The Beginnings of a Modern Christmas 

The beginnings of modern Christmas was essentially an evolutionary process that developed over a period of centuries into what we now commonly recognize as the Christmas holiday season. This includes the establishment of a particular time of the year for celebration, the inventions of various decorations and symbols as well as the common interactive pleasantries and traditions. While Christmas is, of course, considered a holiday of the Christian tradition (although it has become more secularized and inclusive in recent years) much of what exists today in modern Christmas originated in many decidedly non-Christian cultures many centuries prior to the birth of Christ. So, to a great extent, the advent of modern Christmas was an evolutionary process that redefined the common winter festivals of pagan, pre-Christian and non-Christian religions. 

Prior to the advent of the Judeo-Christian religion, many religions were essentially earthen and celestial. This is because these cultures drew their sustenance from the earth which, of course, was reliant on the sun for survival. Hence, these cultures had a tendency to worship the earth as well as celebrate the fertility of the earth. Curiously, many cultures had celebrated their holiest days of the year in the winter months. This was because many primitive cultures were primarily agricultural societies and they would celebrate the months of winter due to the fact that less agricultural responsibilities were available so they would use these months as days of celebration. Part of the reason for this was because the winter could be a very harsh month due to the severely cold temperatures and the festivals could do wonders for people’s morale as the cessation of harvesting the fields could lead to unproductive idleness. 

As a result, winter festivals became common with the most popular being the Roman feast of the god Saturn known as Saturnalia. Saturnalia was a several week long winter festival based on gift giving, charity and good cheer. (Sound familiar?)  The Romans would routinely celebrate this winter festival and as the former Roman Empire became more Christianized the winter festival was allowed to continue as Christian leaders did not want to create an feeling of exclusion against many of the population. It is widely believed that during this time period the specific date of December 25^th became celebrated at Christmas Day as this was the same day that was considered the holiest month of the year in the Roman winter tradition and was often celebrated as the day of the winter solstice. 

Now, some may assume that pointing out these historical evolutionary timelines is somewhat of a negative undermining of the Christmas season. This is not an accurate assessment at it is merely a way of looking at the evolution of pre-Christian celebrations into a Christian celebration as Christianity began to grow and grow in the emerging modern world.