Christmas  Merry Christmas Wishes
From 101lifeStyle.com The History of Christmas: The exact birth of Jesus is a historical mystery however the 25th of December is treated as the birth of Christ for several reasons with a logic that served a purpose to change the introduce the concept of one God in Pre-christian Europe and Pre-christian Asia. Christmas celebrations originated as a matter of a concept or an idea that had to be though of to overpower the concept of paganism. People believe that the Christmas is celebrated to establish the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is believed to December 25th in the year 1 C.E, however the celebrations of Christmas pre dated the birth of Christ as a feast was celebrated every year on the 25th of December dedicated to the son of Isis ( The Goddess of nature ). also the winter solstice was celebrated by the Romans every year even before the birth of Christ, and it was called saturnalia dedicated to the "god of agriculture" called Saturn. In Northern Europe the inhabitants had their own version of winter celebrations called Yule dedicated to the Sun God "Mithras" which was believed to be the time of his birth, also it was a part of tradition to light a candle for the Mithras to re-appear the following year.  The tree is was associated to all the celebrations of the winter solstice in Europe, as a reminder that the crops of the people would grow again, The druids (The priestly members of the learned class among the Gauls) would worship trees as a religious symbol. During the reign of Constantine the King of Constantinople (present day Istanbul and the capital of turkey) the dominant religion was Mithraism, however King Constantine adopted Christianity as well as attempted to spread the religion, so by the 14th century most of the Pagan ways were washed away with a remnant in christian traditions . In 350 AD Pope Julius I declared December 25 the official date and in 529 AD, therefore it can be said that the reason for Christmas being held on the 25th of December has Roman catholic routes as an effort to bring people closer to Christianity. There is a record of Christmas being celebrations in Antioch in Turkey on the 25th of December somewhere in the middle of the second century, It was first observed in Rome not earlier than 336 AD. Emperor Justinian who was ca Roman Emperor declared Christmas a civic holiday in In 529 AD. the time from Christmas to Epiphany ( the day that ends the twelve days of Christmas on January 6th a day that is believed to be the visitation of the magi for Christ Jesus) was also declared as part of the festive season. Christmas has its routes in secular traditions and customs, owing to the fact that it was easier to combine pagan ways to Christianity , rather than converting people completely; for the christian community had long suffered persecution for around 200 years after the Crucifixion of Christ . Gregory of Nazainzus was one among the first christian leaders , to vote against the concept to Christianize celebrations in order to convert people . Nevertheless today Christmas is the most popular festivals among the Christians.  There are many stories that surrounding the birth of Jesus. According to the Hebrew or the Jewish calender the seventh month of the Jewish calender celebrates the feast of the tabernacles ( Sukkot ) and John Ch 1 vs 14 says " "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth." implying the birth of Lord Jesus, The feast of the tabernacles co-incides with the birth of Jesus symbolizing God ( Jesus) who came to Earth to dwell among men ,as God himself had come to dwell among men in a tabernacle, mentioned in the scriptures of the old Testament. If Jesus was indeed born during Sukkot,or the Feast of Tabernacles, which began the 29th of September in 5 BC, then it is also possible that He was born on the 25th of December in 6 BC. or even that the Magi visited Bethlehem around the 25th of December in 5 BC, three months after the birth of Jesus. It has been mentioned that the birth of Jesus took place when the shepherds were out with their flock, and this could have been possible between spring and autumn, which was a difficult time for the Virgin Mary to travel all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, which amounted to 70 miles in distance So it is believed though no exact date can be manifested only conjectured that Jesus’ birth was around the end of September and His conception may have taken place in late December of the previous year. Therefore even though today we celebrate Christmas on the 25 th of December maybe by default we celebrate the miraculous conception of Christ , in the virgin Mary’s womb. This time as mentioned earlier was darkest time of the year , the time when the light of the Sun is at its greatest distance from the Holy Land— the most appropriate time for God to send the spiritual ‘light of the world’ into the world as the who is Jesus Christ the saviour.  More Christmas History |
