What does christmas mean and where did the christmas tree and lights come from?
Where did the tradition of the Christmas tree and celebrating christmas come from. Did the cave men celebrate christmas too?
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October 23rd, 2010 at 10:50 am
It’s Jesus’s birthday! (:
October 23rd, 2010 at 11:17 am
Unfortunately, cave men don’t celebrate christmas until of course, the birth of christianity. Celebrating christmas is somewhat like a doctrine formed of a religious council that officiates the date of the Jesus Christ (because the Bible didn’t exactly told what was the exact date but everybody agrees that Jesus was born). Christmas tree originated in germany when it was a tradition to cut trees and decorate it inside a home! hope this helps!
October 23rd, 2010 at 11:37 am
No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover. One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th?
The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.
In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born.
In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.
Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods.
The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.
In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.
Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.”
The controversy continues even today in some fundamentalist sects.
hope that helps
October 23rd, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Christmas is the day that we celebrate Jesus’ birth. If you have a KJV Holy Bible – you’ll find the story in Luke 2.
The reason why there’s a Christmas tree is because
1. Adam sinned and he was the first man so the sin nature passed on to every person – the payment for sin is death/hell.
2. Sin separates man from God. God wanted to get man back so he sent his only son Jesus into the world.
3. In Luke 2 – Jesus was born and his parents were Mary and God.
4. Since Jesus was God (God can’t sin) and man – he (Jesus) couldn’t sin in the flesh, which means he didn’t have to pay the debt for sin(death/hell).
Think of sin like a crime. Everyone has sinned. Everyone goes to jail. Jesus never sinned. Jesus doesn’t have to go to jail. Jesus can bail you out, and he will, but you have to ask him.
5. Jesus bailed us out by taking every sin upon him that had happened and would happen at that point when he died on the cross. The cross was made from a tree. People nailed Jesus’ hands to that cross.
6. Since he had sin on him, he went to hell (BUT he didn’t have to die for us or do anything that he did for us) and when he went, he conquered death/hell, making a way for us to go to heaven.
7. Salvation is a free gift. Jesus is our salvation because he saved us from hell.
People think that they have to do enough good works to get them to heaven. The Bible says that our good works are as filthy rags. The Bible says that heaven is a free gift. Jesus did the works that needed to be done. We will NEVER be good enough for heaven. If Jesus had never come, there would be no way for us to escape hell.
The awesomest verses in the Bible- Acts 16:30 and 31 –
30-“And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (From hell)
31-“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
When the weather is cold, rocks are even colder. I don’t think that anyone lived in a cave unless they were hiding from someone who was seeking their life.
To be saved before Jesus died on the cross people had to beleve that he would come (to die for their sins).
To be saved after Jesus died people had to believe that he came (and died for their sins).
It really isn’t a one sentence answer.
The day that we celebrate Christ’s birth may not be the actual month or day He was born. It is a day Christians give gifts to one another, reminding us of the greatest gift Christ gave us – heaven. I heard that Christ was born – I think during harvest time- whatever that time is. And the reason why we celebrate in December is for the stores somehow. -I wonder who chose this date??!
I HAVE A QUESTION for you…
Ever wonder where we get our time table?? Do you know why this year is 2008?
There’s two categories in the time table of all time.
1. BC – before Christ
2. AD – After Death – After Christ died
When you look at something that has a date of 560 BC that means that whatever you’re looking at took place 560 years before Christ came. Right now is 2008. Two thousand and eight years after Christ came.
See for yourself.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God sent his Son to also help us with our time schedule too apparently. That’s funny! Wierd huh??
October 23rd, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Christmas is from Anglo-Saxons “Christ-messe” and means the celebration of Christ. In most other languages the name of Christmas comes from the word for “birth” – Natividad, Noel, Nativity.
The arrival of Christ in the world has been celebrated from the early days of the Christian church. At this time, there were no universal standards so some people celebrated the birth, some celebrated the arrival of the Magi (aka three kings), Epiphany. They also celebrated on different days as the bible does not give any date.
The Church in Rome settled on December 25th some time in the late 3rd century. There was no traditional Roman feast on that day, though the Emperor did start a new one at about that time. No-one knows which came first. This date became the standard in the Western Catholic church and is kept by most protestants. Most Orthodox use the same date, but a different calendar, a few still use a different date.
The tradition of the Christmas Tree started in Europe and is first recorded in the 16th century, well into the Christian era. There is no evidence at all of any connection to paganism.
The first Christmas trees were put up on Christmas Eve and were decorated with fruit and nuts (now replaced by glass baubles and candy). Christmas Eve used to be counted as the Feast of Adam and Eve. The connection is obvious – the Christmas tree represents the tree in the Garden of Eden.
The birth of Christ, the second Adam, transforms the tree from a symbol of our fall to a symbol of our redemption
October 23rd, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Christmas is the birth of Christ, so naturally it came when Jesus was born, which is why it’s called CHRISTmas. christ. the birth of christ. the birth of our savor. The christmas lights came from a telephone man. He decided to take all of the bright and shiny lights that he saw and wrap them around a tree… I guess decorations eventaully just happened. Hope that helped?
Merry Xmas…