We almost made it through the season without one of these stupid posts.
First, no one knows why Christmas is celebrated on 12/25. The conventional wisdom that it is to co-opt a pagan holiday is disputed by many scholars because Christians were not in the habit of using pagan holidays for outreach at the time we first hear of the date. Some argue that it is due to a belief that the Crucifixion was on the anniversary of His conception (which also requires some calculation errors). Others have even noted the similarity with the Feast of the Dedication on 25 Kislev. Others have argued that it is even possible that He was born on 12/25, because there was a field near Bethlehem where lambs destined for Temple sacrifice were kept, and they had to be watched all the time, all year round.
And as to the “Easter is named for a pagan goddess”, that is no more true than saying our 4th of July is really about Julius Caesar. “Easter” comes from the German name for the month when it is often celebrated, nothing more. It is only found in English and German - most languages use a term for resurrection, or a cognate of the Hebrew Pesah.
I love the internet, but man it sure can spread the BS.
/rant
Referring to the article, not to you :)
Noel and navidad (and the other Romance languages) come from Latin “natalis” (birth, referring to Christ’s birth). The Greek is roughly Christougenna, literally “Christ’s-birth”.
To dismiss countries that received Christianity from Spain/Portugal because their words for “Christmas” are variants of the Spanish/Portuguese words for Christmas is silly. To dismiss Christian holidays in the winter as automatically derivative of earlier winter festivals, and Christian holidays in the spring/fall as equally derivative because there were other holidays in those seasons is even more absurd. There is certainly some borrowing of traditions (and uncertainty on the actual date on which Jesus was born), but the central meaning of Christmas is unique to Christianity, which is why liberals hate sincere celebrations of Christ’s birth.
And the point of the article is?
(Old English: CrÄ«stesmæsse, meaning “Christ’s Mass”)
If it doesn’t reference Christ, it is not a word Christmas.