THE FIRST CHRISTMAS IN ROME - Gerhard O Marx - December 1976

Gerhard O Marx

Believe it or not, it took the Christian church at Rome over 300 years to begin celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25, originally a pagan holiday. Only in A.D. 354, under the auspices of Liberius, bishop of Rome, did the city on the Tiber start to observe Christmas. Why did the church abstain from commemorating Christ's birth for so long a time? Why did the Christian church sanction and begin celebrating Christ's birth on a pagan holiday? This article gives you the startling answers. For centuries prior to the advent of Christianity, Rome indulged in the worship of many deities, of both sexes. As was common practice in that polytheistic age, each divinity had a birthday, commemorated annually by the people. During those days it was not customary for the masses to observe their own birthdays, but rather the day of birth of their particular deity. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library