Merry Christmas 2024

‘Tis The Season

Merry Christmas to all of my readers.

It is my hope that you all have a pleasant holiday and (hopefully) some rest during this season.

Instead of sharing my usual Christmas message, I thought it would be interesting to change things up and take a stroll through the Church’s early history of Christmas, instead. Most people do not know this history of Christmas, so hopefully it will be enlightening.

Consider it a gift of knowledge.

The origins of Christmas are not what most expect. But it’s become a great Holy Day worthy of research.

The Incarnation remains a beautiful mystery, and equally so the history of Christmas is also illusive.

But here is what we do know. Below is a solid writeup on the known history from our forefathers:

The History Of Christmas From The Church Fathers

The celebration of Christmas (the Feast of the Nativity) as we know it took shape gradually in the early centuries of the Church. While our earliest sources from the second and early third centuries do not describe a widespread or uniform observance of Jesus’s birth, some Church Fathers did weigh in—whether explicitly on the Nativity or implicitly through discussions that helped solidify the tradition. Below is an overview of what a few major early Christian writers said (or did not say) on the topic of Christmas.

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1. Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–c. 215)

• Various Proposed Dates:
  In his Stromata (Book I, Chapter 21), Clement of Alexandria mentions various dates that different groups of Christians in Egypt proposed for Christ’s birth: some pointed to May 20, some to April 19 or 20, and others to January 6 (later associated with Epiphany). Notably, Clement does not mention December 25 at all, indicating that there was no universal consensus at this time and that December 25 was not yet a fixed date for the celebration.
• No Dedicated Feast Described:
  Clement does not describe a distinct, widely celebrated festival akin to what became “Christmas.” Instead, he merely records that Christians speculated about the date of Jesus’s birth, reflecting the variety of local traditions in the late second/early third century.

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2. Origen of Alexandria (c. 184–c. 253)

• Skepticism About Birthdays:
  Origen, in a homily preserved by Eusebius (though the exact text is somewhat debated), questioned the custom of celebrating birthdays in general, noting that in Scripture, birthdays were more commonly associated with pagan or secular rulers (e.g., Pharaoh, Herod) than with the saints. He even declared that only sinners, not saints, celebrated birthdays.
• Implication for Christmas:
  Because of Origen’s views, it is not surprising that we find no early third-century endorsement of a liturgical “birthday of Christ” festival. Later centuries, however, gradually came to hold Jesus’s Nativity in high honor.

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3. Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170–c. 235)

• Earliest Reference to December 25?
  One of the earliest possible references to December 25 as the date of Jesus’s birth is found in what is often attributed to Hippolytus’s Commentary on Daniel. He seems to argue that Christ’s conception took place on March 25 (the traditional date of the Annunciation), thus placing His birth nine months later on December 25.“For the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, was December 25th…”
  The authenticity of parts of this commentary is debated among scholars, but if genuine, Hippolytus provides one of the earliest witnesses to the December 25 dating.

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4. Tertullian of Carthage (c. 160–c. 220)

• Focus on the Pascha (Easter):
  Tertullian discusses dates relating to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection in great detail (e.g., in Adversus Iudaeos and other treatises) but says very little about a distinct feast of the Nativity.
• Linking Conception and Death:
  Later in Church tradition, there emerged an idea that March 25 was both the date of the Annunciation (Christ’s conception) and the date of the crucifixion. Some see the roots of this association in Tertullian’s works, though Tertullian himself never draws out a formal “Christmas” date.

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5. The Shift in the Fourth Century

By the early to mid-fourth century, references to a feast for Christ’s Nativity on December 25 become much more common. This marks the period when the celebration of the Nativity was beginning to be more standardized, especially in the West (Rome) and soon in the East as well (though some Eastern churches initially preferred January 6, celebrated as Epiphany or Theophany).

St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407)

• Sermons on the Nativity:
  Chrysostom, preaching in Antioch (and later in Constantinople), gave homilies specifically on December 25 as the birth of Christ. In a famous Nativity sermon (likely around 386 in Antioch), he praised the Western Church for having preserved December 25 as the date of Jesus’s birth and urged his congregation to adopt the same feast.“This day surpasses all wonders of creation…”

St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

• Affirmation of the December 25 Date:
  Augustine, writing in North Africa, frequently references the feast of the Nativity on December 25, connecting it with theological themes of Christ’s incarnation. He accepts the date as an established fact and focuses more on the spiritual meaning of the Incarnation.

St. Gregory Nazianzen (329–390) and St. Gregory of Nyssa (335–395)

• Orations on the Theophany/Nativity:
  In the East, the lines between the Nativity (December 25) and the Epiphany (January 6) were sometimes blurred. Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory of Nyssa each delivered orations which celebrate Christ’s appearance to the world (Theophany), including his birth. Over time, the Eastern churches largely separated the two feasts, reserving December 25 for the Nativity and January 6 for the Baptism of the Lord (and sometimes the visit of the Magi).

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Key Takeaways

1. No Universal Early Celebration: In the second and early third centuries, there was no universally celebrated “Christmas” feast. Writers like Clement of Alexandria note various proposed dates and Origen shows disinterest (or disapproval) toward celebrating birthdays at all.
2. Gradual Adoption of December 25: A pivotal development is seen in Hippolytus of Rome, who may provide our earliest explicit mention of December 25. By the fourth century, major Church Fathers in both East and West (e.g., John Chrysostom, Augustine) affirm and celebrate December 25 as the official feast of the Nativity.
3. Importance of Incarnation Theology: Once the Feast of the Nativity took root, it was seen not simply as a “birthday party” but as a theological celebration of the Incarnation, closely tied to Easter in its significance for salvation history.
4. Regional Variations: Even as December 25 gained acceptance in the West, some Eastern regions focused on January 6 (Epiphany/Theophany) for commemorating both the birth and the baptism of Christ. Over time, these feasts were delineated more clearly.

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Conclusion

In sum, the earliest generations of Christians focused predominantly on Easter (the Paschal Mystery) rather than on a commemorative festival for Jesus’s birth. Writings from figures like Clement, Origen, and Tertullian either dismiss or do not mention a dedicated Nativity feast. By the early fourth century, however, December 25 emerged—likely due in part to theological chronologies connecting March 25 (Annunciation) with the Incarnation—and then was championed in sermons by Church Fathers such as John Chrysostom and Augustine. From that point onward, references to a distinct Feast of the Nativity (Christmas) appear regularly in patristic literature, reflecting the increasingly central place of Christ’s Incarnation in Christian worship and doctrine.

Celebrate Christ

The exact date of the Incarnation, while interesting to dive into the history of, is not practically relevant. We celebrate it on this day, and that is enough. An eternal and infinite God has no need for a precise time or date. We, as humans, are trapped in time; God is both outside of it and the owner of time. Our celebrations for the Incarnation are relevant today and every other day we choose to worship.

I, for one, am thrilled about the fact that the early church developed this Holy Day over time. The more days of worship, the merrier.

Remember to keep the focus on Christ, Our Lord, today.

Even though the early church likely did not celebrate over Jesus’ birth in the exact way we do today, it is still a uniting day that connects us back with our Christian forefathers from millennia ago. That is a powerful tradition and a beautiful legacy.

God Bless and have a glorious New Year.

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