 |
| Editorialist |
Joined: 02/09/09
Posts: 4713
|
The pilgrims, English
separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more
orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a
result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America.
From
1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually
outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit
was fined five shillings.After the American
Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including
Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25,
1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution.
Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26,
1870. http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/ch/in_america.htmLong before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees
that remained green all year had a special meaning for
people in the winter. Just as people today decorate
their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce,
and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs
over their doors and windows. In many countries it was
believed that evergreens would keep away witches,
ghosts, evil spirits, and illness. http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/trivia/trees.htmXmas is an abbreviation for Christmas. It is derived
from the word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, transliterated as Christos, which
is Greek for Christ. Greek is the language in which the
whole New Testament was written.
Originally, Xmas was an abbreviation where the X
represents the Greek letter chi, which is the first
letter of Christ's name. However, because of the modern
interpretations of the letter X, many people are unaware
of this and assume that this abbreviation is meant to
drop Christ from Christmas.
http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/trivia/xmas.htm
|
|
Login
FAQ
Search
John59
