CHRISTMAS AND CHRISTIANITY- WHICH IS THE WAY?

Once again Christmas is here. On 25th December, people normally show love to those they care because God in his infinite mercy to mankind sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to come and die for mankind.

The day has been set to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ by Christians all over the world.

The date, 25th December and the name Christmas didn't come into existence until 325 AD when Western Church, based in Rome, chose December 25 to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world.

But before the Christmas day that is on the Eve of Christmas, churches all over the world hold evening services as most people term it "Carol’s night" and also include a dramatization of the Biblical story of Jesus' birth.

But the question is whether Christians know the date when Jesus Christ was born?

According to the Society of World Festivals & Celebrations, the date 25th December was officially accepted on the Roman calendar where the Roman's celebrated their god Saturn.  

Their festival known as Saturnalia began in the middle of December and ended January 1st. The celebration also included masquerades on streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae. The date 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians.

Christmas is a Roman Catholic word which in itself reveals who married paganism to Christianity and also is a combination of the two words "Christ" and "Mass.

The word "Mass" means death and was coined originally by the Roman Catholic Church, and belongs exclusively to the Church of Rome.

The ritual of the Mass involves the death of Christ, and the distribution of the "Host", a word taken from the Latin word "hostiall" meaning victim. It was noted by the pre-Christian Romans and other pagans, that daylight began to increase after December 22nd, when they assumed the sun god had died.

These ancients believed that the sun god rose from the dead three days later as the new-born and venerable sun. Thus, they figured that to be the reason for increasing daylight.

This was a cause for much wild excitement and celebration. Gift giving and merriment filled the temples of ancient Rome, as sacred priests of Saturn, called dendrophori, carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession.

And since then, the date 25th December has been celebrated all over the world by Christians and non-Christians. In celebrating this day they either decorate their homes, shops or buying gifts for loved ones or receiving gifts or hampers from friends.

The birth of Christ should not be remembered only on December 25 but every day in the heart of Christians. 

And as we celebrate it, we should celebrate it with caution so as not to sin against the holiness of the Son of God.