Christmas, A Very Peculiar History

INTRODUCTION

Christmas! ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year…’ or so the 1963 hit song confidently informed listeners. The title of a later Christmas compilation album,‘What a Night!’ (issued 2008), sounded rather less certain – but perhaps the double meaning was unintentional.

Assuming that Christmas IS indeed wonderful, this book will ask why so many people worldwide still feel that it is so special. It will also investigate how today’s frantic festive combination of family, food and frenzied shopping – to say nothing of novelty musical numbers and mawkish movies – came to be linked to a religious ritual remembering the birth of an apparently fatherless baby to a poor, homeless refugee.


Time to give…

Why do we like Christmas? Is it just because it’s a holiday – a welcome break for anything between one day and a fortnight away from the pressures of work or school? Is it – in the northern hemisphere at least – a warm and brightly-shining spot in a cold and gloomy season? Is it because of all the presents? Not just because we like getting them, but because it’s also good to give – to our friends, our family and to charities. In the USA, for example, over half the donations to good causes are made in the weeks before Christmas Day.


...and to consume

Is Christmas so much fun because we enjoy the food, the drink, the decorations and the parties? Because it’s nice to get Christmas cards from distant friends, and send our own Christmas greetings? Or do we like lighting candles, singing carols, watching Nativity plays and waiting for Santa Claus? Is Christmas simply a great occasion for shops and businesses to make lots of money? Or is it, as many people of faith believe, a time of hope and consolation?