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A Good Read
Christmas: The Truth Behind the Traditions
compiled by Richard Rodriguez from other sources
from Special Features, December 2006
Introduction
Back in 1999 I was listening to a local radio station
that was playing a gospel song called "Santa Meant to Say Ho-Ho-Holy",
which was rhythmically exciting and arousing as any good gospel song
ought to be, but it excited and aroused me to anger and disbelief at
the flawed theology of the lyrics.
In the song, the singer was telling his young son that
Christmas is really about the birth of Christ and not Santa Claus
giving you all the toys you want. So far, so good. But then he made a
wrong turn and declared that Satan (the devil) convinced Santa to take
all of the glory of Christmas for himself instead of the baby Jesus,
thus destroying the holiday's meaning. "After all, the letters that
spell S-A-N-T-A also spell S-A-T-A-N," he tells his impressionable,
trusting son. Thus, Santa Claus should not be observed by true
Christians.
I wanted to throw my radio out the window of my
second-story bedroom! While it is right and good to keep the focus on
Christ in Christmas, it bothers me that some of my brothers and sisters
in Christ will resort to perpetuating twice-told tales or deliberately
make up new ones to smash Christmas traditions they believe are
unbiblical and thus un-Christian. Six years later, in 2005, this
ridiculous story was still being talked about and believed by some of
my evangelical friends.
The problem with the Santa/Satan story (for starters) is
that it has no legitimacy outside of American English. In Great Britain
and English-speaking parts of Africa, Santa is known as Father
Christmas. In Northern Europe he is known as Kris Kringle. In Mexico he
is sometimes called Papa Noel, and in Spanish "Santa" literally DOES
mean ho-ho-"holy".
But it does me no good to vent about bad theology in a
holiday song; being diabetic, venting is bad for my blood sugar. So
instead, I decided to research the origins of some of our most
cherished Christmas traditions. To my surprise, the majority of them
carry biblical significance or symbolisms. I first posted these stories
on my
personal web page in the year 2000, then on the
Immanuel First website in 2003. In 2006, I updated all the information
based on additional research from the sources cited at the bottom of
each section. The newest section, "Why Christmas is Shortened to Xmas", was added in 2009.
Why Christmas is Shortened to Xmas
On the message boards and blogs around Christmas time it never fails: rants, complaints and online petitions to "keep the Christ in Christmas" and boycotting the use of the abbreviated term "Xmas" because of the belief that it's a further secularization of a Christian holiday that non-Christians want wiped off the face of the earth and replaced with "Happy Holidays". I made a YouTube video called "Happy Holidays Under Attack!" parodying that annual tug-of-war, but the anger by some Christians over "Xmas" is because they don't know the history of its usage.
A quick search at Answers.com for "Why Xmas means Christmas" pulled up a treasure trove of information, which is written below.
 "Xmas" has its origins in the Greek language, which the New Testament was originally written in. In Greek the letter X is chi, which is the first letter in the Greek word for kristos, "Christ". Also, the letters XP, which are Chi rho in Greek, was used by the early church as an abbreviation for Christ. The Chi rho symbol of an X intersecting the stem of a P is an ancient symbol of Christianity and adorns the great cathedrals of the world.
In English, using X as shorthand for Christ was recorded among the Anglo-Saxons in Great Britain during the Middle Ages, documented in an AD 1021 manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a series of books written by scribes to record the history of the Anglo-Saxon people. The Oxford English Dictionary and accompanying OED Supplement record "Xtianity" (Christianity) being used in 1634, 1811 and 1966; "Xtian" (Christian) used in 1845, 1915 and 1940; and "Xp" for "Christ" as far back as 1485 ("Xpian").
A screenshot from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, archived at Google Books, documents the evolution of "Xmas" and notes that "most of the evidence for these words comes from educated Englishmen who knew their Greek." It also states that "its association with the world of advertising has done nothing for its reputation."
But the average modern person doesn't know an iota (no pun intended) of the Greek origins of "Xmas". I myself didn't know all of this until just a few years ago, and the X never bothered me because it reminded me of the cross itself. So when non-Christians think they are removing "Christ" from "Christmas" with "Xmas", they are actually reinforcing it. So if you have been disturbed or bothered by the shortening of the word, I sincerely hope you will be comforted with the undeniably Christian origin of the Greek letter X (chi) used to mean Christ Himself.
-- from a screenshot of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, archived at Google Books; Answers.com results for "Why Xmas means Christmas". Both accessed on December 12, 2009.
