Christmas
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Christmas is the festival created by the early Church to ensure that there would be a celebration of the coming of Jesus (known as the Christ, "The Chosen One") to the world. There is, of course, no record of the birth of Jesus except in the Bible (Gospels), and the two Gospels which mention Jesus's birth at all do not mention what time of year it was. However, across much of Europe, there was a ("pagan") festival four days after the winter solstice. The solstice was on the equivalent of December 21st, so Jyll (Yule) fell on the equivalent of December 25th. Around 300 years after the birth of Jesus, the Christian Church decided that the best way of ensuring that Christ's coming was celebrated by the people was to fix the celebration onto an existing date, and the chose the mid-winter festival (Jyll) for that purpose. This simple arrangement was severely complicated during the reign of Pope Gregory. As the calendar was becoming out of step with the seasons, and the need for a calendar reform became more obvious, the Roman Catholic Church missed out eleven days of the normal sequence of dates. However, it was not done in consultation with the Orthodox Church(es). Consequently, the Orthodox churches (except for the Greek Orthodox Church) still calculate the date of Christmas according to the old system. Christmas in much of Eastern Europe, and in parts of the Middle East, therefore falls eleven later, on what Western Europe calls January 6th.
Christmas simply means "Christ's mass". Other traditions gradually accrued around this event. In Italy, a fairy brought presents for the children. In the Netherlands, it was St. Nicholas, but he brought the presents on 6th December, not on 24th/25th. Somehow, in Sweden, it became the Devil who brought presents, until the Church begged people to change the story. In England, it was a hooded man with a long cloak, known as Father Christmas, who brought presents for children. In New York (Niue Amsterdam), the Dutch and English characters became confused and Santa Nicklaus and Father Christmas (originally two distinct characters) ended up as the same person!
Bahá'ís and Christmas[edit]
In countries which are largely or nominally Christian, Bahá'ís often get asked whether they celebrate Christmas. As a Bahá'í community, the answer is usually "No", but many Bahá'ís may have non-Bahá'í families. As the populations of the world gradually intermingle, Christians gain more understanding that their beliefs and customs are but one possibility among many, and Bahá'ís not celebrating Christmas is seen as less challenging. One possibility is to assert that Bahá'ís will happily join anybody's celebrations! For many people in richer countries, the giving of gifts has become a major part of Christmas. Questions about Christmas therefore give Bahá'ís opportunity to talk about the new calendar and the existence of the Ayyám-i-Há as a bespoke time for giving presents, away from all of the Holy Days.
