Christmas

{{Short description|Holiday originating in Christianity, usually December 25}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Christmas Day}}
{{pp|reason=See previous logs|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox holiday
| holiday_name = Christmas
| image        = NativityChristmasLights2.jpg
| caption      = [[Nativity scene]] depicted using [[Christmas lights]]
| nickname     = Noël, Nativity, [[Koleda]], [[Xmas]]
| observedby   = Christians, many non-Christians<ref name="nonXians">{{Cite journal |date=December 29, 2005 |title=Christmas as a Multi-Faith Festival |url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/entertainment/scripts/multifaith_christmas.pdf |journal=BBC Learning English |access-date=September 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001161153/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/entertainment/scripts/multifaith_christmas.pdf|archive-date=October 1, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NonXiansUSA">{{cite web|url = https://news.gallup.com/poll/113566/us-christmas-not-just-christians.aspx|title = In the U.S., Christmas Not Just for Christians|publisher = Gallup, Inc.|date = December 24, 2008|access-date = December 16, 2012|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121116192524/http://www.gallup.com/poll/113566/US-Christmas-Not-Just-Christians.aspx|archive-date = November 16, 2012}}</ref>
| date         = {{indented plainlist|
* December 25 ([[Western Christianity]] and part of the [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern]] churches)
* January 6 ([[Armenian Apostolic Church]] and the [[Armenian Evangelical Church]])
* January 7 ([[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]] December 25) (most [[Oriental Orthodox]] and part of the [[Eastern Orthodox]] churches)
* January 19 (O.S. January 6) ([[Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem]])
}}
| observances  = [[Church service]]s
| celebrations = Gift-giving, family and other social gatherings, symbolic decoration, feasting
| type         = Christian
| longtype     = Christian, cultural, international
| significance = Commemoration of the [[nativity of Jesus]]
| relatedto    = [[Christmastide]], Christmas Eve, [[Advent]], [[Annunciation]], [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]], [[Baptism of the Lord]], [[Nativity Fast]], [[Nativity of Christ]], [[Little Christmas|Old Christmas]], [[Yule]], [[St. Stephen's Day]], [[Boxing Day]]
| frequency    = 
| duration     =
}}
<!--Please review talk archives before altering the opening line and make good use of the talk pages.-->

'''Christmas''' is an annual festival commemorating [[Nativity of Jesus|the birth]] of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]], observed primarily on December 25{{efn|Several branches of [[Eastern Christianity]] that use the [[Julian calendar]] also celebrate on December 25 according to that calendar, which is now January 7 on the [[Gregorian calendar]]. Armenian Churches observed the nativity on January 6 even before the Gregorian calendar originated. Most Armenian Christians use the Gregorian calendar, still celebrating Christmas Day on January 6. Some Armenian churches use the Julian calendar, thus celebrating Christmas Day on January 19 on the Gregorian calendar, with January 18 being Christmas Eve. Some regions also celebrate primarily on December 24, rather than December 25.}} as a [[Religion|religious]] and [[Culture|cultural]] celebration among billions of people [[Observance of Christmas by country|around the world]].<ref name="NonXiansUSA" /><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-christians/|title = The Global Religious Landscape {{!}} Christians|publisher = Pew Research Center|date = December 18, 2012|access-date = May 23, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150310002132/http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-christians/|archive-date = March 10, 2015|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="Gallup122410">{{cite web|url = http://www.gallup.com/poll/145367/christmas-strongly-religious-half-celebrate.aspx|title = Christmas Strongly Religious For Half in U.S. Who Celebrate It|publisher = Gallup, Inc.|date = December 24, 2010|access-date = December 16, 2012|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121207090538/http://www.gallup.com/poll/145367/christmas-strongly-religious-half-celebrate.aspx|archive-date = December 7, 2012}}</ref> A [[Calendar of saints|feast]] central to the [[liturgical year]] in [[Christianity]], it follows the season of [[Advent]] (which begins four Sundays before) or the [[Nativity Fast]], and initiates the season of [[Christmastide]], which historically in the West lasts [[Twelve Days of Christmas|twelve days]] and culminates on [[Twelfth Night (holiday)|Twelfth Night]].<ref name="Forbes">{{cite book|last=Forbes|first=Bruce David|title=Christmas: A Candid History|date=October 1, 2008|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|isbn=978-0-520-25802-0|page=27|quote=In 567 the Council of Tours proclaimed that the entire period between Christmas and Epiphany should be considered part of the celebration, creating what became known as the twelve days of Christmas, or what the English called Christmastide.<br /><br />On the last of the twelve days, called Twelfth Night, various cultures developed a wide range of additional special festivities. The variation extends even to the issue of how to count the days. If Christmas Day is the first of the twelve days, then Twelfth Night would be on January 5, the eve of Epiphany. If December 26, the day after Christmas, is the first day, then Twelfth Night falls on January 6, the evening of Epiphany itself.<br /><br />After Christmas and Epiphany were in place, on December 25 and January 6, with the twelve days of Christmas in between, Christians slowly adopted a period called Advent, as a time of spiritual preparation leading up to Christmas.}}<!--|access-date=December 7, 2015--></ref> Christmas Day is a [[public holiday]] in [[List of holidays by country|many countries]],<ref>[http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/jfa-ha/index-eng.cfm Canadian Heritage – Public holidays]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124102246/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/jfa-ha/index-eng.cfm |date=November 24, 2009 }} – ''Government of Canada''. Retrieved November 27, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2009.asp 2009 Federal Holidays] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116140821/http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2009.asp |date=January 16, 2013 }} – ''U.S. Office of Personnel Management''. Retrieved November 27, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_073741 Bank holidays and British Summer time] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515020958/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_073741 |date=May 15, 2011 }} – ''HM Government''. Retrieved November 27, 2009.</ref> is celebrated religiously by a majority of [[Christians]],<ref name="EhornHewlett1995">{{cite book|last1=Ehorn|first1=Lee Ellen|last2=Hewlett|first2=Shirely J.|last3=Hewlett|first3=Dale M.|title=December Holiday Customs |date=September 1, 1995|publisher=Lorenz Educational Press|isbn=978-1-4291-0896-6|page=1}}</ref> as well as culturally by many non-Christians,<ref name="nonXians" /><ref>Nick Hytrek, [http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/leisure/article_9914761e-ce50-11de-98cf-001cc4c03286.html "Non-Christians focus on secular side of Christmas"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091114085432/http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/leisure/article_9914761e-ce50-11de-98cf-001cc4c03286.html |date=November 14, 2009 }}, ''Sioux City Journal'', November 10, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2009.</ref> and forms an integral part of the [[Christmas and holiday season|holiday season]] surrounding it.

The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the [[New Testament]], known as the [[Nativity of Jesus]], says that Jesus was born in [[Bethlehem]], in accordance with [[Old Testament messianic prophecies quoted in the New Testament|messianic prophecies]].<ref name="Crump2001">{{cite book|last=Crump|first=William D.|title=The Christmas Encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/christmasencyclo00will|url-access=registration|edition=3|date=September 15, 2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-6827-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/christmasencyclo00will/page/39 39]|quote=Christians believe that a number of passages in the Bible are prophecies about future events in the life of the promised Messiah or Jesus Christ. Most, but not all, of those prophecies are found in the Old Testament{{nbsp}}[...] ''Born in Bethlehem'' (Micah 5:2): "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, ''though'' thou be little among the thousands of Juda, ''yet'' out of thee shall he come forth unto me ''that is'' to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth ''have been'' from of old, from everlasting."}}</ref> When [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]] and [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] arrived in the city, the inn had no room, and so they were offered a stable where the [[Christ Child]] was soon born, with [[angel]]s proclaiming this news to [[Annunciation to the shepherds|shepherds]], who then spread the word.<ref name="Tucker2011">{{cite book|last=Tucker|first=Ruth A.|title=Parade of Faith: A Biographical History of the Christian Church|year=2011|publisher=Zondervan|isbn=978-0-310-20638-5|page=23|quote=According to gospel accounts, Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, thus sometime before 4 BCE. The birth narrative in Luke's gospel is one of the most familiar passages in the Bible. Leaving their hometown of Nazareth, Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem to pay taxes. Arriving late, they find no vacancy at the inn. They are, however, offered a stable, most likely a second room attached to a family dwelling where animals were sheltered—a room that would offer some privacy from the main family room for cooking, eating, and sleeping. This "city of David" is the ''little town of Bethlehem'' of Christmas-carol fame, a starlit silhouette indelibly etched on Christmas cards. No sooner was the baby born than angels announced the news to shepherds who spread the word.}}</ref>

There are different hypotheses regarding the date of Jesus's birth, and in the early fourth century, the church fixed the date as December 25.{{efn|{{cite book |last1=English |first1=Adam C. |title=Christmas: Theological Anticipations |date=October 14, 2016 |publisher=[[Wipf and Stock Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-4982-3933-2 |page=70 |language=English |quote=According to Luke 1:26, Gabriel's annunciation to Mary took place in the "sixth month" of Elizabeth's pregnancy. That is, Mary conceives sixth months after Elizabeth. Luke repeats the uniqueness of the timing in verse 26. Counting six months from September 24 we arrive at March 25, the most likely date for the annunciation and conception of Mary. Nine months hence takes us to December 25, which turns out to be a surprisingly reasonable date for the birthday [of Jesus]. Someone might object that the birth could not have occurred in midwinter because it would have been too cold for shepherds in the fields keeping watch by night (Luke 2:8). Not so. In Palestine, the months of November through February mark the rainy season, the only time of the year sheep might find fresh green grass to graze. During the other ten months of the year, animals must content themselves on dry straw. So, the suggestion that shepherds might have stayed out in the fields with their flocks in late December, at the peak of the rainy season, is not only reasonable, it is most certain.{{nbsp}}[...] And so, besides considering the timing of the conception, we must take note of ''the earliest church records''. We have evidence from the second century, less than fifty years after the close of the New Testament, that Christians were remembering and celebrating the birth of the Lord. It is not true to say that the observance of the nativity was imposed on Christians hundreds of years later by imperial decree or by a magisterial church ruling. The observance sprang up organically from the authentic devotion of ordinary believers. This in itself is important. But, besides the fact that early Christians did celebrate the incarnation of the Lord, we should make note that they did not agree upon a set date for the observance. There was no one day on which all Christians celebrated Christmas in the early church. Churches in different regions celebrated the nativity on different days. The late second-century Egyptian instructor of Christian disciples, Clement of Alexandria, reported that some believers in his area observed the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth day of the Egyptian month of Parmuthi (the month that corresponds to the Hebrew month of Nisan—approximately May 20). The Basilidian Christians held to the eleventh or fifteen of Tubi (January 6 and 10). Clement made his own computations by counting backward from the death of Emperor Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius. By this method he deduced a birthdate of November 18. Other Alexandrian and Egyptian Christians adopted January 4 or 5. In so doing, they replaced the Alexandrian celebration of the birth of Aion, Time, with the birth of Christ. The regions of Nicomedia, Syria, and Caesarea celebrated Christ's birthday on Epiphany, January 6.{{nbsp}}[...] According to researcher Susan Roll, the ''Chronograph'' or Philocalian Calendar is the earliest authentic document to place the birth of Jesus on December 25.{{nbsp}}[...] And we should remember that although the ''Chronograph'' provides the first record of December 25, the custom of venerating the Lord's birth on that day was most likely established well before its publication. That is to say, December 25 didn't originate with the ''Chronograph''. It must have counted as common knowledge, at least in Rome, to warrant its inclusion in the ''Chronograph''. Soon after this time, we find other church fathers such John Chrysostom, Augustine, Jerome, and Leo confirming the twenty-fifth as the traditional date of celebration.}}}}<ref>Corinna Laughlin, Michael R. Prendergast, Robert C. Rabe, Corinna Laughlin, Jill Maria Murdy, Therese Brown, Mary Patricia Storms, Ann E. Degenhard, Jill Maria Murdy, Ann E. Degenhard, Therese Brown, Robert C. Rabe, Mary Patricia Storms, Michael R. Prendergast, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kQWbWCXMGQgC ''Sourcebook for Sundays, Seasons, and Weekdays 2011: The Almanac for Pastoral Liturgy''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407000845/http://books.google.com/books/about/Sourcebook_for_Sundays_Seasons_and_Weekd.html?id=kQWbWCXMGQgC |date=April 7, 2015 }}, LiturgyTrainingPublications, 2010, p. 29.</ref><ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/chronography_of_354_12_depositions_martyrs.htm "The Chronography of 354 AD. Part 12: Commemorations of the Martyrs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122221633/http://tertullian.org/fathers/chronography_of_354_12_depositions_martyrs.htm |date=November 22, 2011 }}, ''The Tertullian Project''. 2006. Retrieved November 24, 2011.</ref><ref name="SusanKOrigins">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MXPEMbpjoAC&pg=PA133 |title=Toward the Origins of Christmas |last=Roll |first=Susan K. |publisher=Peeters Publishers |year=1995 |page=133|isbn=978-90-390-0531-6 }}</ref> This corresponds to the traditional date of the [[winter solstice]] on the Roman calendar.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hale Bradt |title=Astronomy Methods |date=2004 |page=69 |url=http://www.mnmidwestfoodequipment.com/manuals/Astronomy%20Methods.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920180158/http://www.mnmidwestfoodequipment.com/manuals/Astronomy%20Methods.pdf |archive-date=September 20, 2018 }}.</ref> It is exactly nine months after [[Annunciation]] on March 25, also the date of the spring equinox.<ref name="Melton2011"/> Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the [[Gregorian calendar]], which has been adopted almost universally in the [[civil calendar]]s used in countries throughout the world. However, part of the [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian Churches]] celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older [[Julian calendar]], which currently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. For Christians, believing that [[God the Son|God]] came into the world in the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|form of man]] to [[Atonement in Christianity|atone]] for the [[sin]]s of humanity rather than knowing [[Date of the birth of Jesus|Jesus's exact birth date]] is considered to be the primary purpose of celebrating Christmas.<ref name="Joan Chittister, Phyllis Tickle">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=inhMGc5732kC&q=date+of+christmas+important&pg=PT40| title = The Liturgical Year|publisher = [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson]]|quote=Christmas is not really about the celebration of a birth date at all. It is about the celebration of a birth. The fact of the date and the fact of the birth are two different things. The calendrical verification of the feast itself is not really that important{{nbsp}}[...] What is important to the understanding of a life-changing moment is that it happened, not necessarily where or when it happened. The message is clear: Christmas is not about marking the actual birth date of Jesus. It is about the Incarnation of the One who became like us in all things but sin ([[Hebrews 4:15]]) and who humbled Himself "to the point of death-even death on a cross" ({{abbr|Philippians|Phil.}} 2:8). Christmas is a pinnacle feast, yes, but it is not the beginning of the liturgical year. It is a memorial, a remembrance, of the birth of Jesus, not really a celebration of the day itself. We remember that because the Jesus of history was born, the Resurrection of the Christ of faith could happen. |access-date = April 2, 2009| isbn = 978-1-4185-8073-5| date = November 3, 2009}}</ref><ref name="Voice-Christmas">{{cite web|url = http://www.crivoice.org/cyxmas.html|title = The Christmas Season|publisher = CRI / Voice, Institute|access-date = April 2, 2009|quote = The origins of the celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany, as well as the dates on which they are observed, are rooted deeply in the history of the early church. There has been much scholarly debate concerning the exact time of the year when Jesus was born, and even in what year he was born. Actually, we do not know either. The best estimate is that Jesus was probably born in the springtime, somewhere between the years of 6 and 4 BC, as December is in the middle of the cold rainy season in [[Bethlehem]], when the sheep are kept inside and not on pasture as told in the Bible. The lack of a consistent system of timekeeping in the first century, mistakes in later calendars and calculations, and lack of historical details to cross-reference events have led to this imprecision in fixing Jesus' birth. This suggests that the Christmas celebration is not an observance of a historical date, but a commemoration of the event in terms of worship.|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090407051524/http://www.crivoice.org/cyxmas.html|archive-date = April 7, 2009}}</ref><ref name="Harvard University">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=x_kBAAAAYAAJ&q=date+of+christmas+unimportant&pg=PA469| title = The School Journal, Volume 49|publisher = [[Harvard University]]|quote=Throughout the Christian world the 25th of December is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus Christ. There was a time when the churches were not united regarding the date of the joyous event. Many Christians kept their Christmas in April, others in May, and still others at the close of September, till finally December 25 was agreed upon as the most appropriate date. The choice of that day was, of course, wholly arbitrary, for neither the exact date not the period of the year at which the birth of Christ occurred is known. For purposes of commemoration, however, it is unimportant whether the celebration shall fall or not at the precise anniversary of the joyous event.|access-date = April 2, 2009| year = 1894}}</ref>

The customs associated with Christmas in various countries have a mix of [[wikt:pre-Christian|pre-Christian]], Christian, and [[secularity|secular]] themes and origins.<ref>{{cite book|title=West's Federal Supplement|publisher=[[West Publishing Company]]|year=1990|quote=While the Washington and King birthdays are exclusively secular holidays, Christmas has both secular and religious aspects.}}</ref><ref name="Huckabee2021"/> Popular holiday traditions include [[Christmas gift|gift giving]]; completing an [[Advent calendar]] or [[Advent wreath]]; [[Christmas music]] and [[Christmas carol|caroling]]; watching [[Christmas by medium|Christmas movies]]; viewing a [[Nativity play]]; an exchange of [[Christmas card]]s; attending [[church service]]s; a [[Christmas dinner|special meal]]; and displaying various [[Christmas decoration]]s, including [[Christmas tree]]s, [[Christmas lights]], [[nativity scene]]s, [[garland]]s, [[wreath]]s, [[mistletoe]], and [[holly]]. Additionally, several related and often interchangeable figures, known as [[Santa Claus]], [[Father Christmas]], [[Saint Nicholas]], and [[Christkind]], are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of [[Christmas traditions|traditions]] and lore.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16329025/ns/us_news-life/t/poll-changing-nation-santa-endures/ |title=Poll: In a changing nation, Santa endures |date=December 22, 2006 |access-date=December 24, 2018 |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226063645/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16329025/ns/us_news-life/t/poll-changing-nation-santa-endures/ |archive-date=December 26, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. Over the past few centuries, Christmas has had a steadily growing [[economics of Christmas|economic effect]] in many regions of the world.

