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A Brief History of Christmas

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Title: A Brief History of Christmas


1
A Brief History of Christmas
2
Celebrating the Birth of Christ?What do
birthday celebrations look like?
3
The Traditional Birthday Formula
4
Birthday boy or girl
Birthday guests
Birthday cake
Birthday candles
5
Birthday presents
Birthday invitations
Singing the Happy Birthday song
6
A history of celebrating a persons birthday
7
We just celebrated 2 birthdays and they both
followed the traditional Birthday Formula
We had invitations, guests, presents, cake, and
singing
Leoras and Micaiahs birthdays have been
historically celebrated by their families as well
8
Where Did the Traditional Birthday Formula
Originate?
  • The various customs with which people today
    celebrate their birthdays have a long history.
    Their origins lie in the realm of magic and
    religion. The customs of offering
    congratulations, presenting gifts and
    celebratingcomplete with lighted candlesin
    ancient times were meant to protect the birthday
    celebrant from the demons and to ensure his
    security for the coming year. . . Down to the
    fourth century Christianity rejected the birthday
    celebration as a pagan custom.
  • Schwäbische Zeitung (magazine supplement
    Zeit und Welt),
  • April 3/4, 1981, p. 4.

9
  • The notion of a birthday festival was far
    from the ideas of the Christians of this period
    the first three centuries in general.
  • The History of the Christian Religion and
    Church, During the Three First Centuries
    (New York, 1848), Augustus Neander (translated by
    Henry John Rose), p. 190.
  • The Hebrews looked on the celebration of
    birthdays as a part of idolatrous worship, a view
    which would be abundantly confirmed by what they
    saw of the common observances associated with
    these days.
  • The Imperial Bible-Dictionary (London, 1874),
    edited by Patrick Fairbairn, Vol. I, p. 225.

10
  • The Greeks believed that everyone had a
    protective spirit or daemon who attended his
    birth and watched over him in life. This spirit
    had a mystic relation with the god on whose
    birthday the individual was born. The Romans also
    subscribed to this idea. This notion was carried
    down in human belief and is reflected in the
    guardian angel, the fairy godmother and the
    patron saint. The custom of lighted candles on
    the cakes started with the Greeks. Honey cakes
    round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed
    on the temple altars of Artemis. Birthday
    candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special
    magic for granting wishes. Lighted tapers and
    sacrificial fires have had a special mystic
    significance ever since man first set up altars
    to his gods. The birthday candles are thus an
    honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring
    good fortune. Birthday greetings and wishes for
    happiness are an intrinsic part of this holiday.
    Originally the idea was rooted in magic. Birthday
    greetings have power for good or ill because one
    is closer to the spirit world on this day.
  • The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952),
    Ralph and Adelin Linton, pp. 8, 18-20.

11
  • The early Christians did not celebrate His
    (Christs) birth because they considered the
    celebration of anyones birth to be a pagan
    custom.
  • The World Book Encyclopedia Volume 3, page
    416.

12
Do we celebrate Christmas as if it were Jesus
Birthday?
  • Invitations No
  • Guests Maybe, but not for Jesus Birthday Party
  • Birthday cake No
  • Gifts Not given to the Birthday Boy
  • Happy Birthday song No
  • We dont follow the Birthday Formula

13
We Do Follow a Formula Though
14
Where did our Christmas Birthday Formula
Originate?
  • It is different than the Traditional Birthday
    Formula
  • Customs, Practices, and Traditions
  • Symbols, Icons, and Images
  • Historical Significance
  • Factual Errors
  • Spiritual Significance

15
History and Origin of the Christmas TraditionsA
Few Critical Points
  • December 25th as Christs Birthday
  • When the angel announced Christs birth, the
    shepherds were feeding their flocks by night in
    the open fields
  • Shepherds stopped this practice by the end of
    October (Luke 28, Commentaries of Maimonides,
    Deuteronomy 114, Barnes, Doddridge, Lightfoot,
    Scaliger, Jennings, and Mede)
  • At the birth of Christ, every woman and child was
    to be taxed at the city they belonged
  • The winter was almost an impossible time to
    travel
  • Historical observance of Christs birth?
  • No such festival existed until the 3rd century
    (established
  • by the Catholic Church as Christs Mass-
    another
  • conversion of a pagan holiday)
  • So why was December the 25th a pagan holiday?

