The Christian Adoption of December 25 as a Christmas Day

By Priye S. Torulagha

The December 25, which is known as Christmas Day, is a pre-Christian (Pagan) religious festival which the Roman Catholic Church adopted and institutionalized as a Christian religious festival.

It was the day in which adherents of pre-Christian religions in the Middle East and Europe celebrated the winter solstice. During the occasion, the adherents honored their deities and feasted in a celebratory mood. For instance, the Jews celebrated the Festival of Light; the Germans celebrated the Yule; the Celts honored the deity Balder; the Scandinavians celebrated the sun god, and the Romans celebrated the Festival of Saturnia, where gifts were shared and given to the poor (Graves, 2007, June).

To understand why the Christian Church adopted December 25 as a Christmas Day, it is necessary to briefly explain the history and reason. It should be noted that the first time Christians were legally allowed to practice their religion in the Roman Empire was in 311 CE through the Edict of Serdica. This freedom was limited to the Eastern Roman Empire by Emperor Galerius. During this time, the Roman Empire was divided into the Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople and the Western Roman Empire based in Rome. This meant that the Roman Empire had two emperors, one ruled in Constantinople and the other based in Rome.

Then, Emperor Constantine I, after negotiating with Emperor Licinius, formally legalized Christianity through the Edict of Milan in 313 CE.  This allowed Christians to openly practice Christianity without having to hide or be persecuted. Then in 325 CE, Emperor Constantine invited various Christian leaders to a conference in Nicaea.  Three hundred bishops attended the conference which came to be known as the Council of Nicaea.  It was in the Council of Nicaea that the official doctrine of Christianity was adopted. Thus, the Council of Nicaea formalized the doctrine of Christianity and the establishment of the Nicene Creed.  It was also in this council that Jesus Christ was deified not only as a son of God but as a manifestation of God.   

Having legalized Christianity, Emperor Constantine encouraged the widespread acceptance of the religion among Roman citizens. However, many Romans objected to Christianity and refused to convert to the religion.  On the other hand, they eagerly celebrated their paganistic religious festivals, including the winter solstice on December 25. To encourage more people to adopt Christianity, Christian leaders decided to adopt some pagan rituals and festivals to encourage more people to convert to the religion.  Thus, in 336 CE, Pope Julius I officially sanctioned the acceptance of December 25 as a Christmas Day.  Thereafter, the festival which was associated with the winter solstice was now declared as the birthday of Jesus Christ, hence the Christmas Day. Before 336, there was no celebration of December 25 as a Christmas Day. The adoption of December 25 helped to increase the spread of Christianity in the Roman part of Europe.

Eventually, in 380 CE, Emperor Theodosius enacted the Edict of Thessalonica which made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

It should be noted that apart from the Christmas Day, the Christian Church also adopted the Easter, the cross, trinity and other rituals and festivals from pre-Christian North African, Middle Eastern and European religions.