How Christmas Became Christmas: The Pagan and Christian Origins of the Beloved Holiday

Christmas is a time of contrasts, with debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday. However, its core character is a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization. The true reason for the season has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 30 July 2022
Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc

Christmas is a time of contrasts that make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a season of generosity, kindness, and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink, and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday.

This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas' origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true reason for the season has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ.

Chapters chronicle how Christmas' magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Christmas is a time of contrasts that make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a season of generosity, kindness, and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink, and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday.

This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas' origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true reason for the season has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ.

Chapters chronicle how Christmas' magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Christmas is a time of contrasts that make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a season of generosity, kindness, and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink, and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday.

This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas' origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true reason for the season has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ.

Chapters chronicle how Christmas' magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Christmas is a time of contrasts that make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a season of generosity, kindness, and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink, and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday.

This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas' origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true reason for the season has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ.

Chapters chronicle how Christmas' magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Christmas is a time of contrasts that make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a season of generosity, kindness, and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink, and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday.

This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas' origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true reason for the season has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ.

Chapters chronicle how Christmas' magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Dimension: 254 x 178 x 11 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781476688282