The official, formal celebration of Christmas on December 25 was initiated in Rome in the 4th century, with the first recorded instance occurring in 336 AD during the reign of Emperor Constantine.
The theory suggests the Catholic Church in Rome, Italy, began celebrating Christmas on December 25 in 336 CE to replace the pagan celebrations. However, several ancient manuscripts and theories reveal that the original celebrations of Christmas began even earlier than 336 CE.
Merry Christmas in Kiribati: First to Welcome the Joy Did you know that Kiribati is the first country in the world to celebrate Christmas? Thanks to its position on the International Date Line, Christmas dawns here before anywhere else.
Christmas originated from early Christian celebrations of Jesus' birth, formally set on December 25th in Rome in 336 AD, but it absorbed and adapted many pagan winter solstice festivals like the Roman Saturnalia and the cult of Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun). These Roman traditions involved feasting, gift-giving, and honoring light, which the emerging Christian holiday merged with, eventually spreading these customs, like decorated trees from Germanic traditions, across Europe and the world.
In fact, the Christian celebration of Christmas was invented by Romans as a way to co-opt and tame the raucous pagan holiday of Saturnalia, which was itself essentially a celebration of the days getting longer after the winter solstice.
The Scriptures neither command nor forbid the celebration of Christmas. Christians should celebrate and remember the Lord and what He has done for us, including His birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection every day, including Christmas.
Jesus was likely born between 6 and 4 BC, not on December 25th, with many scholars pointing to the reign of King Herod the Great as a key indicator, as the gospels state Jesus' birth occurred shortly before Herod's death around 4 BC, though the exact date remains unknown and traditions vary.
Kiribati (specifically its Line Islands, like Kiritimati) is the first nation to greet the New Year 2025, followed closely by Samoa and Tonga, due to their location just west of the International Date Line and use of UTC+14 time zones. These Pacific island nations welcome January 1st earlier than anywhere else in the world.
The tradition of Christians celebrating Christmas in December came right after Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, around 312 A.D. The first recorded celebration of Christian Christmas on Dec. 25 was in 336 A.D. under Constantine's rule.
Saint Nicholas was a 4th Century Greek Bishop who wore red and white robes and gave gifts to the poor, especially children. After his death, the legend of him continued and he is still celebrated in some countries on December 6th, known as St. Nicholas Day.
It wasn't until the Victorian era of Christmas celebrations that he became a bringer of gifts in the UK. This was mainly due to the influence of the popular American character of Santa Claus that is attributed to Dutch mythology, and Father Christmas began to slowly take on similar attributes.
In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore's poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon, which appeared in Harper's Weekly, depicted Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full white beard, holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children.
Christmas apparently started – like Saturnalia – in Rome, and spread to the eastern Mediterranean. The earliest known reference to it commemorating the birth of Christ on December 25th is in the Roman Philocalian calendar of AD 354. Provincial schisms soon resulted in different Christian calendars.
In 1659, the Massachusetts Bay Colony enacted a law called Penalty for Keeping Christmas. The notion was that such “festivals as were superstitiously kept in other countries” were a “great dishonor of God and offence of others.” Anyone found celebrating Christmas by failing to work, “feasting, or any other way…
Emerging markets (E7) could grow around twice as fast as advanced economies (G7) on average. As a result, six of the seven largest economies in the world are projected to be emerging economies in 2050 led by China (1st), India (2nd) and Indonesia (4th)
Now, it's virtually undisputed that Jesus spoke or at least understood three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The opinions begin to differ regarding what Jesus' primary language was. For years the academic and theological community has dogmatically taught that Jesus primarily spoke Aramaic.
During the Jubilee of Hope this year in Rome, many are already talking about the big Jubilee year of 2033 a.d, the year in which our calendar marks the 2000th anniversary of the passing and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
What holidays does the Bible say not to celebrate?
The Bible teaches seven meaningful holy days, but not the major holidays celebrated today. The reality is that the Bible forbids the observance of holidays like Christmas and Easter that have their origin centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ!
The Bible doesn't say anything about Christmas. It's a holiday that came about long after the books and letters of the NT was written. We don't really have any written record of it being celebrated before the mid-4th century.
