25 December 336 A.D. 1st Christmas Day Celebration Recorded
Graves, Dan. “The First
Christmas Celebration Recorded.” Christianity.com. Jun 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/the-1st-recorded-celebration-of-christmas-11629658.html. Accessed
24 Dec 2014.
Today is Christmas day (Christ's mass). But for the
first 300 years of Christianity, it wasn't so. When was Christmas first
celebrated? In an old list of Roman bishops, compiled in A. D. 354 these words
appear for A.D. 336: "25 Dec.: natus Christus in Betleem Judeae."
December 25th, Christ born in Bethlehem, Judea. This day, December 25, 336, is
the first recorded celebration of Christmas.
For the first three hundred
years of the church's existence, birthdays were not given much emphasis--not
even the birth of Christ. The day on which a saint died was considered more
significant than his or her birth, as it ushered him or her into the kingdom of
heaven. Christ's baptism received more attention than his birthday in the
January 6th feast of Epiphany.
No one knows for sure on what
day Christ was born. Dionysus Exiguus, a sixth century monk, who was the first
to date all of history from December 25th, the year of our Lord 1. Other
traditions gave dates as early as mid-November or as late as March. How did
Christmas come to be celebrated on December 25th? Cultures around the
Mediterranean and across Europe observed feasts on or around December 25th,
marking the winter solstice. The Jews had a festival of lights. Germans had a
yule festival. Celtic legends connected the solstice with Balder, the
Scandinavian sun god who was struck down by a mistletoe arrow. At the pagan
festival of Saturnalia, Romans feasted and gave gifts to the poor. Drinking was
closely connected with these pagan feasts. At some point, a Christian bishop
may have adopted the day to keep his people from indulging in the old pagan
festival.
Historian William J. Tighe
offers a different view, however. When a consensus arose in the church to
celebrate Christ's conception on March 25th, it was reasonable to celebrate his
birth nine months later.
Many of the pagan customs became
associated with Christmas. Christian stories replaced the heathen tales, but
the practices hung on. Candles continued to be lit. Kissing under the mistletoe
remained common in Scandinavian countries. But over the years, gift exchanges
became connected with the name of St. Nicholas, a real but legendary figure of
4th century Lycia (a province of Asia). A charitable man, he threw gifts into
homes.
Around the thirteenth century, Christians added one of the most pleasant touches of all to Christmas celebration
when they began to sing Christmas carols.
No one is sure just when the
Christmas tree came into the picture. It originated in Germany. The 8th century
English missionary, St. Boniface, Apostle to Germany, is supposed to have held
up the evergreen as a symbol of the everlasting Christ. By the end of the
sixteenth century, Christmas trees were common in Germany. Some say Luther cut
the first, took it home, and decked it with candles to represent the stars.
When the German court came to England, the Christmas tree came with them.
Puritans forbade Christmas,
considering it too pagan. Governor Bradford actually threatened New Englanders
with work, jail or fines if they were caught observing Christmas.
In 1843, in Victorian England,
Charles Dickens published his novelette "A Christmas Carol." It
became one of the most popular short works of fiction ever penned. Although the
book is more a work of sentiment than of Christianity, it captures something of
the Christmas spirit. The tightfisted grump, Ebenezer Scrooge, who exclaimed
"humbug!" at the mention of Christmas, is contrasted with generous merry-makers
such as his nephew, Fred and with the struggling poor, symbolized by Bob
Cratchit and Tiny Tim. The book's appeal to good works and charitable
contributions virtually defines Christmas in English-speaking lands.
Whatever the ins and outs of Christmas,
we are still unwrapping the gift of God's Son--and what an incentive to
generosity and joy that gift is!
Bibliography:
1. "Christmas." Encyclopedia Americana. Chicago:
Americana Corp., 1956.
2. "Christmas." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1967.
3. "Christmas," "Dionysius Exiguus," and
"Philocalian Calendar." Cross, F. L. and Livingstone, E. A. The Oxford
Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford, 1997.
4. Hutchinson, Ruth and Adams, Ruth. Every Day's a Holiday. New York:
Harper, 1951.
5. People's Almanac. Edited by David Wallechinsky
and Irving Wallace. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1975.
6. Veith, Gene Edward. "Why Decemebr 25?" World
(December 10, 2005) p.32.
7. Tighe, William J. "Calculating Christmas." Touchstone,
December, 2003. http://www.touchstonemag.com/docs/issues/ 16.10docs/16-10pg12.html
Last update June,
2007.
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