1. Introduction.
Although Christmas is currently a time of gifts, celebrations and family
gatherings, the truth is that its origin actually responds to other historical
factors that involve the powerful Roman Empire, pagan rites and have
little to do with the historical event they commemorate: The birth of baby
Jesus.
We all know that December 25 is the commemoration of the birth of Jesus
of Nazareth, but the truth is that the exact date of this historical event is
unknown. The analysis of certain fragments of the Gospels, as well as other
documents of that time, have allowed historians to make different
hypotheses about the birth of Jesus Christ. Some speak of April or May,
while others conclude that it was September or October.
2. The pagan origin of Christmas.
Although we normally associate the origin of Christmas with Christian
myths and Catholicism, since it represents the birth of the baby Jesus;
Actually, this is a mistake, at least as we have accepted Christmas today.
Precisely, due to this doubt between pagan Christmas and Christian
Christmas, there was a case in 1990 in which the Solon (Ohio) school board
decided to eliminate all representations of Christmas in any school setting,
since it was a practice against of the secular State of the city, that is to say,
it did not respect the separation between Church and State. Likewise, the
board lost the case because the families objected to their children not
being able to celebrate Christmas at school, defending that the practice of
Christmas was a secular act and was part of all the cultures of the world.
Although the board lost the case, they did manage to eliminate the prayers
and the reading of the bible, associated with the celebration of Christmas.
Although in the modern age we refer to Santa Claus by Saint Nicholas, in
an earlier age, Santa was the name of the god Nimrod in Asia Minor. If we
think about it a bit, we will see that the center of Christmas, in all its stages,
has always been carried out by children. During Roman times, gifts were
given to children and the poor; and the Druids sacrificed children for the
god they worshiped at this time. In this same way, Nimrod or the past
Santa, devoured the children and, today he gives them gifts.
Likewise, we must also analyze the figure of Saint Nicholas, which comes
from a character called "the cheerful Nick" or "the old Nick". If we focus
on his name, Nick comes from Nikos which means "builder and destroyer",
while "Laos" means people. The Nicolaitans (followers of Saint Nicholas)
are then defined as "the people who follow the destroyer", which does not
cease to be, again, Nimrod.
3. Santa claus.
Although in the modern age we refer to Santa Claus by Saint Nicholas, in
an earlier age, Santa was the name of the god Nimrod in Asia Minor. If
we think about it a bit, we will see that the center of Christmas, in all its
stages, has always been carried out by children. During Roman times,
gifts were given to children and the poor; and the Druids sacrificed
children for the god they worshiped at this time. In this same way,
Nimrod or the past Santa, devoured the children and, today he gives
them gifts.
Likewise, we must also analyze the figure of Saint Nicholas, which comes
from a character called "the cheerful Nick" or "the old Nick". If we focus
on his name, Nick comes from Nikos which means "builder and
destroyer", while "Laos" means people. The Nicolaitans (followers of
Saint Nicholas) are then defined as "the people who follow the
destroyer", which does not cease to be, again, Nimrod.
4. The Christmas gifts.
The origin of this Christmas custom dates back to the Romans when, in
Saturnalia, they also exchanged gifts with each other. And as you already
assumed, no, this is not a tradition related to Christianity either. Obviously,
during these dates, we do not make offerings to God, but we make them
to ourselves in the form of gifts, completely forgetting the figure of Christ.
In fact, according to the Bible, the birthday should not be celebrated
either, because they are being, in the same way, selfish with God who gave
birth to human beings.
As the bible indicates, when the Magi offer gifts to the child Jesus, it is
what Christmas really should be: dates to make offerings to Christ.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod,
some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east, saying: Where is the King
of the Jews, who has been born? ... And when they entered the house,
they saw the child with his mother Mary, and bowing down, they
worshiped him; Opening their treasures, they offered him presents: gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2: 1-11) history-and-origin-of-
christmas-gifts-children
In this way, we realize that the customs and celebrations that we carry out
at Christmas have nothing to do with a Christian origin and, therefore, it is
not a Christian celebrity, as it happens with its real origin.
5. Why is it celebrated on December 25?
The most consistent explanation from historians is that the origin of
Christmas was related to a series of decisions made by the high command
of the Christian church in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Among them, the
motion of Pope Julius I in 350 to establish Christmas on December 25 is
considered the most decisive. This was decreed 4 years later by Pope
Liberius.
The reason for the choice of this date is related to the need for the recently
officialized Christian religion to impose itself on the traditional Roman
pagan cults. In December, the cult of Saturn, god of agriculture (the main
livelihood and economic activity of these peoples) was celebrated in the
great space occupied by the Roman Empire. Saturnalia took place from
December 17 to 23, the shortest days of the year, and then December 25
was considered the birth of the new sun.
The Christian church then chose December 25 as the day of the birth of
Jesus as a strategy in its expansion process, in which it systematically
sought to absorb and merge its celebrations with the pagan rites of the
various converted peoples.
The Christmas ritual has evolved over the centuries, what we celebrate
today is very distant from these first Christmases, and responds mainly to
customs originating from the 19th century and to the influence of
consumer society.
In any case, the true story of the origin of Christmas should not distance us
from our personal and family beliefs. Since the essence of these festivals
transcends the historical, and resides in the spiritual, and it is very good
that it should be so.