 Santa Claus (St. Nicholas)
The name "Santa Claus" is a contradiction of the Dutch
name for St. Nicholas, Sint Nikolaas. (Say it
really fast and you'll see.) Santa Claus as we know him today is a
distinctly American creation. Our modern definition of the jolly old
man has its roots in Clement Clarke Moore's classic 1823 poem A
Visit from St. Nicholas, better known by its first line 'Twas
the Night Before Christmas, with its imagery of a portly good
fellow in a sleigh guided by eight flying reindeer, entering homes
through the chimney, and stuffing stockings with gifts and goodies as
drawn by New York political cartoonist Thomas Nash, who illustrated the
first published edition of Moore's poem.
The Americanization of Santa Claus was furthered in the
early 20th century by The Coca-Cola Company as part of a now-famous
advertising campaign. Originally sold as a pharmacists' beverage for
alleving headaches and fatigue, Coke evolved into a cold, frosty
thirst-relieving soda for the hot days of summer. But sales were
slowing down during the Great Depression, especially in the winter
months, and a new, year-round image was needed to perk up the bottom
line. So in 1931, Coke's target audience was changed from grown-ups
looking for a little energy boost to the whole family, a paradigm shift
that would make Coca-Cola the most popular soft drink in the world.
The company used well-known artists as ad designers, a
pioneering approach at the time, to promote Coke as a family favorite
in everyday American settings: high school and college events, picnics,
dinner at the kitchen table and the like. Among those ads were
illustrations by Swedish artist Haddon Sundblom of Santa Claus bringing
joy during the Christmas season with a bottle of Coke. The Coca-Cola
Santa ads became so popular that they became American icons and
collectibles in their own right. Except for a brief break in 2005 when
its equally famous soda-loving polar bears greeted the holiday season
in Santa's stead, The Coca-Cola Company continues to use the pictures
on special-edition holiday bottles and cans to this day.
But wait, there's more! Santa Claus was further
ingrained into American culture by actor-singer Gene Autry, the
"singing cowboy" of the 1930's and 40's, in his Christmas classics Here
Comes Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
(see Rudolph story for more info). The former was supposedly inspired
by the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade, then called the Santa Claus
Lane Parade, which is echoed in the opening words:
"Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa
Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane,
Vixen and Blitzen and all the reindeer pulling on the rein..."
And have you ever wondered why Santa Claus always says
"Ho-ho-ho" and not "Ha-ha-ha"? The holiday website Christmas
Style.com suggests that it's most likely a written
form of a deep, hearty belly laugh that would come from such a big and
jolly man such as Santa. I believe that a good example of this was the
hearty "ho-ho-ho" laughs that Ed McMahon gave at Johnny Carson's jokes
when they ran "The Tonight Show" for 30 years before Jay Leno succeeded
them.
Now let's learn about the real life St. Nick.
Historically, St. Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor
(modern-day Turkey) in the 4th century A.D. and was known for his
charity with children and the poor. A famous legend of Nicholas
concerns his saving the honor of a poor man and his daughters, who had
no dowries for marriage and were about to give themselves up to lives
of prostitution. During the night Nicholas secretly threw three bags of
gold coins into their home, thus giving each of the daughters a large
dowry for a future husband.
-- from Encyclopedia.com,
an 1999 Boston Phoenix article by Seeta Pena
Gangadharan archived at About.com,
and a 2006 press release on The Coca-Cola Santa from The Coca-Cola Company
corporate website
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 Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer
Every Christmas CBS broadcasts the timeless 1964 holiday
classic about the misfit young buck with the luminous proboscis, and
generations of audiences have sang along to the Burl Ives songs and
cheered on Rudolph as he saves Christmas from being fogged out and
rescues the misfit Christmas toys from exile. For many of us, including
myself, this was our first exposure to Rudolph as a child.
Rudolph was created by Robert L. May, a copy writer at
the old Montgomery Ward department store chain (nicknamed "Wards").
Every Christmas season Wards handed out to its shoppers holiday-themed
children's coloring books purchased from various publishers. In 1939
the company decided to publish its own book (thus saving money) and
commissioned May to write a story.
May drew upon his own childhood of being sickly, weak
and teased upon and Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling" for
the story of Rudolph being outcast for his red nose. Testing the drafts
with his four-year-old daughter Barbara (who loved it, by the way), May
was considering Rollo or Reginald as possible names for the reindeer
before finally choosing Rudolph. Wards published the book that
Christmas, and 2.4 million copies were handed out to customers that
year.
Tragically, May's wife died in the middle of the
project, and he was left heavily in debt from the medical bills. But
sometimes good can come out of the ashes of grief, and such was the
case when May persuaded Wards president Sewell Avery to turn the
copyright for "Rudolph" over to him in 1947. Owning the rights to his
creation ensured not only May's financial security, but also Rudolph's
going down in history, to paraphrase the song.
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was commercially
printed that year (1947) and the following year a nine-minute cartoon
short produced by animator Max Fleischer (who also brought Betty Boop,
Popeye and Superman to the big screen) was shown in theaters. May's
brother-in-law, famous songwriter Johnny Marks, created the familiar
title song, but many singers turned down the offer to record it because
they were worried about messing with the familiar Santa Claus story.
