How do you think first century Christians celebrated Christmas?

Answer 1

they didnt...

Answer 2

It wasn't until the Middle Ages that Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today's Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the "lord of misrule" and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined "debt" to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.

First century Christians would not have celebrated Christmas, as this was not introduced by the church until the 4th century. The main celebration would have been Easter.

Answer 3

It's quite simple, they didn't. Christmas dates from around the 4th century, and wasn't celebrated as we know it until well into the middle ages, around the 8th century.

Even then the Church varied widely in the date and celebration. At Rome the celebration began on O Sapientia, December 16th. The Low Countries, and England incidentally began Advent with Martinmas, November 11, forty days before Christmas, which later got changed to four weeks as the mythology of 4,000 years between Adam and Christ began and grew (the fundamentalist view on the history of Creation stems from this rather than the Bible). By the 13th century with the plagues the penitential season became darker, focusing on the Second coming and the four last things, Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell. The rise of a middle class following this led to the day after Christmas observed with the Lord of misrule ethos and Wassailing traditions. January 6th was kept as the real Christmas, French still call it Le Vieux Noel, with the showing forth of Christ to the nations, or Epiphany, the main celebration of the Eastern Church in regard to the nativity. Between that and Dec. 25 you have the twelve days of Christmas.

[We don't know the birth date of any of the Ten Caesars, why would we know the birth date of Jesus?]

[The celebration concerns the "that", not the "when". People should stop getting all uptight about the "whether".]

[tahoe If you're pure in your Christian worship then you are regular in fellowship and in the "Breaking of Bread", the Eucharist which is the principal act of Christian worship as it is described in the Fathers like Justin Martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, and the Roman Bishop Hippolytus following on Paul's narrative in his letter to the Corinthians, "I deliver to you that which also I received...." You also follow the Jewish calendar of readings Jesus followed, the Parashat for the Sabbaths and holy days of the year.. You have nothing whatsoever to say about the worship or celebrations of others who glorify Christ. Nor can you say what was or wasn't known from the silence of Scripture, doing so is ADDING your own interpretation. You should certainly find different names for the days of the week and the months of the year, since theirs are all based on Pagan references. Why not go back to the lunar year kept by the first Christians, your calendar would more closely agree with Muslims and Jews? It would wreak havoc on your reckoning of Easter, but what do you care? How did you observe the first night of Chanukah, a feast Jesus and His disciples kept according to John's Gospel?]

Answer 4

Nowhere in the Bible do we find any command to celebrate the birth of Christ, nor does it tell us when or how.
No matter what excuses may be offered, adulterating Christianity with pagan festivals is no way to welcome Jesus as a Savior. It would have been inappropriate in the first century when Jesus came in the flesh, and it is just as inappropriate today or in the future, when Christ comes as King to execute God’s judgments. (Revelation 19:11-16) In fact, those who prefer to celebrate pagan festivals behind a “Christian” disguise may well be denying Jesus Christ.
So you may ask, ‘If Jesus was not born on December 25, when was he born?’ The fact that the date of Jesus’ birth is not mentioned in the Scriptures, although they are explicit about the date of his death, should be a warning to Christians. It is not that this date was not known to Bible writers. Instead, it is as if it were deliberately ignored, almost as if it were purposely hidden. Nothing in the Sacred Scriptures—not even one word—indicates that we should celebrate Christ’s birthday. Indeed, had it been intended that we do so, the Divine Record would at least have given the date. Nor is the lack of that date an oversight. These Bible writers had the holy spirit that Christ had promised, and that spirit reminded them of all the necessary things. Jesus had told them: “But the helper, the holy spirit which the Father will send in my name, that one will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the things I told you.”—John 14:26.It is noteworthy that during the month of December, Bethlehem and its surroundings are subject to wintry cold weather, chilling rains, and sometimes snow. One does not find shepherds with their flocks outside at night during that time.
This indicates that weather conditions in Bethlehem in December do not fit the Bible’s description of the events connected with the birth of Jesus Christ.—Luke 2:8-11.
Those who worship the Father with spirit and truth do not depend on special sites, such as Bethlehem, or on objects, such as images, in their worship. The apostle Paul said: “While we have our home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we are walking by faith, not by sight.”—2 Corinthians 5:6, 7.
, the early Christians of the first centuries were right in rejecting the pagan celebration onto which Christ’s name has been grafted. True Christians also will reject it, celebrating, not the rebirth of the sun, no matter how it has been renamed, but only Christ’s death. They will do this because they agree with the apostle Peter that “the time that has passed by is sufficient for you to have worked out the will of the nations.”—1 Pet. 4:3.

Answer 5

They didn't they only followed the Hebrew religion of the passover and it wasn't until 350 AD did they the Catholic Church align Christmas with a pagan holiday in Rome.

By the way those early Christians used to walk into the chapel backwards so they would pay homage to Sole the pagan Roman God.

Answer 6

They didn't.

However, Christian pilgrims may have been gathering in Bethlehem around the time of Jesus' birthday, and may also have commemorated the resurrection by traveling to Jerusalem, as early as the 2nd century.

But I'm sure they didn't celebrate Christmas, and they certainly wouldn't have called it that.

Answer 7

Where do these stupid questions come from? Does someone stay up all night trying to dream up the dumbest thing they can imagine?

The First Century Christians DID NOT CELEBRATE XMAS... they were too busy hiding and running for their lives.

Answer 8

His birth was not made a holiday until much later inthe Church's history. They were not that big into birthdays back then anyway. So they did their usual routine. As Christians, they might have prayed or gathered, but not because of the calendar.

Answer 9

You mean the pagans?

Well, Rome had Saturnalia, and the Celts had Yule... I don't think the church Christianized the holiday until about 350 AD.

Answer 10

They did not dear.
It became a holiday during the religious marketing campaign of the fourth century when it was decided to "christianised" many old pagan festivals and holidays.

Answer 11

They had yet to steal it from the Pagans in the first century.