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What is the historical sources for Christmas celebrations?

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The Nativity scene

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The story as it is told• Jesus was born in a stable, as his

parents had to return to their home town of Bethlehem to pay their taxes.

• There was no room in the inn, so his parents were told they could sleep in the stable, where the baby was born.

• Meanwhile, the shepherds out on the hillside, caring for their sheep, were told by an angel to go and visit to baby.

• And far away, 3 wise men saw a star that led them to Bethlehem to visit the baby.

• This was believed by many for centuries to have happened on the 25th Dec in what was later numbered as 1 AD.

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How did Christmas day come into being?• It did not occur until mid 4th century. Christmas was

celebrated in Rome by Pope Liberius on Dec 25th in 354 AD• In earlier centuries, the mainly Jewish Christians looked

down on celebrating birthdays as a pagan idea.• However, as more non-Jews became Christians and even the

Roman Empire adopted Christianity, the idea of celebrating a the birth of Christ took hold.

• Marissa said: It is thought that the winter celebrations were changed to the celebration of the birth of Jesus by the Roman emperor Constantine. He converted to Christianity and wanted to incorporate the winter celebrations together with the celebration of Jesus’ birth. By doing this, Constantine hoped that this would help to make non-Christians and Christians celebrate together. By Jamie said: Originally Christmas was a Pagan celebration of the Sun God which was called the Sol Invictus festival. The priests of the church, pointed out that Jesus was the Son of God, as the Sun starts to rise again after the solstice, then this is a good day to celebrate arrival of the Son of God. Modern day Pagans don’t like that Christians took their festival.

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By Sufyan with some more ideas!• In the Western world, the birthday of Jesus Christ

has been celebrated on December 25th since AD 354, replacing an earlier date of January 6th. The Christians had by then appropriated many pagan festivals and traditions of the season, that were practiced in many parts of the Middle East and Europe, as a means of stamping them out.

• There were mid-winter festivals in ancient Babylon and Egypt, and Germanic fertility festivals also took place at this time. The birth of the ancient sun-god Attis in Phrygia was celebrated on December 25th, as was the birth of the Persian sun-god, Mithras. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of peace and plenty, that ran from the 17th to 24th of December. Public gathering places were decorated with flowers, gifts and candles were exchanged and the population, slaves and masters alike, celebrated the occasion with great enthusiasm.

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Numbering the years

• The Roman’s counted their years from when they believed Rome had started, in what we now call 753 BC (BCE).

• So for a long time this was one of them many counting systems being used in different places.

• However when Dionysius Exiguus was asked in 524AD (or to work out when Easter would occur for the next few years, he set to work to decide when Jesus was born and so start a new numbering system based on that.

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Numbering the years• But because the roman number system:• I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X• Has no zero, both AD and BC begin with a 1• Zeros did not arrive in Europe fro several

hundred years from India.• In 1277 Roman dating system (or 524 AD

once he had worked out the new system), Dionysius Exiguus thought he had worked out when Jesus was born and decided to make the year of his birth in the year of our Lord 1, and years before that as so many years before the year of our Lord. This was widely taken up in Rome and in the surroundings.

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Calendars and Dates

• As we said Dionysius Exiguus invented Anno Domini years to date Easter in Rome in 524

• There was no 0 AD and from other things in the bible it is unlikely that Jesus was born on December 25 – more likely sometime in September

• And nor was it in 1AD either!

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Issues that leave a question or 2• The Gospels were written long after

Jesus died (up to about 100 years)• People did not live as long then• It would have been the children or

the grandchildren of the people who were there who wrote them

• Few people could read or write and a lot of it would have been past down by word of mouth.

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Issues that leave a question or 2• No-one would have known when

Jesus was born that he was going to be so important

• So what happened at his birth had little detail and a lot of it could have been myth

• As we have seen the dates were not added until much later and could easily have been wrong

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Issues that leave a question or 2• For instance, the king, Herod who was

supposed to be on the throne at the time died about 4 BC, so it is likely that Jesus was born in 5 BC or before.

• William says: We have celebrated Christmas day on 25th December every year since 354AD but it is believed that Jesus was not born on this day. It is noted that when Jesus was born the shepherds were watching over their sheep, however it would have been far too cold in December to do this so it is believed that Jesus was born in spring but no one really knows the date.

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Issues that leave a question or 2• The 3 kings or magi were probably

members of the Zoroastrians religion, but were renowned for their knowledge of the stars the stars, and they were well-versed in astrology.