{{TOC limit|3}}

== Etymology ==
{{See also|Christ (title)}}
The English word ''Christmas'' is a shortened form of 'Christ's [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Christmas |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Christmas |website=www.etymonline.com |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary |language=en}}</ref> The word is recorded as {{lang|ang|Crīstesmæsse}} in 1038 and {{lang|ang|Cristes-messe}} in 1131.<ref name="CathChrit">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1908 |title=Christmas |encyclopedia=[[The Catholic Encyclopedia]] |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |location=New York |last=Martindale |first=Cyril Charles |volume=3}}</ref> {{lang|ang|Crīst}} ([[genitive case|genitive]] {{lang|ang|Crīstes}}) is from the [[Koine Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|Χριστός}} ({{transliteration|grc|Khrīstos|lit=Christ}}, 'Christ'), a translation of the [[Biblical Hebrew language|Hebrew]] {{lang|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|מָשִׁיחַ}}}} ({{transliteration|hbo|Māšîaḥ}}, '[[Messiah]]'), meaning 'anointed';<ref>{{cite book|title=God's human face: the Christ-icon |first=Christoph |last=Schoenborn |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-89870-514-0 |page=154|publisher=Ignatius Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sinai and the Monastery of St. Catherine |first=John |last=Galey |year=1986 |isbn=978-977-424-118-5 |page=92|publisher=American University in Cairo Press }}</ref> and {{lang|ang|mæsse}} is from the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|missa}}, the celebration of the [[Eucharist]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Christmas {{!}} Origin, Definition, Traditions, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas|access-date=December 22, 2021|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref>

The form ''Christenmas'' was also used during some periods, but is now considered archaic and dialectal.<ref>''Christenmas, n.'', ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''. Retrieved December 12.</ref> The term derives from [[Middle English]] {{lang|enm|Cristenmasse}}, meaning 'Christian mass'.<ref name=XMED>"Christmas" in the [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=id&id=MED10371 Middle English Dictionary.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105230344/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=id&id=MED10371 |date=January 5, 2012 }}</ref> ''[[Xmas]]'' is an abbreviation of ''Christmas'' found particularly in print, based on the initial letter [[chi (letter)|chi]] (Χ) in the Greek {{lang|grc|Χριστός|literal=Christ}}, although some [[style guide]]s discourage its use.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4097755.stm |title=Why get cross about Xmas? |last=Griffiths |first=Emma |date=December 22, 2004 |work=BBC News |access-date=December 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111050419/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4097755.stm |archive-date=November 11, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> This abbreviation has precedent in Middle English {{lang|enm|Χρ̄es masse}} (where {{lang|enm|Χρ̄}} is another abbreviation of the Greek word).<ref name=XMED />

=== Other names ===

The holiday has had various other English names throughout its history. The [[Anglo-Saxons]] referred to the feast as "midwinter",<ref name="Hutton">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3PvQ5bqoBkC&pg=PT21 |title=The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain |last=Hutton |first=Ronald |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-285448-3 |author-link=Ronald Hutton}}</ref><ref>"Midwinter" in [http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/022849 Bosworth & Toller.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113145029/http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/022849 |date=January 13, 2012 }}</ref> or, more rarely, as {{lang|ang|Nātiuiteð}} (from the Latin {{lang|la|nātīvitās}} below).<ref name="Hutton" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HZaxAAAAIAAJ&q=%22natiuited%22 |title=A History of Foreign Words in English |last=Serjeantson |first=Mary Sidney |year=1968}}</ref> ''[[Nativity of Jesus|Nativity]]'', meaning 'birth', is from the Latin {{lang|la|nātīvitās}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=nativity&searchmode=none|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=December 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113103140/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=nativity&searchmode=none|archive-date=January 13, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Old English]], {{lang|ang|Gēola}} ('[[Yule]]') referred to the period corresponding to December and January, which was eventually equated with Christian Christmas.<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=yule&searchmode=none ''Yule''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113091314/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=yule&searchmode=none |date=January 13, 2012 }}, Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved December 12.</ref> 'Noel' (also 'Nowel' or 'Nowell', as in "[[The First Noel|The First Nowell]]") entered English in the late 14th century and is from the [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|noël}} or {{lang|fro|naël}}, itself ultimately from the Latin {{lang|la|nātālis (diēs)}} meaning 'birth (day)'.<ref>Online Etymology Dictionary, [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=noel&searchmode=none ''Noel''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113100315/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=noel&searchmode=none |date=January 13, 2012 }}, accessed January 3, 2022</ref>

''[[Koleda]]'' is the traditional Slavic name for Christmas and the period from Christmas to Epiphany or, more generally, to Slavic Christmas-related rituals, some dating to pre-Christian times.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Толковый словарь Даля онлайн |url=https://slovardalja.net/word.php?wordid=13520 |access-date=December 25, 2022 |website=slovardalja.net}}</ref>

== Nativity ==
{{Main|Nativity of Jesus}}
[[File:Gerard van Honthorst - Adoration of the Shepherds (1622).jpg|thumb|right|''Adoration of the Shepherds'' (1622) by [[Gerard van Honthorst]] depicts the nativity of Jesus]]

The gospels of [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] and [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] describe Jesus as being born in [[Bethlehem]] to the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]]. In the Gospel of Luke, Joseph and Mary travel from [[Nazareth]] to Bethlehem in order to be counted for a census, and Jesus is born there and placed in a [[manger]].<ref name="rees">{{cite web |last1=Rees |first1=Neil |title=Christmas – the original story |url=https://www.christiantoday.com/article/christmas.the.original.story/141137.htm |website=Christian Today |access-date=December 15, 2023 |language=en |date=December 10, 2023}}</ref> Angels proclaim him a savior for all people, and three shepherds come to adore him. In the Gospel of Matthew, by contrast, three magi follow a [[Star of Bethlehem|star]] to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, born the [[Jesus, King of the Jews|king of the Jews]]. [[Herod the Great|King Herod]] orders the [[Massacre of the Innocents|massacre of all the boys]] less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later returns to Nazareth.<ref name="ng-biblical">{{cite web |last1=Piñero |first1=Antonio |title=Biblical stories of Jesus' birth reveal intriguing clues about his times |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2021/12/biblical-stories-of-jesus-birth-reveal-intriguing-clues-about-his-times |website=National Geographic |access-date=December 15, 2023 |language=en-gb |date=December 16, 2021}}</ref>

== History ==
=== Early and medieval era ===
[[File:Hortus Deliciarum, Die Geburt Christi.JPG|thumb|''Nativity of Christ'', medieval illustration from the {{lang|la|[[Hortus deliciarum]]}} of [[Herrad of Landsberg]] (12th century)]]
In the 2nd century, the "earliest church records" indicate that "Christians were remembering and celebrating the birth of the Lord", an "observance [that] sprang up organically from the authentic devotion of ordinary believers"; although "they did not agree upon a set date".<ref name="English">{{cite book |last1=English |first1=Adam C. |title=Christmas: Theological Anticipations |date=October 14, 2016 |publisher=[[Wipf and Stock Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-4982-3933-2 |pages=70–71 |language=English}}</ref> The earliest evidence of Christ's birth being marked on December 25 is a sentence in the ''[[Chronograph of 354]]''.<ref>The manuscript reads, ''VIII kal. Ian. natus Christus in Betleem Iudeae.'' ("[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/chronography_of_354_12_depositions_martyrs.htm The Chronography of 354 AD. Part 12: Commemorations of the Martyrs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122221633/http://tertullian.org/fathers/chronography_of_354_12_depositions_martyrs.htm |date=November 22, 2011 }}", ''The Tertullian Project''. 2006.)</ref><ref name="Bradshaw 7-10">{{cite book |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Paul |editor1-last=Larsen |editor1-first=Timothy |title=The Oxford Handbook of Christmas |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=7–10 |chapter=The Dating of Christmas}}</ref><ref name="NewCath" >{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2002 |title=Christmas and its cycle |encyclopedia=New Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher=Catholic University of America Press |edition=2nd |volume=3 |pages=550–557}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hyden |first=Marc |title=Merry Christmas, Saturnalia or festival of Sol Invictus? |url=https://times-herald.com/news/2021/12/merry-christmas-saturnalia-or-festival-of-sol-invictus |work=[[Newnan Times-Herald]] |date=December 20, 2021 |access-date=February 17, 2023 |quote=Around AD 274ᵃ, Emperor Aurelian set December 25—the winter solstice at the time—for the celebration of Sol Invictus who was the 'Unconquered Sun' god. 'A marginal note on a manuscript of the writings of the Syriac biblical commentator [[Dionysius bar Salibi|Dionysius bar-Salibi]] states that in ancient times the Christmas holiday was actually shifted from January 6 to December 25 so that it fell on the same date as the pagan Sol Invictus holiday,' reads an excerpt from [[Biblical Archaeology Review|Biblical Archaeology]]. / Could early Christians have chosen December 25 to coincide with this holiday? 'The first celebration of Christmas observed by the Roman church in the West is presumed to date to [336 AD],' per the Encyclopedia Romanaᵃ, long after Aurelian established Sol Invictus' festival. |language=en |archive-date=December 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226210422/https://times-herald.com/news/2021/12/merry-christmas-saturnalia-or-festival-of-sol-invictus |url-status=dead }}<br />(a) {{cite encyclopedia |title=Sol Invictus and Christmas |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/invictus.html |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Romana |language=en}}</ref> Liturgical historians generally agree that this part of the text was written in Rome in AD 336.<ref name="Bradshaw 7-10"/> Though Christmas did not appear on the lists of festivals given by the early Christian writers [[Irenaeus]] and [[Tertullian]],<ref name="CathChrit" /> the early Church Fathers [[John Chrysostom]], [[Augustine of Hippo]], and [[Jerome]] attested to December 25 as the date of Christmas toward the end of the fourth century.<ref name="English"/> December 25 was the traditional date of the [[winter solstice]] in the Roman Empire,<ref name="Forsythe">{{cite book |last1=Forsythe |first1=Gary |title=Time in Roman Religion: One Thousand Years of Religious History |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |pages=113, 123, 141}}</ref> where most Christians lived, and the Roman festival {{lang|la|Dies Natalis Solis Invicti}} (birthday of {{lang|la|[[Sol Invictus]]}}, the 'Invincible Sun') had been held on this date since 274 AD.<ref name="Bradshaw">{{cite book |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Paul |editor1-last=Larsen |editor1-first=Timothy |title=The Oxford Handbook of Christmas |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=4–10 |chapter=The Dating of Christmas}}</ref>

In the [[Eastern Christianity|East]], the birth of Jesus was celebrated in connection with the [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] on January 6.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5VQUdZhx1gC&pg=PA65 |editor-first1=Geoffrey |editor-last1=Wainwright |editor-link1=Geoffrey Wainwright |editor-first2=Karen Beth |editor-last2=Westerfield Tucker |editor-link2=Karen B. Westerfield Tucker |title=[[The Oxford History of Christian Worship]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-513886-3 |page=65 |chapter=The Apostolic Tradition|first=Maxwell E.|last=Johnson|access-date=February 3, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Roy>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ANxZYgEACAAJ |first=Christian |last=Roy |title=Traditional Festivals: A Multicultural Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 |place=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=978-1-57607-089-5 |page=146 |access-date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111115502/http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Traditional_Festivals_An_Multicultur.html?id=ANxZYgEACAAJ |archive-date=January 11, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> This holiday was not primarily about Christ's birth, but rather [[baptism of Jesus|his baptism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sites.google.com/site/historyofepiphany|title=History of Epiphany|last=Pokhilko|first=Hieromonk Nicholas|access-date=December 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923004605/https://sites.google.com/site/historyofepiphany/|archive-date=September 23, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Christmas was promoted in the East as part of the revival of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] that followed the death of the pro-[[Arianism|Arian]] Emperor [[Valens]] at the [[Battle of Adrianople]] in 378. The feast was introduced in [[Constantinople]] in 379, in [[Antioch]] by [[John Chrysostom]] towards the end of the fourth century,<ref name=Roy /> probably in 388, and in [[Alexandria]] in the following century.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INJI4FGeLpYC&q=Encyclopaedia+of+religion+and+ethics+6 |editor-first1=James |editor-last1=Hastings |editor-first2=John A. |editor-last2=Selbie |title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics |publisher=Kessinger Publishing Company |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7661-3676-2 |pages=603–604 |volume=6 |access-date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122005448/https://books.google.de/books?id=INJI4FGeLpYC&dq=Encyclopaedia+of+religion+and+ethics+6 |archive-date=November 22, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Georgian Iadgari demonstrates that Christmas was celebrated in Jerusalem by the [[sixth century]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frøyshov |first=Stig Simeon |title=[Hymnography of the] Rite of Jerusalem |url=https://www.academia.edu/4874556 |journal=Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology}}</ref>

[[File:Nativity from Sherbrooke Missal cropped.jpg|thumb|left|''The Nativity'', from a 14th-century [[missal]], a liturgical book containing texts and music necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the year]]

In the [[Early Middle Ages]], Christmas Day was overshadowed by Epiphany, which in [[western Christianity]] focused on the visit of the [[Biblical Magi|magi]]. However, the medieval calendar was dominated by Christmas-related holidays. The forty days before Christmas became the "forty days of St. Martin" (which began on November 11, the feast of [[St. Martin of Tours]]), now known as Advent.<ref name="Murray">Murray, Alexander, [http://www.historytoday.com/alexander-murray/medieval-christmas "Medieval Christmas"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213224341/http://www.historytoday.com/alexander-murray/medieval-christmas |date=December 13, 2011 }}, ''History Today'', December 1986, '''36''' (12), pp. 31–39.</ref> In Italy, former [[Saturnalia]]n traditions were attached to Advent.<ref name="Murray" /> Around the 12th century, these traditions transferred again to the [[Twelve Days of Christmas]] (December 25 – January 5); a time that appears in the liturgical calendars as Christmastide or Twelve Holy Days.<ref name="Murray" />

In 567, the [[Council of Tours 567|Council of Tours]] put in place the season of [[Christmastide]], proclaiming "the [[twelve days of Christmas|twelve days]] from Christmas to Epiphany as a sacred and festive season, and established the duty of [[Advent]] fasting in preparation for the feast."<ref name="Forbes"/><ref name="Hynes1993">{{cite book|last=Hynes|first=Mary Ellen|title=Companion to the Calendar|url=https://archive.org/details/companiontocalen0000hyne|url-access=registration|year=1993|publisher=Liturgy Training Publications|isbn=9781568540115|page=[https://archive.org/details/companiontocalen0000hyne/page/8 8]|quote=In the year 567 the church council of Tours called the 13 days between December 25 and January 6 a festival season.}}</ref> This was done in order to solve the "administrative problem for the Roman Empire as it tried to coordinate the solar Julian calendar with the lunar calendars of its provinces in the east."<ref name="Hill2003">{{cite book|last=Hill|first=Christopher|title=Holidays and Holy Nights: Celebrating Twelve Seasonal Festivals of the Christian Year|year=2003|publisher=Quest Books|isbn=9780835608107|page=91|quote=This arrangement became an administrative problem for the Roman Empire as it tried to coordinate the solar Julian calendar with the lunar calendars of its provinces in the east. While the Romans could roughly match the months in the two systems, the four cardinal points of the solar year—the two equinoxes and solstices—still fell on different dates. By the time of the first century, the calendar date of the winter solstice in Egypt and Palestine was eleven to twelve days later than the date in Rome. As a result the Incarnation came to be celebrated on different days in different parts of the Empire. The Western Church, in its desire to be universal, eventually took them both—one became Christmas, one Epiphany—with a resulting twelve days in between. Over time this hiatus became invested with specific Christian meaning. The Church gradually filled these days with saints, some connected to the birth narratives in Gospels (Holy Innocents' Day, December 28, in honor of the infants slaughtered by Herod; St. John the Evangelist, "the Beloved," December 27; St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, December 26; the Holy Family, December 31; the Virgin Mary, January 1). In 567, the Council of Tours declared the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany to become one unified festal cycle.}}<!--|access-date=15 December 2014--></ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanminute.com/index.php?|title=On the 12th Day of Christmas|last=Federer|first=William J.|publisher=American Minute|date=January 6, 2014|access-date=December 25, 2014|quote=In 567 AD, the Council of Tours ended a dispute. Western Europe celebrated Christmas, December 25, as the holiest day of the season... but Eastern Europe celebrated Epiphany, January 6, recalling the Wise Men's visit and Jesus' baptism. It could not be decided which day was holier, so the Council made all 12 days from December 25 to January 6 "holy days" or "holidays," These became known as "The Twelve Days of Christmas."}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media|people=[[Kirk Cameron]], William Federer|date=November 6, 2014|title=Praise the Lord|url=http://www.itbn.org/index/detail/lib/Networks/sublib/TBN/ec/FyODhvcTrKC2NHhNkBx1leF42RiSVq_v#ooid=FyODhvcTrKC2NHhNkBx1leF42RiSVq_v|access-date=December 25, 2014|time=01:15:14|publisher=[[Trinity Broadcasting Network]]|quote=Western Europe celebrated Christmas December 25 as the holiest day. Eastern Europe celebrated January 6 the Epiphany, the visit of the Wise Men, as the holiest day... and so they had this council and they decided to make all twelve days from December 25 to January 6 the Twelve Days of Christmas.|archive-date=December 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225225359/http://www.itbn.org/index/detail/lib/Networks/sublib/TBN/ec/FyODhvcTrKC2NHhNkBx1leF42RiSVq_v#ooid=FyODhvcTrKC2NHhNkBx1leF42RiSVq_v|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The prominence of Christmas Day increased gradually after [[Charlemagne]] was crowned Emperor on Christmas Day in 800.<ref>{{cite news |title=Who was Charlemagne? The unlikely king who became an emperor |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/holy-roman-empire-king-charlemagne |access-date=November 30, 2023 |work=National Geographic}}</ref> King [[Edmund the Martyr]] was anointed on Christmas in 855 and King [[William I of England]] was crowned on Christmas Day 1066.<ref>{{cite news |title=William the Conqueror: Crowned at Christmas |url=https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/william-the-conqueror-crowned-at-christmas/ |access-date=November 30, 2023 |work=[[The History Press]]}}</ref>

[[File:Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (German - The Coronation of Charlemagne - Google Art Project.jpg|alt=|thumb|The coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas of 800 helped promote the popularity of the holiday]]

By the [[High Middle Ages]], the holiday had become so prominent that chroniclers routinely noted where various [[magnate]]s celebrated Christmas. [[Richard II of England|King Richard II]] of England hosted a Christmas feast in 1377 at which 28 oxen and 300 sheep were eaten.<ref name="Murray" /> The Yule boar was a common feature of medieval Christmas feasts. [[Christmas carol|Caroling]] also became popular, and was originally performed by a group of dancers who sang. The group was composed of a lead singer and a ring of dancers that provided the chorus. Various writers of the time condemned caroling as lewd, indicating that the unruly traditions of Saturnalia and Yule may have continued in this form.<ref name="Murray" /> "[[Lord of Misrule|Misrule]]"—drunkenness, promiscuity, gambling—was also an important aspect of the festival. In England, gifts were exchanged on New Year's Day, and there was special Christmas ale.<ref name="Murray" />

Christmas during the Middle Ages was a public festival that incorporated [[ivy]], [[holly]], and other evergreens.<ref name=mcgreevy /> Christmas [[gift-giving]] during the Middle Ages was usually between people with legal relationships, such as tenant and landlord.<ref name=mcgreevy>McGreevy, Patrick. "Place in the American Christmas", ([https://www.jstor.org/stable/215896 JSTOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215223504/https://www.jstor.org/stable/215896 |date=December 15, 2018 }}), ''Geographical Review'', Vol. 80, No. 1. January 1990, pp. 32–42. Retrieved September 10, 2007.</ref> The annual indulgence in eating, dancing, singing, sporting, and card playing escalated in England, and by the 17th century the Christmas season featured lavish dinners, elaborate masques, and pageants. In 1607, [[James I of England|King James I]] insisted that a play be acted on Christmas night and that the court indulge in games.<ref name=BTR /> It was during the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] in 16th–17th-century Europe that many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the [[Christ Child]] or ''[[Christkindl]]'', and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve.<ref name="ADS">Forbes, Bruce David, ''Christmas: a candid history'', University of California Press, 2007, {{ISBN|0-520-25104-0}}, pp. 68–79.</ref>

=== 17th and 18th centuries ===

Following the [[Protestant Reformation]], many of the new denominations, including the [[Church of England|Anglican Church]] and [[History of Lutheranism|Lutheran Church]], continued to celebrate Christmas.<ref name="Lowe2011">{{cite book|last=Lowe|first=Scott C.|title=Christmas|date=January 11, 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-4145-4|page=226}}<!--|access-date=November 22, 2014--></ref> In 1629, the Anglican poet [[John Milton]] penned ''[[On the Morning of Christ's Nativity]]'', a poem that has since been read by many during Christmastide.<ref name="Shawcross1993">{{cite book|last=Shawcross|first=John T.|title=John Milton|date=January 1, 1993|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-7014-5|page=249|quote=Milton was raised an Anglican, trained to become an Anglican minister, and remained an Anglican through the signing of the subscription books of Cambridge University in both 1629 and 1632, which demanded an allegiance to the state church and its Thirty-nine Articles.}}<!--|access-date=November 22, 2014--></ref><ref name="Browne">{{cite book|last=Browne|first=Sammy R|title=A Brief Anthology of English Literature, Volume 1 |date=April 29, 2012 |isbn=978-1-105-70569-4|page=412|publisher=Lulu.com |quote=His father had wanted him to practice law but Milton considered writing poetry his life's work. At 21 years old, he wrote a poem, "On the morning of Christ's Nativity," a work that is still widely read during Christmas.}}<!--|access-date=November 22, 2014--></ref> Donald Heinz, a professor at [[California State University]], states that [[Martin Luther]] "inaugurated a period in which Germany would produce a unique culture of Christmas, much copied in North America."<ref name="Heinz">{{cite book|last=Heinz|first=Donald|title=Christmas: Festival of Incarnation|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-1-4514-0695-5|page=94|year=2010}}<!--|access-date=November 22, 2014--></ref> Among the congregations of the [[Dutch Reformed Church]], Christmas was celebrated as one of the principal [[evangelical feast]]s.<ref name="Old2002">{{cite book|last=Old|first=Hughes Oliphant|title=Worship: Reformed According to Scripture|year=2002|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22579-7|page=29|quote=Within a few years the Reformed church calendar was fairly well established. The heart of it was the weekly observance of the resurrection on the Lord's Day. Instead of liturgical seasons being observed, "the five evangelical feast days" were observed: Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. They were chosen because they were understood to mark the essential stages in the history of salvation.}}<!--|access-date=November 22, 2014--></ref>

