Griffin Speaks
WHY DO WE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?
If you ask ten people why they celebrate Christmas each one will probably tell you the same answer. We celebrate the birth of Christ. However, I would be willing to bet you lunch at Martha’s or Davis Cafeteria that none of the ten could tell you the history behind the celebration.
I am often dismayed at how people flock to the malls and throw their hard earned and unearned money away year after year. It is this time of year that many consumers run up their high interest credit cards increasing their debt. Consumers should be educated that if they want to build wealth then they should take another look at how they celebrate Christmas.
Each year I tell my wife that we should teach our kids to celebrate Christmas differently. We should forego the decorations and gifts. I once sat my kids down and told them how I thought we should celebrate the holiday. They looked at me and in unison asked if I had lost my mind? I still have not convinced Christopher that there is no fat white man coming down the chimney to bring him toys. I told him that this is Santa Claus last year. If he comes next year there will be a fire waiting in the fire place.
The celebration of Christmas dates back over four thousand years. Several of the things we do today to celebrate Christmas can be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.
These people celebrated the 12 days of Christmas, bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnival (parades) with floats, singers going from house to house, and holiday feasts.
The Mesopotamians believed in many Gods, and as their chief God- Marduk. It was believed as winter arrived the Marduk would fight with the monster of Chaos. The Mesopotamians would hold a celebration for the New Year to help Marduk with the battle. This was called Zagmuk, the New Year’s celebration which lasted 12 days.
The Mesopotamian King would return to the temple of Marduk and swear his faithfulness to the God. Tradition called for the King to die at the end and to return with Marduk to fight at his side. The real king was spared.
A “mock” King was used in place of the real King. They selected a criminal and dressed him like a King. He was given all of the respect and privileges of a real King.After the celebration the “mock” king was stripped naked and executed.
But as Christianity spread Christians were outraged by the continuing celebration of pagan customs among their converts. At first the Church forbid the celebration. But it was useless. Eventually the Church decided to tame the celebration and made it into a celebration fit for the Christian Son of God.
There are theories that claim the Christian “Christmas” celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was also sacred to the Persians whose religion Mithraism was one of the principle rivals of Christianity. The Church eventually was successful in overtaking the celebration of Christmas.
The precise day of the birth of Jesus has never been determined. It has been celebrated since the year 98 A.D. In 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD, Julius I, another Roman Bishop chose December 25, as the observance of Christmas.
Greg Griffin is a columnist for the Montgomery-Tuskegee times. He can be contacted at www.greggriffin.com
