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  • From: "Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>
  • To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Homestead] Wrong Answer, was Who started this ChristmasThing?
  • Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 13:10:03 -0800

That's a nice story, Paul, but is simply that a nice story. Fact is, we
have the Romans and Northern Europeans to thank for the whole gift giving
thing and it had nothing to do with Jesus.

I have a friend who is a fundie and I really think you could take a lesson
from her "Rest assured most of us fundies know the real story :) but we
celebrate Christmas anyway, with pagan Christmas trees and all. We just have
the little extra added bonus of having a savior to celebrate. Some of us
fundies are really fun loving. Christian hedonists if you will ;)"

You might even enjoy this link:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8449/delight.html

Lynda
THE REAL STORY OF CHRISTMAS

The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world.
Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans
celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples
rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind
them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of
sunlight.

In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter
solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers
and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The
people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12
days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig
or calf that would be born during the coming year.

The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of
Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not
have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year
when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made
during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday.
Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights
through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or
perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.

In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north,
Saturnalia-a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture-was
celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and
continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and
drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside
down. For a month, slaves would become masters. Peasants were in command of
the city. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could join in
the fun.

Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a
feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper
classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the
unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant
god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra's birthday was the most
sacred day of the year.

In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth
of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided
to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does
not mention a date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order
to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests
that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be
herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is
commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and
absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the
Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by
the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the
celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in
the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days
after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings
Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found
Jesus in the manger.

By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice
festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be
popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was
celebrated. By the Middle Ages, 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.

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way
Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan
forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence
and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand,
Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the
popular holiday.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even
more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas
was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of
Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas
spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement,
Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed
without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including
Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first
Christmas under America's new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a
federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

It wasn't until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas.
Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival
holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about
the 1800s peaked American interest in the holiday?

The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During
this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted
classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York
city council instituted the city's first police force in response to a
Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin
to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.

In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of
Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of
Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who
invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the
problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In
Irving's mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing
groups together across lines of wealth or social status. Irving's fictitious
celebrants enjoyed "ancient customs," including the crowning of a Lord of
Misrule. Irving's book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he
had attended-in fact, many historians say that Irving's account actually
"invented" tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the
season.

Also around this time, English author Charles Dickens created the classic
holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story's message-the importance of
charity and good will towards all humankind-struck a powerful chord in the
United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the
benefits of celebrating the holiday.

The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the
emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas provided
families with a day when they could lavish attention-and gifts-on their
children without appearing to "spoil" them.

As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old
customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic
and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the
next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that
included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending
holiday cards, and gift-giving. Although most families quickly bought into
the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for
centuries, Americans had really re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural
needs of a growing nation.

HISTORY OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green
all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people
today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and
fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and
windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away
witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year
falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many
ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every
year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the
solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well.
Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again
when the sun god was strong and summer would return.

The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk
and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra
began to recover from the illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with
green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.

Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honor
of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant
that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the
occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs.

In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts,
also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of
everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens
were the special plant of the sun god, Balder.

Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now
know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees
into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them
with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief
that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added
lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening,
composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst
evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the
main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.

Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first
record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of
Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much
earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as
1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols
and not accepted by most Americans.

It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the
tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas
was sacred. The pilgrims's second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he
tried hard to stamp out "pagan mockery" of the observance, penalizing any
frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen
traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression
that desecrated "that sacred event." In 1659, the General Court of
Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than
a church service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging
decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the
influx of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy.

In 1846, the popular royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert,
were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children
around a Christmas tree. Unlike the previous royal family, Victoria was very
popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became
fashionable-not only in Britain, but with fashion-conscious East Coast
American Society. The Christmas tree had arrived.

By the 1890s Christmas ornaments were arriving from Germany and Christmas
tree popularity was on the rise around the U.S. It was noted that Europeans
used small trees about four feet in height, while Americans liked their
Christmas trees to reach from floor to ceiling.

The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with
homemade ornaments, while the German-American sect continued to use apples,
nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors
and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas
lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With
this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and
having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition.
----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Hillman <chris_hillman AT msn.com>
>
> Who started Christmas?
>
> Finally the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the
car. She pushed her way into the car and dragged her two kids in with her
and all the bags of stuff. When the doors closed she couldn't take it
anymore and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be
found, strung up and shot."
>
> >From the back of the car everyone heard a quiet calm voice respond,
"Don't worry we already crucified him." For the rest of the trip down the
elevator it was so quiet ! you could have heard a pin drop.





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