2007-12-23 14:07:25 · 17 answers · asked by Asker 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
lol Christmas isn't the birth of Jesus.
What happened was...
What we call Christmas was actually a Pagan holiday, celebrating the Winter Solstice. When the Church got involved, they said it was illegal to celebrate the Winter Solstice.
People continued to celebrate it anyway because it was tradition, not because it was religious. So, the Church decided that if people were going to celebrate it anyway, they may as well give it a religious meaning. They "thought" that Jesus was born around this time, and so... there you go.
The typical American traditions, like Christmas trees, have been modified over time from Pagan traditions.
2007-12-23 14:31:01 · answer #1 · answered by its_victoria08 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
I am a Christian. I put up a Christms tree every year. The tree that I put up, an evergreen tree, represents the life of Christ - when everything else is dead in the winter, an evergreen tree is always alive - as with Jesus - he is eternally alive. The star on the top of my tree represents the star that led the shepherds, and later on, the wise men to Jesus. Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas, represents the giving spirit of Christmas. St. Nicholas was an actual person who would give gifts to less fortunate children - this is how the tradition of Santa Claus was started - it's more the spirit of giving to our loved ones, just as God gave us the greatest Gift ever - the gift of His Son, so that we can have eternal life. We don't do alot with the whole Santa Claus thing, but our daughter receives three gifts every year (that's how many gifts Jesus received, from the wise men), and when she is old enough to understand who Santa is (she's only two now, so she has no clue), we'll probably have one from "santa".
2016-05-26 02:04:37 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By the Coca Cola
I see that I must explain. The figure of Santa Claus comes from the Nordic god Thor, that raveled in a sledge pulled by two goats: gnasher and gnawer
It was used by the Coca Cola as a marketing symbol
The exact date of the Birth of Christ is not really known, and it doesn't matter.
The date of the 25 December was chosen because it was the Roman holiday of the victorious sun, representing the victory of light ( the sun ) over the darkness of the winter.
When Christianity was legalized by the emperor Constantine, that date was chosen because of the similitude with the Coming of Jesus. Also, it would make easier for the Romans to convert to Christianity .
It was the sacralization of a pagan holiday.
What happens today is the opposite. With Santa Claus, Christmas is becoming a comercial, materialist day.
It is the paganization of Christmas, but nobody protests against that.
They readily talk about the transformation of a former pagan celebration into Christmas, but not a single word about what is happening today
By the way, Santa Claus IS NOT Saint Nicholas
2007-12-23 14:10:39 · answer #3 · answered by nadie 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Around the time of Christmas, its in the time frame of when Jesus was born (no one is for sure if it was exactly on Christmas day or not), but it's a time to celebrate Christ's birth.
As for Christmas trees, and Santa...I'm not really for sure where those traditions came from.
But to me, using and decorating the Christmas tree, and the idea of Santa Claus are just a festive way to celebrate and decorate for the season.
I hope I've helped!
2007-12-23 14:12:16 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The childhood belief of Santa Claus came from the Turkish saint, Saint Nicholas. He was kind of like Saint Francis of Assissi, he gave gifts to the poor on Christmas Eve. The Germans brought the Christmas tree to America in the early 1800's. Christmas has NO connection WHATSOEVER to a Pagan holiday. The atheists want you to believe this to crush your faith. Don't listen to them. They think just because Jesus was born at the same time as a gift-giving Pagan holiday it is a Pagan holiday. That's complete BS. That's like me saying since my birthday is near Thanksgiving, it is Thanksgiving. See what I mean? Hope that helped, God bless you and Happy Christmas.
2007-12-23 14:18:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's called the secularization of Christmas. It's turned into an American holiday, and the spiritual part of it is enjoyed by those who understand the true meaning. The rest are left with the hustle and bustle to buy, buy, buy those special gifts, and throw out their trees the day after Christmas. But Christmas actually begins Christmas Eve and goes for twelve days. Remember hearing the song The Twelve Days of Christmas? Actually they're becoming two separate holidays.... selah
2007-12-23 14:15:22 · answer #6 · answered by novalee 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Santa is based on St. Nick. and the Christmas tree has different things about it. The pine tree represents everlasting life, and the lights are the light of the stars that shines through it's branches. The bulbs I think are supposed to be fruit of the vine but I'm not sure about that one.
2007-12-23 14:45:07 · answer #7 · answered by pepgurli 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I don't know the history of the Christmas tree...but the tradition of Christmas came from St. Nicholas. He would go around to orphanages and give children gifts.
2007-12-23 14:10:21 · answer #8 · answered by it's_love 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Go to yahoo and look it up.I think it is a pagan custom for the tree. And some priest went around giving out stuff for the kids. Probably didn't expect u no for return.
2007-12-23 14:16:26 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
the xmas tree is a pagan symbol for masculinity. I'm not sure about santa, but the tree was introduced when they decided to make a general holiday (Jesus was actually born in September i do believe, but you can believe what you want) and they added the pagan symbols to please those who had to be coaxed into christianity.
2007-12-23 14:13:38 · answer #10 · answered by Phenix 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