• There are a lot of different ideas about what the Star of Bethlehem was, including a comet and 2 planets coming close together

• However, others think that because the Magi believed in astrology, it could have been that kind of star that they were referring to, not one you could see at all.

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Who was Father Christmas?•Born of a rich family, Nicholas was

brought up as a devout Christian. When his parents died, Nicholas (obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor,“) gave most of his money to the poor and homeless and then became a priest.

•Soon he became Archbishop of Myra and his good deeds started to spread across the Mediterranean, eager sailors called upon him to calm stormy seas and prison walls crumbled when victims of persecution prayed to him.

•(Thank you Aramis)

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So what do we have?

• The birth of Jesus was almost certainly not in 1AD nor in all likelihood was it anywhere close to December 25th.

• But really this does not matter, as celebrating a birth does not have to take place on the actual day in the year.

• For example, in the eastern Mediterranean for a long while they celebrated the arrival of the Magi with their gifts on January 6th.

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However, we do know something about another

important person at Christmas

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Who was Father Christmas?•He dedicated his life to serving God

•He was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man.

•Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to

– the those in need, – his love for

children, and – his concern for

sailors and ships.

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After he died

• In the centuries that followed, stories grew up about the kindly bishop.

• Once a poor man didn’t have any money to give to his daughters on they’re wedding day.

• (Without it, they most likely would have been sold into slavery.)

• In the night the daughters hung they’re stockings up and went to bed. Saint Nicholas crept up on the roof and dropped three bags of gold into the stockings. He must of had good eye site!

• Ever since then children put they’re stockings up and hope they will be filled with presents by the next morning.

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After he died

• Sometimes the story was told with gold balls instead of bags of gold.

• That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas.

• And so St. Nicholas is a gift-giver.

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After he died

• One of the oldest stories showing St. Nicholas as a protector of children takes place long after his death.

• The townspeople of Myra were celebrating the good saint on the eve of his feast day when a band of Arab pirates from Crete came into the district.

• They stole treasures from the Church of Saint Nicholas to take away as booty.

• As they were leaving town, they snatched a young boy, Basilios, to make into a slave.

• The emir, or ruler, selected Basilios to be his personal cupbearer, as not knowing the language, Basilios would not understand what the king said to those around him.

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After he died

• For Basilios' parents, devastated at the loss of their only child, the year passed slowly, filled with grief.

• As the next St. Nicholas' feast day approached, Basilios' mother would not join in the festivity, as it was now a day of tragedy.

• However, she was persuaded to have a simple observance at home—with quiet prayers for Basilios' safekeeping. .

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After he died

• Meanwhile, as Basilios was fulfilling his tasks serving the emir, he was suddenly whisked up and away.

• St. Nicholas appeared to the terrified boy, blessed him, and set him down at his home back in Myra.

• Imagine the joy and wonderment when Basilios amazingly appeared before his parents, still holding the king's golden cup.

• This is the first story told of St. Nicholas protecting children—which became his primary role in the West.

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Since then …

• Widely celebrated in Europe, St. Nicholas' feast day, December 6th, kept alive the stories of his goodness and generosity.

• In Germany and Poland, boys dressed as bishops begged alms for the poor—and sometimes for themselves!

• In the Netherlands and Belgium, St. Nicholas arrived on a steamship from Spain to ride a white horse on his gift-giving rounds.

• December 6th is still the main day for gift giving and merrymaking in much of Europe.

• For example, in the Netherlands St. Nicholas' Day is celebrated with the sharing of candies (thrown in the door), chocolate initial letters, small gifts, and riddles.

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Since then …

• Dutch children leave carrots and hay in their shoes for the horse, hoping St. Nicholas will exchange them for small gifts.

• Simple gift-giving in early Advent helps preserve a Christmas Day focus on the Christ Child.

• Nicholas would come every Dec. 6 and bring gifts down the chimney to children in Northern Europe as early as the 14th century; he was popular and much loved.

• This seems to have given him and his cult a kind of resilience when elsewhere the images and statues of saints were being razed, burned or smashed.

Thomas Nast by Lucas

Thomas Nast, born in 1840, the German American

cartoonist created the popular image of Father Christmas.

The fat, happy, whiskered and berobed Father Christmas first appeared in an 1863 edition

of Harpers Weekly.

Changes

In the 1930's Thomas Nast's Father Christmas became

more festive when Coca Cola changed brown, green or red outfit to red and white only. Some countries still use the green outfit which Victorians

liked.

The Father Christmas we know.

The Victorian Father Christmas