Origins of Christmas

The origins of the celebration of Christmas are somewhat obscure. There is no documented evidence of any type of Christmas observance during the first three hundred years of the Christian era. The New Testament does not identify the date of Jesus' birth, and during the early years of Christianity there was no traditional date ascribed to the nativity. The only two gospels that mention the birth of Jesus — Matthew and Luke — offer little factual information, and the New Testament does not suggest that it is an occasion that should be commemorated. During the first centuries of Christianity there were no Christmas celebrations and the principal liturgical focus of the early Christian calendar was Easter.¹ The first documented reference to the observance of Jesus' birth was in 354, almost two decades after the death of the first Christian emperor, Constantine. Because no specific date was associated with the birth of Jesus, the Christians of the 4th century had some latitude when they finally selected a date to celebrate the nativity.

With the choice of December 25, the Western church settled on a date that was precisely in the middle of three wildly popular Roman midwinter festivals. The First was Saturnalia ... with a legendary reputation of excessive partying. A few days later came the New Year's festival ... Between these two celebrations fell December 25, the winter solstice by calendars of the time. Romans celebrated December 25 as the birthday of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun ...²

After having selected the conventional date of the Winter Solstice to recognize the birth of their Lord, the early followers of Jesus "gave an overlay of Christian meaning to some preexisting winter festivities."³ Having selected December 25 as a date that corresponded to pagan celebrations, they also burnished it with some appropriate ornamentation. [To find out about more about pagan ornamentation, see Christmas Evergreens]

See the History Channel's explanation of the origins of Christmas celebrations.

Christmas in America

In the same rough spirit of the Puritans' opposition to Christmas, December 25 remained without legal status as a holiday in 19th century America, and employers, like Ebenezer Scrooge in England, had the authority to decide whether or not to allow workers time off to attend church. Federal employees were required to show up for work. "Congress met on Christmas Day every year from 1789 to 1855, with only three exceptions," and "public schools met on Christmas day in parts of New England at least until 1870."⁴ It was not until June 1870 -- three weeks after the death of the author of A Christmas Carol -- that the U.S. Congress made Christmas into an official national holiday.

Meanwhile, however, the religious dimension of Christmas had begun to give way to its commercial aspects. As early as the 1820s

New York's stores in the city stayed open until midnight during the Christmas season. Bright gas lights illuminated '[w]hole rows of confectionery stores and toy shops, fancifully, and often splendidly, decorated with festoons of bright silk drapery, interspersed with flowers and evergreens.' In the evenings and into the late night, 'visitors of both sexes and all ages' filled the streets, 'some selecting toys and fruit for holiday presents; others merely lounging from shop to shop to enjoy the varied scene.'⁵

Denunciations of the commercialization of Christmas immediately followed. Some newspapers began to call for a "more marked observance of Christmas day."⁶

See the History Channel's video on the origins of Christmas celebrations in America.

Learn More
>> Christmas' Origins
>> Christmas Law
>> Santa Claus
>> Christmas Evergreens
>> A Weighin' the Mangers
>> The Origin of Crèches
>> Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"
>> Puritans & Christmas
>> Celebrating Christmas in America

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