Christmas?

Y do we give everyone gifts on christmas. watch this video if u'd like: http://youtube.com/watch?v=wM5UlXXRuT8%26amp;f…

here's another : http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rl-Kbo25ys4%26amp;f…Christmas?Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ. The magi brought him gifts and because we are unable to give physical gifts to Him, we celebrate by giving gifts to our loved ones.Christmas?
what the first person said and we gives gift to each other because the wise men brought Jesus giftsChristmas?we give people gifts on christmas because the magi brought Jesus gifts, and we honor that by giving each other giftsChristmas?
The origin of our present celebration

Christmas failed to gain prominent or even universal recognition among Christians until quite recently. In some protestant-dominated areas, such as the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the celebration of Christmas was even legally banned, probably as part of their rejection of those parts of the traditional liturgical calendar that have no apparent foundation in Scripture. As late as the last century, Christmas had gained no great importance; it was not even a legal holiday. This explains why nineteenth-century readers found it credible that Scrooge could require Cratchit to come to work on Christmas Day and why in the nineteenth century the US Congress could meet on Christmas Day.



The origins of Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, presents, and trees

Saint Nicholas Day (December 6) was the traditional day for giving gifts to children. It is still the day on which children receive gifts from St. Nicholas in the Netherlands. Epiphany (January 6) is, in the western Church, the commemoration of day on which the three kings presented the baby Jesus with gifts.



Saint Nicholas was the bishop of Myra in Lycia, which is in modern Turkey, sometime before AD 350. Nothing is known of his life except for the legends that have built up around him, but he was associated with kindness to children. He was a widely admired saint throughout the eastern and western churches. The Dutch custom of giving presents to children on St. Nicholas Day was brought to America by early Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam, which was renamed New York when the British took over the colony. Santa Claus is the American pronunciation of Sinter Klaas, which was colloquial Dutch for Saint Nicholas.



In the US, gifts are now exchanged on Christmas Day in a sort of compromise of Dutch, German, and British gift-giving customs. The Christmas tree is a Christianized pagan custom that originated in Germany. German settlers introduced it in America. It became popular during the nineteenth century, and then later spread to Britain and Japan from the US.Christmas?Christmas comes from Saturnalia. It was a pagan tradition that for twelve days the courts would close, and no crimes would be punished.



So-called Christians claim it was Christ's birthday, but Christ was born in summer, because shepherds were tending their flocks in the fields by night- not in December in Israel!



The Catholic church adopted it as a Christian holiday, so they could lure rich Chaldeans to bring their wealth into the church. They give gifts to simulate gifts brought to Christ's birth by the wise men.



It's a matter of paying homage to pagans to get their wealth.



"Eat, drink, and party, for Saturnalia comes but once a year."
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ. The magi brought him gifts and because we are unable to give physical gifts to Him, we celebrate by giving gifts to our loved onesChristmas?
well have you heard of the gifts the three wise men brought Jesus,Christmas gifts remind us of the gifts the wise men bought Jesus and they also remind us of the gifts they were exchanged in Rome during Saturnalia, so from there started the tradition of exchanging gifts at Christmas,

Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. It refers both to the day celebrating the birth, as well as to the season which that day inaugurates, which concludes with the Feast of the Epiphany. The date of the celebration is traditional, and is not considered to be his actual date of birth. Christmas festivities often combine the commemoration of Jesus' birth with various cultural customs, many of which have been influenced by earlier winter festivals. Although nominally a Christian holiday, it is also observed as a cultural holiday by many non-Christians.



In most places around the world, Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25. Christmas Eve is the preceding day, December 24. In the United Kingdom and many countries of the Commonwealth, Boxing Day is the following day, December 26. In Catholic countries, Saint Stephen's Day or the Feast of St. Stephen is December 26. The Armenian Apostolic Church observes Christmas on January 6. Eastern Orthodox Churches that still use the Julian Calendar celebrate Christmas on the Julian version of 25 December, which is January 7 on the more widely used Gregorian calendar, because the two calendars are now 13 days apart.



The word Christmas originated as a contraction of "Christ's mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes m?sse, a phrase first recorded in 1038, compounded from Old English derivatives of the Greek christos and the Latin missa.[1] In early Greek versions of the New Testament, the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ. Since the mid-16th century Χ, or the similar Roman letter X, was used as an abbreviation for Christ.[2] Hence, Xmas is often used as an abbreviation for Christmas.



After the conversion of Anglo-Saxon Britain in the very early 7th century, Christmas was referred to as geol,[1] the name of the pre-Christian solstice festival from which the current English word 'Yule' is derived.[3]



The prominence of Christmas Day increased gradually after Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas Day in 800. Around the 12th century, the remnants of the former Saturnalian traditions of the Romans were transferred to the Twelve Days of Christmas (25 December – 5 January). Christmas during the Middle Ages was a public festival, incorporating ivy, holly, and other evergreens, as well as gift-giving.



Modern traditions have come to include the display of Nativity scenes, Holly and Christmas trees, the exchange of gifts and cards, and the arrival of Father Christmas or Santa Claus on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. Popular Christmas themes include the promotion of goodwill and peace.