However, in 17th century England, some groups such as the [[Puritans]] strongly condemned the celebration of Christmas, considering it a Catholic invention and the "trappings of [[Papist|popery]]" or the "rags of [[The Beast (Bible)|the Beast]]".<ref name="Durston">{{Cite magazine |last=Durston |first=Chris |url=http://www.historytoday.com/dt_main_allatonce.asp?gid=12890&aid=&tgid=&amid=12890&g12890=x&g9130=x&g30026=x&g20991=x&g21010=x&g19965=x&g19963=x |title=Lords of Misrule: The Puritan War on Christmas 1642–60 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310013925/http://www.historytoday.com/dt_main_allatonce.asp?gid=12890&aid=&tgid=&amid=12890&g12890=x&g9130=x&g30026=x&g20991=x&g21010=x&g19965=x&g19963=x |archive-date=March 10, 2007 |magazine=History Today |date=December 1985 |volume=35 |issue=12 |pages=7–14}}</ref> In contrast, the established [[Church of England|Anglican Church]] "pressed for a more elaborate observance of feasts, penitential seasons, and saints' days. The calendar reform became a major point of tension between the Anglican party and the Puritan party."<ref name="Old">{{cite book|last=Old|first=Hughes Oliphant|title=Worship: Reformed According to Scripture|year=2002|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22579-7|page=29}}<!--|access-date=November 22, 2014--></ref> The [[Catholic Church]] also responded, promoting the festival in a more religiously oriented form. King [[Charles I of England]] directed his noblemen and gentry to return to their landed estates in midwinter to keep up their old-style Christmas generosity.<ref name=BTR /> Following the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] victory over Charles I during the [[English Civil War]], England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647.<ref name="Durston" /><ref>{{cite journal |title=From Sukkot to Saturnalia: The Attack on Christmas in Sixteenth-Century Chronological Scholarship |author=Carl Philipp Emanuel Nothaft |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |volume=72 |issue=4 |date=October 2011 |pages=504–505 |jstor=41337151 |quote=However, when Thomas Mocket, rector of Gilston in Hertfordshire, decried such vices in a pamphlet to justify the parliamentary 'ban' of Christmas, effective since June 1647... }}</ref>

Protests followed as pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities and for weeks [[Canterbury]] was controlled by the rioters, who decorated doorways with [[holly]] and shouted [[Royalism|royalist]] slogans.<ref name="Durston" /> Football, among the sports the Puritans banned on a Sunday, was also used as a rebellious force: when Puritans outlawed Christmas in England in December 1647 the crowd brought out footballs as a symbol of festive misrule.<ref name="auto">{{cite press release |url=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/ne1000000086166/ |access-date=August 25, 2023 |date=December 17, 2003 |title=Historian Reveals that Cromwellian Christmas Football Rebels Ran Riot|publisher=University of Warwick|archive-date=September 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928090437/https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/ne1000000086166/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The book, ''The Vindication of Christmas'' (London, 1652), argued against the Puritans, and makes note of Old English Christmas traditions, dinner, roast apples on the fire, card playing, dances with "plow-boys" and "maidservants", old Father Christmas and carol singing.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sandys|first1=William|title=Christmastide: its history, festivities and carols|date=1852|publisher=John Russell Smith|location=London|pages=119–120}}</ref> During the ban, semi-clandestine religious services marking Christ's birth continued to be held, and people sang carols in secret.<ref name="Outlawed"/>

[[File:FatherChristmastrial.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''The Examination and Tryal of [[Father Christmas|Old Father Christmas]]'', (1686), published after Christmas was reinstated as a holy day in England]]

It was restored as a legal holiday in England with the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] of [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] in 1660 when Puritan legislation was declared null and void, with Christmas again freely celebrated in England.<ref name="Outlawed">{{cite news |title=When Christmas carols were banned |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20141219-when-christmas-carols-were-banned |access-date=March 11, 2022 |agency=BBC}}</ref> Many Calvinist clergymen disapproved of Christmas celebration. As such, in Scotland, the Presbyterian [[Church of Scotland]] discouraged the observance of Christmas, and though [[James VI]] commanded its celebration in 1618, [[Church attendance|attendance at church]] was scant.<ref>Chambers, Robert (1885). ''Domestic Annals of Scotland'', p. 211.</ref> The [[Parliament of Scotland]] officially abolished the observance of Christmas in 1640, claiming that the church had been "purged of all superstitious observation of days".<ref name="RPS1">{{cite web|url=http://www.rps.ac.uk/search.php?action=fc&fn=charlesi_ms&id=id8564&query=&type=ms&variants=&google= |title=Act dischairging the Yule vacance |work=[[The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707]] |publisher=University of St Andrews and National Archives of Scotland |version=(in [[Middle Scots]]) |access-date=February 29, 2012 |location=St Andrews |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519170629/http://www.rps.ac.uk/search.php?action=fc&fn=charlesi_ms&id=id8564&query=&type=ms&variants=&google= |archive-date=May 19, 2012 }}</ref> Whereas in England, Wales and Ireland Christmas Day is a common law holiday, having been a customary holiday since [[time immemorial]], it was not until 1871 that it was designated a [[Public holidays in the United Kingdom|bank holiday]] in Scotland.<ref name="scotland-1871">{{cite web|url=http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/bankholidays.pdf |title=Bank Holiday Fact File |last=Anon |date=May 22, 2007 |work=TUC press release |publisher=TUC |access-date=January 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603185926/http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/bankholidays.pdf |archive-date=June 3, 2013 }}</ref> Following the Restoration of Charles II, ''Poor Robin's Almanack'' contained the lines: "Now thanks to God for Charles return, / Whose absence made old Christmas mourn. / For then we scarcely did it know, / Whether it Christmas were or no."<ref>{{cite book|last=Miall|first=Anthony & Peter|title=The Victorian Christmas Book|year=1978|publisher=Dent|isbn=978-0-460-12039-5|page=7}}</ref> The diary of James Woodforde, from the latter half of the 18th century, details the observance of Christmas and celebrations associated with the season over a number of years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Woodforde|first=James|title=The Diary of a Country Parson 1758–1802|year=1978|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-281241-4|url=https://archive.org/details/diaryofcountrypa00wood}}</ref>

As in England, Puritans in [[Colonial America]] staunchly opposed the observation of Christmas.<ref name="Barnett" /> The [[Pilgrim Fathers|Pilgrims]] of New England pointedly spent their first December 25 in the New World working normally.<ref name="Barnett" /> Puritans such as [[Cotton Mather]] condemned Christmas both because scripture did not mention its observance and because Christmas celebrations of the day often involved boisterous behavior.<ref>{{cite speech |last=Mather |first=Cotton|title=Grace defended. A censure on the ungodliness, by which the glorious grace of God, is too commonly abused. A sermon preached on the twenty fifth day of December, 1712. Containing some seasonable admonitions of piety. And concluded, with a brief dissertation on that case, whether the penitent thief on the cross, be an example of one repenting at the last hour, and on such a repentance received unto mercy?|date=December 25, 1712|location=Boston, Massachusetts|publisher= B. Green, for Samuel Gerrish|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N01303.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext|access-date=August 12, 2022|language=English}}</ref><ref name="nissenbaum">Stephen W. Nissenbaum, "[https://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44539478.pdf Christmas in Early New England, 1620–1820: Puritanism, Popular Culture, and the Printed Word]", ''Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society'' '''106''':1: p79-164 (January 1, 1996). Retrieved December 25, 2023.</ref> Many non-Puritans in New England deplored the loss of the holidays enjoyed by the laboring classes in England.<ref>{{cite book |last=Innes |first=Stephen |year=1995 |title=Creating the Commonwealth: The Economic Culture of Puritan New England |publisher=[[W.W. Norton & Company]]|isbn=978-0-393-03584-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XUKUkulSkIC&pg=PA145 |page=145 }}</ref> Christmas observance was outlawed in [[Boston]] in 1659.<ref name="Barnett">{{cite book |last=Barnett |first=James Harwood |year=1984 |title=The American Christmas: A Study in National Culture |publisher=Ayer Publishing |isbn=978-0-405-07671-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-sRH9skUh6oC&pg=PA2 |page=3}}</ref> The ban on Christmas observance was revoked in 1681 by English governor [[Edmund Andros]], but it was not until the mid-19th century that celebrating Christmas became fashionable in the Boston region.<ref>{{cite book |last=Marling |first=Karal Ann |year=2000 |title=Merry Christmas!: Celebrating America's Greatest Holiday |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-00318-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUc13_ourtYC&pg=PA44 |page=44}}</ref>

At the same time, Christian residents of [[Virginia]] and New York observed the holiday freely. [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] settlers, predominantly [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] settlers of [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania|Bethlehem]], [[Nazareth, Pennsylvania|Nazareth]], and [[Lititz]] in Pennsylvania and the [[Wachovia, North Carolina|Wachovia]] settlements in North Carolina, were enthusiastic celebrators of Christmas. The Moravians in Bethlehem had the first Christmas trees in America as well as the first Nativity Scenes.<ref>{{cite book |first=Nancy |last=Smith Thomas |title=Moravian Christmas in the South |page=20 |year=2007 |publisher=Old Salem Museums & Gardens |isbn=978-0-8078-3181-6}}</ref> Christmas fell out of favor in the United States after the [[American Revolution]], when it was considered an English custom.<ref name="cinne">{{cite book
 |last =Andrews
 |first =Peter
 |title =Christmas in Colonial and Early America
 |publisher =World Book Encyclopedia, Inc.
 |year=1975
 |location =United States
 |isbn = 978-0-7166-2001-3}}</ref>
[[George Washington]] attacked [[Hessian (soldiers)|Hessian]] (German) mercenaries on the day after Christmas during the [[Battle of Trenton]] on December 26, 1776, Christmas being much more popular in Germany than in America at this time.

With the atheistic [[Cult of Reason]] in power during the era of [[Revolutionary France]], Christian Christmas [[church service|religious services]] were banned and the [[three kings cake]] was renamed the "equality cake" under [[Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution|anticlerical government policies]].<ref name="Inc1996">{{cite book|title=Christmas in France|year=1996|publisher=[[World Book Encyclopedia]]|isbn=978-0-7166-0876-9|page=35|quote=Carols were altered by substituting names of prominent political leaders for royal characters in the lyrics, such as the Three Kings. Church bells were melted down for their bronze to increase the national treasury, and religious services were banned on Christmas Day. The cake of kings, too, came under attack as a symbol of royalty. It survived, however, for a while with a new name—the cake of equality.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://historybuff.com/christmas-renamed-dog-day-french-revolution/|title=Why Was Christmas Renamed 'Dog Day' During the French Revolution?|last=Mason|first=Julia|date=December 21, 2015|publisher=HistoryBuff|access-date=November 18, 2016|quote=How did people celebrate the Christmas during the French Revolution? In white-knuckled terror behind closed doors. Anti-clericalism reached its apex on 10 November 1793, when a Fête de la Raison was held in honor of the Cult of Reason. Churches across France were renamed "Temples of Reason" and the Notre Dame was "de-baptized" for the occasion. The Commune spared no expense: "The first festival of reason, which took place in Notre Dame, featured a fabricated mountain, with a temple of philosophy at its summit and a script borrowed from an opera libretto. At the sound of Marie-Joseph Chénier's Hymne à la Liberté, two rows of young women, dressed in white, descended the mountain, crossing each other before the 'altar of reason' before ascending once more to greet the goddess of Liberty." As you can probably gather from the above description, 1793 was not a great time to celebrate Christmas in the capital.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101103908/http://historybuff.com/christmas-renamed-dog-day-french-revolution/|archive-date=November 1, 2016}}</ref>

=== 19th century ===

[[File:Scrooges third visitor-John Leech,1843 edit.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ebenezer Scrooge]] and the [[Ghost of Christmas Present]]. From [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'', 1843.]]

In the early 19th century, Christmas festivities and services became widespread with the rise of the [[Oxford Movement]] in the [[Church of England]] that emphasized the centrality of Christmas in Christianity and charity to the poor,<ref name="Rowel1993">{{cite journal|last=Rowell|first=Geoffrey|date=December 1993|journal=[[History Today]]|volume=43|issue=12|quote=There is no doubt that A Christmas Carol is first and foremost a story concerned with the Christian gospel of liberation by the grace of God, and with incarnational religion which refuses to drive a wedge between the world of spirit and the world of matter. Both the Christmas dinners and the Christmas dinner-carriers are blessed; the cornucopia of Christmas food and feasting reflects both the goodness of creation and the joy of heaven. It is a significant sign of a shift in theological emphasis in the nineteenth century from a stress on the Atonement to a stress on the Incarnation, a stress which found outward and visible form in the sacramentalism of the Oxford Movement, the development of richer and more symbolic forms of worship, the building of neo-Gothic churches, and the revival and increasing centrality of the keeping of Christmas itself as a Christian festival.{{nbsp}}[...] In the course of the century, under the influence of the Oxford Movement's concern for the better observance of Christian festivals, Christmas became more and more prominent. By the later part of the century cathedrals provided special services and musical events, and might have revived ancient special charities for the poor – though we must not forget the problems for large: parish-church cathedrals like Manchester, which on one Christmas Day had no less than eighty couples coming to be married (the signing of the registers lasted until four in the afternoon). The popularity of Dickens' A Christmas Carol played a significant part in the changing consciousness of Christmas and the way in which it was celebrated. The popularity of his public readings of the story is an indication of how much it resonated with the contemporary mood, and contributed to the increasing place of the Christmas celebration in both secular and religious ways that was firmly established by the end of the nineteenth century.|access-date=December 28, 2016|url=http://www.historytoday.com/geoffrey-rowell/dickens-and-construction-christmas|title=Dickens and the Construction of Christmas|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229101255/http://www.historytoday.com/geoffrey-rowell/dickens-and-construction-christmas|archive-date=December 29, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> along with [[Washington Irving]], [[Charles Dickens]], and other authors emphasizing family, children, kind-heartedness, gift-giving, and [[Santa Claus]] (for Irving),<ref name="Rowel1993"/> or [[Father Christmas]] (for Dickens).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j5c9GqZ_7BMC&pg=PA178 |editor-first1=Sally|editor-last1=Ledger |editor-first2=Holly |editor-last2=Furneaux |title= Charles Dickens in Context |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-513886-3 |page=178 |access-date=December 25, 2020}}</ref>

In the early-19th century, writers imagined [[Tudor period|Tudor]]-period Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration. In 1843, [[Charles Dickens]] wrote the novel ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'', which helped revive the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal merriment.<ref name=standiford>{{cite book |first=Les |last=Standiford |title=The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits |publisher=Crown |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-307-40578-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/manwhoinventedch0000stan}}</ref><ref name=AFP>{{cite news
 |title=Dickens' classic 'Christmas Carol' still sings to us
|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-12-17-dickens-main_N.htm
 |work=[[USA Today]]
 |access-date=April 30, 2010
|first=Bob
 |last=Minzesheimer
 |date=December 22, 2008
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091106135858/http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-12-17-dickens-main_N.htm
 |archive-date=November 6, 2009
|url-status=live
 }}</ref> Its instant popularity played a major role in portraying Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion.<ref name="Rowel1993"/>

Dickens sought to construct Christmas as a family-centered festival of generosity, linking "worship and feasting, within a context of social reconciliation."<ref name="Hutton2001">{{cite book|last=Hutton|first=Ronald|title=The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain|date=February 15, 2001|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-157842-7}}</ref> Superimposing his humanitarian vision of the holiday, in what has been termed "Carol Philosophy",<ref name="Forbes2008">{{cite book|last=Forbes|first=Bruce David|title=Christmas: A Candid History|date=October 1, 2008|publisher=--University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-25802-0|page=62|quote=What Dickens {{em|did}} advocate in his story was "the spirit of Christmas". Sociologist James Barnett has described it as Dickens's "Carol Philosophy", which "combined religious and secular attitudes toward to celebration into a humanitarian pattern. It excoriated individual selfishness and extolled the virtues of brotherhood, kindness, and generosity at Christmas.{{nbsp}}[...] Dickens preached that at Christmas men should forget self and think of others, especially the poor and the unfortunate." The message was one that both religious and secular people could endorse.}}<!--|access-date=November 22, 2014--></ref> Dickens influenced many aspects of Christmas that are celebrated today in Western culture, such as family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games, and a festive generosity of spirit.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Richard Michael |editor-last=Kelly |year=2003 |title=A Christmas Carol |pages=9, 12 |publisher=Broadview Press |isbn=978-1-55111-476-7}}</ref> A prominent phrase from the tale, [[Christmas and holiday season#History of the phrase|"Merry Christmas"]], was popularized following the appearance of the story.<ref>Cochrane, Robertson. ''Wordplay: origins, meanings, and usage of the English language''. University of Toronto Press, 1996, p. 126, {{ISBN|0-8020-7752-8}}.</ref> This coincided with the appearance of the [[Oxford Movement]] and the growth of [[Anglo-Catholicism]], which led a revival in traditional rituals and religious observances.<ref>Hutton, Ronald, ''The Stations of the Sun: The Ritual Year in England''. 1996. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 113. {{ISBN|0-19-285448-8}}.</ref>

[[File:The Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle, by J. L. Williams - ILN 1848 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|The Queen's Christmas tree at [[Windsor Castle]], published in the ''Illustrated London News'', 1848]]

The term ''[[Ebenezer Scrooge|Scrooge]]'' became a synonym for [[miser]], with the phrase [[Humbug|"Bah! Humbug!"]] becoming emblematic of a dismissive attitude of the festive spirit.<ref>Joe L. Wheeler. ''Christmas in My Heart'', Volume 10, p. 97. Review and Herald Pub Assoc, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8280-1622-4}}.</ref> In 1843, the first commercial [[Christmas card#History|Christmas card]] was produced by [[Sir Henry Cole]].<ref>{{cite web |last = Earnshaw |first = Iris |title = The History of Christmas Cards |publisher = Inverloch Historical Society Inc. |date = November 2003 |url = http://home.vicnet.net.au/~invhs/2004.htm |access-date = July 25, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160526174327/http://home.vicnet.net.au/~invhs/2004.htm |archive-date = May 26, 2016 |url-status = live }}</ref> The revival of the [[Christmas Carol]] began with [[William Sandys (antiquarian)|William Sandys]]'s ''Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern'' (1833), with the first appearance in print of "[[The First Noel]]", "[[I Saw Three Ships]]", "[[Hark the Herald Angels Sing]]" and "[[God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen]]", popularized in Dickens's ''A Christmas Carol''.

