CHRISTMAS MYTHS AND FACTS

1. Jesus was born on Dec. 25. Very unlikely.  The date was proposed by the scholar Hippolytus of Rome in the early 3^rd Century.  He assumed Jesus was conceived on the spring equinox, March 25.  He then added nine months and came up with Dec. 25, which happened to coincide with pagan celebrations of the winter equinox.  The Gospels mention shepherds in their fields, which would not have happened in December.
2. Jesus was not born in year zero. When the BC/AD system was initiated, it was thought that Jesus was born 753 after the founding of Rome.  Subsequent research has shown that he was born before the death of Herod the Great in 4 B.C. which places his birth year between 6-4 B.C.  It’s also possible he was 30 years old at the time of his death in 33 A.D. which could make his birth in 3 A.D.
3. Early Christians started the Christmas tree tradition. False.  During the Renaissance, German Protestants began bringing evergreens into their homes and decorating them for Christmas.  When a German became King of England, the tradition reached England and German immigrants brought it to America.
4. X-Mas is non-Christian way of avoiding saying Christmas. This abbreviation goes back to the 12^th Century.  The first letter in the Greek for Christ is X.
5. St. Nicholas was a Turkish bishop in the 4^th Century. He gave money to the poor, sometimes by slipping it into their stockings.  In the 15^th Century, Protestants in England evolved the character into Father Christmas, a jolly gift-giver.  He was called Kris Kringle in America.  The image of Santa Claus was largely set by cartoonist Thomas Nast.  He depicted Santa as fat, white-bearded with a red suit.  He also came up with the idea of the sled pulled by reindeer.

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