Christmas Eras Tour - Part I

I have another history of Christmas post for you today.

I have been reading "Stations of the Sun" by Ronald Hutton. Sometimes painful to follow, the book is densely packed with information. Definitely not an easy reader you'll find in your special little one's Scholastic Book Club fundraiser catalog. I cannot say I agree with 100% of it, but I definitely agree with enough of it to keep reading it and to use it as a source. Today, I want to lighten up his material a little for you. Hopefully make it more accessible with a highlights reel.

One thing I noticed while reading is that Christmas went through stages. I see at least 7 eras in the past 2,000 years. (Everyone from an Armstrongist background knows that a good list has 7 items.) I thought it might be worthwhile to take us on a tour of those eras. Since this post pulls mainly from Hutton, and Hutton focuses mainly on England where Christmas is concerned, this post will, too.

Two things - these names and these dates are all my own observations, and they are rough descriptions.

1. Development - before there was a holiday, as the church was building towards it.
2. Infancy - the church decides what a Christmas is.
3. Catholic - twelve days of Christmas before the Reformation.
4. Oppression - Protestants try to banish Christmas but fail.
5. Restoration - Christmas barely survives as Protestants grow nostalgic.
6. Industrial Revolution - a near death experience and a resurgence.
7. Modern - Christmas becomes what we see today.

Some of my choices may seem rather arbitrary. I believe these are distinct eras. Each one is marked by its own characteristics which were either greatly changed or outright abandoned in the following era.
I am particularly interested in showing how our modern Christmas is mostly a product of the three eras before it (ie. 7 is caused by 4, 5, & 6), and how some people who make accusations against Christmas as we see it today are really projecting recent issues back into the distant past, anachronistically.

Sadly, I believe we can say Christmas is somewhat of a mirror on Christianity in general.

Ready?

DEVELOPMENT (0 to 313 AD)

The Development era is the time from the beginning of the first century, to the Edict of Milan, which allowed the church to rapidly mature. In this period, Christian scholars were investigating the details surrounding the nature of Christ, and Christmas, including its December 25 date, grew out of that. Consensus grew organically, but slowly, hampered by decentralization and persecution.

Much of the history of Christmas material on As Bereans Did is about this period due to there being so many misconceptions about this period.

The claim that Christmas is not among the earliest feasts of the Church is true. It wasn't. Then again, the only ones that were among the earliest feasts are Easter and Pentecost. Those two feasts had their own issues. There were at least two views on the memorial of the death and resurrection (see our articles on the Quartodecimans), and there was more than one way to calculate the timing of Easter Sunday. Since calculating Easter Sunday was not uniform, the timing for Pentecost was also not uniform. Jewish converts to Christ continued to observe all their own customs, but even they were not unified in opinion on most things. They started with the Pharisee, Sadducee, and Essene timings, which did not agree, and eventually the Rabbinical tradition grew out of the Pharisaical (see our article "FirstFruits and the Beauty of God's Timing").

The idea that the first century was somehow uniform and perfect but was later corrupted is simply not at all correct. Quite the opposite. It was chaotic and only later was standardized. They didn't even have a standard Bible. In the first century, a very few things were solidly agreed upon outside of certain core truths. Orthodoxy was in big concepts like faith, sin, righteousness, and the Gospel - what we might see as core-Christianity. This is the root reason why there was no Christmas early on. It was the "wild west" of Christianity. They only dealt with things as they arose. The theological debate Christmas was meant to solve - the very real human nature of Jesus - did not arise right away. So, Christmas didn't arise right away. The same could be said about most things, that they weren't there from the start. That isn't an "issue". It is simply a reality of a church in its infancy. I often hear people talking about getting back to the "first century church", but if they truly understood the first century church I think they would not like it.

Jesus did not answer most questions, but He answered the most important questions of salvation. He left the church to wrestle to understand Him better. One of the things wrestled with is the nature of our Lord and therefore the nature of God. What now of the Shema? How can a man also be God? Was He always God, or did He become one later? The church being so decentralized led to many opinions. Gnosticism began to spread.
Clement of Alexandria, in his work "Stromata", book 1, said the Basilideans, a Gnostic sect in Alexandria, initiated a feast of the baptism because they believed Jesus became enlightened by the highest God at His baptism. Their timing was early January, somewhere from the 9th to the 15th. Days honoring the nativity and early events of Christ's life appear to have started in response, as a way to emphasize the literal humanity and fully divine nature of Jesus. Multiple dates for the nativity were proposed, with May and mid-winter being the most popular.

