The man who invented Christmas
In a few hours, a big part of the world will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in an abundance of lights, gifts and festive food! But for the first 300 years of Christianity, December 25th meant nothing. The first official mention of it, as the birth day of Jesus, appears in a Roman document, centuries after his death. There is no evidence that this day has anything to do with the actual birthday that we are celebrating. On the contrary. The nativity scene with the newborn sheep next to baby Jesus in the manger, indicates that it was spring time, rather than winter.
Actually it was Pope Julius I (bishop of Rome from 337 till 352) who chose that date (we could say that he invented Christmas but history reserved that title for someone else). Many historians agree that he had no reason to pick that day other than to overshadow older celebrations that referred to different religions or pagan traditions.
Celebrating the birthday of Mithras, the sun god of the Persians, Yule, the pagan celebration of the winter solstice or Saturnalia, the ancient Roman festival in honour of the god Saturn, were overtaken by Christianity and the celebration of Christmas.
As Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire, it absorbed and redefined ancient traditions, rituals and practices that preexisted for ages. Over the centuries it spread to the biggest part of the western world but it was not really popular or even accepted in many turns of the history.
At the end of the 19th century Charles Dickens wrote the novel "A Christmas Carol" and changed radically the way we perceive and celebrate Christmas. It was this novel that labeled him as "the man who invented Christmas".
This was my response in the Weekend-Engagement topics: WEEK 185 where @galenkp is asking:
Do you hate Christmas or find it irrelevant, too commercial or overrated? If so, explain why. Remember to use your own photos.
I took the pictures last night at the old town of Nafplio in Greece with a Canon 6D mark II and a 50mm f1,4 lens attached.
The first picture of the post is my entry for Photo Quest hosted by the @qurator with the theme Outdoor Christmas Decorations
Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.
Commenting, upvoting and rebloging are highly appreciated!
Amazing captures for this week’s contest! You found tons of beautiful decorations. I didn’t realise it was also a similar topic in weekend engagements, but then that’s not surprising considering the time of the year.
Happy holidays 🎄💙
Thank you very much, I am glad you liked them!
Have nice holidays yourself :)
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Yes, so much disinformation. Christmas is just too much for me xxx
For me too!
Cheers :)
I think the hypocrisy of Christmas kills me. I just try to focus on the family I guess. And it's a nice time for well wishes, so much loving well wishes to you and @traisto x
Thank you very much! Our best wishes to you too!
Ήξερα ότι ο Χριστός δεν γεννήθηκε Δεκέμβριο αλλά δεν είχα ακούσει για αυτό το βιβλίο του Dickens. Θα το ψάξω για να το διαβάσω χεχεχε.
Καλά Χριστούγεννα 🎄🎅🏻
Ναι είναι φοβερό πως μια τόσο μεγάλη γιορτή στηρίχθηκε σ'ένα μυθιστόρημα. Αν το διαβάσεις ή δεις κάποια ταινία που έγινε με βάση το βιβλίο, θα δεις ότι πολλά πράγματα που τα θεωρούμε παραδόσεις και αυτονόητα, βγήκαν από την φαντασία του Ντίκενς!
Καλές γιορτές!
You're right. Christmas meant nothing in Christianity until the leaders decided to attract people from other beliefs to convert and the only way is through celebrating Christmas. The birth of Christ is really not winter and the Christmas celebration is very much pagan in culture. Anyway,your photographs are in high quality and maybe you can sell them in the Shutterstock.
Thank you very much, I am glad you like them! I have a few pictures on image banks but the revenue is very little and I have lost my interest on them.
Welcome! Oh, I see. Some platform like Shutterstock doesn't pay good as they only used image watermark to let user unlock.
So much light and effort and we don't even really know why...:)
Your photos are beautiful though!
Indeed :)
Thank you very much!
Fantastic photos as always! The best "color" of the night is light!
Thanks for sharing the Christmas story... I knew about the first days of it, but didn't know that Charles Dickens "shaped" it like we are celebrating it today...
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Thank you very much!
It is very interesting how a book became the "frame" of something so big, indeed :)
I'm glad I have the opportunity to wish you and @traisto a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Your photos, as always, are too beautiful!
Happy holidays @bluemoon from both of us :)
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The festive celebration of Christmas, as we know it today, underwent significant historical developments. Initially, the significance of December 25th as the birth date of Jesus Christ was absent in the first 300 years of Christianity. The first official mention of this date in connection with Jesus' birth appears in a Roman document centuries after his death. Historical evidence suggests that the nativity scene, depicting a newborn sheep next to baby Jesus in a manger, implies a springtime birth rather than a winter one.
The credit for establishing December 25th as the date for celebrating Christ's birth is often attributed to Pope Julius I, who served as the bishop of Rome from 337 to 352. However, many historians argue that Pope Julius I might have chosen this date strategically to overshadow older celebrations associated with various religions and pagan traditions.
Earlier festivities like the birthday of Mithras, the Persian sun god, Yule, the pagan winter solstice celebration, and Saturnalia, the ancient Roman festival honoring Saturn, were gradually absorbed and transformed by Christianity as it became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
In the late 19th century, Charles Dickens played a pivotal role in reshaping the perception and celebration of Christmas with his novel "A Christmas Carol." Dickens is sometimes humorously dubbed "the man who invented Christmas" due to the novel's impact on popularizing festive traditions and emphasizing themes of generosity and goodwill.
Thus, the evolution of Christmas involves a complex interplay of historical developments, religious assimilation, and literary influence, ultimately shaping the way this festive season is celebrated and perceived in the modern world.