A Brief History of Christmas

WSJ.com, Opinion Journal has an extemely interesting History of Christmas.

Christmas famously "comes but once a year." In fact, however, it comes twice. The Christmas of the Nativity, the manger and Christ child, the wise men and the star of Bethlehem, "Silent Night" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" is one holiday. The Christmas of parties, Santa Claus, evergreens, presents, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells" is quite another.

According to John Steele Gordon,

Most ancient cultures celebrated the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its lowest point and begins to climb once more in the sky. In ancient Rome, this festival was called the Saturnalia and ran from Dec. 17 to Dec. 24.

Christmas to me is a time for giving and sharing. Giving gifts is a nice way to say, "Thank You" or "I Love You" to friends and family. It is a time for sharing with friends and family and bringing people together. Whether secular or religious in its celebrations, I do not think Jesus would object to giving, sharing, and bringing friends and families together.

To read the entire history, click here.