Christmas is celebrated in December NOT because the 25th is the birth anniversary of Christ...

[and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)]

Christmas Origins - A post from 1993

[ Subject: CHRISTMAS ORIGINS
[ From: Dr. Jai Maharaj
[ Date: December 20, 1993

Excerpts from Hinduism Today:

Christmas is celebrated in December not because the 25th is the birth
anniversary of Christ, but because, in the 4th century, the early
Christians borrowed the timing and many of the customs of the Roman
winter solstice festival.

The specific date of Christ's birth remains uncertain to this day.

[...]

At the winter solstice, Soory(a), or Sun, is farthest south of the
celestial equator. It rises and sets farthest south, yielding the
fewest hours of daylight. This description is from the viewpoint of
an observer in the northern hemisphere.

The celestial equator is the projection of the Earth's equator onto
the sky and is parallel to the daily east-to-west apparent paths of
the stars as they wheel around the celestial poles.

The Roman week-long "Saturnalia", festival of Saturn, from December
17 to 24 (according to one account) was a time of continuous
celebration and gift-giving during which all businesses, schools and
law courts closed.

December 25 was the Roman celebration of the birthday of Mithra, the
Persian God of light and truth and opponent of darkness and evil.

According to legend, Mithra's birth from a rock on that day was
witnessed by shepherds. Originally, the Iranians had changed the name
from the Sanskrit "Mitr(a)" to "Mithra."

As history teaches us, the name traveled back to Bharat, or India, as
Mihira and also the "Miiro" that is found on early coins.

Mitr(a), meaning "friendship" in Sanskrit, signifies solidarity, the
respect for laws and treaties, the sacredness given to all that links
man to man. A hymn in the Rg Ved(a) refers to Mitr(a).

The Romans also contributed their New Year customs of decorating
their houses with greenery and lights.

Later converts among the German and Celtic peoples added their Yule
rites (also a solstice festival) which included the Yule log, Yule
cakes, fir trees and the word "jolly," so often applied to Santa
Claus.

Formal Christmas greeting cards began in Britain in the year 1840.

More at Hinduism Today
http://www.hinduismtoday.com

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

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[Steve Hayes]

Post by and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
Christmas Origins - A post from 1993

And just as wrong in 2011 as it was back then.

Christmas is the celebration of THE NATIVITY ACCORDING TO THE FLESH OF OUR
LORD GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST

The origin of Christmas is this:

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth.

For the first few centuries Christians celebrated the nativity of Christ along
with his baptism on 6 January, but in the 4th century they began to celebrate
it separately 12 days earlier, on 25 December.

Why did they begin to have a separate celebration, and why did it later assume
such importance?

It was probably because of a 4th-century unapostolic heretic by the name of
Arius, who began to teach that Jesus Christ was not God, but that he was
created. And it was probably to counter Arius's false teaching (which was
rejected by the Church at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325) that the
Church began to celebrate the birth of Christ and to proclaim that the one
born of Mary was God himself, the Word made flesh.

"Christmas" is a peculiarly English word, and in most other languages it is
clearly called the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.

Why 25 December?

No one knows for certain why the date was chosen, because if anyone bothered
to record it, the records has been lost, so it is all guesswork.

Some say that it was chosen because of the Saturnalia.

But that's just as guess.

Some say that it is related to a celebration of Sol Invictus.

But that's a guess.

Most of these guesses were made by 19th-century atheists, sceptics and
free-thinkers.

I think my guess is as good as theirs.

My guess is that some bishop said at some gathering, "We're going to celebrate
the birth of Christ to show those Arians what's what and who's who -- when was
be born?"

Silence.

"Anybody know?"

More silence?

"Deacon Publius, go and do some research and report back next week. Meeting
adjourned."

Deacon Publius turns to the gospels,

The only clue he can see is Luke 1:26. The Angel Gabriel came to Mary in the
sixth month.

Well, it was the sixth month of Elizabeth's preganacy, but what if it was also
the sixth month of the year?

When do Jews celebrate new year?

On or about 25 September (Rosh Hashanah).

Add 6 months and you get 25 March for the feast of the Annunciation.

Add another 6 months, and bingo! You get 25 December.

And what could be more appropriate than for God to start this chain of events
at new year?

Deacon Publius reports back, the bishop holds the celebration on 25 December,
and it catches on, among everyone except the Armenians, who still stick to 6
January.

So who thinks that Christmas is "unChristian"?

Those who deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, that he is God made
man. Those include Jehovah's Witnesses and a number of fringe groups, who are
well represented on newsgroups, and try to give a false account of the origin
of Christmas in order to spread their pernicious doctrines.