Candida Moss Quotes
Pope Julius set the date for Christmas in the 4th Century... The real reasopn fpr the selection of December 25 seems to have been that it was exactly 9 months after March 25, the traditional date for Jesus' crucifixion ... As Christians developed the theological idea that Jesus was concieved and executed on the same date [of the year], they set the date of his birth 9 months later.
Prior to that there were few celebrations of Christ's birth and there was no official date agreed upon. there is no Biblical support for the notion that Christ was conceoved and crucified on the same day of the year and it is not known how this ideo originated, but it was part of of 4th century Chritian belief. December 25 is by no means a histotical date woth amy accuracy. These is some evdence to suggest that Chrsit was not even born iin December.
Candida Moss "Five Myths: The Nativity" The Washington Post, December 18, 2016
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Clement of Alexandia was the first of the Christian theologians to consider and write about the birthday of Jesus, There was no celebration of Christ's birthday in the early centuries of Christianity. Clement offered seven dates in whuch he thought there was evidence of Christ's birthday. None of these was December 25. Christian celebration of the birthday of Christ did not take place until about the beginning of the 4th century. See the related Quotes for more about Jesus' Birthday.
Olivi was a brilliant scholar who ran afoul of the religious authorities on several occasions. He was accused of being a heretic for his writings, but was exonerated after intensive trials and debates. In this quotation, he attributed the religious error of Jews and others, not to the anti-Christ, human venality, or even fault of character, but from a difference in human perspective. He was a pioneering original thinker, who while not well appreciated in his lifetime, had a significant cult following including several cardinals of The Church that arose after his death. However, other conservative forces then decided that he was a heretic after all. They burned his writings and destroyed his tomb. Today, there is a street in France named for him.
This absurd law was in existence for 22 years. But its vestiges lasted for over 100 years. It was not until the 1880s that it became fashionable to celebrate Christmas in Boston. The founding fathers were well aware of many early American laws interfering with religion and many religious laws interfering with those who did not believe a particular doctrine. The separation of church and state evolved from years of European abuses and American abuses as well.
This historical quote is important because it shows that there was great dissention about the celebrating of Christmas even among different Christian sects. Traditionally, the celebration of Christmas in a government building or school would have offended half the Christian population. In early America, Christmas celebration was legally prohibited in some states and required in others. This was one of the reasons that the Founding Fathers wrote the First Amendment into the Constitution. In modern times, some critics accuse the requirements that Christmas celebration in public facilities as being anti-Christian. But the problem has been with America since before the Constitution.
In the city of Narragansett, RI, there Lester York had each Christmas season dressed up as St Nicholas, 4TH century Catholic Bishop, the precursor to Santa Clause. He played the part of the Bishop and discussed Christmas in that context. The presentation was very educational as students could learn of the culture of that time but they also received an authentic religious sermon of the time. By inviting York into the public elementary schools, the students were learning some history and culture but they were also involved in a religious service and doctrine—the divinity of Christ. The former was good; the latter illegal as the public schools were in addition to educating historically communicating religious messages. York’s presentations had many supporters who had argued that York’s presentation conveyed Christian messages very well and children should not be denied that opportunity. After much community discussion, the public schools withdrew their invitation to York, and he gave his excellent presentation in many community churches.
Throughout the United Kingdom, there have been major traditional forces prohibiting the celebration of Christmas as a holy day or holiday. This carried over to America where Christmas was never a commonly celebrated day until modern times. The reason that this is important is when there were many legal battles of public schools and municipalities celebrating Christmas and exhibiting crèches and Christmas trees, several of the proponents argued the doctrine of originalism—namely that we should not declare unconstitutional anything that was common and accepted at the time of the Constitution’s writing, debating, and ratification. They argued that the First Amendment was not intended to cover celebrations of Christmas as the founding fathers would not have made unconstitutional that which was common. While the principle of originalism has advocates and critics, the originalism theory does not hold regarding Christmas because Christmas was not commonly celebrated in early America. In no state was Christmas a holiday, and there were jurisdictions that had actually outlawed the celebration of Christmas which was associated with Catholics and not all of them. See {629845}, {629843}, {629842}, {629844}, and {629845}.
In the case of Christmas celebrations, in addition to the huge commercial consequences, there is tradition and religion involved which brings out non-monetary vested interests as well. This is true in England as well as America.
This is the first state to make Christmas a legal holiday. The reason that this is important is when there were many legal battles of public schools and municipalities celebrating Christmas and exhibiting crèches and Christmas trees, several of the proponents argued the doctrine of originalism—namely that we should not declare unconstitutional anything that was common and accepted at the time of the Constitution’s writing, debating, and ratification. They argued that the First Amendment was not intended to cover celebrations of Christmas as the founding fathers would not have made unconstitutional that which was common. While the principle of originalism has advocates and critics, the originalism theory does not hold regarding Christmas because Christmas was not commonly celebrated in early America. See {629845} and {629843} for more evidence on this point.
Christmas, it is sometimes legally argued, was ubiquitous in America and not just a Christian holiday. But as this quotation demonstrates, Christmas was not even celebrated by many of the Christian Churches as late as 1886. See {629844} for a similar example. A number of Protestant religions forbid the celebration of Christmas until relatively recently.
- Born: November 26, 1978
- Nationality: American
- Profession: Religious Historian & Theologian
Candida R. Moss is an English New Testament scholar and historian of Christianity, who is the Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham. A graduate of Oxford and Yale universities, Moss specialises in the study of the New Testament and martyrdom in early Christianity.