From the middle of the second century, the mood in Egypt was on dates like April and May for the birth.
Remember this the next time you try to google the historical origins of almost any Christian tradition and see the ubiquitous, "may have started in pagan celebrations of solstice and light". Hard to get a celebration of solstice and light in May. Also remember Egypt has no winter, nor does their calendar system depend on the solstice.
In the late-second century, Christian scholars started moving toward the mid-winter period. In about 198, Clement of Alexandria (Egypt again) calculated Jesus' birth to late November. In 200-211 AD, Hippolytus (of Rome) calculated Jesus' death to March 25th and then added 9 months. March 25th + 9 months = December 25th.
At this time in pagan Rome, there was no known festival on December 25. There would not be a "birthday of the sun" for decades to come. Remember this the next time you read, "December 25 coincides with the birthday of the sun." Hard to coincide with a day that doesn't exist. The only holiday of significance to Christians in that range was Hannukah.
The March 25th date stuck and is still accepted to this day as the Feast of the Annunciation. The Christmas date also stuck, but it took a century more to really catch on.

The 200s were a time of feast or famine for Christians. In various places and times, they were tolerated, but in others persecuted. In February 303, Diocletian began the Great Persecution. Thousands of Christians died. It was their blood that watered the growth of the church. It was in this time that Saint Nicholas of Myra was born, in 270 AD. We will be revisiting him many times as we go.

In February 313 AD, Constantine the Great and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, making Christianity legal in the Empire. Here, Christianity is merely legalized; it is not made the official religion of the empire until much later. That was enough to allow the church to begin to unify, standardize, and flourish.

I am putting the end of this era at 313 AD due to the Edict of Milan, because it was one of the most important events in Christian history and a watershed moment in the development of the church.

The next step in the history of Christmas is its development as an official church feast day, and the solidifying of its base traditions such as Advent.

INFANCY (313 to 567 AD)

The Infancy era is the time starting at the Edict of Milan, to the time when the feast had matured across Christendom and its base liturgical traditions were solidified - which I am putting at the Second Council of Tours in 567 AD. In this era comes the Chronography of 354. During this era we see the first Christmas sermons and music, a competition between Epiphany and Christmas, settling of the twelve days of Christmas, the start of Advent, and making Christmas a government holiday.

Great strides were made in this century. Christianity, which had been scattered and dissociated, was now able to be out in the open, collective, and unified. Many efforts to standardize doctrines and practices began in this century.

Speaking of standardization, there is a great deal of confusion surrounding Constantine the Great's role in Christian orthodoxy. He is attributed far more credit than he deserves for most things. He has become the whipping boy for any anti-Catholic fundamentalist. Most of those claims are falsified outright or the facts twisted beyond recognition. There simply is no information about Constantine and Christmas, so I will make this mention of him then continue.

The Chronography of 354 was written for the year 354, but was likely written in the year 336, by one Filocalus, a Christian. I go into detail on this in the article "The Plain Truth About December 25". The Chronography consisted of 16 parts, one of which was the Commemoration of the Martyrs. The most notable event in the Commemoration for December 25 is the phrase, "...birthday of Christ in Bethlehem Judea." You can't get more blatant than that. This is the first unmistakable and uncontested mention of Jesus being born on December 25. This tells us that by 336 AD, the December 25 date was widely accepted.

If we can speculate any pagan connection at all, it would not be a coopt, as if to say Christmas finds its origins in pagan days, but as a competitive replacement, as if to say Christmas opposed and outlasted pagan days. Christmas outshone the sun, so to speak. As for other issues, such as how Saturnalia, Natalis Invicti, or Julian the Apostate fit in, see the article in the link above.

The first Christmas hymn was likely written in the early 300s, according to St. Jerome, by St. Hilary of Poitier. It is called "Iesous Refulsit Omnium" (Jesus Outshined All).

This overall mood of Christmas in this era is simple and deeply religious, and focused on the Nativity. In fact its first name was "Natalis" or "Deis Natalis", which is nativity/birth in Latin (the word Christmas would not be invented until much later). That is why you get names like Natale in Italy, Navidad in Spain, and Noel in France.

It was also at this time, in the early 300s, when Epiphany (aka. Theophany) began to become popular. Finding the origin of Epiphany is difficult, but there are hints that it started in the late 200s or early 300s and grew to be quite popular in the east by the mid-300s. Some claim it is a descendant of that Basilidian baptism feast mentioned earlier, but evidence for that is practically non-existent.

Christmas survived an attempt by Emperor Julian "the Apostate" to restore the Roman Empire back to paganism. Julian wrote his infamous "Ode to King Helios", in 362 AD. It can be reasonably speculated that Julian attempted to coopt Christmas as a pagan day. Much of the debate about Christmas and Sol Invictus hinges on this poetic work from Julian. We talk more about that in the article "The Plain Truth About December 25".

Gregory "the Theologian" Nazianzus, one of the greatest names of the early church (and beyond), in his 38th Oration - from a series of 45 sermons given throughout the year of 379-380 AD - speaks passionately and stirringly about the Nativity. I do recommend you read it sometime. We can know this is about Christmas since he spoke several orations on the church feasts. The 39th Oration was on Epiphany. Therefore, Epiphany and Christmas were distinct in his mind, and this one may be understood as Christmas. But it seems he did not deliver it on Christmas Day.

