History
Mosaic of Jesus as Christo Sole (Christ the Sun) in Mausoleum M in the pre-fourth-century necropolis under St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.[39]For many centuries, Christian writers accepted that Christmas was the actual date on which Jesus was born.[40] However, in the early eighteenth century, scholars began proposing alternative explanations. Isaac Newton argued that the date of Christmas was selected to correspond with the winter solstice,[8] which in ancient times was marked on December 25.[41] In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and was therefore a “paganization” that debased the true church.[7] In 1889, Louis Duchesne suggested that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after the Annunciation (March 25), the traditional date of the Incarnation.[42]
Pre-Christian background
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
Main article: Sol Invictus
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means “the birthday of the unconquered Sun.” The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the god of Emperor Aurelian; and Mithras, a soldiers’ god of Persian origin.[43] Emperor Elagabalus (218–222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday.[44] This day had held no significance in the Roman festive calendar until it was introduced in the third century.[45]
The festival was placed on the date of the solstice because this was on this day that the Sun reversed its southward retreat and proved itself to be “unconquered.” Several early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus.[6] “O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born…Christ should be born”, Cyprian wrote.[6] John Chrysostom also commented on the connection: “They call it the ‘Birthday of the Unconquered’. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord . . .?”[6]
Winter festivals
Main article: List of winter festivals
A winter festival was the most popular festival of the year in many cultures. Reasons included the fact that less agricultural work needs to be done during the winter, as well as an expectation of better weather as spring approached.[46] Modern Christmas customs include: gift-giving and merrymaking from Roman Saturnalia; greenery, lights, and charity from the Roman New Year; and Yule logs and various foods from Germanic feasts.[47] Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is synonymous with Christmas,[48] a usage first recorded in 900.
Christian establishment
The New Testament does not give a date for the birth of Jesus.[6][49] Around AD 200, Clement of Alexandria wrote that a group in Egypt celebrated the nativity on Pachon 25.[6] This corresponds to May 20.[50] Tertullian (d. 220) does not mention Christmas as a major feast day in the Church of Roman Africa.[6] However, in Chronographai, a reference work published in 221, Sextus Julius Africanus suggested that Jesus was conceived on the spring equinox, popularizing the idea that Christ was born on December 25.[51][52] The equinox was March 25 on the Roman calendar, so this implied a birth in December.[53] De Pascha Computus, a calendar of feasts produced in 243, gives March 28 as the date of the nativity.[54] In 245, the theologian Origen of Alexandria stated that, “only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod)” celebrated their birthdays.[55] In 303, Christian writer Arnobius ridiculed the idea of celebrating the birthdays of gods, which suggests that Christmas was not yet a feast at this time.[6]
Feast established
An early reference to the date of the nativity as December 25 is found in the Chronography of 354, an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome in 354.[56] In the East, early Christians celebrated the birth of Christ as part of Epiphany (January 6), although this festival emphasized celebration of the baptism of Jesus.[57]
Christmas was promoted in the Christian East as part of the revival of Catholicism following the death of the pro-Arian Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The feast was introduced to Constantinople in 379, and to Antioch in about 380. The feast disappeared after Gregory of Nazianzus resigned as bishop in 381, although it was reintroduced by John Chrysostom
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
Once you are a group you are already a denomination with a set of beliefs. It is the same argument when people say that no religion can save them only Christ, but the very act of praying is an act of religion. People are confusing the very meaning of words and not taking it on face value. All things will boil into two most important things. Authority of the interpreter and correct interpretation of doctrines. That’s why non denominational keep on multiplying by splitting because they can’t eeven agree on their own interpretation because everybody is independent. The Jews asked Jesus"… by whose authority He does those things?" The church is governed by authority otherwise there will be anarchy. That is why there is a sheperd ang a flock. Sorry can’t accept a group is non-denominational. You are non-denominational coz you’re alone. So why celebrate Christmas? Christmas is like a beacon to show Christ as the The true Light of The World. And when His light shines on any one that he might believe and know Christ the Son of God dwelt among us. :yup:
:harp::hug3:
