CHURCH HISTORY LITERACY1
Lesson 45
Christmas
As we approach December 25, 2006, much of the Christian world is preparing to
celebrate the birth of Jesus. However, you can scour the New Testament from
Matthew chapter 1 to Revelation chapter 22, and you will find no indication
whatsoever of the date that Jesus was born. While there are two accounts of the
birth of Jesus (Matthew & Luke), neither of those accounts give any indication
that the birth occurred on December 25th.2 Similarly, the New Testament gives no
indication that the early church celebrated the birth of Christ on any special day.3
In fact, Paul makes no reference in all of his writings to the birth of Christ, nor do
other New Testament writers beyond Matthew and Luke. In Luke’s history of the
church (the book of Acts), he also does not make any reference to the church
celebrating Christ’s birth.
So, when did the church begin celebrating the birth of Christ? When did the
church decide December 25th was an appropriate day for the celebration? In the
process of answering these questions, we will also bring our Christmas history up
to date with a few more questions: Was there a real Saint Nick? What about
Santa Claus? Why do we exchange presents? Who thought of chopping down a
tree and sticking it in a house with a bunch of light bulbs on it? Then the burning
question on everyone’s mind -- was there really a reindeer named Rudolph with a
red nose?

                                                        
1

Today, we borrow from our Church History Literacy series to celebrate the Christmas season in
class. This and other lessons on church history are available free on the class website:
www.Biblical-Literacy.com.

2

Luke notes “there were Shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their
flocks at night” when an angel said to them, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born
to you” (Lk 2:8,11). They were in the fields with their flocks at the time that Jesus was born.
Scholars seem fairly certain that during the time when Christ was born, Shepherds kept their
flocks in the fields from the months of March through November. This seasonal indication
implies that December 25th would not be the proper date for the actual birth of Christ.
3

Some dispute whether the New Testament church celebrated any day as more special than
another. There are indications that the Lord’s Day (Sunday) was marked as special (1 Cor. 16:2;
Rev. 1:10). Beyond that, Paul writes in Romans that, “One man considers one day more sacred
than another; another man considers every day alike.” What those days were, however, Paul does
not say.
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Our discussion will focus first on the gospel accounts of the birth of Christ. We
will then consider the historical development of the Christmas holiday. Finally,
we will look at the origination of many modern American Christmas traditions.
NEW TESTAMENT ACCOUNTS OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST
The birth of Jesus is told in two separate places in the New Testament. In
Matthew chapter one, after 14 verses of genealogy, Matthew explains that Mary
was pregnant with Jesus by the Holy Spirit. At that point, Mary and Joseph had
not yet finalized and consummated their marriage. Joseph was planning on
sending Mary away quietly when an angel appeared and explained the baby was
conceived of the Holy Spirit. The angel also told Joseph to name the baby Jesus,
“for He will save His people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21). In Hebrew, “Jesus” is
“Joshua” which means “God [Yahweh] is salvation.” Matthew explains that this
fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that “a virgin will be with a child and bear a son
and she will call His name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). Joseph followed the
instructions of the angel and Jesus was born “in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of
Herod the king” (Mt. 2:1).
Matthew then records the visit of the Magi,4 noting first their encounter with
Herod and the wise men of Jerusalem. The wise men explained the Messiah was
to be born in Bethlehem (quoting Mic. 5:2). The Magi followed the star into
Bethlehem where they visited the baby Jesus bringing gifts of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh. Joseph then followed additional angelic instructions and fled with
                                                        