The year 380 AD was without a doubt the most important year in this era. One of the most significant developments in history was the decision by Emperor Theodosius I to issue the Edict of Thessalonica, making Christianity the official religion of Rome. This was done on February 27, 380 AD -- 67 years to the month after the Edict of Milan. Christianity became the only legal religion in the empire, and efforts to suppress paganism in the Empire while standardizing existing Christian traditions went into high gear. The church was certainly maturing now.

A potentially significant but easily overlooked development also occurred in 380. A synod was held in Spain, which is generally called the "Council of Saragossa". The point of the Synod was to address a specific issue which it deemed a heresy. Several acts were decreed by the Council. In the 4th Act (the exact text of which is lost but many references exist which give us good insight into what it said) there is an order about a preparation period and mandatory church attendance before the Nativity, from December 17th to January 6th (Epiphany). We can see at least two things here.

1) There was a period of preparation before the Christmas. This preparation eventually became Advent. So, the beginning of Advent is in the 4th century. This also shows the beginnings of the Twelve Days of Christmas, between Christmas and Epiphany. (The Twelfth Day is the day before Epiphany. Epiphany itself is not one of the Twelve Days of Christmas.)
2) The December 17th date, you should recognize already, is the date of Saturnalia. It does not seem the church was trying to adopt Saturnalia, rather to suppress it. Addressing heresy was the point of the Council, after all, and it was the mood of the Empire. Starting this period of preparation on Saturnalia is significant in that it shows the church was actively combatting any remains of Roman excess. It would be unsuccessful, however. 

We talk more about what happened to Saturnalia in the article "The Plain Truth About December 25". Look in the section on Bruma / Brumalia.
Both points here are useful in showing significant steps in the maturity of the season were present at this time.

The first recorded sermon delivered on Christmas Day comes to us from John Chrysostom, given in Antioch in 386, which was his first year in the ministry. It is a lovely message. I highly recommend you take the time to read it when you can. Here is an even more complete version form The Tertullian Project, but I find the formatting uncomfortable to the eye. One thing in particular to note about this sermon, Chrysostom employs apologetics. He is the first person known to mention the Course of Abijah in relation to the timing of Christmas. He uses it to defend the date, of course.

In 389, Emperor Theodosius I issued a decree that courts must be closed on Sundays and all major Christian holidays, including Christmas (Codex Theodosianus 2.8.18).

The churches of the east preferred Epiphany over Christmas. Epiphany took longer to catch on in the west while Christmas took longer to catch on in the east. In the early 400s, Christmas was solidified in almost all areas. The Catholic Encyclopedia's article on Christmas lists Armenia as the lone holdout. Eventually it was settled that Christmas would be held in honor of the birth and Epiphany in honor of early events of Jesus' life such as His presentation at the temple, the visit of the Magi, and His baptism.

During this period, many pagans converted to Christianity, whether they were in heart or not. They brought many of their old traditions with them. The church worked to gradually eliminate such practices. One such tradition that is significant to Christmas which the church was never able to fully eliminate was (no, not Saturnalia) the New Year.
Arguably the most significant non-Christian tradition to survive was New Year on the kalends of January (ie. January 1st). It was so popular, it continued even when start of the new year was moved to March 25 in 527 AD (the start of the year was moved back to January 1 in the Gregorian Calendar in 1582), and it was unofficially treated as one of the Twelve Days of Christmas for centuries to come. There are two sources for the Christmas gift-giving tradition: St. Nicholas' Day and New Year. It was customary to send little gifts to family and friends on New Year in Rome. Gift giving on New Year would not move to Christmas until the 1800s.
If you suddenly have issues with gift giving, please read Martha's excellent post "Established and Imposed". Gift-giving is quite biblical. We reject "once pagan, always pagan" here at As Bereans Did.

During the 400s, Advent spread and became a period of fasting before Christmas just as Lent is before Easter. Fasting, which was originally reserved for the ordained, expanded to lay members. In later years, it was considered bad form to decorate during Advent.
Also, in 430, Pope Sixtus III is believed to have celebrated the first midnight mass in Rome at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

By the 500s, various governments outside Rome began treating Christmas as a national holiday, taking after the Roman government. For example, in the Breviary of Alaric in 506 AD (that's Alaric II the Visigoth, grandson of the Alaric that sacked Rome). It likely took this from the the Codex Theodosianus in 438 AD.

I am putting the end of this era in 567 AD, due to the Council of Tours. The time between Christmas and Epiphany has come to be known as the Twelve Days of Christmas. The Twelve Days of Christmas were officially recognized in the Second Council of Tours in 567. (This was repeated in the Council of Oxford in 1222 and at the Council of Lyon in 1244.) Cannons XI and XVII, proclaimed the importance of the fasts of Advent and the days between Christmas and Epiphany. You can read more in Roger Pearse's article "When to take down the Christmas decorations? A canon of the 2nd Council of Tours (567)". At this point, the season as we know it is completely in place and mature enough to move forward.

The next step in history is the widening and deepening of Christmas during in the many years up to the Reformation.

See you next time for Part II.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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