Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-12-24
HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS.
Why December 25 Was Fixed Upon
for tine Worlds Christmas HI oIfday.


for tine Worlds Christmas Holiday.
By DR.. John Van Dyke, Jr., in Harper's Maya
zine.
Thare were some men in advance OF
their age who had learned to think o.
the whole life of Christ in its unity al
a life for and with man crowned By
his vicarious death and resurrection
lrep aeus, In particular, is worthy OF
special mention and enduring honor
as the first Of the fathers to bring out
the unfolding of all the stages in hu.
man life IN Jesus Christ; and even
though he had never written another
word than this, he deserves to be I'M.
mortal IN the memory of the church
for having said: 1.-THE Son of God
became child among the children ia
order that childhood might be made
holy" This sentence holds the heart
of Christmas. But it was not until
long after it was uttered, it was not
until the latter half of the fourth cen.
fury, that the church at large began
TO feel and to unfold its meaning.
Then 1t was that she emerged from
the Storm OF persecution into the sun
shine of imperial favor.
Then she saw she had work to dc
here on earth in the cleansing and
adjoining Of human life with the beauty
of holiness. Then she realized that
patient suffering and faithful death
were not the only duties of the Chris.
tian, but that. following God in love,
it was possible to begin in this world
the purity and peace of heaven. Then
she began to feel the wcndereus sig
nifcaBce of the living entrance of the
Son of God into the life of man, and
his perfect holiness in every human
relation. Then she passed from the
lower conception Of church saved
out of the world, to the higher con
ception of world to be saved through
the ministry of the church, natural
y Ear TO be transformed by reverent
devotion and wholesome piety into
the Christian year, a redeemlng life
as an atoning death of Christ, to be
preserved IN living remem braHce by
the perpetual commemor&tion of its
chief events. Then it was that, open
ing her heart to the humanity of re
ligion, she began to draw near to the
humanity of Jesus. and to seek with
eager interest for the day Of his birth,
that she might make 1t holy.
But whas clew was there to direct
the search? What reason could be
given for choosing one day rather
than another for the Christmas festi-
val? The gospels, always meager IN
dates, were quite silent here. They
gave no hint of the day or month of
The Nativity. Oral tradition, we may
be sure, was equally reticient Or indif-
ferent. There were, indeed, a few
scattered suggestions of the date of
Christ's birth floating here and there
among the writings of the fathers, but
these were all of late origin, mani
testify unhistorical, and above all
quite contradictory. Clement of Alex
andria said the many Christians re-
garded the 30Ch of May as the day of
the Nativity, others preferred the Goth
of April, but he favored the 18th of
November. In the Eastern church the
5 h or 9Th of January was celebrated
as the date Of Chrlst's BAPTISM. and
Nativity was joined with this on no
better ground than a forced interpre-
tation of Ezekiel, i. Is, as prophecy
of the incarnation. Others again
liked the 21st of March as the day of
Cnrlst's birth. Between such varying
and slightly supported assumptions
there was little to choose. A histor-
ical date was clearly out of question.
Notking was left for the church to do
but to select some day Oh grounds of
convenience and symbolic signif-
canoe, and celebrate it by common
consent IS Christmas Day.
It would take too long for ne to
trace the many reasons which led to
the choice Of the 25th OF December.
It was doubtless connected by pro
cess of deduction with the day WI ich
has already been generally accepted
as the common date of the Annuncia-
ton and Of the creation of the world.
Assuming that the world was made in
the Sprlng, because it was commanded
to bring forth grass and herbs, and
that it was made when light and dark
ness were equally divided, because
"the evening and the morning were
the first day." it was natural, though
somewhat native. to FIX upon the YER
nal equinox according to the Julian
calendar, March 25 as the exact date
of the creation. He who could uues-
ton the value of sach a straightfor-
ward ard scriptural argument as this
must have had more logic and less
piety than belonged to the early
Christians And once having been
discovered by this easy method the
very day on which the world came
into being and the glorious light
spraEg out of darkness, what more
simple than to assume that
it was the same day on which the
power of the Almighty overshadowed
Mary. and the day-spring from on
high began his entrance into the
world2 NothiEg could DE palmer.
Even the least imaginative of chrome
graphers could reckon forward from