Christmas time is a holiday season full of bringing people together through family, faith, and culture, spreading joy, generosity, and goodwill. Over time, people have created their own perspectives, and different ways to celebrate the Christmas seasons, but they all come together to spread these positive ideals all across the world.
Christmas Through the Christian Faith
Christians connect Christmas to the birth of Jesus Christ, celebrating it as a religious festival that shows the significance of this event. Although the New Testament does not provide any information regarding December 25th as the day that Jesus Christ was born, the Roman Emperor Constantine that first identified this event as Jesus’s birth, and the celebration of the first “Christmas” and later became widely acknowledged. One of the most widespread accepted explanations for Jesus Christ’s birth date is the connection between the winter solstice celebration in the Roman Empire.
This celebration is known by the statement “dies solis invicti nati”, translated to “day of the birth of the unconquered sun”. Christians often used this connection to the rebirth of the sun, to the birth of the Son. After the Roman Emperor Constantaine converted to Christianity, celebrations during the winter solstice were changed to contribute to his Christian faithOne other accepted view is the connection to the Spring Equinox as the date of the creation of the world, stating that this was the day that Jesus was conceived. This shows that if he was conceived March 25th, exactly nine months after would be December 25th, confirming his birthdate. On the day of Christmas, Christians will attend Church services, and recite the Birth of Jesus through productions like plays, or songs.
Western Origins of Christmas
As time progressed, the traditions of Christmas the majority of America celebrates today, was brought over by Germans in the 1830s. In Europe, Germans established their own Christmas traditions, separate to those related to Christianity and Religion. In the late 1790s, Germans started the tradition we call the Christmas tree today. They decorated these trees with wax candles and ornaments, which was originally established by Pagans during the Winter Solstice. Compared to today, where we decorate our trees with lights, and majority plastic ornaments. As Americans and Europeans continue to share and spread their different traditions, the Christmas tree became widespread in America by the 1870s. Another tradition established was gift-giving, which was originally only shared through family members, as the creation of Santa Claus was not yet widespread. Continuing into the 19th Century, Christmas was mostly decorating trees and gift-giving, until in 1863 the first image of the jolly man Santa Claus was shown. In the 1863’s Harper’s Weekly Newspaper, an image of this “Santa Claus” was shown visiting the Union Army, illustrated by Thomas Nast.
For the years following, Thomas Nast changed Santa Claus’s appearance to be shown as the jolly man we know today, with a big belly and long white beard. Shown in the illustration, “Santa Claus and His Works”, Thomas Nast depicts Santa Claus and his different duties, from making toys, to watching over the behavior of children. Nast also depicts Santa Claus traveling by sleigh, carried by reindeer. Christmas was officially declared a holiday by Congress in 1870, along with New Year’s Day, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving Day, and these traditions continue to be celebrated, as 85% of America’s population celebrate this holiday year after year.
