How come the Flinstones celebrated Xmas, before Christ was born?
117092
because it is a cartoon made after the birth of Christ????
908670
Because England has gone so stupidly politically correct that it doesn't want to offend other Religions. The fact that, if people from other Religions were going to get upset, it would be over Christmas itself not the stamps, seems to have absolutely nothing to do with it.\n\nBut let's face it, if it were not for Christ, there would be no Christmas (for all you atheists, I know it was originally a pagan festival but it would have been chucked out with all the other pagan festivals had the Church not wanted to celebrate Christ's birth) so people who are willing to leave Christ out of Christmas shouldn't be celebrating it at all.
712369
It does bother me somewhat that it's not called the Yule or Solstice anymore, actually.  As it should be.  \n\n"The word Xmas\nThis abbreviation for Christmas is of Greek origin.  The word for  Christ in Greek is Xristos.  X is also the letter Chi which is the first letter of Christ's name  in the Greek alphabet.  During the 16th century, Europeans began using the first initial of Christ's name, "X" in place of the word Christ in Christmas as a shorthand form of the word.  Although the early Christians understood that X stood for Christ's name, later Christians who did not understand the Greek language mistook "Xmas" as a sign of disrespect.  Unfortunately, some people of today use it as a disrespectful word on purpose.  It is unfortunate."
807907
Neither Christmas nor Easter have any connection with Christianity. So-called "Christmas" celebrates the pagan Saturnalia and the appropriately-named "Easter" celebrates the pagan goddess Eostre.\n\nJesus was not even born in December. Nearly all so-called Christmas customs dishonor Christ.\n\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/19981215/article_02.htm\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/20001215/\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/20041215/article_01.htm\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/19981215/\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/rq/article_11.htm\n\nChristendom adopts "Easter" from pagan worship of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (or Oestre). Most Easter traditions merely repackage pagan fertility festivals and concentrate on eating, decorating, and frivolity. Christ certainly never wanted that.\n\nBy contrast, it's tragic that the one holiday Christ actually *DID* ask Christians to commemorate is entirely ignored by almost all of Christendom. It is, of course, the Memorial of Christ's death, sometimes called "the Last Supper" or "the Lord's Evening Meal".\n\n(1 Corinthians 11:23-25, NWT) The Lord Jesus in the night in which he was going to be handed over took a loaf... Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” 25 He did likewise respecting the cup.. Keep doing this... in remembrance of me.” \n\n(1 Cor 11:24, 25, NEB) "Do this as a memorial of me.” \n\n\nChrist Jesus himself personally celebrated and explained the significance of that Last Supper to his followers (see Matthew 26:26-29). Christians who commemorate the Last Supper have done so on the same Jewish calendar date as Jesus did, Nisan 14, which generally falls between late March and mid-April. Interestingly, Christians in the centuries immediately after Christ's impalement were sometimes called "Quartodecimans" which literally mean "Fourteen-ers", because the early Christians were well-known for this true holy day.\n\nHow would Jesus feel to learn that the holiday he commanded was widely ignored, while his so-called followers chose to celebrate a pagan false god and their own traditions of men? We don't need to wonder.\n\n(Matthew 15:6-9) You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, Isaiah aptly prophesied about you when he said, 8 ‘This people honors me with their lips, yet their heart is far removed from me. 9 It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach commands of men as doctrines.’”\n\nLearn more:\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/lmn/article_08.htm\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/rq/article_11.htm\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/20041215/article_02.htm\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/20011115/article_02.htm\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/20050101a/\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/jt/
896946
first of what is of importance is the fact that no where in the bible did Jesus command anyone to celebrate his birthday. he said to celebrate his death but not his birth.  in the third century of our common era as the roman empire was in decline . Constantine in order to solidify his power over the empire merged the Christian faith and the pagan faith, into one, a lot of the false doctrine that we now claim as christian came into being.  Jesus was born when the sheep where in the fields history has shown that DEC is still to cold to keep the flocks out at night.  the Christmas tree came into being in The 19th century, and Santa Claus as we know him today was started in the 17th century, the English oxford dictionary published in 1904 under Santa Claus says see Old nick. under old nick it says Satan the Devil.  the pagans in  Constantine time celebrated the winter solace, and a lot of its pagan roots are in Christmas today the giving of gifts , the mistletoe, etc
487148
There is no evidence they arrived the night He was born. That is a teaching from drama programs. If fact there is evidence to the contrary. When Joseph and Mary went to make an offering   in the temple, the offering was turtle dove. That is what poor people gave. So some time after that the wise men came. \n\n2:1  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem\n2  and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."\n\n11  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.\n\n21  On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.\n22  When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord\n23  (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"),\n24  and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."\n25
238121
Circa 1354 Before Santa Claus LOL
19497
The Greek and Russian orthodox churches celebrate Christmas 13 days after Dec. 25th (the day on which the birt of Christ is observed -- even though Christ's birthday more than likely took place in the middle of September (see http://www.zoomnet.net/~bbratt/jc-born.html for the rationale for that argument). This 13th day after the 25th is meant to represent the holiday referred to as Epiphany (or Three Kings Day). Epiphany is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.\n\nIn summation, the 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days between Christ's birth and the day when the the three wise men arrived to greet his arrival.
