The Origins of Christmas

by Joseph F. Kelly

Book Overview

When was Christmas first celebrated? How did December 25 become the date for the feast? How did the Bible's "magi from the East" become three kings named Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar who rode... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814629849
• ISBN13: 9780814629840
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Liturgical Press
• Length: 145 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Well researched history of Christmas in the early church

I bought this book in search of a text that would illuminate the history of Christmas as a sacred holiday in the church -- versus as a secular holiday (there are other good books on that topic). Kelly's book was a perfect fit for what I was seeking. Kelly recounts the history of the feast of the Nativity (Christmas) in the early church, examining the years from the end of the B.C. era through about the 6th century. He draws on scripture (the gospel accounts) as well as apocryphal literature to identify the sources of details for the modern day nativity story that we know. His discussion of identifying the date of Christ's birth is interesting and, frankly, really helpful for other Bible study efforts, as he explains the reckoning of time in ancient cultures. Really interesting stuff. I appreciated that the author drew not only on the canon, but on other sources, as well as taking a look at the culture of the day to explain how Christmas came to be celebrated. He illuminates the connection between Christmas and pagan winter celebrations without diminishing the significance of the Nativity. If you are interested in early Church history, particularly as it relates to Epiphany and the feast of the Nativity, you will find rich information in this text. If you are searching for the "meaning of Christmas" in the context of your Christian faith, this book may make you pause and reflect, and might possibly move you toward a richer and deeper experience of the holiday season.

Put this on your Christmas reading list

I had to read this book for a Western Civ 101 class and read it in a weekend before the class. I thought the book was very well written. If your searching for the explanation as to why Santa is so popular at Christmas or why we sing the carols we sing, don't look for those answers in this book, but still read it. The book gives great historical insight into the religious tradition and historical precedence that manifests itself into today's Christmas holiday. It is very heavy in the church history and documents behind Christmas as an event (not simply the birth of Christ), as well as examining the legitamacy of having a Christmas in the first place. Overall, not bad. Im intrested in reading any more books the author writes on the history of Christmas or other holidays.

Scripture Based Analysis Of Christmas As A Feast Day.

"The Origins Of Christmas" by Joseph F. Kelly, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 2004. This book covers exactly what the title says, "The Origins of Christmas". Professor Kelly presents the establishment of Christmas as an important feast day in the Christian Church, with both eastern and western roots. Drawing heavily on the scriptural nativity stories, found in the Gospels of St Mark and St. Luke, the author shows the roots of story of the Three Kings, then Star over Bethlehem, the Flight into Egypt and many more commonly held aspects of Christmas as the present age knows it. Using historical analysis, Dr. Kelly makes it clear that Christ was probably born between 6 B.C,. to 4 B.C., (based upon the records for the death of Herod) and that the ancient Church chose December 25th as the date for celebrating the Birth of Christ as a holy remedy to Roman extravaganzas in that month of the year. Kelly shows how Christmas and Epiphany developed as competing feast days for the Nativity of Christ in Orthodox Catholic and Roman Catholic branches of Christendom. He also devotes some little time to St. Nicholas and how that saint's feast day metamorphosed into a gift giving day in certain countries (e.g. The Netherlands). This is not, however, a book that deals with the tinsel: the origins of Christmas trees, or Christmas decorations or Christmas lights. Christmas carols are hardly mentioned, and the more modern aspects of Christmas, such Prince Albert's introduction of Christmas trees to England, are not emphasized in Kelly's book. If you want a bible-based analysis of the origins of Christmas, and how the biblical story grew into today's modern story of Christmas, then this is the book for you.

Traces the evolution of Christmas in Christian life

In The Origins Of Christmas, Joseph F. Kelly (Professor of Religious Studies at John Carroll University) deftly traces the evolution of Christmas in Christian life and western culture. Readers will learn when Christmas was first celebrated as the birth of the Christ; how December 25th became the official date for Christmas; how the three "magi from the East" became the three kings known as Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar riding on camels and coming from three different continents to worship the newborn in a manger; why medieval and Renaissance artists tended to portray Joseph as an old man; when Christmas music first made its appearance; the real St. Nicholas and how he became the most well known of all the Christian saints. The diverse origins of Christmas will come as a fascinating surprise to most who know only the Sunday School version of the Christmas story from their childhoods. The Origins Of Christmas, is very highly recommended and informative reading in which Professor Kelly begins when Christmas did not yet exist, and concludes when Christmas had become an integral part of the world culture in general, and Christian communities in particular.