16
Tammuz as King of Babylon
Isis as the Queen of Heaven
  • December 25th as Christs Birthday
  • The 25th was celebrated as the birth of Tammuz
    (the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven,
    Simeramus)
  • Yule Day (the 25th)- yule is the Chaldee word
    for child
  • Mother Night (the 24th)- Simeramus
  • The first mother and child Simeramus and Tammuz
  • Also celebrated as the birth of the son of Isis
    by the Egyptians
  • Celebrated as the birth of the Moon by the
    Arabians

Tammuz as an infant
17
  • December 25th as Christs Birthday
  • Tammuz died at birth
  • A great festival commenced as an appeal for the
    resurrection of Tammuz from the dead
  • Evergreen trees were set afire as a sacrifice to
    Baal
  • Infants were sacrificed on these fires so they
    might take Tammuzs place and hereby obtain his
    release from death
  • Tammuz was resurrected after 3 days (sound
    familiar?)
  • The lighted evergreen tree is a symbol of this
    ceremony to Baal

Tammuz
Simeramus
Nimrod
18
Wassailing Bowl
Here we come a-wassailingAmong the leaves so
green,Here we come a-wassailing,So fair to be
seen Love and joy come to you,And to you your
wassail too,And God bless you and send you,A
happy New Year,And God send you,A happy new
year.
from Bacchus- the drunken festival of Babylon
19
Christmas Tree
The Roman fir tree symbolizing the god
Baal-Berith (Lord of the Covenant or Lord of the
Fir Tree)
The Egyptian palm-tree symbolizing the god
Baal-Tamar (from the Babylonian god Tammuz)
The mother of Adonis (the son god) became an
evergreen tree and then birthed him
20
Yule Log
The yule log goes in the fire on Mothers Night
and is replaced by the tree on Childs Day
Adonis, birthed from his mother while she was in
the form of an evergreen tree He was called Man
the Branch
21
Mistletoe
Kissing under the mistletoe originated in Babylon
and was written about by Daniel. The mistletoe is
a representation of Nimrod (or Tammuz or Adonis).
Druidic Mistletoe Ritual
22
Santa Claus
St. Nicholas of Myra (Catholic saint, died c 346
at Myra) The historical figure that Santa Claus
was modeled after The Coca-Cola Company is
responsible for the current costume and colors of
Santa Claus
23
Conclusions
  • Birthday celebrations follow a certain pattern
    and formula (although of pagan origin, the
    birthday custom is practiced world-wide)
  • Christmas, if a birthday celebration of the birth
    of Christ, does not follow the birthday pattern
  • However, Christmas certainly has a traditional
    foundation and pattern of practice
  • Where then, did this pattern of practice
    originate?

24
Conclusions
  • Christmas was established by the Catholic Church
    as a means of converting several pagan customs
  • The practices found in the celebration of
    Christmas are traceable to Babylonian mythology
    (it is also an integration of many others as
    well)
  • Therefore, Christmas is celebrated as if it were
    a pagan ceremony
  • Hence, it is not a celebration of Christs birth

25
So What Should We Do?(only a few suggestions)
  • Make sure that you honor the birth of Christ
    during Christmas, or
  • Celebrate Christs birthday as you would any
    other, or
  • Celebrate Christmas as is, but celebrate Christs
    birth on another day that is more likely his
    actual birth

26
The Twelve Days of Christmas(cant confirm this
is true but cant prove its not)
  • 1. The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ
  • 2. Two turtledoves were the Old and New
    Testaments 
  • 3. Three French hens stood for faith, hope and
    love
  • 4. The four calling birds were the four gospels
    of Matthew, Mark, Luke
  • John
  • 5. The five golden rings recalled the Torah or
    Law, the first five
  • books of the Old Testament
  • 6. The six geese a-laying stood for the six days
    of creation
  • 7. Seven swans a-swimming represented the
    sevenfold gifts of the Holy
  • Spirit Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation,
    Contribution,
  • Leadership, and Mercy
  • 8. The eight maids a-milking were the eight
    beatitudes
  • 9. Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of
    the Holy Spirit Love,
  • Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,
    Faithfulness, Gentleness,
  • and Self Control
  • 10. The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten
    Commandments
  • 11. The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven
    faithful disciples
  • 12. The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the
    twelve points of
  • belief in The Apostles' Creed
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