Searcy, AR (LP) — The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). But it was not an official Roman state festival at this time. Christians celebrate Christmas day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. 

Many Christmas traditions, such as decorating trees, started in Germany and later spread to other parts of the world, notably England and the United States. Mrs.Davis says, “Christmas is celebrated on December 25th and is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion.” Christmas is a day celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, who many Christmas believe is the son of god. While many celebrate Christmas on December 25, some Orthodox Christmas mark it on January 7. 

The word Christmas originates from the words Christ’s Mass. In old English (first recorded in 1038) it was referred to as Cristesmæsse, which literally means ‘Christian Mass’. A common figure known throughout the world and associated with Christmas is Santa Claus. Mrs.Davis says, “Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25–Christmas Day–has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.” The Virgin Mary, pregnant with the son of God, would hence have given birth to Jesus nine months later on the winter solstice. From Rome, the Christ’s Nativity celebration spread to other Christian churches to the west and east, and soon most Christians were celebrating Christ’s birth on December 25. Mrs.Davis says, “A very early Christian tradition said that the day when Mary was told that she would have a very special baby, Jesus (called the Annunciation) was on March 25th – and it’s still celebrated today on the 25th March. Nine months after the 25th March is the 25th December! March 25th was also the day some early Christians thought the world had been made, and also the day that Jesus died when he was an adult. The date of March 25th was chosen because people had calculated that was the day on which Jesus died as an adult (Nisan 14 in the Jewish calendar) and they thought that Jesus was conceived and had died on the same day of the year.” The first recorded incidence of Christmas being celebrated actually dates all the way back to the Roman Empire in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine – so technically the Romans invented it, although there’s no specific person who is credited with having done so.

Christmas is on Dec. 25, but it wasn’t always. Dec. 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus’s birth; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem. Mrs.Davis says, Americans did not even begin to conceive of Christmas as a national holiday until the middle of the last century. Like many other such ‘inventions of tradition’, the creation of an American Christmas was a response to social and personal needs that arose at a particular point in history, in this case a time of sectional conflict and civil war, as well as the unsettling processes of urbanization and industrialization. The holiday’s new customs and meanings helped the nation to make sense of the confusions of the era and to secure, if only for a short while each year, a soothing feeling of unity.” So we see that Australia is one of the first countries in the world to commence Christmas Day celebrations. In Pullman’s version of the story, Jesus has a twin brother named Christ. “I was intrigued, you see, by the difference between the two parts of the name Jesus Christ that we commonly use interchangeably,” Pullman says. 

Christmas is on Dec. 25, but it wasn’t always. Dec. 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus’s birth; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem. Mrs.Davis  says, “When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, a German, he brought Christmas trees into their palaces. Although it’s difficult to trace back to the very first Christmas tree in the United States, it’s assumed Germans settlers brought the tradition with them, Doares said.” With the story of the birth of Christ coinciding with this date, many Christian symbols for Christ use the astrological symbol for Pisces, the fishes. The figure Christ himself bears many of the temperaments and personality traits of a Pisces, and is thus considered an archetype of the Piscean. Mrs.Davis says, “The origin of Santa Claus depends on which country’s story you choose to adopt. Santa Claus comes from the Dutch words “Sinter Klaas”, which is what they call their favorite saint, St. Nicholas. He is said to have died on December 6, A.D. 342. December 6th is celebrated as his feast day, and in many countries this is the day he arrives with his presents and punishments.” Jesus’ name in Hebrew was “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua. The Roman Christian historian Sextus Julius Africanus dated Jesus’ conception to March 25 (the same date upon which he held that the world was created), which, after nine months in his mother’s womb, would result in a December 25 birth.

Nicholas: The Real Santa Claus. The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Mrs.Davis says, “Nicholas lived in what is now called Turkey. He was born about A.D. 280 in the town of Patras. His parents were wealthy and he was well educated. Nicholas seems to have had a remarkable childhood. While still a young boy he was made Bishop of Myra, and because of this he has been known ever since as the Boy Bishop. He was renowned for his extreme kindness and generosity – often going out at night and taking presents to the needy. Santa’s rise to fame can be traced to two legends – the three daughters and the children at the Inn.” Millions of Christians do not observe Christmas. Among them are Quakers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and members of the Churches of Christ. Some of the half-dozen Christian faiths that don’t celebrate Dec. 25 contend there is nothing in the Bible that says Christ was born on that day. Mrs.Davis says, “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created by the department store chain Montgomery Ward as one way to save money on some of their annual Christmas promotions.” The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In most Western ecclesiastical traditions, “Christmas Day” is considered the “First Day of Christmas” and the

Twelve Days are 25 December through 5 January, inclusive. Mrs.Davis says, “Robert L. May created Rudolph in 1939 as an assignment for the department store. The retailer had been buying, then giving away coloring books for Christmas every year. Instead, in order to save money, they decided to create their own. In its first year of publication, 2.4 million copies of Rudolph’s story were distributed by Montgomery Ward.” 

Reasons range from the belief that “every day is a holy day,” as promoted by some Quakers, to a desire to observe those days the Bible emphasizes, such as the Old Testament holy days, while others, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, suggest any birthday, even that of Jesus, shouldn’t be celebrated. Though December 25 is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the date itself and several of the customs we’ve come to associate with Christmas actually evolved from pagan traditions celebrating the winter solstice. In ancient Rome there was a feast called Saturnalia that celebrated the solstice.