In Britain, the [[Christmas tree#18th and 19th centuries|Christmas tree]] was introduced in the early 19th century by the German-born [[Queen Charlotte]]. In 1832, the future [[Queen Victoria]] wrote about her delight at having a Christmas tree, hung with [[Christmas lights (holiday decoration)|lights]], [[Christmas ornaments|ornaments]], and presents placed round it.<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/girlhoodofqueenv01vict/page/60/mode/2up The Girlhood of Queen Victoria: a selection from Her Majesty's diaries]'', p. 61. Longmans, Green & Co., 1912. University of Wisconsin. Retrieved December 25, 2023.</ref> After her marriage to her German cousin [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], by 1841 the custom became more widespread throughout Britain.<ref name="Lejeune, Marie Claire p.550">Lejeune, ''Marie Claire''. ''Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe'', p.550. University of Michigan {{ISBN|90-77135-04-9}}.</ref>

An image of the British royal family with their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle created a sensation when it was published in the ''[[Illustrated London News]]'' in 1848. A modified version of this image was published in ''[[Godey's Lady's Book]]'', Philadelphia in 1850.<ref name="Shoemaker">Shoemaker, Alfred Lewis. (1959) ''Christmas in Pennsylvania: a folk-cultural study.'' Edition 40. pp. 52, 53. Stackpole Books 1999. {{ISBN|0-8117-0328-2}}.</ref><ref>''[[Godey's Lady's Book]]'', 1850. ''Godey's'' copied it exactly, except he removed the Queen's tiara, and Prince Albert's moustache, to remake the engraving into an American scene.</ref> By the 1870s, putting up a Christmas tree had become common in America.<ref name="Shoemaker" />

In America, interest in Christmas had been revived in the 1820s by several short stories by [[Washington Irving]] which appear in his ''[[The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.]]'' and "Old Christmas". Irving's stories depicted harmonious warm-hearted English Christmas festivities he experienced while staying in [[Aston Hall]], Birmingham, England, that had largely been abandoned,<ref>Kelly, Richard Michael (ed.) (2003), ''A Christmas Carol'', p. 20. Broadview Literary Texts, New York: Broadview Press, {{ISBN|1-55111-476-3}}.</ref> and he used the tract ''Vindication of Christmas'' (1652) of Old English Christmas traditions, that he had transcribed into his journal as a format for his stories.<ref name=BTR>{{Cite book
 |author=Restad, Penne L.
 |year=1995
 |title=Christmas in America: a History
 |location=Oxford
 |publisher=Oxford University Press
 |isbn=978-0-19-510980-1
 }}</ref>

[[File:Adolph Tidemand Norsk juleskik.jpg|thumb|upright|A Norwegian Christmas, 1846 painting by [[Adolph Tidemand]]]]

In 1822, [[Clement Clarke Moore]] wrote the poem ''[[A Visit From St. Nicholas]]'' (popularly known by its first line: ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'').<ref>Moore's poem transferred the genuine old Dutch traditions celebrated at New Year in New York, including the exchange of gifts, family feasting, and tales of "sinterklass" (a derivation in Dutch from "Saint Nicholas", from whence comes the modern "Santa Claus") to Christmas.[http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/ch/in_america.htm ''The history of Christmas: Christmas history in America''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419103042/http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/ch/in_america.htm |date=April 19, 2018 }}, 2006.</ref> The poem helped popularize the tradition of exchanging gifts, and seasonal Christmas shopping began to assume economic importance.<ref>[http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2005/Dec/19-344398.html "Americans Celebrate Christmas in Diverse Ways"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210120636/https://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2005/Dec/19-344398.html |date=December 10, 2006 }}, Usinfo.state.gov, November 26, 2006.</ref> This also started the cultural conflict between the holiday's spiritual significance and its associated [[commercialism]] that some see as corrupting the holiday. In her 1850 book ''The First Christmas in New England'', [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]] includes a character who complains that [[the true meaning of Christmas]] was lost in a shopping spree.<ref>First [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian Church]] of Watertown [http://www.watertownfirstpres.org/sermons/12-11-05.html "Oh ... and one more thing"] December 11, 2005 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225081456/http://www.watertownfirstpres.org/sermons/12-11-05.html |date=February 25, 2007 }}</ref>

While the celebration of Christmas was not yet customary in some regions in the U.S., [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]] detected "a transition state about Christmas here in New England" in 1856. "The old puritan feeling prevents it from being a cheerful, hearty holiday; though every year makes it more so."<ref name=APH>Restad, Penne L. (1995), ''Christmas in America: a History'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 96. {{ISBN|0-19-510980-5}}.</ref> In [[Reading, Pennsylvania]], a newspaper remarked in 1861, "Even our presbyterian friends who have hitherto steadfastly ignored Christmas—threw open their church doors and assembled in force to celebrate the anniversary of the Savior's birth."<ref name=APH />

The First Congregational Church of Rockford, [[Illinois]], "although of genuine Puritan stock", was 'preparing for a grand Christmas jubilee', a news correspondent reported in 1864.<ref name=APH /> By 1860, fourteen states including several from [[New England]] had adopted Christmas as a legal holiday.<ref name=ABD>{{cite web|url=http://www.christianchurchofgod.com/httpwww.christianchurchofgod.comhistofchristmas.htm |title=Christian church of God – history of Christmas |publisher=Christianchurchofgod.com |access-date=February 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219215754/http://www.christianchurchofgod.com/httpwww.christianchurchofgod.comhistofchristmas.htm |archive-date=December 19, 2010 }}</ref> In 1875, [[Louis Prang]] introduced the [[Christmas card#History|Christmas card]] to Americans. He has been called the "father of the American Christmas card".<ref name="meggspage148">Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p 148 {{ISBN|0-471-29198-6}}.</ref> On June 28, 1870, Christmas was formally declared a [[Federal holidays in the United States|United States federal holiday]].<ref name="federalholidays">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41990.pdf|title=Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current Practices|publisher=Congressional Research Service|author=Jacob R. Straus|date=November 16, 2012|access-date=January 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103115217/http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41990.pdf|archive-date=January 3, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 20th and 21st centuries ===

[[File:The Christmas Visit. Postcard, c. 1910.jpg|thumb|upright|The Christmas Visit. Postcard, {{c.|1910}}]]
During the [[First World War]] and particularly (but not exclusively) in 1914,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crossland|first=David|date=December 22, 2021|title=Truces weren't just for 1914 Christmas|language=en|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wartime-football-truces-3-historical-prejudice-0-wclv9hs3f|access-date=December 24, 2021|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> a series of [[Christmas truce|informal truces]] took place for Christmas between opposing armies. The truces, which were organised spontaneously by fighting men, ranged from promises not to shoot (shouted at a distance in order to ease the pressure of war for the day) to friendly socializing, gift giving and even sport between enemies.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Baxter|first=Keven|date=December 24, 2021|title=Peace for a day: How soccer brought a brief truce to World War I on Christmas Day 1914|url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/story/2021-12-24/christmas-truce-soccer-world-war-germany-britain-adolf-hitler|url-status=live|access-date=December 24, 2021|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224122434/https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/story/2021-12-24/christmas-truce-soccer-world-war-germany-britain-adolf-hitler |archive-date=December 24, 2021 }}</ref> These incidents became a well known and semi-mythologised part of popular memory.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Real Story of the Christmas Truce|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-real-story-of-the-christmas-truce|access-date=December 24, 2021|website=Imperial War Museums|language=en}}</ref> They have been described as a symbol of common humanity even in the darkest of situations and used to demonstrate to children the ideals of Christmas.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Christmas Truce 1914|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/assemblies-ks1-ks2-christmas-truce-1914/zhjpm39|access-date=December 24, 2021|website=BBC School Radio|language=en}}</ref>

Up to the 1950s in the UK, many Christmas customs were restricted to the upper and middle classes. Most of the population had not yet adopted many Christmas rituals that later became popular, including [[Christmas tree]]s. Christmas dinner would normally include beef or goose, not turkey as would later be common. Children would get fruit and sweets in their stocking rather than elaborate gifts. Full celebration of a family Christmas with all the trimmings only became widespread with increased prosperity from the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weightman |first1=Gavin |last2=Humphries |first2=Steve |title=Christmas Past |url=https://archive.org/details/christmaspast00weig |url-access=registration |date=1987 |publisher=Sidgwick and Jackson |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/christmaspast00weig/page/31 31]|isbn=978-0-283-99531-6 }}</ref> National papers were published on Christmas Day until 1912. Post was still delivered on Christmas Day until 1961. League football matches continued in Scotland until the 1970s while in England they ceased at the end of the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harding |first1=Patrick |title=The Xmas Files: Facts Behind the Myths and Magic of Christmas |date=2003 |publisher=Metro Publishing |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=When was the last time football matches in Britain were played on Christmas Day?|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/dec/19/theknowledge.sport|access-date=October 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006110605/http://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/dec/19/theknowledge.sport|archive-date=October 6, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

Under the [[state atheism]] of the Soviet Union, after its foundation in 1917, Christmas celebrations—along with other Christian holidays—were prohibited in public.<ref name="Connelly2000">{{cite book|last=Connelly|first=Mark|title=Christmas at the Movies: Images of Christmas in American, British and European Cinema|year=2000|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-86064-397-2|page=186|quote=A chapter on representations of ''Christmas'' in Soviet cinema could, in fact be the shortest in this collection: suffice it to say that there were, at least officially, no Christmas celebrations in the atheist socialist state after its foundation in 1917.}}<!--|access-date=November 22, 2014--></ref> During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, the [[League of Militant Atheists]] encouraged school pupils to campaign against Christmas traditions, such as the Christmas tree, as well as other Christian holidays, including Easter; the League established an antireligious holiday to be the 31st of each month as a replacement.<ref name="Ramet2005">{{cite book|last=Ramet|first=Sabrina Petra|title=Religious Policy in the Soviet Union|date=November 10, 2005|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-02230-9|page=138|quote=The League sallied forth to save the day from this putative religious revival. ''Antireligioznik'' obliged with so many articles that it devoted an entire section of its annual index for 1928 to anti-religious training in the schools. More such material followed in 1929, and a flood of it the next year. It recommended what Lenin and others earlier had explicitly condemned—carnivals, farces, and games to intimidate and purge the youth of religious belief. It suggested that pupils campaign against customs associated with Christmas (including Christmas trees) and Easter. Some schools, the League approvingly reported, staged an anti-religious day on the 31st of each month. Not teachers but the League's local set the programme for this special occasion.}}<!--|access-date=November 22, 2014--></ref> At the height of this persecution, in 1929, on Christmas Day, children in Moscow were encouraged to spit on [[crucifix]]es as a protest against the holiday.<ref name="Zugger2001">{{cite book|last=Zugger|first=Christopher Lawrence|title=Catholics of the Soviet Empire from Lenin Through Stalin|year=2001|publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8156-0679-6|page=210|quote=As observed by Nicholas Brianchaninov, writing in 1929–1930, after the NEP and just as the worst of collectivization was beginning, the Soviets deemed it necessary to drive into the heads of the people the axiom that religion was the synthesis of everything most harmful to humanity. It must be presented as the enemy of man and society, of life and learning, of progress.{{nbsp}}[...] In caricatures, articles, ''Bezbozhnik'', ''Antireligioznik'', League of Militant Atheists propaganda and films. School courses [were give] on conducting the struggle against religion (how to profane a church, break windows, objects of piety). The young, always eager to be with the latest trend, often responded to such propaganda. In Moscow in 1929 children were brought to spit on the crucifixes at Christmas. Priests in Tiraspol diocese were sometimes betrayed by their own young parishioners, leading to their imprisonment and even death, and tearing their families apart.}}</ref> Instead, the importance of the holiday and all its trappings, such as the Christmas tree and gift-giving, was transferred to the New Year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/12/30/how-soviets-came-to-celebrate-new-years-like-christmas-and-why-russians-still-do/ |title=How Soviets Came to Celebrate New Year's Like Christmas (and Why Russians Still Do) |last=Tamkin |first=Emily |date=December 30, 2016 |website=Foreign Policy |access-date=January 6, 2022}}</ref> It was not until the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991 that the [[persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union|persecution]] ended and Orthodox Christmas became a state holiday again for the first time in Russia after seven decades.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1991-01-07/news/mn-5892_1_russian-christmas-traditions|title=A Russian Christmas—Better Late Than Never: Soviet Union: Orthodox Church celebration is the first under Communists. But, as with most of Yeltsin's pronouncements, the holiday stirs a controversy.|last=Goldberg|first=Carey|date=January 7, 1991|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=November 22, 2014|quote=For the first time in more than seven decades, Christmas—celebrated today by Russian Orthodox Christians—is a full state holiday across Russia's vast and snowy expanse. As part of Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin's ambitious plan to revive the traditions of Old Russia, the republic's legislature declared last month that Christmas, long ignored under atheist Communist ideology, should be written back into the public calendar. "The Bolsheviks replaced crosses with hammers and sickles," said Vyacheslav S. Polosin, head of the Russian legislature's committee on religion. "Now they are being changed back."|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222093318/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-01-07/news/mn-5892_1_russian-christmas-traditions|archive-date=December 22, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

European History Professor Joseph Perry wrote that likewise, in [[Nazi Germany]], "because Nazi ideologues saw organized religion as an enemy of the totalitarian state, propagandists sought to deemphasize—or eliminate altogether—the Christian aspects of the holiday" and that "Propagandists tirelessly promoted numerous Nazified Christmas songs, which replaced Christian themes with the regime's racial ideologies."<ref>{{cite news|title=How the Nazis co-opted Christmas: A history of propaganda|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/12/24/how-the-nazis-co-opted-christmas/|last=Perry|first=Joseph|date=December 24, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106211548/https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/12/24/how-the-nazis-co-opted-christmas/|archive-date=January 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

As Christmas celebrations began to spread globally even outside traditional [[Christian culture]]s, several Muslim-majority countries began to ban the observance of Christmas, claiming it undermined [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/12067683/Somalia-joins-Brunei-by-banning-Christmas-celebrations-to-protect-Islam.html|title=Somalia joins Brunei by banning Christmas celebrations 'to protect Islam'|date=December 24, 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529064440/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/12067683/Somalia-joins-Brunei-by-banning-Christmas-celebrations-to-protect-Islam.html|archive-date=May 29, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2023, public Christmas celebrations were cancelled in [[Bethlehem]], the city synonymous with the birth of Jesus. [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] leaders of various Christian denominations cited the [[2023 Israel–Hamas war|ongoing Israel–Hamas war]] in their unanimous decision to cancel celebrations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2023/12/16/1219245873/bethlehem-christmas-gaza-israel|title=There's no Christmas in Bethlehem this year. With war in Gaza, festivities are off|date=December 16, 2023|accessdate=December 23, 2023|last=Neuman|first=Scott|work=NPR}}</ref>

== Observance and traditions ==
{{further|Christmas traditions|Observance of Christmas by country}}
[[File:Christmas at the Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth, 1965.jpg|alt=Christmas at the Annunciation Church in Nazareth, 1965. Photo by Dan Hadani.|thumb|Christmas at the [[Basilica of the Annunciation|Annunciation Church]] in Nazareth, 1965]]
[[File:Map of Countries that do not recognize Christmas as Public Holiday.svg|thumb|Dark brown – countries that do not recognize Christmas on December 25 or January 7 as a public holiday. Light brown – countries that do not recognize Christmas as a public holiday, but the holiday is given observance.]]
[[File:Complete-church-midnight-mass (3135957575).jpg|thumb|Many Christians attend [[church service]]s to celebrate the [[Nativity of Jesus|birth of Jesus Christ]].<ref name="Jespersen2011">{{cite book|last=Jespersen|first=Knud J. V.|title=A History of Denmark|date=June 21, 2011|publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education|isbn=978-0-230-34417-4|page=91|quote=It is quite normal to go to church on Christmas Eve, and many people like to celebrate a christening or wedding in church. The Church is especially important at the end of a life; by far the majority of funerals are still conducted in a church by a minister.}}</ref>]]

Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in countries around the world, including many whose populations are mostly non-Christian. In some non-Christian areas, periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration (e.g. Hong Kong); in others, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. Countries such as Japan, where Christmas is popular despite there being only a small number of Christians, have adopted many of the cultural aspects of Christmas, such as gift-giving, decorations, and Christmas trees. A similar example is in [[Turkey]], being Muslim-majority and with a small number of Christians, where Christmas trees and decorations tend to line public streets during the festival.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alkan |first=Sena |date=December 19, 2015 |title=The history behind Christmas and Turkey |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/life/2015/12/19/the-history-behind-christmas-and-turkey |access-date=November 30, 2022 |website=Daily Sabah |language=en-US}}</ref>

Many popular customs associated with Christmas developed independently of the commemoration of Jesus's birth, with some claiming that certain elements are Christianized and have origins in pre-Christian festivals that were celebrated by pagan populations who were later [[Christianization|converted to Christianity]]; other scholars reject these claims and affirm that Christmas customs largely developed in a Christian context.<ref name="McGrath2015">{{cite book |last1=McGrath |first1=Alister E. |title=Christianity: An Introduction |date=January 27, 2015 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-46565-3 |page=239 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Huckabee2021">{{cite web |last1=Huckabee |first1=Tyler |title=No, Christmas Trees Don't Have 'Pagan' Roots |url=https://relevantmagazine.com/current/nation/no-christmas-trees-dont-have-pagan-roots/ |publisher=Relevant Magazine |access-date=December 9, 2022 |language=English |date=December 9, 2021}}</ref> The prevailing atmosphere of Christmas has also continually evolved since the holiday's inception, ranging from a sometimes raucous, drunken, [[carnival]]-like state in the [[Middle Ages]],<ref name="Murray" /> to a tamer family-oriented and children-centered theme introduced in a 19th-century transformation.<ref name=standiford /><ref name=AFP /> The celebration of Christmas was banned on more than one occasion within certain groups, such as the [[Puritans]] and [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] (who do not celebrate birthdays in general), due to concerns that it was too unbiblical.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neal |first1=Daniel |title=The History of the Puritans |url=https://archive.org/details/nealshistorypur00toulgoog/page/132/mode/2up |access-date=December 25, 2023 |date=1822 |publisher=William Baynes and Son |page=193 |quote=They disapproved of the observation of sundry of the church-festivals or holidays, as having no foundation in Scripture, or primitive antiquity.}} (page 133 in the link above)</ref><ref name="Durston" /><ref name="Barnett" />

Prior to and through the [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] centuries, [[List of winter festivals|winter festivals]] were the most popular of the year in many European pagan cultures. Reasons included the fact that less agricultural work needed to be done during the winter, as well as an expectation of better weather as spring approached.<ref name=AncientHoliday>[http://www.history.com/minisites/christmas/viewPage?pageId=1252 "Christmas – An Ancient Holiday"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509030721/http://www.history.com/minisites/christmas/viewPage?pageId=1252 |date=May 9, 2007 }}, ''The [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]]'', 2007.</ref> [[Celtic nations|Celtic]] winter herbs such as [[mistletoe]] and [[ivy]], and the custom of kissing under a mistletoe, are common in modern Christmas celebrations in the English-speaking countries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=NEWS |first=SA |date=December 24, 2022 |title=Christmas Day 2022: Facts, Story & Quotes About Merry Christmas |url=https://news.jagatgururampalji.org/christmas-day-special-gift/ |access-date=December 26, 2022 |website=SA News Channel |language=en-US}}</ref>

The pre-Christian [[Germanic peoples]]—including the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse—celebrated a winter festival called [[Yule]], held in the late December to early January period, yielding modern English ''yule'', today used as a synonym for ''Christmas''.<ref name="SIMEK379">Simek (2007:379).</ref> In Germanic language-speaking areas, numerous elements of modern Christmas folk custom and iconography may have originated from Yule, including the [[Yule log]], [[Yule boar]], and the [[Yule goat]].<ref>Coffman, Elesha. [http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2000/dec08.html "Why December 25?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919140214/http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2000/dec08.html |date=September 19, 2008 }} ''Christian History & Biography'', ''[[Christianity Today]]'', 2000.</ref><ref name="SIMEK379" /> Often leading a ghostly procession through the sky (the [[Wild Hunt]]), the long-bearded god [[Odin]] is referred to as "the Yule one" and "Yule father" in Old Norse texts, while other gods are referred to as "Yule beings".<ref name="SIMEK-2010">Simek (2010:180, 379–380).</ref> On the other hand, as there are no reliable existing references to a Christmas log prior to the 16th century, the burning of the Christmas block may have been an early modern invention by Christians unrelated to the pagan practice.<ref name="Weiser1958">{{cite book |last1=Weiser |first1=Franz Xaver |title=Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs |date=1958 |publisher=[[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt]]}}</ref>

Among [[Christendom|countries with a strong Christian tradition]], a variety of Christmas celebrations have developed that incorporate regional and local cultures. For example, in eastern Europe Christmas celebrations incorporated pre-Christian traditions such as the [[Koleda]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages%5CK%5CO%5CKoliadaIT.htm |title=Koliada |publisher=Encyclopediaofukraine.com |access-date=November 19, 2012}}</ref> which shares parallels with the [[Christmas carol]].

