How did Christmas start and when was it added to the Christian church?

Answer 1

AnswerChristmas celebrations are suppose to be the celebration of the birth of Christ (thus, "Christ .... mass.") There is nowhere in The Bible that states the birth of Christ. Scientists would have us believe (from plant life mentioned in the Bible) that Jesus was born in the Spring. Christmas in latter years was simply a conglomeration of immigrant customs. Holland was where the celebration originated in. Santa Claus has been around since the 4th century and originally known as Saint Nicholas, the patron of children and sailors, the bishop was immortalized because of his generous and loving nature towards children. He was said to have brought joy to the poor by throwing gifts through their windows. The Dutch called him Saint Nikolass, which eventually evolved into Sinter Klaas. It wasn't until the Dutch began entering America that the colonists of New York began calling him Santa Claus! As time went on Department stores and toy companies saw dollar signs and thus, toy giving, gift giving, and most have forgotten in the rush of this time of year what Christmas should really be about. It puts stress on the poor that can't afford to give gifts and for those that can it's the busiest few weeks of the year leaving people exhausted and irritable. "Merry Christmas" in the U.S. and Canada has now become "SEASONS GREETINGS" but those of us who still deem Christmas as a way of celebrating the birth of Christ still say "Merry Christmas!" By the time Christmas rolls around people are worn out, tapped out and miserable and then come the bills from Visa! One should be taking a good hard look at the celebration of Christmas whether they are Christians or not. Of course we don't want to take the fantasies and dreams from the little ones so Christmas should be celebrated to a point, but, hopefully for many this will also include childrens concerts of the birth of Christ. It doesn't matter about the date, but the meaning.

Whether Jesus was born December 25th or not it is sad that we don't take this day and make is special for the celebration of Christ who gave his life for our sins. If you are not of a belief system, then it should be a good time to be close to family, to be thankful for what you have, to laugh and have fun. It is also the time of year for giving and that doesn't necessarily mean giving expensive gifts to each other. It means to give from the heart and not how expensive the gift is. My husband and I don't have small children in our family (all grown up) so we take the money we use to spend and spread it around to different organizations for food, and also, to give a bright spot in some child's eyes that has never experienced Christmas. Some of the best gifts any of us can give is ourselves. I think what ever Supreme Being one believes in wouldn't mind if the usual December 25th not just a money grabbing time of year but we learned to give to those less fortunate or if we sat down with family and realized how lucky we all were.