Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1886-12-23
CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL.
DECEMBER s5.
Why That Day Was Fixed Upon as the
Feast of the Nativity.

life for and with man, crowned by His
vicarious death and resurrection. Ire
n@us in particular is worthy of special
and enduring honor as the first
Of the fathers to bring out the unfolding
of all the stages of human life in Jesus
Christ, and even though he had never
written another work than this, he de-
serves to be immortal in the memory of
the church for having said "The Son of
God became child ameng the children
in 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 century, that the
church at large began to feel and to un.
fold its meaning Then ii was that she
emerged from the storm Of persecution
into the sunshine Of imperial favor.
Then she saw that she had a work to do
here on earth in the cleansing and adorn-
ing of human life with the beauty of ho-
liness Then she realized that patient
suffering and faithful death were not the
only duties Of the Christian, 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
wondrous significance of the living en-
trance of the Son of God into the life of
man, and His perfect pattern of holiness
in every human relation. Then she pas.
sed from the lower conception of a
church saved out of the world, to the
higher conception Of o world to be saved
through the ministry of the church,
natural year to be transformed by rev
erent devotion and wholesome piety into
the Christian year, redeeming life, as
well as an atoning death of Christ, to be
preserved in living remembrance by the
perpetual commemoration of its chief
events. Then it was that opening her
heart to the humanity of religion she be-
gan to draw near to the humanity of
Jesus, and to seek with eager interest for
the day of His birth that she might make
it holy.
But what clew was there to direct the
search? What reason could be given for
choosing one day rather than another
for the Christmas festival? 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 reticent or
Indifferent. There were, indeed, few
scattered suggestions of the date of
.Christs birth floating here and there
among the writings of the fathers; but
these were all Of late origin, manifestly
unhistorical. and above all, quite contra.
dictory Clement of Alexandria said
that many Christians regarded the Goth
of May as the day Of the Nativity, others
preferred the Goth of April, but he ia
vored the 10th of November In the
Eastern Church the 9th or 9th of January
was celebrated as the date of Christs
baptism, and the Nativity was Joined
with this on no better ground than a
forced Interpretation of Eezekiel, 1. 1--3,
as prophecy of the Incarnation. Others
again fixed The 21st of March as the day
of Christs birth. Between such varying
and slightly supported assumtions there
was little to choose. A historical date
was clearly out Of question. Nothing
was left for the church to do but to Sc
lect some day on grounds of convenience
and symbolic significance, and celebrate
it by common consent as Christmas Day
1t would take too long for me to trace
the many reasons which led to the choice
of the 25th of December. 1t was doubt
less connected by q process of deduction
with the day which had already been
generally accepted as the common date
of the Annunciation and Of the creation
Of the world. Assuming that the world
was made in the spring, because 1t was
commanded to bring forth grass and
herbs and that it was made when light
and darkness were equally divided, be-
cause "the evening and the morning
| were the first day." it was natural, though
somewhat naive, to fix upon the vernal
equinox (according to the Julian calen-
dar, March 25) as the exact date of the
creation. He who could question the
value of such straightforward and
scriptural argument as this must have
had more logic and less piety than be.
longing to the early Christians. And
once having discovered by this easy
method the very day on which the world
came into being, and the glorious light
sprang out Of darkness. what more sim.
pie. than to assume that II was the same
day on which the power of the Almigh.
lty overshadowed Mary. and the day.
spring from on high began his entrance
into the worldY Nothing could be palmer.
| Even the least imaginative of cronogra.
pliers could reckon forward from this
fixed point of the Assumption nine
[ months, and arrive at December 25 as the
day of.the Nativity. And here another
wonderful coincidence meets him. This
is the day Of the winter solstice, the day
when the worlds darkness begins to les
sen and the worlds light to grow. the
day when the ancient world had long
celebrated as the birthday Of the sun
dies natalis soils invicti--what more ap
propriate day could be found for the
birth of the "Sun of Righteousness9'
Behold, my brethren" says St. Angus
inc, "another instance of the wondrous
fulilment Of Scripture. St. John the
Baptist is born on June 25, the summer
solstice, when the sun begins to decline
The Lord Jesus Is born on December 20
the winter solstice, when the sun begins
to ascend. And in this is fulfilled the
saying, "He must increase, but / mus,
decrease"
The earliest mention Of the 25th of Dc.
cember as Christmas Day is found in or
ancient catalogue Of church festivities
about 354 A. d. And 1t is surprising tc
/ 500 with what alacritv tho date xvaa ro
ceived and the Nativity celebrated
throughout Christendom. 1t seems as II
the world had been waiting for this fes
tival of divine and human childhood
and was ready towelcome 1t ut once with
songs Of joy, In the year 800 II was cele
brated in Rome by vast multitude'
thronging the churches. Twenty year,
later Antioch had taken II up with grea
popular enthusiasm. And in little NOR,
than fifty years from Its earliest sugges
ton the observance OF December e5 al
the day Of the Nativity had become th,