered by beatlefan 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because Pagans were celebrating the Winter Solstice (the birthday of the SUN), so early Christian churches changed it to Jesus' birthday (the birthday of the SON).
By the way, the same thing happened with Easter - most of the traditional Easter celebratory things (eggs, rabbits, etc) have to do with Ester (sorry if it's spelled wrong), a Pagan fertility goddess.
The early Christian church just wanted to increase attendances and celebration for Jesus, which is why they 'stole' the holidays.
2007-03-13 09:10:22 · answer #4 · answered by A 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Early Christians adopted the winter solstice era as a way to celebrate the Eucharist. If anyone had known what they were really celebrating they would have been killed. Once Constantine make Christianity OK, then they and the converts continued to celebrate during that time as well.
2007-03-13 09:02:52 · answer #5 · answered by ♫O Praise Him♫ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pagans stealing Christmas? It replaced into any different way around. They knew that the had no hazard interior the international arising with their very own traditions so they had to borrow and scouse borrow those that they might desire to at present. The evergreen, yuletide log, ivy, mistletoe, and various different PAGAN traditions have pagan roots not christian. As for the "actual meaning of Christmas" what precisely is that? The beginning of Christ? No this is fake additionally. If Christ replaced into born he replaced into born interior the springtime not wintry climate. As a Pagan I have not have been given any qualms approximately sharing my vacations yet what i could like is for individuals to realize that they are my vacations additionally.
2016-12-19 04:41:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christmas was placed in the middle of Winter for symbolic reasons. The trees are skeletal. It is an off season for growth. Darkness rules for the most part and then salvation came into the world
2007-03-13 09:36:15 · answer #7 · answered by Midge 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christmas is from the Old English words Cristes moesse, 'the mass or festival of Christ'. The first celebration took place in Rome about the middle of the fourth century. The exact date of the Nativity is not known, but even in pre-Christian times the period from December 25 to January 6 — now known as "The Twelve Days of Christmas" — was considered a special time of year. The abbreviation Xmas, thought as sacrilegious by some, is entirely appropriate. The letter X (chi) is the first letter in the Greek word for Christ.
I rest my case.
2007-03-13 09:02:22 · answer #8 · answered by Elisha 3 · 2⤊ 3⤋
The Bible doesn't say when Jesus was born. Plus, winter solstice is December 21st, not December 25th.
2007-03-13 09:03:03 · answer #9 · answered by GLSigma3 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually I'm a Christian - although I just call myself God's child now, and we go to a non-denominational church that has fundamental background and we don't celebrate Christmas! We don't put up a tree, or decorations or anything like that, so you can have your Pagen Winter Solstice Festival - Not interested in it in any way shape or form.
2007-03-13 09:13:25 · answer #10 · answered by jwjkrjstorm 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