Christmas, Christmas (17), or Christian birthday (18) are anniversaries commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ in Christianity. Except for the Armenian Apostolic Church, most Christian sects observe this anniversary.
Christmas overview.
The date is December 25 in Western churches and various parts of the world affected by Western churches, and some Eastern churches following the existing Julian calendar are January 7. It is called the Festum Nativitis Domini in the Catholic and Orthodox churches, and it is the largest anniversary after the Lord’s Revival Day in Protestantism. In the past, Christmas was regarded as the beginning of the year.
In Korea, Presidential Decree No. 28394 “Regulations on Public Holidays of Government Offices” designates this day as a public holiday. Unlike the Buddha’s birthday, which was designated as a public holiday only in 1975, Christmas is one of the first designated holidays since the establishment of the government in 1949, and has been on holiday for more than 70 years. For this reason, Christmas was named the fastest sunset holiday among Korean holidays and the shortest day holiday The name at the time of enactment was Christian birthday. In 1960, it was applied as an alternative holiday. On July 15, 2021, the application of the alternative holiday system was expanded from the existing holiday and Children’s Day to the entire national holiday designated as a legal holiday, but Christmas was excluded from the application of the alternative holiday. For your information, the remaining three days excluded from here are New Year’s Day, Buddha’s Day, and Memorial Day.
Christmas etymology.
The English vocabulary “Christmas” is a compound word of “Christ” and “mas,” and “Christ” is a Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messia,” meaning “the one who received the oil bill, the savior.” Christianity’s Christianity is also derived from Girisadok, which is a Chinese character for Christ. The Savior naturally refers to Jesus. “Mass” is derived from “missa” (26), which was coined by the Latin verb “mitto,” and refers to mass, a traditional Catholic worship ceremony. In other words, Christmas means “Christian Mass,” and the commonly used greeting “Merry Christmas” also means “Joyful Christ Mass.” Due to this etymology, the regulations on public holidays in government offices are marked as “Christian birthday.”
Strictly speaking, Christmas is a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, not to say that it was actually born. The Bible does not record the date of Jesus’ birth, and it has not been clearly passed down through future disciples or first-time priests. Therefore, opinions do not agree among the the theologians on the exact date of Jesus’ birth or the time when the church actually began the ritual of Christmas. This is also mentioned in the Catholic Dictionary, and the Protestant Theological Graduate School basically teaches that Christmas is not Jesus’ birthday.
The commonly known hypothesis is that Emperor Aurelianus, a Christian official, established December 25, the winter solstice day, as Dies Naturalis Solis Invicti when he built the Temple Sol Invictus in 274. As you can see from the Aurelian document, it was made for the purpose of deifying oneself, and if it had not been assassinated a year later, Christianity might have been a hit. Therefore, it is believed that the “birthday of the invincible sun” was changed to “Christmas” as a meaning of reversal in future generations. In other words, it is in the same context as the date of enactment of the Burimjeol. Later in 350, Pope Julius I officially declared December 25th as Christmas, reaching today.
In response, Christian theologians and church scholars argue that the Christmas celebration custom is a Christian custom that is not pagan at all.