Have you ever wondered about the “twelve days of Christmas”? In the U.S. many people think that the “twelve days of Christmas” are the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Some holiday advertising makes this assumption. But that is not correct. Actually it refers the twelve days beginning with Christmas and ending the day before the feast of Epiphany on January 6. Today is the sixth day of Christmas.
Epiphany, which means “appearing,” has been celebrated in the church from at least the 4th century. This feast is usually connected to the visit of the Magi, although there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that the Magi appeared on Jan. 6. In the Eastern Orthodox churches Epiphany is a celebration of Christ’s baptism and is considered the third most important feast of the year after Easter and Pentecost.
While we end our Christmas celebration after Dec. 25, in the Middle Ages they had 12 days of continuous feasting and merrymaking. Sometimes small gifts were given to children each day. The twelfth day of Christmas (Jan. 5) marks the end of the Christmas season and was the traditional day for taking down Christmas decorations. Shakespeare’s play The Twelfth Night is named after this day.
The well known English Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas has often perplexed people, but it makes more sense when we understand that it refers to the twelve days beginning with Christmas. Although some have suggested that the song was a cryptic way to teach Christian doctrine in a time of persecution, that theory has a lot of problems. It is more likely that the song originated as a memory game played on the twelvth night.
Christians in past ages put a lot more emphasis on fasting and repentance than we do, but they also spent more time rejoicing. The OT believers also had feasts that went on for a week or more. There is something to be said for God-centered rejoicing. Perhaps we can reclaim the twelve days of Christmas, called Christmastide in the liturgical churches, as a religious holiday. Now that we are done with the shopping frenzy and gift giving, we can pause to reflect and give thanks for what God has done for us in sending His Son. Perhaps it is too soon to be done with Christmas just yet.
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There are many Christmas customs that have nothing to do with the birth of Christ. What about the the most distinctive Christmas symbol of all, the “jolly old elf”? Some Christians have pointed out rather ominously that “Santa” has exactly the same letters as “Satan.” Santa, along with the associated gift giving frenzy, is a major distraction from the real meaning of Christmas. Yet the name “Santa Claus” is derived from the Dutch for “Saint Nicholas.” So what is the source of our idea of Santa?
Saint Nicholas was a bishop who lived in the 4th century in Asia Minor, which is the area that is now modern day Turkey. We don’t know a lot about him, but some reports say that he attended the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. He died on Dec. 6, 346 AD (some sources say 343). According to the custom of the early church the date of his death, December 6, was established as Saint Nicholas Day. There are many stories and legends about Nicholas protecting and caring for the poor, including giving gifts to poor children and tossing coins into the windows of poor families. A famous story tells of how he tossed three small bags of gold into the window of the home of a poor family so that their three daughters would have the necessary dowry in order to be married.
But Santa is a long ways from Saint Nicholas. Here are some of the other influences along the way:
Saint Nicholas in Europe
In Europe Saint Nicholas was know, among other things, as the benefactor of children. He was portrayed as a bearded man wearing bishop’s robes. Ideas about Saint Nicholas may have been influenced by beliefs about Odin, a major god of the Germanic people before Christianization. He was pictured in the 13th century as riding an eight legged horse that could leap great distances. Children would place their boots filled with carrots, straw and sugar near the chimney for Odin’s horse. Odin would reward these children by replacing these things with gifts or candy. This may have been the origin of the custom of hanging stockings by the fireplace for Santa to fill. In Europe children were given sweets and small gifts on Saint Nicholas Day, Dec. 6.
In the Netherlands and Belgium Saint Nicholas was called “Sinterklaas.” He was depicted in a bishop’s robes and wearing a bishop’s hat. The connection with Saint Nicholas is much more obvious in the Christmas traditions of Europe than in the United States.
The British Father Christmas was described from the 17th century onwards as a bearded man wearing a long green fur-lined robe. Scrooge’s second visitor in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol is described as having a similar appearance. But now the red robe has become predominant due to the influence of the American Santa.
Santa in the United States
European immigrants to the United States brought with them their Christmas customs. Dutch immigrants brought Sinterklaas with them, which was Americanized into “Santa Claus,” a name first used in the American press in 1773. Other influences made Santa into a peculiarly American tradition.
The famous poem The Night Before Christmas (1823) added to considerably to the physical description of Santa, making him heavy set and smoking a pipe. But he is described as an “elf,” his sleigh is called “miniature” and reindeer are described as “tiny.”
Commercial artist Thomas Nash further changed Santa’s appearance in his drawings from 1862-1886. He made Santa into a full sized human rather than an “elf.”
A famous Saturday Evening Post cover in 1925 came up with a drawing of Santa that is closer to the modern image, including the red suit.
