To Many People All Over The World, Christmas Means Presents, Family, Food, Shari

Below is a free term papers summary of the paper "To Many People All Over The World, Christmas Means Presents, Family, Food, Shari." If you sign up, you can be reading the rest of this term papers in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view this term paper.

Term Paper Title	To Many People All Over The World, Christmas Means Presents, Family, Food, Shari
# of Words	766
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.06

To many people all over the world, Christmas means presents, family, food, sharing, Santa Claus, giving thanks, etc. One misconception associated with Christmas is the birthday of Jesus Christ.  History shows that Christ was not born on December 25 and to continue to celebrate it as His birthday is untrue.  I would suggest that our society discontinue pretending that Christmas is Christ's birthday and remove from the celebration of Christmas any pretense of religion.

I do not profess to be a deeply religious person, nor do I consider myself to be particularly knowledgeable about the Bible or the teachings of God.  I have read about and/or studied several religions, more out of curiosity and from a historical aspect than for my own religious beliefs.

One thing that has always puzzled me with respect to the different religions I have studied is that even though some people are aware that Jesus was not born on December 25, they continue to celebrate it as a Christian holiday in memory of His birth.  I would challenge anyone to show me where the Bible proclaims that He was born on this date or anywhere near that time of the year.  I would further challenge anyone anyone to show me where Jesus commands, asks, or even suggests that His birthday be celebrated, honored, or recognized.

"Everyone feasted and rejoiced.  "Work and business, were for a season, entirely suspended; the houses were decked with laurel and evergreen, visits and presents were exchanged between friends, and clients gave gifts to their patrons.  The whole season was one of rejoicing and goodwill, and all kinds of amusements were indulged in by the people."(Paganism in Christian Festivals by J.M. Wheeler).

Does this description fit the Christmas festivities we have become familiar with?  Surprisingly, this was not Christmas.  It is a description of Saturnalia - a week-long Roman festival associated with the winter solstice (when the days begin to lengthen) held on or around December 22 and dedicated to Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture, to celebrate the rebirth of the sun.  Some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient celebration.

According to The New Encyclopedia Britannica, "December 25 is also the birthday of Mithra, the Iranian god of light, from Rome's Mithraic religi...

This is not the end of the termpaper! Register below to see the complete version of this term paper.

Membership Plans	Credit Card	Check

1 month membership

3 month membership (You Save 50%)

6 month membership (You Save 67%)

Copyright © 2002-2007 Mid Term Papers. All rights reserved. This term papers website is used for research purposes only.
If you have forgotten your username or password, please click here.
If you like to cancel your account, please click here.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22