=== Church attendance ===

Christmas Day (inclusive of its [[Vigil#Eves of religious celebrations|vigil]], Christmas Eve), is a [[Liturgical calendar (Lutheran)#Festivals|Festival]] in the [[Lutheran Church]]es, a [[solemnity]] in the [[Roman Catholic Church]], and a [[Principal Feast]] of the [[Anglican Communion]]. Other Christian denominations do not rank their feast days but nevertheless place importance on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day, as with other Christian feasts like Easter, Ascension Day, and Pentecost.<ref>{{cite web |title=2018 Worship and Music Planning Calendar |url=https://gbod-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/legacy/kintera-files/worship/2018-Music-Worship-Planning-Calendar.docx |publisher=[[The United Methodist Church]]|year=2018|access-date=December 9, 2018}}</ref> As such, for Christians, attending a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day [[church service]] plays an important part in the recognition of the [[Christmastide|Christmas season]]. Christmas, along with Easter, is the period of highest annual church attendance. A 2010 survey by [[LifeWay Christian Resources]] found that six in ten Americans attend church services during this time.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Stetzer |first1=Ed |title=What Is Church Attendance Like During Christmastime? New Data From LifeWay Research |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/december/what-is-church-attendance-like-during-christmastime-new-dat.html |magazine=[[Christianity Today]] |date=December 14, 2015 |access-date=December 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129024022/http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/december/what-is-church-attendance-like-during-christmastime-new-dat.html |archive-date=January 29, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the United Kingdom, the Church of England reported an estimated attendance of 2.5{{nbsp}}million people at Christmas services in 2015.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/british-families-only-attend-church-at-christmas-new-figures-sug/ | title=British families only attend church at Christmas, new figures suggest | first=John | last=Bingham | date=October 27, 2016 | work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | access-date=December 24, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227191442/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/british-families-only-attend-church-at-christmas-new-figures-sug/ | archive-date=December 27, 2017 | url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Decorations ===
{{Main|Christmas decoration}}
{{further|Hanging of the greens}}
[[File:Manifattura napoletana, natività con gloria d'angeli, 1750-1800 ca., OA8516-8559, 02.JPG|right|thumb|Typical [[Neapolitan nativity scene]], or {{lang|it|presepe}} or {{lang|it|presepio}}, in [[Naples]]. Local crèches are renowned for their ornate decorations and symbolic figurines, often mirroring daily life.]]

[[Nativity scene]]s are known from 10th-century Rome. They were popularised by Saint [[Francis of Assisi]] from 1223, quickly spreading across Europe.<ref name=Collins47>Collins, Ace, ''Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas'', Zondervan, (2003), {{ISBN|0-310-24880-9}} p.47.</ref> Different types of decorations developed across the Christian world, dependent on local tradition and available resources, and can vary from simple representations of the crib to far more elaborate sets – renowned manger scene traditions include the colourful {{lang|pl|[[Kraków szopka]]}} in Poland,<ref>[https://archive.org/details/nativitiesofworl0000webe/page/159 Internet Archive] Susan Topp Weber, ''Nativities of the World'', Gibbs Smith, 2013</ref> which imitate [[Kraków]]'s historical buildings as settings, the elaborate Italian {{lang|it|presepi}} ({{ill|lt=Neapolitan|Presepe napoletano|it|vertical-align=sup}}, {{ill|lt=Genoese|Presepe genovese|it|vertical-align=sup}} and {{ill|lt=Bolognese|Presepe bolognese|it|vertical-align=sup}}),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nuok.it/bulagna/alla-scoperta-dei-cinque-presepi-piu-belli-di-bologna/ |title=Alla scoperta dei cinque presepi più belli di Bologna &#124; Nuok |publisher=Nuok.it |date=January 24, 2013 |access-date=December 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227041612/http://www.nuok.it/bulagna/alla-scoperta-dei-cinque-presepi-piu-belli-di-bologna/ |archive-date=December 27, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://digilander.libero.it/paolore2/liguria/presepi.html |title=Presepi in Liguria: provincia di Genova, Tigullio -sito di Paolino |publisher=Digilander.libero.it |access-date=December 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227022942/http://digilander.libero.it/paolore2/liguria/presepi.html |archive-date=December 27, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.carnegiemnh.org/visit/default.aspx?id=21487 |title=Holidays at the Museums: Carnegie Museum of Natural History |publisher=Carnegiemnh.org |date=November 26, 2013 |access-date=December 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227022432/http://www.carnegiemnh.org/visit/default.aspx?id=21487 |archive-date=December 27, 2013 }}</ref><ref>Bershad, David; Carolina Mangone, [https://books.google.com/books?id=llTiET5oCR4C&dq=neapolitan+nativity+scene&pg=PA112 ''The Christian Travelers Guide to Italy''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225144711/https://books.google.com/books?id=llTiET5oCR4C&pg=PA112&dq=neapolitan+nativity+scene |date=December 25, 2022 }}, Zondervan, 2001.</ref> or the [[Provence|Provençal]] crèches in [[Le Midi|southern]] France, using hand-painted terracotta figurines called {{lang|fr|[[santon (figurine)|santons]]}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.simplytreasures.com/t-about-nativity.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914075253/http://www.simplytreasures.com/t-about-nativity.aspx |archive-date=September 14, 2012 |title=The Provençal Nativity Scene |publisher=Simplytreasures.com |access-date=December 25, 2013 }}</ref> In certain parts of the world, notably [[Sicily]], living nativity scenes following the tradition of Saint Francis are a popular alternative to static crèches.<ref>Seaburg, Carl, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dLB-UkN5UHYC&dq=living+nativity+scenes+sicily&pg=PT30 ''Celebrating Christmas: An Anthology''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225144711/https://books.google.com/books?id=dLB-UkN5UHYC&pg=PT30&dq=living+nativity+scenes+sicily |date=December 25, 2022 }}, iUniverse, 2003.</ref><ref>Bowler, Gerry, [https://books.google.com/books?id=WGaVZ6fEjjsC&dq=living+nativity+scenes+sicily&pg=PT478 ''The World Encyclopedia of Christmas''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225144711/https://books.google.com/books?id=WGaVZ6fEjjsC&pg=PT478&dq=living+nativity+scenes+sicily |date=December 25, 2022 }}, Random House LLC, 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Carol King |url=http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/christmas-living-nativity-scene-sicily |title=A Christmas Living Nativity Scene in Sicily |work=Italy Magazine |date=December 24, 2012 |access-date=December 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226023729/http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/christmas-living-nativity-scene-sicily |archive-date=December 26, 2013 }}</ref> The first commercially produced decorations appeared in Germany in the 1860s, inspired by paper chains made by children.<ref name=Collins83>Collins p. 83.</ref> In countries where a representation of the [[Nativity scene]] is very popular, people are encouraged to compete and create the most original or realistic ones. Within some families, the pieces used to make the representation are considered a valuable family [[heirloom]].<ref>{{cite book |title=These Strange German Ways |publisher=Edelweiss Publishing Company |date=1989 |page=122}}</ref>

The traditional colors of Christmas decorations are red, green, and gold.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nowak|first=Claire|date=December 23, 2019|title=The Real Reason Why Christmas Colors Are Green and Red|url=https://www.rd.com/article/christmas-colors-green-red/|access-date=December 18, 2020|website=Reader's Digest|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Norris|first=Rebecca|date=October 29, 2019|title=Here's the History Behind Why Red and Green Are the Traditional Christmas Colors|url=https://www.countryliving.com/entertaining/a29622860/christmas-colors-red-green/|access-date=December 18, 2020|website=Country Living|language=en-US}}</ref> Red symbolizes the blood of Jesus, which was shed in his [[crucifixion]]; green symbolizes eternal life, and in particular the evergreen tree, which does not lose its leaves in the winter; and gold is the first color associated with Christmas, as one of the three gifts of the [[Magi]], symbolizing royalty.<ref name="Ace Collins">{{cite book
 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mo8vgZoROl8C&q=christmas+colors&pg=PT71
 |title=Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas
 |author=Collins, Ace
 |publisher=[[Zondervan]]|access-date=December 2, 2010
|isbn = 978-0-310-87388-4
 |date = April 1, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:1962 Entrance Hall (Official White House) Christmas tree - Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy.jpg|thumb|The official White House Christmas tree for 1962, displayed in the Entrance Hall and presented by [[John F. Kennedy]] and his wife [[Jacqueline Kennedy|Jackie]].]]

The [[Christmas tree]] was first used by German Lutherans in the 16th century, with records indicating that a Christmas tree was placed in the Cathedral of Strassburg in 1539, under the leadership of the [[Protestant Reformers|Protestant Reformer]], [[Martin Bucer]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Senn |first=Frank C. |date=2012 |title=Introduction to Christian Liturgy |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-1-4514-2433-1 |page=118 |quote=The Christmas tree as we know it seemed to emerge in Lutheran lands in Germany in the sixteenth century. Although no specific city or town has been identified as the first to have a Christmas tree, records for the Cathedral of Strassburg indicate that a Christmas tree was set up in that church in 1539 during Martin Bucer's superintendency.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |year=1936 |title=The Christmas Tree |journal=Lutheran Spokesman |volume=29–32 |quote=The Christmas tree became a widespread custom among German Lutherans by the eighteenth century.}}</ref> In the United States, these "German Lutherans brought the decorated Christmas tree with them; the [[Moravian Church|Moravians]] put lighted candles on those trees."<ref name="Kelly2010">{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Joseph F. |date=2010 |title=The Feast of Christmas |publisher=Liturgical Press |isbn=978-0-8146-3932-0 |page=94 |quote=German Lutherans brought the decorated Christmas tree with them; the Moravians put lighted candles on those trees.}}</ref><ref name="Blainey2013">{{cite book |last=Blainey |first=Geoffrey |title=A Short History of Christianity |date=October 24, 2013 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-4422-2590-9 |page=418 |quote=Many Lutherans continued to set up a small fir tree as their Christmas tree, and it must have been a seasonal sight in Bach's Leipzig at a time when it was virtually unknown in England, and little known in those farmlands of North America where Lutheran immigrants congregated.}}</ref> When [[Christmas decorations|decorating]] the Christmas tree, many individuals place a star at the top of the tree symbolizing the [[Star of Bethlehem]], a fact recorded by ''The School Journal'' in 1897.<ref name="Mandryk2005">{{cite book |last=Mandryk |first=DeeAnn |date=October 25, 2005 |title=Canadian Christmas Traditions |publisher=James Lorimer & Company |isbn=978-1-55439-098-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/canadianchristma0000mand/page/67 67] |quote=The eight-pointed star became a popular manufactured Christmas ornament around the 1840s and many people place a star on the top of their Christmas tree to represent the Star of Bethlehem. |url=https://archive.org/details/canadianchristma0000mand/page/67 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title= Christmas in Other Lands | last= Wells | first= Dorothy | year=1897|journal=The School Journal|volume=55|pages=697–8|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ePc9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA697 |quote=Christmas is the occasional of family reunions. Grandmother always has the place of honor. As the time approaches for enjoying the tree, she gathers her grandchildren about her, to tell them the story of the Christ child, with the meaning of the Christ child, with the meaning of the Christmas tree; how the evergreen is meant to represent the life everlasting, the candle lights to recall the light of the world, and the star at the top of the tree is to remind them of the star of Bethlehem.}}</ref> Professor David Albert Jones of [[Oxford University]] writes that in the 19th century, it became popular for people to also use an angel to top the Christmas tree in order to symbolize the angels mentioned in the accounts of the [[Nativity of Jesus]].<ref name="Jones2011">{{cite book |last=Jones |first=David Albert |date=October 27, 2011 |title=Angels |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-161491-0 |page=24 |quote=The same ambiguity is seen in that most familiar of angels, the angel on top of the Christmas tree. This decoration, popularized in the nineteenth century, recalls the place of the angels in the Christmas story (Luke 2.9–18).}}</ref> Additionally, in the context of a Christian celebration of Christmas, the Christmas tree, being evergreen in colour, is [[Christian symbol|symbolic]] of Christ, who offers eternal life; the candles or lights on the tree represent the [[Light of the World]]—Jesus—born in Bethlehem.<ref name="Becker2000">{{cite book |last1=Becker |first1=Udo |title=The Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols |date=January 1, 2000 |publisher=[[A & C Black]] |isbn=978-0-8264-1221-8 |page=60 |language=English |quote=In Christianity, the Christmas tree is a symbol of Christ as the true tree of life; the candles symbolize the "light of the world" that was born in Bethlehem; the apples often used as decorations set up a symbolic relation to the paradisal apple of knowledge and thus to the original sin that Christ took away so that the return to Eden—symbolized by the Christmas tree—is again possible for humanity.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Crump |first1=William D. |title=The Christmas Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-2293-7 |page=67 |language=English |quote=the evergreen tree (itself symbolic of eternal life through Christ)}}</ref> Christian services for family use and public worship have been published for the blessing of a Christmas tree, after it has been erected.<ref name="Socias2020">{{cite book |last1=Socias |first1=James |title=Handbook of Prayers |date=June 24, 2020 |publisher=Midwest Theological Forum |isbn=978-1-936045-54-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kitch |first=Anne E. |date=2004 |title=The Anglican Family Prayer Book |publisher=Morehouse Publishing |page=125}}</ref> The Christmas tree is considered by some as [[Christianisation]] of [[pagan]] tradition and ritual surrounding the [[Winter Solstice]], which included the use of [[evergreen]] boughs, and an adaptation of pagan [[tree worship]];<ref name=Shaman /> according to eighth-century biographer [[Æddi Stephanus]], [[Saint Boniface]] (634–709), who was a missionary in Germany, took an ax to an oak tree dedicated to [[Thor]] and pointed out a [[fir tree]], which he stated was a more fitting object of reverence because it pointed to [[Heaven (Christianity)|heaven]] and it had a triangular shape, which he said was symbolic of the [[Trinity]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Fritz Allhoff, Scott C. Lowe|title=Christmas|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2010|quote=His biographer, Eddius Stephanus, relates that while Boniface was serving as a missionary near Geismar, Germany, he had enough of the locals' reverence for the old gods. Taking an axe to an oak tree dedicated to Norse god Thor, Boniface chopped the tree down and dared Thor to zap him for it. When nothing happened, Boniface pointed out a young fir tree amid the roots of the oak and explained how this tree was a more fitting object of reverence as it pointed towards the Christian heaven and its triangular shape was reminiscent of the Christian trinity.}}</ref> The English language phrase "Christmas tree" is first recorded in 1835<ref name=Harper>Harper, Douglas, [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Christ Christ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509183911/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Christ |date=May 9, 2006 }}, ''Online Etymology Dictionary'', 2001.</ref> and represents an importation from the German language.<ref name=Shaman>van Renterghem, Tony. ''When Santa was a shaman.'' St. Paul: [[Llewellyn Worldwide|Llewellyn Publications]], 1995. {{ISBN|1-56718-765-X}}.</ref><ref name="Christmas Archives">{{cite web|url=http://www.christmasarchives.com/trees.html |title=The Chronological History of the Christmas Tree |publisher=The Christmas Archives |access-date=December 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221113003/http://www.christmasarchives.com/trees.html |archive-date=December 21, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="Fashion Era- Christmas">{{cite web |url = http://www.fashion-era.com/Christmas/christmas_customs_tree_history.htm |title = Christmas Tradition – The Christmas Tree Custom |publisher = Fashion Era |access-date = December 18, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071218110944/http://www.fashion-era.com/Christmas/christmas_customs_tree_history.htm |archive-date = December 18, 2007 |url-status = live }}</ref>

[[File:Advent Wreath (Broadway United Methodist Church).jpg|thumb|left|upright|On Christmas, the Christ Candle in the center of the [[Advent wreath]] is traditionally lit in many [[church service]]s.]]

Since the 16th century, the [[poinsettia]], a native plant from Mexico, has been associated with Christmas carrying the Christian symbolism of the [[Star of Bethlehem]]; in that country it is known in Spanish as the ''Flower of the Holy Night''.<ref name="Hewitson2013">{{cite book |last1=Hewitson |first1=Carolyn |title=Festivals |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-05706-0 |quote=It is said to resemble the star of Bethlehem. The Mexicans call it the flower of the Holy Night, but usually it is called poinsettia after the man who introduced it to America, Dr Joel Poinsett.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = The Legends and Traditions of Holiday Plants|url = http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1995/12-8-1995/trad.html|website = www.ipm.iastate.edu|access-date = February 17, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160122071614/http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1995/12-8-1995/trad.html|archive-date = January 22, 2016}}</ref> Other popular holiday plants include holly, [[mistletoe]], red [[amaryllis]], and [[Christmas cactus]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=StackPath|url=https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/christmas-plants-flowers.htm|access-date=December 23, 2020|website=www.gardeningknowhow.com|date=December 24, 2010 }}</ref>

Other traditional decorations include [[Bell (instrument)|bells]], [[candles]], [[candy canes]], [[Christmas stocking|stockings]], [[wreath]]s, and [[angels]]. Both the displaying of wreaths and candles in each window are a more traditional Christmas display.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 21, 2019|title=Germany's Advent wreath tradition, and how to make one of your own|url=https://europe.stripes.com/lifestyle/germany%E2%80%99s-advent-wreath-tradition-and-how-make-one-your-own|access-date=December 23, 2020|website=Stripes Europe|language=en|archive-date=December 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203161916/https://europe.stripes.com/lifestyle/germany%E2%80%99s-advent-wreath-tradition-and-how-make-one-your-own|url-status=dead}}</ref> The concentric assortment of leaves, usually from an [[evergreen]], make up Christmas wreaths and are designed to prepare Christians for the Advent season. Candles in each window are meant to demonstrate the fact that Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the ultimate light of the world.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1173
 |title=Liturgical Year: Symbolic Lights and Fires of Christmas (Activity)
 |publisher=Catholic Culture
 |access-date=December 10, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113131615/http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1173
 |archive-date=January 13, 2012
}}</ref>
[[File:Neve a Verona 17.01.2006 033.jpg|thumb|[[Christmas lights]] in [[Verona]].]]