4

Are you familiar with the Christmas song, “We Three Kings of Orient Are?” It comes from this
passage. Yet, Matthew does not tell us the Magi were kings, nor does Matthew tell us that there
were “three.” Those are later church decisions! Matthew merely reports that the Magi came
from the East and brought Christ gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. However, the church
saw this Matthew passage indicating a fulfillment of Isaiah 60, which promised, “A multitude of
camels will cover you…They will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the
praises of the Lord” (Is. 60:6). Earlier in the chapter, Isaiah noted that, “Nations will come to
your light, and the kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isa. 60:3). From this passage, the
church decided the gift giving Magi must have been the kings Isaiah prophesied. This was
already well in circulation by 200 when the North African theologian Tertullian (see Lesson 16)
wrote that the Eastern Church regarded the Magi as kings. So, why does the song (and Christmas
tradition) say there were three? Some believe that the three gifts indicated three men, but history
shows us more! Origen, the great early church father who allegorized the Old Testament,
believed that Isaac, Abraham’s son, was a prototype of Jesus. From that, Origen went to Genesis
26:26-31 where King Abimelech and two others came to Isaac and acknowledged him as blessed
of the Lord. Origen said that these three were the prototypes in the Old Testament of the Magi.

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Mary and Jesus into Egypt before Herod’s sword killed male children under the
age of two in Bethlehem.
Luke adds additional detail to the story. He tells us that Mary and Joseph went to
Bethlehem pursuant to a decree of Caesar Augustus for a census. Unfortunately,
historical records of that census do not exist, so they are of no help in dating the
time of Jesus’ birth. It is Luke who adds the information about the angel
appearing to the shepherds in their fields with “good news of great joy which will
be for all the people” (Lk 2:10). This news, of course, is the birth of the Christ
child.
The shepherds then hear many angels singing glory to God and peace on earth.
The shepherds head straight to Bethlehem to see the miracle. There they found
Jesus with Mary and Joseph lying in a manger.
We can readily see in these gospel accounts the source of many of our treasured
Christmas carols. Those carols, however, come much later in history. To find
them, we must turn outside the New Testament to find the additional roots of the
celebration we have today.
EARLY CHURCH CELEBRATION
As noted earlier, we have no evidence of the New Testament church ever
celebrating the birth of Jesus. This is not totally surprising, in the sense that the
New Testament church anticipated the return of Jesus most any day. Faced with
the imminent return, the church never seemed to focus on annual celebrations. We
do not even have an indication of the New Testament church celebrating Easter in
the sense that we observe it today.
By the 2nd Century, however, there were branches of Christianity that were
focusing on when Jesus was born. Scholars believe some of this focus arose
because of the Gnostic movement within Christianity (See Church History
Lessons 8 and 9 on Gnosticism). Because the Gnostics never saw the death of
Christ as anything redemptive, they had a tendency to focus on other events within
the life of Christ as the basis for their doctrine and teaching. For some, it seems
the incarnation was an event worth celebrating, or at least recognizing. Therefore,
some Gnostics tried to make a determination on which date Jesus was born.
Clement of Alexandria (he lived from the mid 100’s to about 215) wrote that the
Gnostics, or at least one group of Gnostics, dated the birth of Christ to be May 20,

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3 BC.5 This was one of a number of different dates bantered about as the possible
date of Christ’s birth.
During this same time period, Origen (C. 185-254) (see Church History Lessons
10 and 11) wrote against the concept of celebrating Christ’s birth at all. Origen’s
review of scripture indicated to him that only evil people celebrated birthdays
(namely Pharaoh and Herod).
Scholars are uncertain when exactly December 25th became the date to celebrate
the birth of Christ. It is beyond dispute that by 336, December 25th was in place
for at least the Roman church. In an almanac called “The Chronograph of 354,”
which is actually dated 336 AD, December 25th is listed as the celebratory feast day
for the birth of Christ. This is our earliest written reference to the 25th being the
official celebration date. We also know that St. Ambrose (See Church History
Lesson 23), who died in 397, wrote a number of nativity hymns for singing during
the Christmas season celebrated around December 25th. Pope Siricius (who died
in 399) wrote the Bishop of Spain in 384 referencing the celebration of Christ’s
birth on December 25th.
It is noteworthy that prior to this time in the Eastern Church, January 6th was
celebrated as the feast day for the birth of Christ. By the late 300s, the Eastern
Church was also celebrating December 25th as the birth of Christ. The
Cappadocian Fathers we studied in Church History Lesson 22 preached Christmas
sermons on December 25th (we have sermons of Basil as well as Gregory of
Nazianzen). We also have sermons of St. John Chrysostom that date from 386 and
assert that December 25th is the proper date to celebrate the birth of Christ.
The Jerusalem church celebrated January 6th for the feast of Christ’s birth until
the mid-600s. At that point, the church began celebrating the birth of Christ on
December 25, and shifted the January 6 celebration as the day of the Magi’s visit.
January 6 then becomes the last (or 12th!) day of Christmas, the day of celebrating
the Magi.
Why was December 25th picked as the day to celebrate -- especially, in light of the
fact that there is no biblical basis for that view? Scholars differ on their answers to
                                                        
