“How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts!”  ― Benjamin Franklin

Christmas in Crisis

Christmas was not always considered in good character for Christians to celebrate.  In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. The holiday was  considered more pagan than Christian.

Before the Catholic Church parked the mass of Christ on December 25 (see below), this holiday, known as Saturnalia (and other names) was a big, brawling booze-up. Think of Mardi Gras at its worst. This is why it was outlawed in Britain and later,for a time, in America.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident. After the American Revolution, English customs became completely uncool, including Christmas. In fact, Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

The Mass of Christ

The Encyclopedia Americana (1946, article "Christmas") says:

"CHRISTMAS, the 'Mass of Christ'... In the 5th century the Western Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the Birth of Sol (the Sun)... Among the German and Celtic tribes, the Winter Solstice was considered an important point of the year, and they held their chief festival of Yule 1 to commemorate the return of the burning-wheel (the sun)."

So let’s get this straight: December 25 is not Jesus’ birthday — never was — but it is the day ancient Christians set aside as Christ’s Day or the special service [mass] to celebrate Jesus. It was knowingly and deliberately parked right on top of the biggest pagan holiday of the year — the Winter solstice (the old Julian calendar marked it at Dec 25, whereas we know it now to be Dec 21).

The previous, pagan holiday was intentionally Christianized by the Church as a way of transforming a public sentiment of wild partying to one of charity, good cheer and good will.

What About the X?

Through the years, many Christians have made hay over the use of X in place of Christ,accusing those of doing so of everything from blasphemy to outright Satanism. This is both unnecessary and unfortunate. To put it briefly, Xmas is just the abbreviation of Christmas. The first letter of the Greek name for Christ is not X but chi (pronounced “key”). The name of Christ in Greek looks like this:

Xmas does nothing to take Chrsit out of Christmas. Use freely.

Incidently, some other useful abbreviations include: Xnty for Christianity, and Xn for Christian No offense intended; none taken.

Dickens Saves Christmas

Charles Dickens penned the immortal short story, A Christmas Carol, contrasting the heart of a miserly man named Scrooge with a renewed, reborn man also named Scrooge, but after his heart had been remade. The story uplifts the importance of charity and good will, and it struck a powerful chord both in the United States and England. Some say Dickens was responsible for the popular redemption of a formerly-pagan holiday, though that is surely an exaggeration.

The book definitely played a role in reinventing Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion over communal celebration and hedonistic excess, and there is something timelessly touching about the way hearts can indeed be changed through divine intervention.

The “X” doesn’t matter, neither does the birthday. The changed man, the renewed heart, the transformation from miser to giver — these are the true signs of the presence of Christ in Christmas.

As we prepare to celebrate within our homes and as a congregation, let us with gratitude seek the mind and heart of Christ, who is indeed the reason for the season.❦