{"id":20447,"date":"2009-10-13T21:38:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-14T02:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=20447"},"modified":"2020-02-26T21:41:30","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T03:41:30","slug":"when-was-the-earliest-christmas-celebration-performed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-was-the-earliest-christmas-celebration-performed\/","title":{"rendered":"When was the earliest Christmas celebration performed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

When was the earliest Christ Mass performed ever?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

According to historian Bruce David Forbes in\u00a0Christmas: A Candid History<\/em>:<\/p>\n

“Early Christians had no Christmas. The first written evidence of an annual celebration on December 25 commemorating the birth of Jesus comes from the fourth century. Epiphany developed a little earlier, in the eastern portion of the Christian church, but it was not quite the same as what we now call Christmas. Compared to many other aspects of early Christianity, Christmas was a later development” [pg. 17].<\/p>\n

“The earliest celebrations of Epiphany arose in eastern Christianity, although even that claim is debated by a few scholars. The fact is, our knowledge about the earliest forms of Epiphany is very sketchy. The noted historian Roland Bainton began a classic article on the topic by stating simple, “The origins of the Christian feast of Epiphany on the sixth of January are still obscure,” and unfortunately, very little has been clarified in the years since he wrote those words” [pg. 22].<\/p>\n

“The earliest indication of what might be called Epiphany festivities comes in comments by Clement of Alexandria (approximately 150-215), who mentioned that the ‘followers of Basilides’ in Egypt celebrated Jesus’\u00a0baptism<\/em>\u00a0on January 6. This group, although they saw themselves as Christians, were eventually considered heretics by the majority church” [pg. 23].<\/p>\n

“In the West, the first written record we have that associates the birth of Jesus with December 25 is found in a Roman document called the Philocalian Calendar, also known as the Chronograph of 354, which is itself a collection of lists and records, something like an illustrated almanac. Its information was drawn from both civil and Christian sources, and it included, among other things, lists of Roman holidays, a table of dates for Easter, lists of Roman bishops and Christian martyrs, with their burial locations, a listing of the consuls of Rome, … At two points in this document, December 25 was cited as the birth date of Christ” [pgs. 24-25].<\/p>\n

“Later in the fourth century, sermons and other church documents provide additional evidence that Christians were celebrating December 25 as the birth of Christ and that the practice was spreading throughout the larger church” [pg. 25].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to the\u00a0Catholic Encyclopedia<\/em>, “In Cappadocia, Gregory of Nyssa’s\u00a0sermons\u00a0on St. Basil (who died before 1 January, 379) and the two following, preached on\u00a0St. Stephen’s\u00a0feast\u00a0(P.G., XLVI, 788; cf, 701, 721),\u00a0prove\u00a0that in 380 the 25th December was already celebrated there …” [Christmas<\/a>].<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: When was the earliest Christ Mass performed ever? Answer: According to historian Bruce David Forbes in\u00a0Christmas: A Candid History: “Early Christians had no Christmas. The first written evidence of an annual celebration on December 25 commemorating the birth of Jesus comes from the fourth century. Epiphany developed a little earlier, in the eastern portion…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[288,342,1599],"class_list":["post-20447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-christmas","tag-holidays","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61038,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-put-christ-in-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":20447,"position":0},"title":"Who Put Christ in Christmas?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Larry Ray Hafley During December we are reminded to, \"Keep Christ in Christmas.\" Who, though, put Him there in the first place? Did God? We know \"the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world\" (I John 4:14). Jesus said that He neither acted nor spoke\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56426,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/give-me-that-good-odd-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":20447,"position":1},"title":"Give Me that Good ODD Religion!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Klein Churches of Christ are typically viewed as \"odd\" by denominational folk. Two of the main reasons for this view are that churches of Christ don't use instruments of music in worship and they don't celebrate December 25th as the birth of Christ. While these things seem odd\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1353,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/observing-holidays\/","url_meta":{"origin":20447,"position":2},"title":"Observing Holidays","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is that time of year when one holiday after another is observed: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and finally New Years. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Usually this time of year also brings up the question of how we, as Christians, treat these celebrations? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many denominations do special events for these days \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Christmas being the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62290,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/drifting\/","url_meta":{"origin":20447,"position":3},"title":"Drifting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 22, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0J.D. Tant, a preacher in Texas back in the late 1800's, often ended his articles with the warning, \u201cBrethren, we are drifting.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Such seems to be the tendency of man. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We forget the past and just assume that what is currently done\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8625,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/holiday-observances\/","url_meta":{"origin":20447,"position":4},"title":"Holiday Observances","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. 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Should we celebrate them, or should we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/holidays.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10454,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-the-nicene-creed-wrong-and-dont-most-christians-celebrate-christmas-on-the-wrong-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":20447,"position":5},"title":"Isn’t the Nicene creed wrong and don’t most Christians celebrate Christmas on the wrong day?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was very interested in your ideas about the Roman Church, two changes were brought in not on your list. The Nicene Creed: Papists believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, whereas true Christians believe in what Jesus said, that the Holy Spirit proceeds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}