5

All of these dates that we use during this time period are reinterpreted into our calendar.
Clement of Alexandria writes with the Egyptian calendar (“they say it took place in the 28th year
of Augustus [3 BC] and in the 25th day of the month Pachon” [May 20th that year] Origen, The
Stromata, Chapter 21), which obviously was very different than our own. Similarly, the “B.C.”
connotation was not devised until about 525 by a Catholic Monk named Dionysius Exiguus
(Latin for “Dennis the Short”). As a practical matter, Dionysius made a mistake in computing the
calendar. He dated Christ’s birth too late. Christ was born while Herod Antipas was on the
throne. Herod died in 4 BC. Most scholars today recognize Christ was born somewhere between
6 and 4 B.C.

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these questions. Two hypotheses are currently in vogue among scholars. The first
is called “The History of Religions Hypothesis,” and the second is called “The
Calculation Hypothesis.”
The History of Religions Hypothesis argues that Christians seized December 25th
as a celebration day for the birth of Christ because of a Roman festival celebrated
at much the same time. The Romans celebrated the Sun God in a feast of
“Saturnalia.” This was a 7-day feast that occurred from December 17th through
December 23rd. It was a pagan festival that had a lot of lewd behavior as well as
gift giving and other traditions and festivities. Some believe that Christmas was a
“Christianizing” of this pagan festival. The idea is that while Rome was in the
after-math of celebrating their Sun God, there were enough distractions that
Christians could “get away” with a celebration of the birth of Christ. Supporters
of this theory are quick to point out the many parallels between the pagan Sun
Feast and Christmas. For example, December 25th is the actual winter solstice in
the Roman calendar. By that, we mean it was the Roman calendar day when the
sun began to “reassert itself” and days started lengthening. There is no question
that Rome was fond of sun worship by the time that Christmas began finding its
celebration in the church. Sun worship itself reached an apex in 274 when the
Emperor Aurelian declared that the Sun God would be the preeminent of all Gods
to be worshiped.
So, the History of Religions Hypothesis then asserts that while the worship of the
Sun God was so popular during this December time period, the church was
emphasizing that Jesus was in fact the real “sun” to be worshipped. We should
note that neither Latin nor Greek makes a pun off the words “sun” and “son” like
English does. The church taught Jesus as the Sun using both analogy and
scripture.6 Scholars say we find here the basis for Christianity morphing a pagan
festival into what we now consider to be Christmas. The History of Religions
Hypothesis is first noted in the margin of Dionysius Bar-Salibi’s 1100’s
manuscript. But, it really found its modern punch from writers in the last 120
years. Noteworthy are works by H. Usener in 1889 and B. Botte in 1932. This
History of Religions Hypothesis is still the predominate hypothesis in Europe.7
A second, more recent hypothesis is called “The Calculation Hypothesis.” This
hypothesis says that the church opted for December 25th birthday for Jesus by
making calculations from other dates believed true by the church at the time. At
the time the church decided on December 25th as the birth of Christ, the church
                                                        
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These sermons frequently pointed out that the sun rises in much the same way that Jesus had a
resurrection. These sermons would also point to Malachi 3:20 where the sun of justice arises in a
way that is prophetic about Jesus.

