Did Christians Steal Christmas?

Did Christians Steal Christmas?
Did Christians Steal Christmas?

Did Christians Steal Christmas? is a 32 page 2007 booklet written by Robert Stovold[1] and published by the National Secular Society (ISBN 978-0-903752-05-3). It describes similarities between the traditional Christmas story and earlier pagan ones, and concludes that Christians did indeed “steal Christmas”.

Synopsis

The booklet is divided into three sections.

Part 1: “The timing of Christmas” notes that not all churches today celebrate Christmas on 25 December, that most scholars only attempt an approximate date for the year of Jesus’ birth, and that the Christmas celebrations superseded similar pagan festivities.

Part 2: “The Christmas Story” analyses aspects of the Christmas story itself (the Virgin Birth, the Star of Bethlehem, the Three Kings, the Stable at Bethlehem and the Massacre of the Innocents) by reference to earlier pagan myths. It also looks critically at the attempts of Christian apologists to explain these differences away.

Part 3: “Christmas Customs” notes that “In addition to shaping key elements of the Christmas narrative itself, paganism also influenced some of the more secular Christmas traditions” [Footnote: p. 21]. Stovold outlines several such customs (the Pantomime, the Boar’s Head, the Christmas Turkey, and Christmas Evergreens).

The booklet had its origins in a 1974 work by R.J. Condon entitled Our Pagan Christmas [Footnote: p. 9] but Stovold's 2007 booklet contains additional material, an extensive bibliography and (in many cases) hyperlinks enabling readers to access the cited material for themselves.

See also

References

  1. ^ Brighton and Hove Humanist Society, newsletter editor and website designer [1]

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Christmas controversy — War on Christmas redirects here. For the brief cessation of hostilities during WWI, see Christmas truce. Christmas controversy refers to controversy or disagreement surrounding the celebration or acknowledgment of the Christmas holiday in… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Christmas films — Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday[1][2][3] generally observed on December 25 (with alternative days of January 6, 7 and 19[4]) to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity.[5] …   Wikipedia

  • ¿Robaron los cristianos la Navidad? — Did Christians Steal Christmas? es un libro de bolsillo de 32 páginas escrito por Robert Stovold.[1] Publicado en 2007 por la National Secular Society (ISBN 978 0 903752 05 3), describe las similitudes entre la historia de Navidad tradicional y… …   Wikipedia Español

  • The Twelve Days of Christmas (song) — The Twelve Days of Christmas Roud #68 Music by Traditional with additions by Frederic Austin Published c. 1780 Language English; may be French in origin Form Cumulative song The Twelve Days of Christmas is an English Christmas carol that… …   Wikipedia

  • Claimed Messianic prophecies of Jesus — Jesus of Nazareth is universally accepted as the Messiah by Christians. However, mainstream Jews do not regard him as their Messiah because he failed to fulfill the temporal interpretations of the Bible. Christians believe that Jesus has… …   Wikipedia

  • List of EastEnders characters (2008) — The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 2008, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by executive producer Diederick Santer. He introduced four characters in January: Mr… …   Wikipedia

  • Twain–Ament indemnities controversy — The Twain–Ament indemnities controversy was a major cause célèbre in the United States of America in 1901 as a consequence of the published reactions of American humorist Mark Twain to reports of Rev. William Scott Ament and other missionaries… …   Wikipedia

  • literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… …   Universalium

  • St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles —     St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles     The life of St. Peter may be conveniently considered under the following heads:     I. Until the Ascension of Christ     II. St. Peter in… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Christian communism — Part of the series on Communism …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”