Is Christmas Still Relevant?

[Taiko]

Now that we know Jesus wasn't born on December 25th, is it still relevant to hold a mass on 24th midnight to commemorate the birth of Christ on the 25th?

[Chris]

Christmas is about presents, trees, decorations, dinner, drinking, friends, family, Santa and Bing Crosby. Why not celebrate it on Dec. 25?

[tommy525]

We dont know the exact day he was born so keeping it Dec 25th is as good as any other date.

[Tempo Gain]

We dont know the exact day he was born so keeping it Dec 25th is as good as any other date.

Exactly, it's never been a secret that the exact date is not known.

[urodacus]

My mum was shopping for Christmas cards in Australia when she overheard two 20-something women bemoaning a card design featuring a nativity scene and a baby Jesus theme.

"Geez, would you look at this terrible card! They're trying to bring religion into everything these days!"

[Mother Theresa]

The date is irrelevant and for plenty of folks, such as my family (and urodacus' mom), the holiday has nothing to do with Jesus (and the holiday IS still relevant).

But, just out of curiousity, how do you know Jesus wasn't born on the 25th (or 24th or whatever)? Not being argumentative, just curious.

[kuoocc]

If you watch Zeigtgeist the movie, Part 1, you learn why Dec 25 was chosen as the birthday of, not only Christ, but several global gods, and it turns out to be related to the belt of Astrological sign Orion. It's cool because it reflects 1000s of years of culture!

Merry Xmas everyone!

[Edgar Allen]

Well the theory is that the shepherds were out sleeping in the fields in Israel, which would be very cold in late Decemeber - ordinarily they would have been sheltering at that time of year - hence its unlikely that this was the actual date. What is known is that there was a big pagan festival on or around Dec 25th - so the powers that be high-jacked the date to ensure that we all had something to celebrate after the death of paganism, Apparently Queen Victoria's husband Albert introduced the Xmas tree to Christian Britain and it caught on despite being a blatantly pagan tradition.

[Tempo Gain]

But, just out of curiousity, how do you know Jesus wasn't born on the 25th (or 24th or whatever)? Not being argumentative, just curious.

Not said anywhere in the bible.

[StuartCa]

there's also a load of stuff about the fact that the big star is thought to be Halleys comet, which passed in around june or july at that time, his birth only gets mentioned in 2 of the 4 books. The chances are it was written in as a nice beginning to an otherwise uneventful start in life, after all the 4 apostles that wrote about Jesus's life were trying to market the idea to an other unbelieving audience.