Christmas history, tradition, and facts

If the Bible is the only genuine source of truth, then December 25 is never mentioned in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Thus the date of birth of the Messiah, December 25, has no basis in the scripture or in history. It might have started as a fake news that has been accepted by long tradition as a fact. The scientists insist that shepherds could not have been out tending their flocks during winter time. Thus, they conclude that Jesus was born in spring. And that it could not have been in December.

In the olden times, long before Jesus was born, in Scandinavia, the Norse people celebrated Yule (that is the origin of our reference to Yuletide to refer to Christmas) from December 21 to January, to acclaim the return of the sun. Boys and men would go out to the forests and bring home logs to be set on fire, and where families would gather to sing songs and share foods and drinks. In Rome, the Romans would celebrate the feast of Saturnalia beginning the week leading to the winter solstice. It is a month-long celebration characterized by hedonistic indulgence of food, drink, and sins of the flesh.

During the early times of Christianity, under Emperor Constantine, the center of Christian celebration was Easter and not Christmas. Pope Julius I, the author of the Julian calendar, designated December 25 as the birth of Jesus Christ, and from then on, it grew into a global religious, cultural, and now commercial celebration. Therefore December 25 as the date of Christmas does not have a scriptural basis. That is why the Puritans reject it as a form of blasphemy and a sinful revisionism of the genuine and authentic words written in the Bible. In the early 17th century, in Europe, Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645. They vowed to rid England of decadence and they cancelled Christmas. But by popular demand, King Charles II was reinstated as monarch and with his return, Christmas was restored.

When the Puritans migrated to the US from England, they prohibited the celebration of Christmas. History tells us that from 1659 to 1681, Christmas was outlawed in Boston, Massachusetts. It was only on June 26, 1870 that Christmas was restored in America. In the early nineteenth century, the clashes between the working class and the capitalists reached its height, and bloody riots took place during the Christmas season. Then in 1819, Washington Irving, a best-selling author wrote a series of stories about Christmas. It revived the peoples' interest in the Christmas celebration. In 1870, after the Civil War, President Ulysses Grant declared Christmas as a federal holiday in the entire USA.

Christmas trees started as a pagan practice of decorating homes with greens in anticipation of spring. The Romans decorated their house with fir trees. The use of Christmas trees as part of the Christian tradition began in Germany in the 1500s. Santa Claus, on the other hand, had Christian beginnings with the tradition inspired by Saint Nicholas, a bishop in Turkey around 280 AD. He suffered persecution for his faith. Tradition told the story of how he saved three daughters from being sold to become slaves. The father had no money for dowry to marry the daughters off. Saint Nicholas put gold inside socks and passed them through the windows so that the father could have gold with which to pay the dowries for his daughter.

Today, there is no country in the world that does not celebrate Christmas because there is no country without Christians. Even in the Arab world, Christmas is celebrated. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there are more than a million Filipinos and they celebrate Christmas even secretly inside the embassy and the consulates and in private dwellings and hotel rooms. In the USA, Santa Claus is more popular than Donald Trump, and the Christmas tree and other Christmas symbols dominate American homes.

In the Philippines, Christmas is observed from September to January. Business is good, people spend money as if there is no more tomorrow. By February, they go to the usurer and work hard until Easter then work again even harder to wait for the next Christmas.