[[Christmas lights]] and banners may be hung along streets, music played from speakers, and Christmas trees placed in prominent places.<ref>Murray, Brian. [http://www.historymatters.appstate.edu/documents/christmaslights.pdf "Christmas lights and community building in America"], ''History Matters'', Spring 2006. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629182754/http://www.historymatters.appstate.edu/documents/christmaslights.pdf |date=June 29, 2010 }}</ref> It is common in many parts of the world for town squares and consumer shopping areas to sponsor and display decorations. Rolls of brightly colored paper with secular or religious Christmas motifs are manufactured for the purpose of wrapping gifts. In some countries, Christmas decorations are traditionally taken down on [[Twelfth Night (holiday)|Twelfth Night]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 6, 2017|title=Epiphany: Should Christmas decorations come down on 6 January?|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38527942|access-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref>

=== Nativity play ===

{{Main|Nativity play}}
[[File:Childrens Nativity Play 2007.jpg|thumb|Children in Oklahoma reenact a [[Nativity play]]]]
For the Christian celebration of Christmas, the viewing of the [[Nativity play]] is one of the oldest Christmastime traditions, with the first reenactment of the [[Nativity of Jesus]] taking place in 1223 AD in the Italian town of [[Greccio]].<ref name="Collins2010">{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Ace |title=Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas |date=2010 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-87388-4 |pages=139–141}}</ref> In that year, [[Francis of Assisi]] assembled a [[Nativity scene]] outside of his church in Italy and children sung Christmas carols celebrating the birth of Jesus.<ref name="Collins2010"/> Each year, this grew larger and people travelled from afar to see Francis's depiction of the Nativity of Jesus that came to feature drama and music.<ref name="Collins2010"/> Nativity plays eventually spread throughout all of Europe, where they remain popular. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church services often came to feature Nativity plays, as did schools and theatres.<ref name="Collins2010"/> In France, Germany, Mexico and Spain, Nativity plays are often reenacted outdoors in the streets.<ref name="Collins2010"/>

=== Music and carols ===

{{Main|Christmas music}}
[[File:Chant'tie d'Cantiques dé Noué Dézembre 2009 Jèrri a.jpg|thumb|Christmas carolers in [[Jersey]]]]

The earliest extant specifically Christmas hymns appear in fourth-century [[Rome]]. Latin hymns such as {{lang|la|"[[Veni redemptor gentium]]"}}, written by [[Ambrose]], Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to [[Arianism]]. {{lang|la|"[[Corde natus ex Parentis]]"}} ("Of the Father's love begotten") by the Spanish poet [[Prudentius]] ({{abbr|died|d.}} 413) is still sung in some churches today.<ref>Miles, Clement, ''Christmas customs and traditions'', Courier Dover Publications, 1976, {{ISBN|0-486-23354-5}}, p. 32.</ref> In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas "Sequence" or "Prose" was introduced in North European monasteries, developing under [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] into a sequence of rhymed [[stanza]]s. In the 12th century the Parisian monk [[Adam of St. Victor]] began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something closer to the traditional [[Christmas carol]]. Christmas carols in English appear in a 1426 work of [[John Audelay|John Awdlay]] who lists twenty five "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of '[[wassailing|wassailers]]', who went from house to house.<ref>Miles, Clement, ''Christmas customs and traditions'', Courier Dover Publications, 1976, pp. 47–48</ref>

[[File:Steaua, Bucharest, 1842 crop.jpg|thumb|left|Child singers in [[Bucharest]], 1841]]

The songs now known specifically as carols were originally communal folk songs sung during celebrations such as "harvest tide" as well as Christmas. It was only later that carols began to be sung in church. Traditionally, carols have often been based on [[medieval]] chord patterns, and it is this that gives them their uniquely characteristic musical sound. Some carols like "[[Personent hodie]]", "[[Good King Wenceslas]]", and {{lang|la|"[[In dulci jubilo]]"}} can be traced directly back to the [[Middle Ages]]. They are among the oldest musical compositions still regularly sung. {{lang|la|"[[Adeste Fideles]]"}} (O Come all ye faithful) appeared in its current form in the mid-18th century.

The singing of carols increased in popularity after the [[Protestant Reformation]] in the [[Lutheran]] areas of Europe, as the Reformer [[Martin Luther]] wrote carols and encouraged their use in worship, in addition to spearheading the practice of caroling outside the [[Mass (liturgy)#Lutheranism|Mass]].<ref name="Clancy2008">{{cite book |last1=Clancy |first1=Ronald M. |title=Sacred Christmas Music: The Stories Behind the Most Beloved Songs of Devotion |date=2008 |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company|isbn=978-1-4027-5811-9 |page=40 |language=en |quote=Luther sought reforms in music, as he sought change in theology, ethics, ritual, and art. He loved polyphony and wanted music that moved people by fusing faith and song. He encouraged a greater participation by the congregation in singing, and he simplified the music from choir plainsong to easy harmony{{nbsp}}[...] Luther published hundreds of hymn texts to be sung to popular melodies and simple chants. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Reformation extended the range of religious choral music beyond the liturgy, and the informal group singing of songs was highly encouraged, leading to a greater familiarity with Christmas hymns.}}</ref> The 18th-century English reformer [[Charles Wesley]], a founder of [[Methodism]], understood the importance of music to Christian worship. In addition to setting many psalms to melodies, he wrote texts for at least three Christmas carols. The best known was originally entitled "Hark! How All the Welkin Rings", later renamed "[[Hark! The Herald Angels Sing]]".<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Dudley-Smith
 |first=Timothy
 |author-link=Timothy Dudley-Smith
 |title=A Flame of Love
 |publisher=Triangle/SPCK
 |location=London
 |year=1987
 |isbn=978-0-281-04300-2
}}</ref>

{{Listen
|filename=U.S. Army Band - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.ogg
|title=Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
|description=Performed by the U.S. Army Band Chorus
}}

Christmas seasonal songs of a secular nature emerged in the late 18th century. The Welsh melody for "[[Deck the Halls]]" dates from 1794, with the lyrics added by Scottish musician [[Thomas Oliphant (lyricist)|Thomas Oliphant]] in 1862, and the American "[[Jingle Bells]]" was copyrighted in 1857. Other popular carols include "[[The First Noel]]", "[[God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen]]", "[[The Holly and the Ivy]]", "[[I Saw Three Ships]]", "[[In the Bleak Midwinter]]", "[[Joy to the World]]", "[[Once in Royal David's City]]" and "[[While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks]]".<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Thomas |author2=Talhaiarn |author3=Thomas Oliphant  |title=Welsh melodies: with Welsh and English poetry
|location=London |publisher=Addison, Hollier and Lucas |year=1862 |oclc=63015609 |pages=139}}</ref> In the 19th and 20th centuries, African American spirituals and songs about Christmas, based in their tradition of spirituals, became more widely known. An increasing number of seasonal holiday songs were commercially produced in the 20th century, including jazz and blues variations. In addition, there was a revival of interest in early music, from groups singing folk music, such as The Revels, to performers of early medieval and classical music.

One of the most ubiquitous festive songs is "[[We Wish You a Merry Christmas]]", which originates from the [[West Country]] of England in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Byrne|first=Eugene|date=December 24, 2019|title=Arguably most famous Christmas song was written by a Bristolian|url=https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/wish-you-merry-christmas-written-3678149|access-date=November 6, 2020|website=BristolLive|language=en}}</ref> Radio has covered Christmas music from variety shows from the 1940s and 1950s, as well as modern-day stations that exclusively play Christmas music from late November through December 25.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Smolko|first=Joanna|date=February 4, 2012|title=Christmas music|url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic|journal=[[Grove Music Online]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2227990}}</ref> Hollywood movies have featured new Christmas music, such as "[[White Christmas (song)|White Christmas]]" in ''[[Holiday Inn (film)|Holiday Inn]]'' and ''[[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special)|Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]]''.<ref name=":0" /> Traditional carols have also been included in Hollywood films, such as "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" in ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' (1946), and "[[Silent Night]]" in ''[[A Christmas Story]]''.<ref name=":0" />

=== Traditional cuisine ===
{{See also|Christmas food}}
[[File:Christmas Dinner Setting.jpg|thumb|right|[[Christmas dinner]] setting]]

A special [[Christmas dinner|Christmas family meal]] is traditionally an important part of the holiday's celebration, and the food that is served varies greatly from country to country. Some regions have special meals for Christmas Eve, such as [[Sicily]], where twelve kinds of fish are served. In the United Kingdom and countries influenced by its traditions, a standard Christmas meal includes turkey, goose or other large bird, gravy, potatoes, vegetables, sometimes bread and cider. Special desserts are also prepared, such as [[Christmas pudding]], [[mince pie]]s, [[Christmas cake]], and latterly [[Panettone]] and [[Yule log (cake)|Yule log]].<ref>Broomfield, Andrea (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=fJ_JDp9OgJEC&dq=christmas+pudding+england&pg=PA149 ''Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025140408/https://books.google.com/books?id=fJ_JDp9OgJEC&pg=PA149&dq=christmas+pudding+england |date=October 25, 2022 }}, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, pp. 149–150.</ref><ref>Muir, Frank (1977), ''Christmas customs & traditions'', Taplinger Pub. Co., 1977, p. 58.</ref> A traditional Christmas meal in Central Europe features fried [[carp]] or other fish.<ref>{{cite news |title=Carp for Christmas: the odd Central European tradition explained |url=https://kafkadesk.org/2018/12/09/carp-for-christmas-the-odd-central-european-tradition-explained/ |work=Kafkadesk |date=December 9, 2018}}</ref>

=== Cards ===
{{Main|Christmas card}}
[[File:Christmas postcard 1907.jpg|alt=|thumb|upright|A 1907 Christmas card with [[Santa Claus|Santa]] and some of his reindeer]]

Christmas cards are illustrated messages of greeting exchanged between friends and family members during the weeks preceding Christmas Day. The traditional greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", much like that of the first commercial [[Christmas card#History|Christmas card]], produced by [[Henry Cole|Sir Henry Cole]] in London in 1843.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1679110.stm "Christmas card sold for record price"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205200933/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1679110.stm |date=February 5, 2006 }}, BBC News. Retrieved October 28, 2011.</ref> The custom of sending them has become popular among a wide cross-section of people with the emergence of the modern trend towards exchanging [[E-card]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schaverien|first=Anna|date=June 19, 2021|title=E-Cards Are Back, Thanks to the Pandemic|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/business/e-cards-pandemic.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/business/e-cards-pandemic.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |url-access=limited|access-date=November 13, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=It's time to mail your holiday cards – if you can find any|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/time-mail-holiday-cards-can-find-rcna4262|access-date=November 13, 2021|website=NBC News|date=November 2, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

Christmas cards are purchased in considerable quantities and feature artwork, commercially designed and relevant to the season. The content of the design might relate directly to the [[Nativity of Jesus|Christmas narrative]], with [[Nativity of Jesus in art|depictions of the Nativity of Jesus]], or [[Christian symbols]] such as the [[Star of Bethlehem]], or a white [[dove]], which can represent both the [[Holy Spirit]] and [[Peace]] on Earth. Other Christmas cards are more secular and can depict [[Christmas tradition]]s, mythical figures such as [[Santa Claus]], objects directly associated with Christmas such as candles, holly, and baubles, or a variety of images associated with the season, such as Christmastide activities, snow scenes, and the wildlife of the northern winter.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 28, 2012|title=History of Christmas – Part 2|url=https://www.americanstationery.com/blog/history-of-christmas-part-2/|access-date=December 22, 2021|website=The Note Pad {{!}} Stationery & Party Etiquette Blog by American Stationery|language=en-US}}</ref>

Some prefer cards with a poem, prayer, or [[Bible verse|Biblical verse]]; while others distance themselves from religion with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pruitt|first=Sarah|title=The War of Words behind 'Happy Holidays'|url=https://www.history.com/news/the-war-of-words-behind-happy-holidays|access-date=December 24, 2020|website=HISTORY|date=September 2018 }}</ref>

=== Commemorative stamps ===
{{Main|Christmas stamp}}

A number of nations have issued [[commemorative stamp]]s at Christmastide.<ref>{{cite news |title=In pictures: Christmas stamps |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6121996.stm |access-date=August 29, 2023 |agency=BBC}}</ref> Postal customers will often use these stamps to mail [[Christmas card]]s, and they are popular with [[philately|philatelists]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The First Christmas Stamps |url=https://stamps.org/news/c/start-collecting/cat/collecting-resources/post/the-first-christmas-stamps |access-date=August 29, 2023 |agency=American Philatelic Society}}</ref> These stamps are regular postage stamps, unlike [[Christmas seals]], and are valid for postage year-round. They usually go on sale sometime between early October and early December and are printed in considerable quantities.

===Christmas seals===
{{Main|Christmas seals}}
 [[file:First Christmas Seal, Denmark, 1904.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The world's first Christmas seal, issued in Denmark 1904.]]
Christmas seals were first issued to raise funding to fight and bring awareness to [[tuberculosis]]. The first Christmas seal was issued in [[Denmark]] in 1904, and since then other countries have issued their own Christmas seals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Loytved|first=G.|title=[Christmas seals]|journal=Pneumologie (Stuttgart, Germany)|year=2006|volume=60|issue=11|pages=701–710|doi=10.1055/s-2006-944325|issn=0934-8387|pmid=17109268|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Gift giving ===
{{Main|Christmas gift}}
[[File:Gifts xmas.jpg|thumb|right|Christmas gifts under a Christmas tree]]

The exchanging of gifts is one of the core aspects of the modern Christmas celebration, making it the most profitable time of year for retailers and businesses throughout the world. On Christmas, people exchange gifts based on the Christian tradition associated with [[Saint Nicholas]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Collins, Ace |title=Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mo8vgZoROl8C&q=giving+gifts+wise+men&pg=PT88 |date=April 20, 2010|access-date=April 10, 2012|publisher=Zondervan|page=17|quote=The legend of St. Nicholas, who became the bishop of Myra in the beginning of the fourth century, is the next link in the Christmas-gift chain. Legend has it that during his life the priest rode across Asia Minor bestowing gifts upon poor children.|isbn=978-0-310-87388-4}}</ref> and the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh which were given to the baby Jesus by the [[Biblical Magi|Magi]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Trexler|first=Richard|title=The Journey of the Magi: Meanings in History of a Christian Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YLmhCHtydKMC&pg=PA17|access-date=April 10, 2012|date=May 23, 1997|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|page=17|quote=This exchange network of ceremonial welcome was mirrored in a second reciprocity allowing early Christians to imagine their own magi: the phenomenon of giving gifts.|isbn=978-0-691-01126-4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231223014/https://books.google.com/books?id=YLmhCHtydKMC&pg=PA17|archive-date=December 31, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Collins, Ace|title=Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mo8vgZoROl8C&q=giving+gifts+wise+men&pg=PT88 |date=April 20, 2010|access-date=April 10, 2012|publisher=Zondervan|page=17|quote=Most people today trace the practice of giving gifts on Christmas Day to the three gifts that the Magi gave to Jesus.|isbn=978-0-310-87388-4}}</ref> The practice of gift giving in the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] celebration of [[Saturnalia]] may have influenced Christian customs, but on the other hand the Christian "core dogma of the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]], however, solidly established the giving and receiving of gifts as the structural principle of that recurrent yet unique event", because it was the Biblical Magi, "together with all their fellow men, who received the gift of God through man's renewed participation in the divine life."<ref name="Berking1999">{{cite book|last=Berking|first=Helmuth|title=Sociology of Giving|date=March 30, 1999|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-0-85702-613-2|page=14|quote=For the Enlightenment educationalist, gift-giving turned out to be a relic of a pagan custom, namely, the Roman Saturnalia. After the introduction of the Julian calendar in Rome, the 25th of December became the day of ''Sol invictus'' when people greeted the winter solstice. It was the day of the Sun's rebirth, and it was the day of the Christmas festivities – although it was only in the year 336 AD that it appears to have become established as the day of Jesus's birth (see Pannenberg 1989: 57). The Eastern Church adopted this date even later, towards the end of the 4th century, having previously regarded the 6th of January as the day of gift-giving, as it still is in the Italian community of Befana. The winter solstice was a time of festivity in every traditional culture, and the Christian Christmas probably took its place within this mythical context of the solar cult. Its core dogma of the Incarnation, however, solidly established the giving and receiving of gifts as the structural principle of that recurrent yet unique event. 'Children were given presents as the Jesus child received gifts from the magi or kings who came from afar to adore him. But in reality it was they, together with all their fellow men, who received the gift of God through man's renewed participation in the divine life' (ibid.: 61).}}<!--|access-date=December 24, 2015--></ref> However, Thomas J. Talley holds that the Roman Emperor [[Aurelian]] placed the alternate festival on December 25 in order to compete with the growing rate of the Christian Church, which had already been celebrating Christmas on that date first.<ref name="Talley1991">{{cite book|last=Talley|first=Thomas J.|title=The Origins of the Liturgical Year|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_O8F_iGcqkC|access-date=December 27, 2016|year=1991|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-6075-1|pages=88–91}}</ref>

==== Gift-bearing figures ====
{{Main|List of Christmas and winter gift-bringers by country}}

A number of figures are associated with Christmas and the seasonal giving of gifts. Among these are [[Father Christmas]], also known as [[Santa Claus]] (derived from the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] for Saint Nicholas), Père Noël, and the [[Weihnachtsmann]]; [[Saint Nicholas]] or [[Sinterklaas]]; the [[Christkind]]; Kris Kringle; [[Joulupukki]]; [[Nisse (folklore)|tomte/nisse]]; Babbo Natale; [[Basil of Caesarea|Saint Basil]]; and [[Ded Moroz]]. The Scandinavian tomte (also called nisse) is sometimes depicted as a [[gnome]] instead of Santa Claus.

[[File:Sinterklaas 2007.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Saint Nicholas]], known as [[Sinterklaas]] in the Netherlands, is considered by many to be the original Santa Claus<ref name="SewardLal2006">{{cite book|last1=Seward|first1=Pat|last2=Lal|first2=Sunandini Arora|title=Netherlands|year=2006|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-2052-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/netherlands0000sewa/page/116 116]|quote=Until quite recently, the celebrations focused solely on Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas (SIN-ter-klahs), as the Dutch call him.{{nbsp}}[...] Interestingly, the American Santa Claus was born out of the Dutch Sinterklaas.|url=https://archive.org/details/netherlands0000sewa/page/116}}</ref>]]

The best known of these figures today is red-dressed Santa Claus, of diverse origins. The name 'Santa Claus' can be traced back to the Dutch {{lang|nl|Sinterklaas}} ('Saint Nicholas'). Nicholas was a 4th-century [[Greeks in Turkey#History|Greek]] bishop of [[Myra]], a city in the [[Roman province]] of [[Lycia]], whose ruins are {{convert|3|km}} from modern [[Demre]] in southwest Turkey.<ref>{{cite book |author= Domenico, Roy Palmer |title= The regions of Italy: a reference guide to history and culture |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group |year= 2002 |page=21 |isbn= 978-0-313-30733-1 |quote= Saint Nicholas (Bishop of Myra) replaced Sabino as the patron saint of the city... A Greek from what is now Turkey, he lived in the early fourth century.}}</ref><ref name="Collins, Ace 2009 121">{{cite book |author= Collins, Ace |title= Stories Behind Men of Faith |publisher= Zondervan |year= 2009 |url= https://archive.org/details/storiesbehindmen0000coll |url-access= registration |page= [https://archive.org/details/storiesbehindmen0000coll/page/121 121] |isbn= 978-0-310-56456-0 |quote= Nicholas was born in the Greek city of Patara around 270 AD. The son of a businessman named Theophanes and his wife, Nonna, the child's earliest years were spent in Myra... As a port on the Mediterranean Sea, in the middle of the sea lanes that linked Egypt, Greece and Rome, Myra was a destination for traders, fishermen, and merchant sailors. Spawned by the spirit of both the city's Greek heritage and the ruling Roman government, cultural endeavors such as art, drama, and music were mainstays of everyday life. |access-date= June 20, 2015 }}</ref> Among other saintly attributes, he was noted for the care of children, generosity, and the giving of gifts. His feast day, December 6, came to be celebrated in many countries with the giving of gifts.<ref name=ADS/>

Saint Nicholas traditionally appeared in bishop's attire, accompanied by helpers, inquiring about the behaviour of children during the past year before deciding whether they deserved a gift or not. By the 13th century, Saint Nicholas was well known in the Netherlands, and the practice of gift-giving in his name spread to other parts of central and southern Europe. At the [[Reformation]] in 16th- and 17th-century Europe, many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or {{lang|de|Christkindl}}, corrupted in English to 'Kris Kringle', and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve.<ref name="ADS" />

The modern popular image of Santa Claus, however, was created in the United States, and in particular in New York. The transformation was accomplished with the aid of notable contributors including [[Washington Irving]] and the [[German Americans|German-American]] cartoonist [[Thomas Nast]] (1840–1902). Following the [[American Revolutionary War]], some of the inhabitants of New York City sought out symbols of the city's non-English past. New York had originally been established as the Dutch colonial town of [[New Amsterdam]] and the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition was reinvented as Saint Nicholas.<ref>{{cite web
 |author=Jona Lendering
 |url=https://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nicholas/nicholas_of_myra3.html#New
 |title=Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Santa Claus
 |publisher=Livius.org
 |date=November 20, 2008
|access-date=February 24, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513114942/https://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nicholas/nicholas_of_myra3.html#New
 |archive-date=May 13, 2011
|url-status=live
 }}</ref>

Current tradition in several [[Latin America]]n countries (such as Venezuela and Colombia) holds that while Santa makes the toys, he then gives them to the Baby Jesus, who is the one who actually delivers them to the children's homes, a reconciliation between traditional [[Religion|religious beliefs]] and the [[iconography]] of Santa Claus imported from the United States.

