“In this country (US), most people did not celebrate Christmas until the 1800’s when it became fashionable. In some places, it was actually prohibited because it was considered heresy.
I personally don’t have a dog in the fight and I’m not really bothered if people celebrate it or not. They should be free to do as they please. I just get amused sometimes with the justifications for celebrating Christmas. From a biblical standpoint, there is no precedence where the early christians did so. The Lord’s Supper is what they went out of their way to observe every first day of the week. I’m sure Christmas was instituted wth good intentions but I’m not convinced it’s scriptural.”
I just watched a documentary on the subject of when Jesus was born. They used the bible, other documentation, astronomy and astrological information to determine that it was probably in September. One of the interesting facts presented was that indeed, if Jesus was born in September, then he was conceived in December. Jesus’ conception was the start of the new beginning that would change the world for the good forever. So, how appropriate to celebrate Christmas at this time.
By the way, you are incorrect about Christmas in colonial America. Of course they celebrated Christmas...it was just more of a solemn religious celebration than today.
Depends where in the colonies you were. The Puritans disapproved of Christmas. The Massachusetts Bay Colony made celebration of it illegal. This was the case, not because the existing tradition of Christmas was solemn and without feasting, but because it was full of feasting. The Puritans disapproved of feasting itself, because they considered it Catholic. The chronicles of the colony describe the arrest of someone caught feasting on Christmas, denouncing him as a "Christmas man."
(Similarly, 20 years later in England, Parliament, which was Puritan, forbade the celebration of Christmas, requiring shops to stay open as usual, and sending out constables to arrest anyone cooking a pudding. You can't make this up.)
But the rest of the country was not settled by English Puritans. Other parts of Europe, such as Germany, Holland, France, and Spain, did not have the Puritan compulsion, and celebrated the Nativity with joy, feasting, and drink, bringing their traditions with them. I have recordings of American music celebrating Christmas, and while much of it is reverent, much is quite jolly, I assure you. This should be no surprise. When a baby is born, people party. Merry Christmas.
Those that did celebrate Christmas were usually of certain immigrant groups (Dutch, etc) or certain church groups. As it is, the secular traditions took hold before the religious traditions did. I've also studied the subject. ;)