Admin webmdave Posted December 15, 2007 Admin Share Posted December 15, 2007 By Dave, the WM "Merry Christmas" gives the political correctness crowd lots to write about, but I think they've all missed the boat on this. We should all be campaigning to preserve and promote the real reason for the season. We need to keep the Mass in Christmas! From Wikipedia: The word "Christmas" originated as a contraction of " Christ's mass." It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse , a phrase first recorded in 1038. In early Greek versions of the New Testament, the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ. Since the mid-sixteenth century Χ , or the similar Roman letter X, was used as an abbreviation for Christ. Hence, "Xmas" is often used as an abbreviation for Christmas. So, having the X in Xmas is still keeping Christ in the holiday, but people have forgotten the real reason for Christmas – celebrating the Mass! Continuing from Wikipedia: The identification of the birth date of Christ did not at first inspire feasting or celebration. Tertullian does not mention it as a major feast day in the Church of Roman Africa. In 245, the theologian Origen denounced the idea of celebrating Christ's birthday "as if he were a king pharaoh." He contended that . only sinners, not saints, celebrated their birthdays. The earliest reference to the celebration of Christmas is in the Chronography of 354, an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome in 354 Christmas was promoted in the east as part of the revival of Catholicism following the death of the pro- Arian Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The feast was introduced to Constantinople in 379, to Antioch in about 380, and to Alexandria in about 430. Christmas was especially controversial in 4th century Constantinople, being the "fortress of Arianism," as Edward Gibbon described it. The feast disappeared after Gregory of Nazianzus resigned as bishop in 381, although it was reintroduced by John Chrysostom in about 400. [1] So, Christmas as we know it is entirely a Roman Catholic invention and tradition. Therefore, the most important aspect of this holiday is the Mass. Celebrating the birth of Jesus was never considered important or even appropriate during the first few centuries of Christianity. The Council of Nicaea hacked together the New Testament, declared at least half of Christendom to be heretical, and ushered in a wondrous 1,000-year reign of ignorance and horror under the beatific reign of true Christianity: Roman Catholicism. Therefore, in grateful appreciation to Holy Roman Catholicism for uniting the world in joy during this merry time of year, I am suggesting a new political correctness campaign: Keep the MASS in Christmas! What do you say? http://exchristian.net/exchristian/2007/12...-christmas.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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