10472
The word "Christmas" means "Mass of Christ," later shortened to "Christ-Mass." The even shorter form "Xmas" - first used in Europe in the 1500s - is derived from the Greek alphabet, in which X is the first letter of Christ's name: Xristos, therefore "X-Mass."
22033
The twelve days of Christmas are not the twelve days before Christmas, but are instead the twelve days from Christmas until the beginning of Epiphany (January 6th; the 12 days count from December 25 until January 5), which is when the three Wise Men or Magi arrived on the scene.
6811
I love Christmas. I love the idea of passing on the celebrating of the birth of Christ to the children. I hate the commercialization and the "Keeping up with the Jones'" aspect of it, that's so prevalent nowadays. I remember a day when parents didn't have to over-extend their credit and take out a second mortgage on their house to buy presents for the children.\n\nI wish there was a way to celebrate His birth closer to the "real" date that it "actually" took place. I guess it would be difficult to celebrate the birth of Christ before Easter when we commemorate His death on the cross.
435171
Christ's birthday, but most people think of it as a holiday getting together with family and friends...presents....unfortunately people get so tied up with that that they miss the true meaning of Christmas =(
931820
uhm... they celebrate like its xmas!!\ncan you say misletoe?\n\ni think i spelt that wrong... oh well :]
843383
Actually it started with a combination of spreding the Christian religion and ancient Roman beliefs.  Early Christians believed certain trees flowered unseasonably on Christmas Eve as homage to Jesus’ birth. This belief combined with the Roman practice of decorating their homes with greenery for the New Year formed the basis of our modern days Christmas.\n\nThe decorating of various structures and trees has been recorded in Europe from the 17th century on, but the first written account of a “Christmas tree” did not appear until 1605. According to John Matthew’s The Winter Solstice, an anonymous German citizen that year recorded trees being decorated with “roses cut out of many colored paper, apples, wafers, gold-foil, [and] sweets”. \nIt was more than 100 years later when Professor Karl Gottfried Kissling of the University of Wittenburg wrote of people adding candles for decorations and placing children’s wrapped branches around the bottom of the small indoor trees.\n\nEven though the practice was initially condemned by religious leaders, it spread from Germany to Finland through Norway and Denmark. In 1840, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of England endorsed the tradition by displaying their own ornately decorated tree at their palace. By the early 1900s, decorating the tree was as much a part of Christmas as Santa Claus and opening presents.
148051
Sadly, there is no equivilant that is older.  Anyway, traditions have to start somewhere.  And Christmas was started to distract people from Winter Solstice Celebrations.\n\nPatty "Fabricated in the 60's, too" Surrey
829255
No.  No direct link at all.  It was not his birthday.  It wasn't even a Christian Holiday till after the Roman Catholic Church began to celebrate next to Pagans in hopes of getting converts (which right here shows me that the persecution they claim that went on, was not as wide-spread as they would like us to believe).  They ended up taking Pagan traditions from things like the Roman Saturnalia and other cultural traditions for Solstice celebrations that Pagans had during that time of year (Yule falls on the 1st day of Winter and was usually celebrated for about a week).\n\nAs for the Xmas thing... the X was a Greek symbol, Chi Rho, which meant "good passage" in many Greek writings.  It was later used as a symbol for Christ.  Some say it's the cross turned on it's side and meant to show the defeat of Christ... but I have yet to find any such thing in history that relates to that at all.\n\n\nHope this helped
921507
Many of the customs were borrowed from Pagan traditions.  It does not mean Xmas and Easter are pagan holidays.  Where did you get this stuff??\n\nYou can celebrate anything you want.  It's a free country.