Christmas is believed to be the most popular Christian festival globally. Christians and non-Christians also observe Christmas holidays.

Christmas is annually observed on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, “God’s incarnate,” who was born in the city of Bethlehem in the land of Israel, for the salvation of all mankind.

The English word “Christmas” is of somewhat recent origin compared to other terms used to describe the festival. Earlier terms for Christmas were “Yule,” linked with Germanic and Anglo-Saxon, “Navidad” in Spanish, “Natale” in Italian, and “Noël” in French, among others.

Significance of Christmas to Christianity

Christians often quote from the Book of the Bible, John Chapter 3:16 which says “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…”.

Hence, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, who brought salvation to mankind.

Senior Reverend, Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Central Area Abuja, Dr Ogidi Dickson, described “Christmas” as a compound word for Christ’s Mass; literally, Mass means a large gathering of people. Therefore, Christmas is the mass celebration of Christ (Jesus).

“Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The birth of Jesus is the reason why humanity is being redeemed from the curse of the law into the realm of relationship with God and guaranteed a life with God in eternity, the clergyman said, emphasizing that Christmas is the most important celebration in the history of mankind.

On the exact date of the birth of Jesus Christ, the reverend explained that it should be up for debate as the key thing was to celebrate in cognition of the importance of the birth to mankind.

The date of birth of Jesus is not stated in the gospels or in any historical sources, but most biblical scholars generally accept a date of birth between 6 BC and 4 BC, the year in which King Herod died.

Christmas was celebrated on different dates in different locations

Reverend Father Paschal Nwoko of Our Lady of Fatima Church Sheda, Abuja explained that “Christmas was celebrated at different parts of the world in different dates not until under the Roman ruler Constantine 306–337 AD when Christianity became a state religion and December 25 was agreed upon as a universal date for Christmas”.

“Earlier, as of 227 AD Christians were already celebrating Christmas on different dates; January 6, January 7, April 19, March 25 and in other places on December 25 and it is wrong to link it with the celebration of the Sun god as attributed by some who he described as having incomplete knowledge on the subject”, the priest cautioned.

Father Nwoko also said it was an error to describe the festival as “Xmas”, as taking away “Christ” from the mass was referred to something else not the observance of the birth of Jesus Christ.

He however cautioned against saying Merry/Happy Xmas or even Happy Holidays as “Jesus is the reason for the occasion”.

Many Christians do not celebrate Christmas

Among the Christian faith, some denominations still recognize the birth of Jesus Christ and its implication on the redemption of mankind but remain indifferent to the celebration of Christmas.

Popular in this category are the Jehovah Witnesses and the Seventh Day Adventist denominations, which continue to site several reasons why they will not mark the Christmas celebration.

District Pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Abuja, Airport District, Pastor Gideon Mordecai, said, “as a church we don’t celebrate Christmas, this is because we haven’t seen it in the Bible. We believe that Jesus Christ was born but there is no specific date mentioned in the Bible.”

According to Pastor Mordecai, it is not a sin to observe the day, but it should be clearly known that the Bible was silent on the specific date of the birth of Jesus Christ.

“We regard Christmas Day as any other day, and as a church, we do not have programmes to specially observe the day though we enjoy the public holidays usually given during the season”, he further stated.

December 25, Christmas Tree, Santa Claus, why the fuss?

Pastor Chris Ayuba with the Covenant World Christian Centre Jos said though certain cultures associated with Christmas celebration cannot be traced to the Bible, such as December 25, Christmas Tree/Lights and Santa Claus, all these have birthed a celebration that “points to one thing: that Jesus Christ came as a child, and the reason for coming was to bring salvation to mankind.”

Pastor Chris noted that rather than fussing about the subject of whether these practices were in the scriptures or not, the message of the birth of Jesus Christ should be held in esteem as it depicts God’s unlimited love for man, showing how far God went just to redeem mankind.

Despite the perspectives on the way the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated, there is, however, a strong agreement in the Christian faith and even in other beliefs that Jesus Christ was born by the Virgin Mary and that He was an incarnate of God who came to earth for the redemption of mankind, irrespective of race or creed.

Credit: FRCN