In Italy's [[South Tyrol]], Austria, the Czech Republic, Southern Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, and Switzerland, the [[Christkind]] ([[Ježíšek]] in Czech, Jézuska in Hungarian and Ježiško in Slovak) brings the presents. Greek children get their presents from [[Saint Basil]] on New Year's Eve, the eve of that saint's liturgical feast.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.skiathosbooks.com/saints_basil.htm |title=St. Basil (330–379) |publisher=Skiathosbooks.com |access-date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112035451/http://www.skiathosbooks.com/saints_basil.htm |archive-date=January 12, 2012 }}</ref> The German St. Nikolaus is not identical with the Weihnachtsmann (who is the German version of Santa Claus / Father Christmas). St. Nikolaus wears a bishop's dress and still brings small gifts (usually candies, nuts, and fruits) on December 6 and is accompanied by [[Knecht Ruprecht]]. Although many parents around the world routinely teach their children about Santa Claus and other gift bringers, some have come to reject this practice, considering it [[Paternalistic deception|deceptive]].<ref>Matera, Mariane. [http://www.citybeat.com/archives/1996/issue304/cover1.html "Santa: The First Great Lie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914195318/http://citybeat.com/archives/1996/issue304/cover1.html |date=September 14, 2007 }}, ''Citybeat'', Issue 304.</ref>

Multiple gift-giver figures exist in Poland, varying between regions and individual families. St Nicholas ({{lang|pl|Święty Mikołaj}}) dominates Central and North-East areas, the Starman ({{lang|pl|Gwiazdor}}) is most common in [[Greater Poland]], Baby Jesus ({{lang|pl|Dzieciątko}}) is unique to [[Upper Silesia]], with the Little Star ({{lang|pl|Gwiazdka}}) and the Little Angel ({{lang|pl|Aniołek}}) being common in the South and the South-East. Grandfather Frost ({{lang|pl|Dziadek Mróz}}) is less commonly accepted in some areas of Eastern Poland.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kto przynosi Wam prezenty? Św. Mikołaj, Gwiazdor, Aniołek, Dzieciątko czy może Dziadek Mróz?|url=https://bezprawnik.pl/kto-przynosi-prezenty-mikolaj-gwiazdor/|website=Bezprawnik|language=pl-PL|date=December 22, 2016|access-date=December 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224213716/https://bezprawnik.pl/kto-przynosi-prezenty-mikolaj-gwiazdor/|archive-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nie tylko Mikołaj, czyli kto według tradycji rozdaje prezenty w różnych regionach Polski?|url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114871,19380983,nie-tylko-mikolaj-czyli-kto-wedlug-tradycji-rozdaje-prezenty.html|website=gazeta.pl|date=December 21, 2015 |language=pl-PL|access-date=December 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224213619/http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114871,19380983,nie-tylko-mikolaj-czyli-kto-wedlug-tradycji-rozdaje-prezenty.html|archive-date=December 24, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It is worth noting that across all of Poland, St Nicholas is the gift giver on [[Saint Nicholas Day]] on December 6.

===Sport===
Christmas during the Middle Ages was a public festival with annual indulgences included the sporting.<ref name="ADS"/> When Puritans outlawed Christmas in England in December 1647 the crowd brought out footballs as a symbol of festive misrule.<ref name="auto"/> The Orkney [[Christmas Day Ba']] tradition continues.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orkney.com/events/christmas-day-ba|title=Christmas Day Ba' 2023|website=Orkney.com}}</ref> In the [[Football League|former top tier of English football]], home and away Christmas Day and Boxing Day double headers were often played guaranteeing football clubs large crowds by allowing many working people their only chance to watch a game.<ref name=bbcbs>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z4y847h|title=Why football at Christmas is a very British tradition|website=BBC Bitesize}}</ref> Champions [[Preston North End]] faced [[Aston Villa]] [[1889-90 Football League|on Christmas Day 1889]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.90min.com/posts/the-last-time-football-was-played-christmas-day-england|title=The Last Time Football Was Played on Christmas Day in England|date=December 25, 2020|website=90min.com}}</ref> and the last December 25 fixture was in [[1965-66 in English football|1965 in England]], [[1965-66 Blackpool F.C.|Blackpool]] beating Blackburn Rovers 4–2.<ref name=bbcbs/> One of the most memorable images of the [[Christmas truce]] during World War I was the games of football played between the opposing sides on Christmas Day 1914.<ref>John Woodcock (November 17, 2013). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/10455611/England-v-Germany-when-rivals-staged-beautiful-game-on-the-Somme.html "England v Germany: when rivals staged beautiful game on the Somme"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612113529/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/10455611/England-v-Germany-when-rivals-staged-beautiful-game-on-the-Somme.html |date=June 12, 2020 }}, ''The Daily Telegraph''.</ref>

More recently, in the United States, both [[NFL American football|NFL]] and [[NBA basketball|NBA]] have held fixtures on Christmas Day.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-42239033|title=The sports games that don't stop for Christmas Day|date=December 22, 2017|via=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

==Choice of date==
{{main|Date of birth of Jesus}}
[[File:ChristAsSol.jpg|thumb|right|Mosaic in Mausoleum M in the pre-fourth-century necropolis under [[St Peter's Basilica]] in Rome, interpreted by some as Jesus represented as {{lang|la|Christus Sol}} ('Christ the Sun').<ref>Kelly, Joseph F., ''The Origins of Christmas'', Liturgical Press, 2004, pp. 67–69.</ref>]]

There are two main theories behind December 25 becoming the traditional date for Christmas, although Theology professor Susan Roll says that "No liturgical historian{{nbsp}}[...] goes so far as to deny that it has any sort of relation with the sun, the [[winter solstice]] and the popularity of [[solar worship]] in the later Roman Empire".<ref>Roll, p.107</ref> December 25 was the date of the [[winter solstice]] in the Roman calendar.<ref name="Forsythe"/> Some early Christian writers noted the solar symbolism in placing Jesus's birthday at the winter solstice and [[Saint John's Eve|John's birthday]] at the [[summer solstice]].<ref name="Hijmans">Hijmans, S.E., ''[https://www.scribd.com/doc/33490806/Hijmans-Sol-The-Sun-in-the-Art-and-Religions-of-Rome Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome],'' 2009, p. 595. {{ISBN|978-90-367-3931-3}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510231050/http://www.scribd.com/doc/33490806/Hijmans-Sol-The-Sun-in-the-Art-and-Religions-of-Rome |date=May 10, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="Bradshaw"/> 

The 'history of religions' theory suggests the Church chose December 25 as Christ's birthday ({{lang|la|dies Natalis Christi}})<ref>Kelly, Joseph F., ''The Origins of Christmas'', Liturgical Press, p.80</ref> to appropriate the Roman winter solstice festival {{lang|la|dies Natalis Solis Invicti}} (birthday of {{lang|la|[[Sol Invictus]]}}, the 'Invincible Sun'), held on this date since 274 AD.<ref name="Forsythe"/><ref name="Bradshaw"/> The early Church linked Jesus Christ to the Sun and referred to him as the 'Sun of Righteousness' ({{lang|la|Sol Justitiae}}) prophesied by [[Malachi]].<ref name=hijmans>Hijmans, S.E., ''Sol: The Sun in the Art and Religions of Rome,'' 2009, p. 584.</ref><ref name="Malachi">{{bibleverse|Malachi|4:2|ESV}}</ref> Gary Forsythe, Professor of Ancient History, says that the {{lang|la|Natalis Solis Invicti}} followed "the seven-day period of the {{lang|la|[[Saturnalia]]}} (December 17–23), Rome's most joyous holiday season since [[Roman Republic|Republican times]], characterized by parties, banquets, and exchanges of gifts".<ref name="Forsythe"/>

Another theory, the 'computation hypothesis' or 'calculation theory',<ref name="Bradshaw"/> notes that December 25 is nine months after March 25, a date chosen as Jesus's conception (the [[Annunciation]]) and the date of the [[March equinox|spring equinox]] on the Roman calendar.<ref name="Bradshaw"/><ref name="Melton2011">{{cite book |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon |title=Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations |date=2011 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=978-1-59884-206-7 |page=39 |language=en |quote=The March 25 date, which tied together the beginning of Mary's pregnancy and the incarnation of God in Jesus as occurring nine months before Christmas (December 25), supplied the rationale for setting the beginning of the ecclesiastical and legal year.{{nbsp}}[...] Both the Anglicans and the Lutherans have continued to observe the March 25 date for celebrating the Annunciation.}}</ref>

=== Date according to Julian calendar ===

Some jurisdictions of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], including those of [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russia]], [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgia]], [[Macedonian Orthodox Church|Macedonia]], [[Montenegrin Orthodox Church|Montenegro]], [[Serbian Orthodox Church|Serbia]], and [[Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], mark feasts using the older [[Julian calendar]]. As of {{currentyear}}, there is a difference of 13 days between the Julian calendar and the modern [[Gregorian calendar]], which is used internationally for most secular purposes. As a result, December 25 on the Julian calendar currently corresponds to January 7 on the calendar used by most governments and people in everyday life. Therefore, the aforementioned Orthodox Christians mark December 25 (and thus Christmas) on the day that is internationally considered to be January 7.<ref name="Jan7">{{cite web |url=http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/coptic_calendar/nativitydate.html |title=The Glorious Feast of Nativity: 7 January? 29 Kiahk? 25 December? |publisher=Coptic Orthodox Church Network |first=John |last=Ramzy |access-date=January 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228051302/http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/coptic_calendar/nativitydate.html |archive-date=December 28, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

However, following the [[Council of Constantinople (1923)|Council of Constantinople in 1923]],<ref name ="nationalgeographic">{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/why-celebrate-christmas-january |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416232858/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/why-celebrate-christmas-january |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |title=Why some people celebrate Christmas in January |last=Blakemore |first=Erin |date=December 26, 2019 |website=www.nationalgeographic.com |publisher=National Geographic Partners LLC |access-date=July 26, 2022}}</ref> other Orthodox Christians, such as those belonging to the jurisdictions of [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Constantinople]], [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church|Bulgaria]], [[Church of Greece|Greece]], [[Romanian Orthodox Church|Romania]], [[Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch|Antioch]], [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Alexandria]], [[Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania|Albania]], [[Church of Cyprus|Cyprus]], [[Finnish Orthodox Church|Finland]], and the [[Orthodox Church in America]], among others, began using the [[Revised Julian calendar]], which at present corresponds exactly to the Gregorian calendar.<ref name=4Dates>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/bethlehem-christmas|title=Christmas in Bethlehem|website=www.sacred-destinations.com|access-date=June 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616161715/http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/bethlehem-christmas|archive-date=June 16, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Therefore, these Orthodox Christians mark December 25 (and thus Christmas) on the same day that is internationally considered to be December 25.

A further complication is added by the fact that the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] continues the original ancient [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian]] practice of celebrating the birth of Christ not as a separate holiday, but on the same day as the celebration of his baptism ([[Epiphany (holiday)#Oriental Orthodox|Theophany]]), which is on January 6. This is a public holiday in Armenia, and it is held on the same day that is internationally considered to be January 6, because since 1923 the Armenian Church in Armenia has used the Gregorian calendar.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why Do Armenians Celebrate Christmas on January 6th? |url=https://armenianchurch.org.uk/why-do-armenians-celebrate-christmas-on-january-6th/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=armenianchurch.org}}</ref>

However, there is also a small [[Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem]], which maintains the traditional Armenian custom of celebrating the birth of Christ on the same day as Theophany (January 6), but uses the Julian calendar for the determination of that date. As a result, this church celebrates "Christmas" (more properly called Theophany) on the day that is considered January 19 on the Gregorian calendar in use by the majority of the world.<ref>{{cite news |title=Christmas is here- yet again! |url=https://m.jpost.com/christian-news/christmas-is-here-yet-again-386813 |access-date=August 13, 2022 |work=Jerusalem Post}}</ref>

Following the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|2022 invasion of its territory by Russia]], [[Ukraine]] officially moved its Christmas date from January 7 to December 25, to distance itself from the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] that had supported Russia's invasion.<ref name="ukraine-date">{{cite news |last1=Lukiv |first1=Jaroslav |title=Ukraine moves Christmas Day in snub to Russia |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66341617 |access-date=December 15, 2023 |work=BBC News |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=July 28, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 29, 2023 |title=Ukraine moves official Christmas Day holiday to Dec. 25, denouncing Russian-imposed traditions |url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-christmas-orthodox-church-calendar-b658c9ebecc91a470866c34b1c1847eb |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> This followed the [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine]] formally adopting the [[Revised Julian calendar]] for fixed feasts and solemnities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=RFE/RL |title=Orthodox Church Of Ukraine Approves Calendar Switch In Widening Diversion From Russia |language=en |work=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/orthodox-church-ukraine-approves-calendar-switch-russia/32426292.html |access-date=June 18, 2023}}</ref>

=== Table of dates ===
There are four different dates used by different Christian groups to mark the birth of Christ, given in the table below.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Church or section
! Calendar
! Date
! Gregorian date
! Note
|-
| [[Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem]]
| Julian calendar
| January 6
| January 19
| Correspondence between Julian January 6 and Gregorian January 19 holds until 2100; in the following century the difference will be one day more.
|-
| [[Armenian Apostolic Church]], [[Armenian Evangelical Church]]
| Gregorian calendar
| January 6
| January 6
|
|-
| [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] jurisdictions, including those of [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Constantinople]], [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church|Bulgaria]], [[Ukraine]]<ref name="bbc-ukr-dec-25">{{cite web|title=Ukraine moves Christmas Day in snub to Russia|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66341617|date=July 28, 2023|access-date=July 28, 2023|first=Jaroslav|last=Lukiv|language=en|website=BBC News}}</ref> (state holiday, [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine|Orthodox]] and [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|Greek Catholic]]), [[Church of Greece|Greece]], [[Romanian Orthodox Church|Romania]], [[Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch|Antioch]], [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Alexandria]], [[Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania|Albania]], [[Church of Cyprus|Cyprus]], [[Finnish Orthodox Church|Finland]], the [[Orthodox Church in America]].
Also, the [[Ancient Church of the East]], [[Syriac Orthodox Church]], [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church|Indian Orthodox Church]].
| [[Revised Julian calendar]]
| December 25
| December 25
| Revised Julian calendar was agreed at the 1923 Council of Constantinople.<ref name ="nationalgeographic"/>
Although it follows the Julian calendar, the Ancient Church of the East decided on 2010 to celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar date.
|-
| Other Eastern Orthodox: [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russia]], [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgia]], [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)]], [[Macedonian Orthodox Church|Macedonia]], [[Belarusian Orthodox Church|Belarus]], Moldova, Montenegro, [[Serbian Orthodox Church|Serbia]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]].
Also, some [[Greek Byzantine Catholic Church|Byzantine Rite Catholics]] and [[Byzantine Rite Lutheranism|Byzantine Rite Lutherans]].
| Julian calendar
| December 25
| January 7
| Correspondence between Julian December 25 and Gregorian January 7 of the following year holds until 2100; from 2101 to 2199 the difference will be one day more.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
|-
| [[Coptic Orthodox Church]]
| [[Coptic calendar]]
| [[Koiak]] 29 or 28 (December 25)
| January 7
| After the Coptic insertion of a leap day in what for the Julian calendar is August (September in Gregorian), Christmas is celebrated on Koiak 28 in order to maintain the exact interval of nine 30-day months and 5 days of the child's gestation.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
|- id="Genna"
| [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] (sole date), [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] (sole date), and [[P'ent'ay|P'ent'ay (Ethiopian-Eritrean Evangelical) Churches]] (primary date)
| [[Ethiopian calendar]]
| [[Ethiopian Calendar|Tahsas]] 29 or 28 (December 25)
| January 7
| {{Further|Ethiopian Christmas}}After the Ethiopian and Eritrean insertion of a leap day in what for the Julian calendar is August (September in Gregorian), Christmas (also called Liddet or Gena, also Ledet or Genna)<ref>[http://ethiopianorthodox.org/english/calendar.html The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Faith and Order - Religious Holidays and Calendar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029183552/http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/calendar.html |date=October 29, 2021 }}></ref> is celebrated on Tahsas 28 in order to maintain the exact interval of nine 30-day months and 5 days of the child's gestation.<ref>Siegbert Uhlig, ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica'' He-N, p. 538</ref>
Most Protestants ([[P'ent'ay]]/Evangelicals) in the diaspora have the option of choosing the [[Ethiopian calendar]] ([[Ethiopian Calendar|Tahsas]] 29/January 7) or the [[Gregorian calendar]] (December 25) for religious holidays, with this option being used when the corresponding [[Eastern Christianity|eastern celebration]] is not a public holiday in the western world (with most diaspora Protestants celebrating both days).{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
|-
| Most [[Western Christianity|Western Christian churches]], most [[Eastern Catholic churches]] and civil calendars; also the [[Assyrian Church of the East]].
| Gregorian calendar
| December 25
| December 25
| The Assyrian Church of the East adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1964.
|}

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economics of Christmas}}
[[File:Galerie Lafayette Haussmann Dome.jpg|thumb|Christmas decorations at the [[Galeries Lafayette]] department store in Paris, France. The Christmas season is the busiest trading period for retailers.]]
[[File:ChristmasMarketJena.jpg|thumb|[[Christmas market]] in [[Jena]], Germany]]

Christmas is typically a peak selling season for retailers in many nations around the world since sales increase dramatically during this time as people purchase gifts, decorations, and supplies to celebrate. In the United States, the "Christmas shopping season" starts as early as October.<ref>Varga, Melody. [http://retailindustry.about.com/od/abouttheretailindustry/g/black_friday.htm "Black Friday], ''About:Retail Industry''. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517171329/http://retailindustry.about.com/od/abouttheretailindustry/g/black_friday.htm |date=May 17, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/womeninbusinessanswers/a/Wib-Answers-What-Is-The-Definition-Of-Christmas-Creep.htm
 |title=Definition Christmas Creep – What is Christmas Creep
|publisher=Womeninbusiness.about.com
 |date=November 2, 2010
|access-date=February 24, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227091731/http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/womeninbusinessanswers/a/Wib-Answers-What-Is-The-Definition-Of-Christmas-Creep.htm
 |archive-date=December 27, 2010
}}</ref> In Canada, merchants begin advertising campaigns just before [[Halloween]] (October 31), and step up their marketing following Remembrance Day on November 11. In the UK and Ireland, the Christmas shopping season starts from mid-November, around the time when high street [[Christmas lights]] are turned on.<ref>[http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/south-molton-street-christmas-lights-feature-3530.html "South Molton and Brook Street Christmas Lights"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119043958/http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/south-molton-street-christmas-lights-feature-3530.html |date=November 19, 2010 }} (November 16, 2010), ''View London.co.uk''.</ref><ref name=gar>Kollewe, Julia, (November 29, 2010), [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/nov/29/christmas-shopping-spree-starts "West End spree worth £250m marks start of Christmas shopping season"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221072147/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/nov/29/christmas-shopping-spree-starts |date=December 21, 2016 }}, ''[[The Guardian]]''.</ref> A concept devised by retail entrepreneur [[David Lewis (English merchant)|David Lewis]], the first [[Santa's workshop|Christmas grotto]] opened in [[Lewis's]] department store in Liverpool, England in 1879.<ref>{{cite news |title=Liverpool's record breaking Christmas grotto beloved by generations |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/nostalgia/liverpools-record-breaking-christmas-grotto-25517874 |access-date=15 April 2024 |work=Liverpool Echo}}</ref> In the United States, it has been calculated that a quarter of all personal spending takes place during the Christmas/holiday shopping season.<ref>{{cite news|title=Economics Report – Holiday Shopping Season in the U.S. |date=December 3, 2004 |author=Gwen Outen |url=http://voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2004-12/a-2004-12-03-2-1.cfm |publisher=Voice of America |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303072926/http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2004-12/a-2004-12-03-2-1.cfm |archive-date=March 3, 2009 }}</ref> Figures from the [[US Census Bureau]] reveal that expenditure in department stores nationwide rose from $20.8{{nbsp}}billion in November 2004 to $31.9{{nbsp}}billion in December 2004, an increase of 54 percent. In other sectors, the pre-Christmas increase in spending was even greater, there being a November–December buying surge of 100 percent in bookstores and 170 percent in jewelry stores. In the same year employment in American retail stores rose from 1.6{{nbsp}}million to 1.8{{nbsp}}million in the two months leading up to Christmas.<ref>US Census Bureau. [https://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/005870.html "Facts. The Holiday Season"] December 19, 2005. (accessed November 30, 2009) [http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100507013857/http%3A//www%2Ecensus%2Egov/Press%2DRelease/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/005870%2Ehtml Archived copy] at the [[Library of Congress]] (May 7, 2010).</ref> Industries completely dependent on Christmas include [[Christmas card]]s, of which 1.9{{nbsp}}billion are sent in the United States each year, and live Christmas trees, of which 20.8{{nbsp}}million were cut in the US in 2002.<ref>US Census 2005.</ref> For 2019, the average US adult was projected to spend $920 on gifts alone.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haury |first1=Amanda C. |title=Average Cost of an American Christmas |url=https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1112/average-cost-of-an-american-christmas.aspx |website=Investopedia |publisher=Dotdash |access-date=December 17, 2019 |date=November 8, 2019}}</ref> In the UK in 2010, up to £8{{nbsp}}billion was expected to be spent online at Christmas, approximately a quarter of total retail festive sales.<ref name=gar /> 