Actor-singer Gene Autry, whose own signature song was "Back in the
Saddle Again", was convinced by his wife to record it in 1949. It sold
2 million copies that year, going on to become one of the most popular
songs of all time.
And you know the rest... the 1964 animated special from
the Rankin-Bass studio cemented Rudolph's status as a Christmas icon
and that of Burl Ives as well, who narrated the story as the friendly
snowman and sang the songs "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Silver
and Gold", which have become Christmas standards in their own right.
Rankin-Bass later made "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" in 1969, and a 3-D
computer animated reunion DVD was made in 1999 by Classic Media, which
today owns the rights to Rudolph as well as VeggieTales and the Little
Golden Books.
-- compiled with info from AllThingsChristmas.com
and IMDb.com (Internet
Movie Database)
Go back to the top
Candy Canes
This story on the meaning of the candy cane appears in
the December edition of our monthly newsletter, The Buzz. The birth,
ministry, and death of Jesus Christ are signified through the elements
of the candy cane.
JESUS CHRIST is...
- our Good Shepherd (staff shape) -- 1 Peter 5:4
- our Rock (hard candy) -- 1 Corinthians 10:4
- our Sinless Savior (white) -- 2 Corinthians 5:21
- our Sacrificial Lamb (red) -- Ephesians 1:7
The STRIPES symbolize pain inflicted
upon Jesus before His death on the cross and a bold stripe to represent
the blood He shed for mankind. The three stripes can also represent the
power and presence of the Trinity (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
The smell and taste of PEPPERMINT
relate to the herb hyssop. Psalm 51:7 states, "Purge me with hyssop and
I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
The candy cane is meant to be shared -- broken into
pieces for all to share. That reminds us of Jesus' words, "This is my
body which is broken for you (1 Corinthians 11:24). What a sweet way to
share the Gospel!
And you just thought it was good candy! :)
Some of the legends may vary, but the truth of the
symbols remain.
- Click
here for an MP3 children's sermon on the meaning of
the candy cane by our pastor's mom, Kay Okubo, from our Sermon Library.
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Christmas Trees
The Christmas tree, or Tannenbaum in
German, has its roots in the Germanic tribes of Europe as part of pagan
celebrations. But like many tribal traditions, the fathers of the early
church took this indigenous ritual and paralleled it with biblical
truths as a means of evangelism.
There is a famous legend about St. Boniface, an English
missionary who became known as "The Apostle of Germany". As the legend
goes, in 722 A.D. he came upon some men who were about to cut down a
huge oak tree as a stake for a human sacrifice to one of their gods,
presumably the Norse thunder god Thor because the stake was called an
Oak of Thor. With one mighty blow, Boniface brought down the mighty oak
and as it split, a young fir tree sprang from its center. He told them
that the fir, an evergreen tree with its branches pointing to heaven,
was a holy tree -- the tree of the Christ Child, and a symbol of His
promise of eternal life. He then instructed the tribesmen to carry the
evergreen from the wildernes into their homes and surround it with
gifts, symbols of love and kindness.
Martin Luther, the German priest and professor who led
the Protestant Reformation, supported the use of the Tannenbaum
as a symbol of Christmas because the evergreen tree, which keeps its
color through the winter months, is a symbol of the everlasting God and
His promise of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. It also
symbolizes Christ's victory over death because it stays "alive" (green)
in the cold of winter snow, which to the pagan tribes was a season of
death because nothing grew at that time until spring.
-- from Domestic-Church.com
and commentary by Hank Hanegraaff on "The
Bible Answer Man" radio program
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Advent Wreaths
Chalk one more up for us Lutherans! The Advent Wreath is
a Lutheran custom that originated in eastern Germany. They are round as
a symbol of God's eternity and mercy, of which every season of Advent
is a new reminder. Like the Christmas tree, it is made of evergreens to
symbolize our eternal, everlasting God and our eternal life through
faith in Christ. The color green also corresponds to the historic
church's color of hope and new life.
Four candles are used on the Advent Wreath for the four
weeks of Advent, leading up to Christmas Day. Three purple candles
represent penant, sorrow, and longing expectation. A pink or
rose-colored candle represents the hope and coming joy of the Savior's
birth. They are replaced with white candles for the Christmas season
which ends in Epiphany.
Wreaths in and of themselves are ancient symbols of
victory, as we were reminded in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens,
Greece when all the medal-winning athletes were crowned with olive
wreaths on their heads along with receiving their winning medals in the
medal ceremonies. To the Christian, wreaths also symbolize the
"fulfillment of time" in the coming of Christ and the glory of His
birth.
-- from Domestic-Church.com
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©2009 Immanuel First
Lutheran
Church
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