A blog is for life, not just for Christmas...
I promise not to dwell too much on my pet subject at the moment - the "real" meaning of Christmas, but for now....
Sun god or Son of God?
The 25th December was a popular Roman day of celebration in honour of the sun god, "Mithras". The festival occurred just after the winter solstice when the days became longer.
Since no-one could quite agree on the day Jesus was born, Pope Julius picked December 25 as THE DAY in AD349. I think the idea was to hi-jack the celebration and convert the Romans. You can just imagine it now in the streets, people giving gifts, hugging and singing together.
"Merry Christmas, and praise be to the son of God", sing the Christians.
"Hail Mithras, and praise be to the sun god", sing the pagans.
I bet Hallmark would have done a selection of cards for both - perhaps reversible?
Did you know.....
"Bethlehem means "house of bread" - bread of life, perhaps?
Sun god or Son of God?
The 25th December was a popular Roman day of celebration in honour of the sun god, "Mithras". The festival occurred just after the winter solstice when the days became longer.
Since no-one could quite agree on the day Jesus was born, Pope Julius picked December 25 as THE DAY in AD349. I think the idea was to hi-jack the celebration and convert the Romans. You can just imagine it now in the streets, people giving gifts, hugging and singing together.
"Merry Christmas, and praise be to the son of God", sing the Christians.
"Hail Mithras, and praise be to the sun god", sing the pagans.
I bet Hallmark would have done a selection of cards for both - perhaps reversible?
Did you know.....
"Bethlehem means "house of bread" - bread of life, perhaps?
posted by Squire at 5:56 AM
2 Comments:
That's really interesting. I'm glad you've got a blog! Good name for it too! Look forward to reading future insights.
Very interesting! Great to see you have a blog - good name for it too! Look forward to reading future insights!
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