History of Christmas
Commercial activities during Christmas today are often decried as making
the season too materialistic. This has caused comments that the religious aspect
of Christmas is so overlooked and overshadowed that its celebration seems to be
purely pagan. But today’s comparisons aren’t the first there has been some link
between Christmas and pagan celebrations. As a religious, church leaders
instituted Christmas during winter because that time of year was a popular for
the celebrations of many pagan festivals. The hope was that Christmas would also
become a holiday that would gain much popularity.
Long before the birth of Jesus Christ, people in various parts of Europe would
celebrate light and birth in the darkest days of winter. The winter solstice,
when the harshest part of winter was over, was a time of celebration for many
peoples because they would look forward to more hours of sunlight during the
longer days ahead.
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The Norse in Scandinavia celebrated Yule from the winter solstice on
December 21 through to January. Men brought home logs that were lighted and a
feast would take place until the log was completely burned. Each spark from the
fire was believed to represent a new pig or calf to be born in the coming new
year.
The pagan god Oden was honored by Germans during the mid-winter holiday. Oden
inspired great fear in the Germans who believed that Oden traveled at nights
through the sky to observe people and make a