The Nativity of Jesus refers to the Christian belief that the Messiah was born to the Virgin Mary. The story of Christmas is based on the biblical accounts given in the Gospel of Matthew, namely Matthew 1:18-Matthew 2:12 and the Gospel of Luke, specifically Luke 1:26-Luke 2:40. According to these accounts, Jesus was born to Mary, assisted by her husband Joseph, in the city of Bethlehem. According to popular tradition, the birth took place in a "stable", surrounded by farm animals, though neither the “stable” nor the animals are mentioned in the Biblical accounts. However, a "manger" is mentioned in Luke 2:7 where it states "She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Early iconographic representations of the nativity confirm that the stable and manger were located within a cave (which still exists under the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem) [1]. Shepherds from the fields surrounding Bethlehem were told of the birth by an angel, and were the first to see the child.[4] Christians believe that the birth of Jesus fulfilled many prophecies made hundreds of years before his birth.



Remembering or re-creating the Nativity is a central way that Christians celebrate Christmas. There is a very long tradition of the Nativity of Jesus in art. The Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth of Jesus, while much of the Western Church celebrates Advent. In some Christian denominations, children perform plays re-telling the events of the Nativity, or sing carols that reference the event. Some Christians also display a small re-creation of the Nativity, known as a Nativity scene, in their homes, using figurines to portray the key characters of the event. Live Nativity scenes, and tableaux vivants are also performed, using actors and live animals to portray the event with more realism.[5]



Nativity scenes traditionally include the Three Wise Men, Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar, although their names and number are not referred to in the Biblical narrative, who are said to have followed a star, known as the Star of Bethlehem, found Jesus, and presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.[6]



In the U.S., Christmas decorations at public buildings once commonly included Nativity scenes. This practice has led to many lawsuits, as groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union believe it amounts to the government endorsing a religion, which is prohibited by the United States Constitution. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lynch vs. Donnelly that a Christmas display (which included a Nativity scene) owned and displayed by the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island did not violate the First Amendment.[7]





[edit] History



[edit] Pre-Christian origins

Main article: List of winter festivals

A winter festival was traditionally the most popular festival of the year in many cultures. Reasons included less agricultural work needing to be done during the winter, as well as people expecting longer days and shorter nights after the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.[8] In part, the Christmas celebration was created by the early Church in order to entice pagan Romans to convert to Christianity without losing their own winter celebrations.[9][8] Certain prominent gods and goddesses of other religions in the region had their birthdays celebrated on December 25, including Ishtar, Sol Invictus and Mithras. Various traditions are considered to have been syncretised from winter festivals including the following:





[edit] Natalis Solis Invicti

Main article: Sol Invictus



Mosaic of Jesus Christ depicted as Sol (the Sun god) in Mausoleum M in the pre-fourth-century necropolis under St Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is named Christo Sole (Christ the Sun) and is dated to the late 3rd century by the Italian archaeologists.[10]The Romans held a festival on December 25 called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the undefeated sun." The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the god of Emperor Aurelian (AD 270–274); and Mithras, a soldiers' god of Persian origin.[11] Emperor Elagabalus (218–222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday.[12]



December 25 was also considered to be the date of the winter solstice, which the Romans called bruma.[13] It was therefore the day the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered" despite the shortening of daylight hours. (When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar in 45 BC, December 25 was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21 or 22.) The Sol Invictus festival has a "strong claim on the responsibility" for the date of Christmas, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.[1] Several early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus[14] "O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born . . . Christ should be born", Cyprian wrote.[1]





[edit] Yule

Main article: Yule

Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. Yule logs were lit to honor Thor, the god of thunder, with the belief that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year. Feasting would continue until the log burned out, which could take as many as twelve days.[8] In pagan Germania (not to be confused with Germany), the equivalent holiday was the mid-winter night which was followed by 12 "wild nights", filled with eating, drinking and partying.[15] As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan celebrations had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the Germanic word Yule is synonymous with Christmas,[16] a usage first recorded in 900.





[edit] Christian origins



Origen, a father of the Christian church, argued against the celebration of birthdays, including the birth of Christ.It is unknown exactly when or why December 25 became associated with Christ's birth. The New Testament does not give a specific date.[17] Sextus Julius Africanus popularized the idea that Christ was born on December 25 in his Chronographiai, a reference book for Christians written in AD 221.[14] This date is nine months after the traditional date of the Incarnation (March 25), now celebrated as the Feast of the Annunciation. March 25 was considered to be the date of the vernal equinox and early Christians believed this was also the date Christ was crucified. The Christian idea that Christ was conceived on the same date that he died on the cross is consistent with a Jewish belief that a prophet lived an integral number of years.[18]



The celebration of Chris
Gifts are not necessary.



The holiday is about Jesus Christ and good will toward men.Christmas?
The feeble minds have let the commercial world hijack Chrastmas. It is time to get togather and Love the family %26amp; friends.
I don't know the answer but I agree with Gingo.

***********

Did you hear the one about the blonde who had a

bumper sticker that said, 'ALL BLONDES AREN'T

DUMB?'



No one could read it because it was hung upside-down.