7

The New Catholic Encyclopedia, (2d Edition) Vol. 3, p. 552.

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believed the crucifixion of Christ occurred on March the 25th. How the church
came to March 25th is not fully known. March 25th was the Spring Equinox, and
was considered the anniversary of creation. Writers like Hippolytus (C. 170-235)
and Tertullian (C. 161-220) (See Lesson 16) believed that creation itself started on
the day of the Spring Equinox. These writers and others then viewed the new
creation following the crucifixion of Jesus as also occurring on the same day.
Also, during this early church time period, the church commonly believed that
patriarchs and others in the Bible lived for exact year periods. In other words,
when the Old Testament says that Moses was 120 when he died, these early
church writers believed that 120 years were exactly 120 years (“Moses was one
hundred and twenty years old when he died” Dt. 34:7).) So, they reasoned, Moses
must have died on the anniversary of his birth. Otherwise, scripture would have
said Moses lived 119 years and 364 days, or whatever it would have been. In
similar fashion, these writers believed that Jesus started his ministry when he was
30, not 29 and 11 months and 4 days, but 30. Evidently, these writers did not
notice that Luke dates Jesus as being “about” 30 (Lk 3:23).
The Calculation Hypothesis concludes that March 25th would have been the date
of the crucifixion and Jesus would have been crucified on an anniversary of his
birth date. However, in the case of Jesus, the theory goes, the early church would
not look to March 25th as a birth date, but rather an “incarnation” date. In other
words, March 25th was believed to be the day that Jesus was conceived. If you
then add 9 months for the time that Jesus would have spent in Mary’s womb,
presto! December 25th is the birth date of Christ! This theory also explains why
the Eastern Church celebrated Christmas January 6th. In the east, they believed
that Jesus was incarnated April 6th, not March 25th. Then, 9 months runs to
January 6th. This theory has found a great deal of support after a publication by
Thomas Talley, entitled The Origins of the Liturgical Year, (Collegeville, Minn.
1991).
MODERN CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
By the mid-400s, the church at Rome began having a mass for the birth of Christ
at midnight. This midnight mass soon spread to other locales, and by the 11th
Century, the mass in England was referred to as “Christ’s Mass.” Obviously, it
was just a matter of time before the label for this midnight mass, “Christ’s Mass,”
became a designation for the entire celebratory day, which is now pronounced
“Christmas.”
As noted in Church History Lesson 42, St. Francis of Assisi started the Christmas
tradition of the manger scene. It was 1223 in the town of Greccio where St.
Francis for the first time decided that a nativity scene would be a wonderful
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teaching tool for the birth of Christ. Interestingly, the Franciscans are also
credited with being one of the principle sources of spreading Christmas Carols.
Evidently, they were fond of singing, and took those Carols as part of their
celebration with nativity scenes throughout Europe.8
In the Middle Ages, Christmas was a civil holiday and the start of the church
calendar. It was marked in various ways by celebrations. We have records of
Christmas plays being performed in 11th Century France. The celebrations
eventually took on an almost un-Christian atmosphere of partying and revelry. In
reaction, the reformation movement sought to seriously down play, if not outright
remove, Christmas celebrations. The reformers believed that if God had intended
the church to celebrate Christmas, He would have given an indication of its true
date.
In England in 1647, Parliament passed a law forbidding the observance of
Christmas. In Puritan-laden Massachusetts in 1659, it also became illegal to
celebrate Christmas. This law lasted until 1681 when it was revoked. Still,
Christmas was slow to recover in New England. It was not until New England
experienced an influx of large numbers of Irish and German immigrants, that
Christmas generated a great deal of celebrants. The basis for the puritanical ban
on Christmas was the point that the New Testament scriptures nowhere provide
the basis for such a celebration.
Those parts of America settled by Spanish and French, however, had no such
reticence of the holiday. In these parts of America, Christmas was celebrated with
great fanfare and festivities. Still, as America went into the 1800’s, Christmas was
not considered a time of “family togetherness” nor was there Christmas trees,
Christmas cards, or really much in the way of Christmas presents (and Santa was
nowhere to be found in America at that time either!).
The holiday underwent significant changes in the 1800’s. Washington Irving,
John Pintard, and Clement Clarke Moore (all New Yorkers) brought into
American culture the traditions that would soon permeate the whole country. The
changes included an Americanization of Saint Nicolas, the patron saint of
children.
                                                        
