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Christmas
isn’t just for Christians
For the best part of
10 years,
Roy Saich has run
Humanists, the independent website for
agnostics, atheists and enquirers, which
offers free impartial information about the
humanist ethical tradition. Here, he
explains where the Christmas crib comes from
and tells us why humanists celebrate
Christmas.
Our Christmas
crib
According to Christian
tradition, St Francis of Assisi is credited
with popularising the crib.
In the book The Life
of St Francis (Legenda
Maior Sancti Francisci) by St
Bonaventure, it is said that, in the third
year before his death, St Francis decided,
in order to arouse devotion, to
celebrate at Greccio in Italy with the
greatest possible solemnity the memory of
the birth of the child Jesus. So that this
would not be considered a type of novelty,
he petitioned for, and obtained, permission
from the Supreme Pontiff.
He had a crib prepared,
hay carried in and an ox and an ass led to
the place.
Why did St Francis have
an ox and ass included in this scene? There
is no reference to an ox or an ass in the
accounts of the birth of Jesus in either of
the Gospels of St Matthew or St Luke that
relate it. These accounts of the Christian
nativity myth were late additions to other
Gospel stories.
This legend about St
Francis should not be confused with history
any more than the original Gospel stories
themselves.
Like other features of
our Christmas traditions, the crib has
survived over generations but its origins
are obscure.
Rise and
shine
The winter solstice in
the northern hemisphere occurs around 25
December. As the sun appears to gather
strength starting at this time of year the
Romans celebrated the Birthday of the
Unconquered Sun. They were continuing a
tradition already many centuries old.
The Christians took over
such traditions as soon as they were
powerful enough and simply pretended they
belonged exclusively to them. Many even
today carry on the pretence by insisting
that “the true meaning of Christmas must not
be forgotten” when it is the Christians
themselves who have forgotten its origin and
true meaning.
In ancient Egypt, the
Earth was known in religion as the Mount,
and its summit, called
Apta or the Upper Earth, as the
birthplace of the sun. The word “apta” was
also the word for “crib” and “manager”, so
the birth of the sun was illustrated in the
streets and temples as a solar child in a
manager to demonstrate the religious message
they saw written in the stars.
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Cover of
Our Pagan Christmas |
In his booklet Our
Pagan Christmas, published by the
American
Atheists Press, R J Condon mentions that
in the northern constellation Auriga there
is an area once called a stable with, on
either side, the constellations of Taurus
the Bull and the Ass of Typhon, which we
call Ursa Major.
These aspects, brought
together in a crib scene, illustrated the
birth of the sun god, by whatever name, as
proclaimed by the stars themselves!
Why Humanists
celebrate Christmas
Atheists, agnostics,
humanists and other nonbelievers are
sometimes asked why they celebrate at
Christmastime, or are even accused of being
hypocritical for doing so.
The answer, which may be
surprising to many uninformed Christians, is
that they celebrate at that time for the
same reason as the early Christians –
because everyone else was already doing so,
and had been for centuries before the time
of the first Christians.
The last two weeks of
December had long been a time of celebration
throughout the ancient world in the northern
hemisphere. It was associated with the
winter solstice, the shortest day, after
which one could look forward to spring, to
crops, regeneration and new life.
Almost all the customs of
the festive season predate Christianity: the
giving of gifts, decorating the house and
tree, putting up holly and mistletoe, and
eating the flaming round plum pudding – the
most obvious solar symbol of all. And the
familiar crib scene originated in ancient
Egypt.
It was not until the
fourth century that anyone claimed to know
the exact birthday of Jesus. In 525
bce,
a claim was made by Dionysius Exiguus, a
mathematician and theologian living in Rome.
Christian scholars today are all agreed that
Exiguus was wrong, and it is generally
believed that Jesus was born between 7 and 4
bce.
In the year 274
ce,
Roman Emperor Aurelian declared 25 December
to be the sun’s official birthday.
So those who have no
religion and who may describe themselves as
atheists, agnostics or humanists need have
no qualms about celebrating at this time of
the year.
The recipient of a
Britannica Internet Guide Award,
Humanists
was selected by Britannica.com as one of the
best on the Internet when reviewed for
quality, accuracy of content, presentation
and usability.
Suggestions for
subjects, contributions and comments for the
website are always
welcome.
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