Sunday, December 25, 2005
The origin of Christmas
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20051225/lead/lead3.html
by Edward Seaga
CHRISTMAS IS the most revered holiday in the calendar of the western world. Unlike other holidays with a single purpose, Christmas has several features which are all compelling. It is recognised for its religious significance: commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. But, in practice, it is far less of a religious occasion than a commercial exposition for buying and selling to satisfy the need for gifts required by the Christmas ritual. For a great many, it is a time for family reunion. All combined, there is no more powerful drawing card than Christmas. Indeed, it is so powerful that few people pause to question its origin.
Since the birth of Christ is the prime reason for the holiday, any query must begin with the date of the birth of the infant Jesus. Like so many historical searches for truth, the evidence is generally so shrouded that probes have to concentrate on surrounding circumstances rather than on revealed truth.
Early Christianity, in the first three centuries after the death of Christ, had no fixed date of the birth of Jesus. Most of the development of the early church was not in Israel where attempts to teach the doctrines of Christ were bogged down with interpreting the movement as a sect of Judaism. This was the objective of some of the disciples led by James, the half-brother of Christ. They strongly resisted the path taken by the Apostle Paul who pleaded with them to teach the doctrine outside of Israel and to admit non-Jews as members of the church. Some of the disciples understood this message and selected different areas around the rim of the Mediterranean to work as Apostles.
CONVERTED PAGANS
Christianity, at that time, did not exist as a single denomination and church. A large number of small congregations of converted pagans in the Mediterranean and North African countries held meetings in small groups in private homes. These worshippers were in touch mainly with other local congregations. They were held together by the teachings and writings of the Apostles, especially Paul who had been pursuing this mission even before the death of Christ. An elected pope provided some authority.
The small churches responded to their own bishops for leadership. This enabled them to add new practices to the original rituals. They also worked with various biblical documents which did not all coincide. This led to doctrinal variances including several views on the date of the birth of Christ.
Some churches favoured dates which would coincide with Easter. Others January 6, the Epiphany, for different reasons. Obviously, these fundamental differences had to be settled. But, it was not the Christian church that settled the issue.
The Roman Empire was pagan. Officially, people worshipped any of many Gods from a large pantheon. Each God had domain over a particular area of natural or human experience which affected the lives of the people: war, love, the sea, the sun, and so on.
Persecution of Christians was commonplace as various Roman Emperors considered them to be potential insurgents preaching a strange and dangerous doctrine of the forgiveness of sin, redemption and life everlasting. It was a powerful doctrine for which pagan Rome had few answers.
POWERFUL CONGLOMERATION
Despite persecution, Christianity grew, especially in Eastern Europe and bordering Asian countries. The Christian church was gradually becoming a force to be reckoned with. This is the background to the first three centuries after Christ.
The Roman Empire was the largest and most powerful conglomeration of nations and peoples at that time. Despite the introduction of administrative systems of governance and a system of law on which our modern law is founded, the empire was unwieldy and subject to insurgencies within its own ranks as various regional commanders of Rome's army tried to wrestle territorial control which could strengthen their own power base. Putting down insurgencies was a recurrent theme in holding the empire together.
This was not the only threat. The wealth and glamour of Rome; the monumental palaces and pagan temples; the advanced standard of living through which people who enjoyed modern conveniences of roads, transportation and water conveyed in aqueducts; the system of laws and governance, all made the empire, and, in particular Rome, the envy of its neighbours. These neighbours the Goths; the Visigoths, the Franks, the Huns of Attila; Carthaginians of Hannibal, and even Vikings from the far North were all enemies who raided Rome and its territories from time to time, often with success. The raiders were considered to be 'barbarians' because they lived an uncouth lifestyle in backward countries having none of the magnificence of Rome. They were attracted by the booty to be taken from wealthy Rome. Hence, raising attacking armies was never a problem, especially when strategic alliances were made, as between the Huns and Visigoths when Attila mounted his invasion of Rome.
In this mix of internal wars and external invasions, Roman emperors were often deposed by murder or military might, some died naturally. This was the case with the Emperor Galerius who died in 311 AD. Galerius issued a proclamation which freed all Christians from persecution because, as a persecutor himself, he was concerned about the growing list of persecuted martyrs and the build-up of political pressure. Five days later he unexpectedly died.
REVELATION
After the death of Galerius in 311 AD, the Empire was divided among four powerful claimants, each leading their own army. Constantine was one of the four. With this foothold in the Empire, Constantine went to war with Maxentius, one of the four who controlled Rome. It was here that the turning point for Christianity occurred. Constantine's troops were poised at the Milivan Bridge to invade Rome when he said that he had a revelation, or a vision, in which he was commanded to place a Christian symbol or the shields of his soldiers in preparation for battle. Constantine interpreted this as a command from the Christian God. He went into battle with Christian symbols and won. He was now in a position of strength. In 313 AD, he ordered the persecution of Christians to cease, released those who were imprisoned and returned to all Christians their properties, including cemeteries and churches.
Constantine, with astute diplomatic and military strategies, went on to gain control of the rest of the Empire, bringing the entire Roman Empire under one leadership.
From this position of strength, Constantine could perform the impossible: satisfy the growing Christian congregations, as well as the pagan aristocracy in Rome who were backed by the rural peasantry. He played his masterstroke by creating an eastern capital for the Empire as a new seat of power to offset the power of the western capital in Rome. This new capital for the eastern Empire was built at Byzantium and named Constantinople.
HISTORIC DECISION
Constantine was now seen as the Emperor who defended Christianity although he never formally became a Christian. He continued to participate in pagan ceremonies while cementing Christianity. His ability to straddle both religions served him well.
In 325 AD, he made another historic decision. He summoned a great assembly of the Christian Bishops to gather at Nicea. At this first Ecumenical Council many fundamentals of Christianity were settled: which books should be included in the Bible so that there would be one standard doctrine and, of equal importance, the adoption of the Nicene creed ("We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth ...")
But there was one other major hurdle: a delicate modus operandi had to be worked out to continue to give respect and credibility to the powerful God of the Unconquered Sun, Apollo, as well as to Christian devotees. Sunday was the day of the Unconquered Sun. It was also the day on which Christians celebrated the resurrection of Christ. By an imperial edict, he commanded that all soldiers should worship on Sundays, giving recognition to Christians and Pagan observances.
After this, it was only one further step to establishing the date of Christmas which Christians celebrated as the birth of Christ. In the last week of December, the feast of Apollo was held annually. This was the most important celebration of the Roman calendar. Christmas was positioned at December 25, the day before the feast of Apollo began. Christians and pagans could then happily have almost concurrent celebrations.
CONSTANTINOPLE
After his death in 337, Constantine the Emperor was renamed Constantine the Great. He was raised to the status of a God. His legacy was Constantinople, the jewel of the eastern Empire, an extensive period of peace and the foundation of Christianity in the Empire as the official religion.
The fall of Rome to the 'barbarians' in 410 AD marked the end of the Roman Empire. But Constantinople, capital of the eastern Empire, built in Byzantium, became the centre that kept alive the political and cultural legacy of Rome for a thousand years. It was eventually known as the Byzantine Empire.
As Christmas is celebrated throughout the Christian world, it is difficult to believe that this time of peace and fellowship had its origin in such a chequered history of war and intrigue. But it is not difficult to understand that the history of the world might have been very different if it was not for the vision of Constantine at the Milvian Bridge. This decisive battle changed history, established the future of Christianity and settled the date of Christmas.
Edward Seaga is a former Prime Minister. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at the University West Indies.
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