The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1908-12-23
TIE YULE TIDE.

The usual time is approaching
for the annual festivities Of
Christmas. It, is little worth
while to resent the currents of
the time in their innocent bear
ing, and still more inconsistent,
as one believing in the would-be
sacredness of the dies Natalis Of
the Immaculate Son of God, to
give countenance to the misap-
propriations Of the festivities of
the occasion as practiced with
reference to the subject preten-
tiously memorialized.
The word Christmas means
Christ's birthday, in our com
mon English Vernacular. 1t
should be expected that the day
and the occasion would bring
forth a most reverential feeling
and attitude on the part cf those
who profess to know Him in His
claim to the Godhead and the
power of His resurrection, but
facts are nevertheless to the con-
trary. It is the time when one,
with customary Or habitual ten
dency to evil, uncurbs his pas
sions and gives free reins to his
baser self, rioting in conduct that
gives little pleasure to heaven or
honor to the name Of the Holy
One of God. It is not quite a
wonder that the Jews are so hard
to convince of the doctrine Of
Christ's Divinity. and the heath
en- of the exclusive merits of
His grace in Salvation. when the
Christian world so universally
falls into a heathenish custom
of annual festivities, even adopt
ing their time and method, and
marring what might be innocent
and inofensive in their custom,
by burdening it with the high
sounding title of Christmas-the
most sacred of earthly thoughts
to the sincere believer in the
Christ and Christianity.
By the end of the 3rd century
the Christian Church had lost
much Of its pristine purity and
sir .olicity N ritual and customs.
Its former democracy and simpli-
fed forms Of worship had drift
ed into an ecclesiastica-ceutered
papacy which had adopted many
ruipous customs and ceremonials
both from Judaism and Pagan
ism.
Saturnatia was a festival Of
Pagan Rome which was annual
" observed in honor of the heath
en- diety Saturn, and was char
acterized by the free reins given
to lewdness and passion, as IS
now seen in so many in the
Christmas times. On the invas-
ion of this heathen country by
the early Christians they were
horrifed and grieved atsuch Gus
tom, not only because it was IN
tended to ascribe honor to false
deity, but because Of the corrup-
tion per Sc, in the nature of the
festivities. The full adoption of
the customs and evils of the oc-
casion was not at first intended
by the Christmas but was repul-
slve to them, but it was felt that
something should be done to di-
vert the attention Of the Roman
from the business Of his habits.
The Ecclesiastical ruling Of the
church therefore was that a fes-
tival of like nature should be
adopted by the Christian church
at the same season of the year,
as memorial Of the dies Natalis
Of the Christ. It was the early
purpose not to incorporate the
evil, but to divert from it, and
furnish the heathen with a Gus
tom that would wean them from
the thought of their Gods by sat
TSSying their festive spirit with a
new object to adore. But, by the
5ths century we find that while
the Christian church had divert
ed the attention of Pagan Rome
from the erstwhile object and
name of their festiv IS, Pagan
Rome had burdened vhe church
of Christ with all the evil efforts
Of their former customs. which
would seem now to the unprejud-
iced spectator an immortal sin Of
the church. The occasion now
has the name of our diety and the
license of civilized invention to
improve upon their heather
crimes.
It is impossible to fix any date
as the real anniversary Of our
Lord birth, but it is the concen-
sus Of scholarly opinion that it
could not have been anywhere
about the 25th of December. as
that was the rainy season in Pal
estipe and natural conditions