If there’s one thing “everyone” knows about Christmas, it’s that we celebrate it on December 25th because the early Christians decided to have their holiday piggyback on various pre-existing pagan solstice-related festivals. (The same, of course, is held to be true of Easter, which is supposedly stolen from pagan fertility celebrations.)
But maybe, just maybe, everyone is wrong. (via GetReligion)
As a Christian, I should add that the notion of “stealing” the dates of the pagan holidays (and their holly boughs, mistletoe, and all the rest of the trimmings) never particularly bothered me. A VIP (very intelligent priest) in my New Haven parish once put it this way: “The Church’s way is to include — and to sift.”
Merry Christmas to all . . .
— Ross
The Dish 