Did Christians steal the Solstice?
It is an interesting question because the actual date of Jesus’ birth is not given in the New Testament. Prior to about 330 A.D. the church celebrated the birth and baptism of Jesus on January 6, the Eastern Church still does.
Some have concluded that the Roman celebration of Saturnalia was Christianized and turned into the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Saturnalia was a celebration of the dedication of the temple to the god Saturn on December 17 around 217 B.C. It was marked by gift giving, eating, drinking and merry making.
Still others say that Christians turned the Solstice into Christmas. The Solstice is celebrated world wide as the day of the least amount of day light. There are dozens of rituals, many are still observed today. In ancient cultures the end of long dark days and the beginning of growing day light marked a new beginning, hope, and the anticipation of spring. Winter was often associated with shortages of food, disease and death among ancient people thus the end of darkness and beginning of light inspired hope.
Some have calculated that the birth of Jesus happened nine months after the announcement by the angel that Mary would give birth and this date they say is December 25. Jews did not celebrated birthdays as that was considered a pagan celebration.
The exact date of Jesus’ birth presents a conundrum for those who demand exact preciseness.
The modern celebration of Christmas is frequently celebrated by non-Christians, which seems to muddy the waters even more.
One thing that is for sure is that the modern celebration of Christmas has evolved from many sources. It was not just stolen from the pagans, as some would like to believe and it not just a Christian holiday as the Christians would like to believe.
It would be great if Christmas was celebrated on February 30 because it would be a completely unique day of celebration, but it is not. Today’s Christmas is an evolving melting pot of hundreds of different cultures over hundreds of years celebrating a variety of events. I think that’s great! Let’s party! Christmas is what you make it out to be.
This is what I make it out to be.
#1 Christmas is the celebration that God is with us. It reminds us that God plans life and love for us.
#2 Christmas is a fun exciting teaching opportunity for children of all ages.
#3 Christmas is a time of rededication to the principles and love of God that we embrace but unfortunately, we have let other things overshadow that light. For many Christmas is the first time to embrace the love of God in Jesus Christ as part of their own narrative; the beginning of new life in Jesus Christ
#4 It is incumbent upon all who have tasted and received this goodness to share it with the world, thus we give love and good cheer to our whole world. In that spirit of love and giving we especially share with those who are in need. The light of God’s love must flow from us into their darkness, whatever it may be.
#5 The story of Jesus’ birth embodies everything that God wants us to know about Christmas, more than that, it is a timeless story of love and grace that speaks to every heart.
I’m looking forward to sharing the love of Christmas with you this Christmas season. Joy the world… Love!
I love you – Bryan Martin
