The Christmas sermon, part 1: origins

Another topic that caught my attention from AJ Jacobs' The Year of Living Biblically concerns the lack of the major Christian holidays in the Bible, specifically Christmas. Although I've grown up with celebrating this holiday by having a triangular-shaped evergreen tree at home, and the obligatory singing at the Christmas Eve service (this was tradition); my wanderings over the last five years, plus the bits of information I learned (i.e. Jesus wasn't born in December; the stories of Jesus' birth and St. Nicholas proving to be nothing more than a mishmash), have made me question what I once believed so dearly.

I did some research (unfortunately for those highly-educated, scholarly types who happen to be reading this blurble, said research was exclusively online), and found Christmas to be pagan in origin. I can hear the cynics now: Wait! Christmas is a Christian holiday! How dare you suggest that! Well let me explain. First off, Jesus wasn't born in December; sources suggest a mini-myriad of other dates, largely during either the spring or the fall. Specifically, in the Gospel shepherds were said to have been tending flocks the night of His birth, something said to be impossible during the winter. Secondly, before the Roman Catholic Church came into power, there was a ritual (I believe the birth of a Roman god) said to have taken place on December 25th; thus said date was a date of pagan celebration preceding Christendom's influence. And thirdly, it only became the Christian holiday that we know and love upon the decision and declaration of the early church, possibly by Pope Julius I.

For those of you truth-seekers curious for more information, the SimpleToRemember.com ["http://SimpleToRemember.com/"] website, albeit containing a Jewish bias, helpfully explains the origins of every Christmas tradition ["http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas_TheRealStory.htm"]. I also found these two sites ["http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/history-of-christmas-faq.htm"] ["http://www.essortment.com/all/christmaspagan_rece.htm"] to also be helpful (at least somewhat). Amazing what one can find when one types "origins of christmas" into google.com.