The First Christmas Celebration (Not The One You’re Thinking About)
It took place hundreds of years after the death of Christ
The holiday of Christmas has had an up and down history. Celebrating Christmas has never been as universal or ubiquitous as it is now. There were long stretches were Christmas was hardly observed at all, and periods when it was outright banned. For instance, Christmas did not become a national holiday in the United States until 1870.
The patchy nature of Christmas goes back to the very earliest days of the special day. The first Christmas celebration was not officially observed until 336CE, three centuries after the time of Jesus. Even then, not much is said about the day at all.
Early Christmas observances also drove a wedge between the Eastern Church and the Western Church. Many Christians believed that celebrating birthdays at all was a pagan ritual to be avoided altogether.
So what did the first Christmas celebration look like? How did early Christians mark the day of Jesus’s birth?