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Christmas songs themselves are as ancient as the church’s celebrations of the birth of Christ. As
already noted, St. Ambrose composed Christmas hymns. Another early hymnist was the Spanish
lawyer, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (c. 348-405). He wrote a “Hymn for Christmas Day” which
contained the following lyrics: “The Infant’s feeble cry proclaimed/ The springtime of the
universe; the World reborn then cast aside/ The gloom of winter’s lethargy. At your Nativity, O
Child/ All hard, unfeeling things were stirred; the unrelenting crags grew kind/ And clothed the
flinty stones with grass. How holy, O eternal King,/ Is this your crib, revered by all in every age,
and even by beasts/ Who hover near in silent awe?”

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Nicolas was a real man who lived in the area of Turkey in the late 200’s and early
300’s. We actually have very little knowledge of him from his lifetime. We know
he was the Bishop of Myra and that he died around 345-352. Beyond that, we
have a number of legends that sprung up about him. The legends include his
presence at the Council of Nicaea (see Church History Lesson 18) where he
supposedly slapped the heretic Arius. Other legends include his care for others.
One key legend said that Nicolas learned of a man with three daughters who had
no dowry to give so that they could marry. The man was going to have to sell his
daughters into slavery.
Hearing of it, Nicolas took small bags of gold and tossed them into the man’s
window at night. The man caught Nicolas the third time, but Nicolas exacted a
promise that the man would never identify Nicolas as the gift giver until after
Nicolas’s death. (This is the explanation for the legend as opposed to a
contemporaneous account; the information could not be given out while Nicolas
was alive).
Nicolas was also considered a patron saint of sailors. Through the centuries after
his death, sailors throughout Europe invoked Nicolas as their protectors in their
ships. By the Reformation, more churches were dedicated to Nicolas than any
other personage of the church other than Mary and Jesus himself. The reformers
sought to eliminate the veneration given to Nicolas, but a number of countries
continued to honor him as a patron saint looking after children and sailors. In
Holland, he was called “Sinter Claas.” The Dutch likely brought this tradition and
veneration to New Amsterdam (later renamed “New York”) but there is no real
evidence to that effect.
In 1809, things changed! Washington Irving wrote, Diedrich Knickerbocker’s
History of New York. Saint Nicholas plays a role in the work as the patron saint of
New York. The following year, John Pintard tried to help the civil unrest and
vandalism in New York by holding a banquet in honor of Saint Nicloas. Pintard
felt that resurrecting old customs where rich and poor celebrated together would
help quell the unrest. Pintard had a poster prepared for his celebration (which he
set for December 6, the feast day of Saint Nicolas) of “Sacnte Claus”.
Eleven years later, in 1821, Irving wrote another book, the History of New York
where he added more to the legend of Saint Nicolas. In this work, Irving wrote of
Nicolas flying over trees in a wagon bringing gifts to children, with “smoke from
his pipe spread like a cloud overhead.”
Just one year later, Clement Clarke Moore joined in adding to the Nicolas tradition
writing the children’s poem, “Twas the night before Christmas.” Actually, he
called it, “A Visit from St. Nicolas”! The poem was picked up by various media
and within 20 years had spread throughout the country. Moore invented the eight

