Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian
From: rock@sun.com (Bill Petro)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Christmas
Message-ID: <Sep.1.02.50.29.1989.18399@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 1 Sep 89 06:50:31 GMT
Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu
Lines: 33
Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu


crowe@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (Daniel Crowe) writes:


>[This note is a response to a posting by kriz@skat.usc.edu (Dennis
>Kriz).  He posted a letter he was thinking of writing to the
>President, protesting the non-religious/cultural nature of Christmas
>celeberations.  He asked for the government to remove it from the
>calendar of national holidays, and not to do any Christmas-related
>functions or displays.  --clh]

The Christmas feast itself was not the among the earliest festivals of
the church and did not enjoy general celebration until the 4th
century.  Agreement on the date of December 25 (in the West at least)
did not occur until the early 5th century. The Eastern church's
celebration is on January 6.  It may be that Christmas was fixed at the
end of December to supercede the pagan Roman 'Saturnalia', many of
whose customs survive into the modern holiday.  The ancient Romans
decorated with holly, mistletoe, and evergreen and exchanged gifts and
feasted.  December 25 was the 'natalis invicti solis' or the birthday
of the unconquerable sun, their date of the winter solstice, when the
sun began its northern climb in the skies and the days grew longer.
December 25 was now to be known for the birth of the unconquerable
Son.

		    Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian

P.S.  Stay tuned for the complete series on the history behind the holidays
coming later this year.


     Bill Petro  {decwrl,hplabs,ucbvax}!sun!Eng!rock
"UNIX for the sake of the kingdom of heaven"  Matthew 19:12