Origins of Christmas Traditions Quiz

Answer: False

Accounts of Christ's birth are found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but the celebration of Christmas is not commanded. The New Testament church would have been more likely to celebrate Passover than Christmas. The origin of the celebration of the birth of Christ is somewhat later; the first surviving reference to the Christmas celebration comes in 200 A.D., and the nativity date was not fixed until the 4th century.

Answer: January 6

Christmas or "The Feast of Nativity" is celebrated on the 6th by Armenian Orthodox but on the 7th by Ethiopian, Russian, and Ukrainian Orthodox. It is celebrated on the 25th by Catholics and Protestants.

Answer: Bishop Liberius

The December 25th date was fixed by Bishop Liberius of Rome in 354 A.D.

Answer: Sol Invictus

Sol Invictus was the "unconquered sun god" and was one of the central gods worshipped by the Romans in the 3rd century. Under the Emperor Aurelian, December 25th began to be celebrated as the birthday of the sun god. Christians may have adopted this date in the 4th century in order to refocus worship from the sun god to the Son of God.

Answer: Holly

In ancient Rome, holly was associated with Saturn, the god of the harvest. In Druidic and other related pagan traditions, holly leaves were deposited around homes in order to shelter fairies against the cold. Early Christians, in what later became Great Britain, probably originally adopted this tradition to avoid persecution. Holly has since been reinterpreted with Christian symbolism, and is used to remind Christians of Christ's crown of thorns.

Answer: Victoria

Although Charlotte of Mecklenberg, wife of George III, was the first British royal to have a Xmas tree, it was not until the practice was followed by Victoria's husband Prince Albert that the tradition was adopted by the British.

Answer: Mistletoe

According to Alexander Hislop, in Druid tradition, "the mistletoe was regarded as a divine branch - a branch that came from heaven, and grew upon a tree that sprang out of the earth. Thus by the engrafting of the celestial branch into the earthly tree, heaven and earth, that sin had severed, were joined together, and thus the mistletoe bough became the token of Divine reconciliation to man, the kiss being the well-known token of pardon and reconciliation." ("The Two Babylons" 1916.) This is easily reinterpreted in a Christian context, since the Christian story is one of a divine Branch, a root of Jesse, who died to reconcile heaven and earth, God and man, and since the early Church greeted one another with "a holy kiss."

Answer: The magi

When the wise men finally complete their journey and offer their gifts to Jesus, he is no longer a baby resting in a manger, but a young child in a house. The account of the wise men is found only in the Gospel of Matthew. The number is not mentioned, though Christian tradition sets it at three, and gives traditional names to the wise men: Melchior, Kaspar, and Baltazar.

Answer: All of these

It may well be a mere "preacher's story," but legend says that a candy maker invented the candy cane as a witness to Christ. It is shaped to resemble a shepherd's staff, because Christ is the Good Shepherd. The candy is white to represent the purity of Christ, and the red stripes represent His blood.

As Isaiah prophesied, "By his stripes we are healed." The flavor of the cane is peppermint, which is similar to hyssop. Hyssop is in the mint family and was used in the Old Testament for purification and sacrifice. "Purge me with hyssop," writes the Psalmist, "and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."

Answer: Sailors

Traditionally, the feast day of Saint Nicholas was observed on December 6th and gifts were given. German Protestants encouraged people to honor instead the Christ child on December 25th. The Christ Child was also depicted as brining gifts. The German "Christkindl," or Christ child, became Kriss Kringle, a popular nickname for Santa Claus.

In the West, St. Nicholas has been regarded as the patron saint of children, among other things.