For 35 years beginning in 1931, Coca Cola used Santa in their ads. This helped to solidify the image of a rotund Santa in a red suit in the American consciousness.
Conclusion
What shall we say about Santa Claus? Although there is a Christian influence in the historical origin of Santa, the concept has changed so much that it seems impossible to try to make Santa into a Christian symbol. Some have suggested that we celebrate the memory of Saint Nicholas on Dec. 6 and forget about Santa. While we might not celebrate saints’ days, at least we can learn something important from Saint Nicholas. This Christmas we could certainly do worse things than give gifts to the poor, especially poor children.
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In recent years it has become the norm in public to wish people “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.” I can understand the concern about offending the minority who adhere to other religions or no religion at all. But it is sad to see even this slight connection between our winter holiday and the birth of Christ severed. A few years ago I was making a purchase in December and the cashier looked at me and said “Merry Christmas.” I looked her in the eye and replied “Merry Christmas.” Maybe she was going against company policy by using the “Christmas” word, but it made my day.
A few days ago I was in Starbucks and I took a close look at their “holiday” cup (click on the cup for a larger image). It provides a good case study in what Christmas without Christ looks like. The cup is decorated in a tree-like pattern with various ornaments on them. Some ornaments have the words “love,” “peace,” and “hope” on them. Strangely there is no “joy.” Others are marked “wish” and “bright.” I’m not sure what “bright” is supposed to signify.
The largest ornament contains the following text:
We invite you to listen to your desires and to renew your hope. To see the world, not as it is, but as it could be. Go ahead, wish. It’s what makes the holidays the holidays.
I want to make a few observations about this holiday message:
- It is subjective and individualistic. The way to renew your hope is to look within and listen to your desires.
- It challenges us to “wish.” It doesn’t matter what you wish for, as long as you have a wish.
- Holidays are apparently about wishing for whatever we desire.
This sort of insipid platitude is all that we have left when people try to regain the feeling of Christmas without acknowledging the reason for Christmas. It becomes a futile attempt to experience holiday cheer without any reason to be cheerful. It’s like trying to be thankful in general on Thanksgiving without giving thanks to God.
Contrast that with the real Christmas message:
” And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Lk. 2:8-11)
Now there’s something worth getting excited about!
The health insurance debate should also consider the cost of life insurance. Take a look at this email ad that I received this week:
A monthly premium of $100,000 seems like an awful lot to pay for $38.85 in life insurance. I wonder if I can get some stimulus money to help pay my insurance bill?
Ying Yee has a good discussion on Why the Tiger’s fall reminds us of the gospel. The world just doesn’t understand the need for both justice and grace.
First of all, it is unlikely that Jesus was born on December 25. The Bible does not tell us the date of Christ’s birth. The ancient church did not celebrate Christ’s birth at all, choosing instead to focus on His death and resurrection.
It has been suggested that Jesus couldn’t have been born in the winter because the shepherds were outside with their flocks. But the winter is quite mild in Judea so this can’t be ruled out.
In the second century arguments were made for several other dates for Christ’s birth, including April 24 or 25, May 20, August 28 and November 17. But the alternate date that gained the greatest following was January 6. Interestingly, the earliest authors do not mention any sort of celebration on the date of Christ’s birth. In the third century Origen thought that it was sinful to celebrate Christ’s birth as though he was a human king.
December 25 also happened to be the date of the Roman imperial holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god Sol Invictus. Under the Julian calendar the winter solstice was on December 24, so the 25th was the beginning of the return to longer days. Is it a coincidence that the celebration of Christ’s birth took place on the same day? As a practical matter, it made sense for the early church to give believers an alternative to celebrating the popular pagan holiday. It’s difficult to imagine that this did not influence their choice of December 25 as the date to celebrate Christ’s birth.
Another factor was the idea that the Old Testament prophets died on the anniversary of either their conception or their birth. There is no biblical basis for such a theory, but it was a popular idea at the time. Based on the date of Good Friday in AD 354 this lead to the date of December 25 for Christ’s birth. But since Easter is based on the lunar calendar, the same calculation made in other years would lead to a different date for Christmas. Why did they choose that particular year for the calculation? This looks to me like an effort to justify the earlier choice of December 25.
Choosing the date of a pagan feast to celebrate Christ’s birth was not without its dangers. There was the possibility that some Christians would try to combine the two, bringing elements of pagan religion into the church. On the other hand it provided a Christian alternative to a popular celebration. In much the same way today many churches hold their youth group meetings on Friday evenings, in part to provide an alternative to going to parties.
We do not need to know the real day of Christ’s birth in order to celebrate His coming. God has in fact sent His son into the world as our Savior, and we can celebrate that without knowing the exact day. Our own Christmas celebrations are influenced by many other non-Christian cultural factors, but that is a topic for another post.
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