[[File:Monthly Changes in Currency.jpg|thumb|left|Each year (most notably 2000) [[Federal Reserve System|money supply in US banks]] is increased for Christmas shopping]]

In most Western nations, Christmas Day is the least active day of the year for business and commerce; almost all retail, commercial and institutional businesses are closed, and almost all industries cease activity (more than any other day of the year), whether laws require such or not. In [[England and Wales]], the [[Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004]] prevents all large shops from trading on Christmas Day. Similar legislation was approved in Scotland in 2007. [[Film studio]]s release many high-budget movies during the holiday season, including Christmas films, fantasy movies or high-tone dramas with high production values to hopes of maximizing the chance of nominations for the [[Academy Awards]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zauzmer|first=Ben|date=January 31, 2020|title=Oscar Seasons: The Intersection of Data and the Academy Awards|url=https://hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/6lpet0sx|journal=Harvard Data Science Review|language=en|volume=2|issue=1|doi=10.1162/99608f92.6230ce9f|s2cid=213681214|access-date=November 15, 2021|doi-access=free}}</ref>

One economist's analysis calculates that, despite increased overall spending, Christmas is a [[deadweight loss]] under orthodox [[microeconomic theory]], because of the effect of gift-giving. This loss is calculated as the difference between what the gift giver spent on the item and what the gift receiver would have paid for the item. It is estimated that in 2001, Christmas resulted in a $4{{nbsp}}billion deadweight loss in the US alone.<ref name="Deadweight">Joel Waldfogel "[https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/WaldfogelDeadweightLossXmas.pdf The Deadweight Loss of Christmas]" (PDF), ''American Economic Review'', December 1993, '''83''' (5). Retrieved December 25, 2023.</ref><ref name="econ">[http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=885748 "Is Santa a deadweight loss?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051221102605/http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=885748 |date=December 21, 2005 }} ''The Economist'' December 20, 2001.</ref> Because of complicating factors, this analysis is sometimes used to discuss possible flaws in current microeconomic theory. Other deadweight losses include the effects of Christmas on the environment and the fact that material gifts are often perceived as [[white elephant]]s, imposing cost for upkeep and storage and contributing to clutter.<ref>Reuters. [http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=9475 "Christmas is Damaging the Environment, Report Says"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312225752/http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=9475 |date=March 12, 2007 }}, December 16, 2005.</ref>

== Controversies ==
{{Main|Christmas controversies}}
{{further|Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union|Kirchenkampf|Antireligious campaigns in China}}
[[File:Bezbozhnik u stanka - Run along, Lord, 1931, n. 22.jpg|thumb|upright|A 1931 edition of the Soviet magazine {{transliteration|ru|[[Bezbozhnik (magazine)|Bezbozhnik]]}}, published by the [[League of Militant Atheists]], depicting an Orthodox Christian priest being forbidden to take home a tree for the celebration of [[Christmastide]], which was banned under the Marxist–Leninist doctrine of [[state atheism]].<ref name="Harper1999">{{cite book |last1=Harper |first1=Timothy |title=Moscow Madness: Crime, Corruption, and One Man's Pursuit of Profit in the New Russia |url=https://archive.org/details/moscowmadness00timo |url-access=registration |date=1999 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-026700-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/moscowmadness00timo/page/72 72] }}</ref>]]

Christmas has at times been the subject of controversy and attacks from various sources, both Christian and non-Christian. Historically, it was prohibited by [[Puritans]] during their ascendency in the [[Commonwealth of England]] (1647–1660), and in [[Colonial New England]] where the Puritans outlawed the celebration of Christmas in 1659 on the grounds that Christmas was not mentioned in Scripture and therefore violated the [[Reformed theology|Reformed]] [[regulative principle of worship]].<ref name="puritans-uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/christmas/ban.shtml|title=Marta Patiño, The Puritan Ban on Christmas|publisher=Timetravel-britain.com|access-date=February 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301212323/http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/christmas/ban.shtml|archive-date=March 1, 2011}}</ref><ref name="puritans-usa">[http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1868506_1868508_1868518,00.html Christmas in the Colonies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111225064533/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1868506_1868508_1868518,00.html |date=December 25, 2011 }} ''Time''. Retrieved December 25, 2011.</ref> The [[Parliament of Scotland]], which was dominated by [[Presbyterian]]s, passed a series of acts outlawing the observance of Christmas between 1637 and 1690; Christmas Day did not become [[Christmas in Scotland|a public holiday in Scotland]] until 1871.<ref name="scotland-1871" /><ref name="Daniels89">Daniels, Bruce Colin (1995). Puritans at Play: Leisure and Recreation in Colonial New England. Macmillan, p. 89, {{ISBN|978-0-312-16124-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Roark|first1=James|last2=Johnson|first2=Michael|last3=Cohen|first3=Patricia|last4=Stage|first4=Sarah|last5=Lawson|first5=Alan|last6=Hartmann|first6=Susan|title=Understanding the American Promise: A History, Volume I: To 1877|year=2011|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|page=91|quote=Puritans mandated other purifications of what they considered corrupt English practices. They refused to celebrate Christmas or Easter because the Bible did not mention either one.}}</ref> Today, some conservative Reformed denominations such as the [[Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland]] and the [[Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America]] likewise reject the celebration of Christmas based on the regulative principle and what they see as its non-Scriptural origin.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Regulative Principle of Worship|publisher=Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland|access-date=April 12, 2022|url=https://www.fpchurch.org.uk/about-us/how-we-worship/the-regulative-principle-of-worship|quote=Those who adhere to the Regulative Principle by singing exclusively the psalms, refusing to use musical instruments, and rejecting "Christmas", "Easter" and the rest, are often accused of causing disunity among the people of God. The truth is the opposite. The right way to move towards more unity is to move to exclusively Scriptural worship. Each departure from the worship instituted in Scripture creates a new division among the people of God. Returning to Scripture alone to guide worship is the only remedy.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Minutes of Session of 1905 |url=https://archive.org/details/minutesofreforme1905refo/page/130/mode/2up |access-date=December 25, 2023 |publisher=Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America|date=1905|page=130|quote=WHEREAS, There is a growing tendency in Protestant Churches, and to some extent in our own, to observe days and ceremonies, as Christmas and Easter, that are without divine authority; we urge our people to abstain from all such customs as are popish in their origin and injurious as lending sacredness to rites that come from paganism; that ministers keep before the minds of the people that only institutions that are Scriptural and of Divine appointment should be used in the worship of God.}}</ref> Christmas celebrations have also been prohibited by [[State atheism|atheist states]] such as the [[Soviet Union]]<ref>{{cite news|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1991-01-07/news/mn-5892_1_russian-christmas-traditions|title= A Russian Christmas—Better Late Than Never: Soviet Union: Orthodox Church Celebration Is the First Under Communists. But, as with Most of Yeltsin's Pronouncements, the Holiday Stirs a Controversy|last= Goldberg|first= Carey|date= January 7, 1991|work= [[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date= August 11, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151222093318/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-01-07/news/mn-5892_1_russian-christmas-traditions|archive-date= December 22, 2015|url-status= live}}</ref> and more recently majority Muslim states such as Somalia, Tajikistan and Brunei.<ref name="christmas2015bans">{{cite news|last1=Woolf|first1=Nicky|title=Christmas celebrations banned in Somalia, Tajikistan and Brunei| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/23/christmas-banned-somalia-tajikistan-brunei|access-date=August 10, 2016|work=The Guardian|date=December 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826052214/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/23/christmas-banned-somalia-tajikistan-brunei|archive-date=August 26, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some Christians and organizations such as [[Pat Robertson]]'s [[American Center for Law & Justice|American Center for Law and Justice]] cite alleged attacks on Christmas (dubbing them a "war on Christmas").<ref name="ACLJ">{{cite web |url=http://aclj.org/christmas-laws |title=ACLJ, Christmas laws |publisher=Aclj.org |access-date=December 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225163554/http://aclj.org/christmas-laws |archive-date=December 25, 2013 }}</ref> Such groups claim that any specific mention of the term "Christmas" or its religious aspects is being increasingly [[censorship|censored]], avoided, or discouraged by a number of advertisers, retailers, government (prominently schools), and other public and private organizations. One controversy is the occurrence of Christmas trees being renamed Holiday trees.<ref name="MCC">{{cite web |last1=Aliweiwi |first1=Jehad |title=A Christmas Tree or a Holiday Tree? |url=http://www.muslimcanadiancongress.org/20051128.html |website=Muslim Canadian Congress |access-date=December 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051231172900/http://www.muslimcanadiancongress.org/20051128.html |archive-date=December 31, 2005 |date=November 28, 2005}} (previous title: "Christmas controversy article")</ref> In the U.S. there has been a tendency to replace the greeting ''Merry Christmas'' with ''Happy Holidays'', which is considered inclusive at the time of the Jewish celebration of [[Hanukkah]].<ref>Feder, Don, [http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/feder121300.asp "In the culture, Christmas morphs into holiday"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412151751/http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/feder121300.asp |date=April 12, 2010 }}, ''Jewish World Review'', December 13, 2000.</ref> In the U.S. and Canada, where the use of the term "Holidays" is most prevalent, opponents have denounced its usage and avoidance of using the term "Christmas" as being [[political correctness|politically correct]].<ref>{{cite news |title= The Brits Have It Right: Forget Happy Holidays, Just Wish People Merry Christmas |url= https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/22/better-to-say-merry-christmas-or-happy-holidays |work= [[The Guardian]] |location= London |date= August 11, 2016 |access-date= December 11, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161221105842/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/22/better-to-say-merry-christmas-or-happy-holidays |archive-date= December 21, 2016 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Is Saying 'Merry Christmas' Politically Correct? Who Cares? |url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauljankowski/2014/12/19/is-saying-merry-christmas-politically-correct-who-cares/ |work= [[Forbes]] |date= August 11, 2016 |first= Paul |last= Jankowski |access-date= August 22, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170807030050/https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauljankowski/2014/12/19/is-saying-merry-christmas-politically-correct-who-cares/ |archive-date= August 7, 2017 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= If We Can't Say 'Merry Christmas' in Canada, Multiculturalism Failed |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/christopher-stuart-taylor/saying-merry-christmas_b_4490555.html |first1=Christopher Stuart |last1=Taylor |work= [[HuffPost]] |date= August 11, 2016 |access-date= August 11, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160929182951/http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/christopher-stuart-taylor/saying-merry-christmas_b_4490555.html |archive-date= September 29, 2016 |url-status= dead }}</ref> In 1984, the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] ruled in ''[[Lynch v. Donnelly]]'' that a Christmas display (which included a Nativity scene) owned and displayed by the city of [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]], did not violate the First Amendment.<ref name="Lynch">{{cite web|website= Belcher Foundation|url=http://www.belcherfoundation.org/lynch_v_donnelly.htm|title=Lynch vs. Donnelly|year=1984|access-date=April 12, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216143728/http://www.belcherfoundation.org/lynch_v_donnelly.htm|archive-date=February 16, 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> American Muslim scholar [[Abdul Malik Mujahid]] has said that Muslims must treat Christmas with respect, even if they disagree with it.<ref>Mujahid, Abdul Malik. "[https://www.soundvision.com/article/treating-christmas-with-respect Treating Christmas with respect]", ''[[Sound Vision]]''. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405171239/https://www.soundvision.com/article/treating-christmas-with-respect|date=April 5, 2017}}.</ref>

The government of the People's Republic of China officially espouses state atheism,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dillon |first1=Michael |title=Religious Minorities and China |url=https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/old-site-downloads/download-140-Religious-Minorities-and-China.pdf |access-date=December 25, 2023 |date=2001 |publisher=Minority Rights Group International}}</ref> and has conducted [[Antireligious campaigns in China|antireligious campaigns]] to this end.<ref name="BuangChew2014">{{cite book|last1=Buang|first1=Sa'eda|last2=Chew|first2=Phyllis Ghim-Lian|title=Muslim Education in the 21st Century: Asian Perspectives|date=May 9, 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-81500-6|page=75|quote=Subsequently, a new China was found on the basis of Communist ideology, i.e. atheism. Within the framework of this ideology, religion was treated as a 'contorted' world-view and people believed that religion would necessarily disappear at the end, along with the development of human society. A series of anti-religious campaigns was implemented by the Chinese Communist Party from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. As a result, in nearly 30 years between the beginning of the 1950s and the end of the 1970s, mosques (as well as churches and Chinese temples) were shut down and Imams involved in forced 're-education'.}}</ref> In December 2018, officials raided Christian churches prior to Christmastide and coerced them to close; Christmas trees and Santa Clauses were also forcibly removed.<ref name="BBC2018">{{cite web |title=Alarm over China's Church crackdown |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-46588650 |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=December 18, 2018 |quote=Among those arrested are a prominent pastor and his wife, of the [[Early Rain Covenant Church]] in [[Sichuan]]. Both have been charged with state subversion. And on Saturday morning, dozens of police raided a children's Bible class at Rongguili Church in Guangzhou. One Christian in Chengdu told the BBC: "I'm lucky they haven't found me yet." China is officially atheist, though says it allows religious freedom. |access-date=January 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105171647/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-46588650 |archive-date=January 5, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Santa Claus won't be coming to this town, as Chinese officials ban Christmas |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2178532/santa-claus-wont-be-coming-town-chinese-officials-ban-christmas |newspaper=South China Morning Post |date=December 18, 2018 |quote=Christmas is not a recognised holiday in mainland China – where the ruling party is officially atheist – and for many years authorities have taken a tough stance on anyone who celebrates it in public.{{nbsp}}[...] The statement by Langfang officials said that anyone caught selling Christmas trees, wreaths, stockings or Santa Claus figures in the city would be punished.{{nbsp}}[...] While the ban on the sale of Christmas goods might appear to be directed at retailers, it also comes amid a crackdown on Christians practising their religion across the country. On Saturday morning, more than 60 police officers and officials stormed a children's Bible class in Guangzhou, capital of southern China's Guangdong province. The incident came after authorities shut down the 1,500-member [[Beijing Zion Church|Zion Church in Beijing]] in September and [[Chengdu]]'s 500-member [[Early Rain Covenant Church]] last week. In the case of the latter, about 100 worshippers were snatched from their homes or from the streets in coordinated raids. |access-date=January 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112085857/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2178532/santa-claus-wont-be-coming-town-chinese-officials-ban-christmas |archive-date=January 12, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==

{{Portal|Christianity|Holidays}}
* [[Apollo 8 Genesis reading]] from lunar orbit, December 24, 1968
* {{annotated link|Christmas in July}}
* {{annotated link|Christmas Peace}}
* {{annotated link|Christmas Sunday}}
* [[List of Christmas films]]
* {{annotated link|List of Christmas novels}}
* {{annotated link|Little Christmas}}
* {{annotated link|Nochebuena}}
* [[Mithraism in comparison with other belief systems#25th of December]]
* {{annotated link|Christmas by medium}}

== Notes ==

{{notelist}}

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

{{refbegin|30em}}
* Bowler, Gerry, ''The World Encyclopedia of Christmas'' (October 2004: McClelland & Stewart). {{ISBN|978-0-7710-1535-9}}
* Bowler, Gerry, ''Santa Claus: A Biography'' (November 2007: McClelland & Stewart). {{ISBN|978-0-7710-1668-4}}
* Comfort, David, ''Just Say Noel: A History of Christmas from the Nativity to the Nineties'' (November 1995: Fireside). {{ISBN|978-0-684-80057-8}}
* Count, Earl W., ''4000 Years of Christmas: A Gift from the Ages'' (November 1997: Ulysses Press). {{ISBN|978-1-56975-087-2}}
* Federer, William J., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NngtujclaxoC&dq=There%20Really%20Is%20a%20Santa%20Claus%3A%20The%20History%20of%20St.%20Nicholas%20%26%20Christmas%20Holiday%20Traditions&pg=PP1 There Really Is a Santa Claus: The History of St. Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225144712/https://books.google.com/books?id=NngtujclaxoC&pg=PP1&dq=There%20Really%20Is%20a%20Santa%20Claus%3A%20The%20History%20of%20St.%20Nicholas%20%26%20Christmas%20Holiday%20Traditions |date=December 25, 2022 }}'' (December 2002: Amerisearch). {{ISBN|978-0-9653557-4-2}}
* Kelly, Joseph F., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ERahko4FXJgC&dq=The%20Origins%20of%20Christmas&pg=PP1 The Origins of Christmas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225144712/https://books.google.com/books?id=ERahko4FXJgC&pg=PP1&dq=The%20Origins%20of%20Christmas |date=December 25, 2022 }}'' (August 2004: Liturgical Press). {{ISBN|978-0-8146-2984-0}}
* Miles, Clement A., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=1XRjAyL8LogC&dq=Christmas%20Customs%20and%20Traditions&pg=PP1 Christmas Customs and Traditions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225144713/https://books.google.com/books?id=1XRjAyL8LogC&pg=PP1&dq=Christmas%20Customs%20and%20Traditions |date=December 25, 2022 }}'' (1976: Dover Publications). {{ISBN|978-0-486-23354-3}}
* Nissenbaum, Stephen, ''The Battle for Christmas'' (1996; New York: Vintage Books, 1997). {{ISBN|0-679-74038-4}}
* {{cite book|title=Christmas in America: A History|first=Penne L.|last=Restad|url=https://archive.org/details/christmasinameri0000rest|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1995|isbn=978-0-19-509300-1}}
* Rosenthal, Jim, ''St. Nicholas: A Closer Look at Christmas'' (July 2006: Nelson Reference). {{ISBN|1-4185-0407-6}}
* {{cite book|title=The Birth of Christ|first=Peter|last=Sammons|date=May 2006|publisher=Glory to Glory Publications (UK)|isbn=978-0-9551790-1-3}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Christmas |volume=6 |pages=293–294|short=1}}
*{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Christmas |volume=3 |first=Cyril |last=Martindale}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==

{{Sister project links|v=no|voy=no|species=no|mw=no|n=Category:Christmas|d=Q19809|b=Category:Christmas recipes}}
* ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22042 Christmas: Its Origin and Associations]'', by William Francis Dawson, 1902, from [[Project Gutenberg]]

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