If Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Why do we get presents



The Church didn’t celebrate the birth of Jesus for 300 years after his death and resurrection. However, by the beginning of the fourth century church officials decided to institute a holy feast day marking the birth. Since the Bible makes no mention of the date, or even the time of year, when Jesus was born, Pope Julius I “arbitrarily” chose December 25th as the day for the “Feast of the Nativity.” However, it took another 400 years before the “feast” had become common throughout the European continent.



Christmas, as we know it, didn’t begin to take shape until the early 1800s with the publishing of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The story emphasized goodwill and peace towards all and these sentiments rang true with what people supposed the Christmas holidays ought to be. However, once again, the exact traditions of the holiday were unspecified and America turned to their fellow European immigrants for traditions they could adopt. It took nearly 100 years before the traditions we generally celebrate today were in place, but by the mid 1920s the Christmas trees, holiday cards, festival of lights, gift giving, feasting, and Santa Claus were all a part of our culture—to the extent that many believed this was the way Christmas had always been celebrated.

[link to www.hcna.us]