The Origins of Christmas
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Published: August 2004
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 145
ISBN-13: 9780814629840
Subjects: Christian festivals; To 1500; History of doctrines; Early church, ca. 30-600; Religion - Christian Life; Religion - Christian Living; Religion; Holidays - Christmas; Christianity - History - General; Holidays - Christmas & Advent; Christmas; Christian Life - General; Fasts and feasts; History; Christianity - Christian Life - General
First sentence: Although Christmas has made the Nativity the best known of all Bible stories, only two of the twenty-seven New Testament books tell of Jesus' birth, and those are the gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Description: When was Christmas first celebrated? How did December 25 become the date for the feast? How did the Bible's "magi from the East" become three kings named Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar who rode camels from three different continents to worship the newborn Christ? How did the Feast of the Nativity generate an entire liturgical season from Advent to Candlemas? Why did medieval and Renaissance artists portray Joseph as an old man? When did the first Christmas music appear? And who was the real Saint Nicholas? These and many other questions are answered in this revised and expanded edition of The Origins of Christmas. The story of the origins of Christmas is not well known, but it is a fascinating tale. It begins when the first Christians had little interest in Christ's Nativity, and it finishes when Christmas had become an integral part of Christian life and Western culture.