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reindeer and set the time for the visit: The night before Christmas. Alas, a new
tradition was born.
Christmas trees are of uncertain origin. We do have records of a Christmas play
performed in 1605 in Strasbourg. In that play, there was a “Paradise Tree.” The
Paradise Tree was hung with apples and was termed to be the tree of life. It was
also seen as an appropriate celebration tree with Christmas, because in Christ,
Christians have a return to paradise with God.
A particular interesting legend about Christmas trees gives credit to Luther for
them. Supposedly, Luther was walking home on a cold Christmas Eve. He saw
the glistening starlight reflecting off the icy trees and was so moved by the beauty
that he cut a tree, brought it into his home, and lit it with candles. The legend is
nice, but there is no basis for this legend actually occurring. That Luther was one
of the main reformers who actually fought against a common celebration of
Christmas also calls the legend into doubt.
By the 1830’s, Christmas trees became a common occurrence in Germany. Many
scholars believe that German immigrants brought the tradition over to America
around this time period. With due respect to the legend that George Washington
attacked the Hessian (German) troops on Christmas Eve at Valley Forge while
they gathered around a Christmas tree rather than guarding their position, there is
no basis for the “Christmas Tree” part of that legend. The first written indication
of Christmas trees in America is found in Matthew Zahm’s diary entry on
December 20, 1821. The tradition gradually grew throughout the country.
A number of different theories are advanced for why gifts are exchanged on
Christmas day. There are secular opportunities for gift exchange that were found
throughout Europe. The French traditionally exchanged gifts on January 1st. The
Spanish and the Italians would exchange gifts on January 6th. Gift exchange
would seem especially appropriate on Christmas day because it is recognized as a
day where God gave the greatest gift possible to humanity, namely his son, Jesus.
There is much more; books could be written on this subject. In fact, books have
been written on this subject! There are historical books, books that recount the
history of Christmas hymns and Christmas traditions. Then, there are books that
have become Christmas traditions. Dickens’s, A Christmas Carol, being among
the most noteworthy. There are a few others a bit less noteworthy! For example,
in 1939, Montgomery Ward employee Robert L. May wrote a booklet for
customers called, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The book was a smash!
May’s brother-in-law then put the Rudolph character into a song which Gene
Autry reluctantly recorded in 1949 (it became his biggest hit!)

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POINTS FOR HOME
1. “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the
Lord” (Lk 2:11).
The date on which Christ was born is core to the Christian faith. Core to
the Christians faith is that Christ was born. God incarnate came and dwelt
among men. His life was the exemplar, and his perfection and deity gave a
meaning to his death that brings restoration to the relationship of God and
man. Glory to God in the highest!
2. He was given, “the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their
sins” (Mt 1:21).
“Jesus” – “Yahweh is salvation” – a name which says it all. We live in
desperate need of salvation. We need salvation not just from sin, but also
from all that accompanies its disruption in our walk with the Lord. The
corruption of sin breeds the works of the flesh. Greed, anger, worry,
malice, conniving, selfishness, the list of sin goes on and on. Consider
what the world is on account of sin. Think of how our life is different
because of our sin, but also because of the sin of others. Into this sinful
morass, God becomes man to bring about God’s salvation. The promise of
this incarnation is that God’s love and care will overcome all adversity of
sin. In this life we walk assured that nothing can take us from God’s love
(Rom. 8:38-39). We also walk assured that when this life is over, we
depart to the greater place before the Lord (Phil. 1:21-23).
3. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom
he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14).
In the words of John Chrysostom’s Christmas sermon from over 1600 years
ago, “Bethlehem this day resembles heaven. It hears from the stars the
singing of angelic voices, and in the place of the sun it enfolds itself on
every side with the Sun of Righteousness. And ask not how this can
happen, for where God wills, the order of Nature yields. For he willed, he
had the power, he descended, he redeemed; all things move in obedience to
God. This day He Who Is, is born; and He Who Is becomes what he was
not. For he was God and became man, yet not departing from the divinity
that is his.”
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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