Early Christians appropriated pagan customs and turned them into religious observances and, therefore, a victory over Paganism and a way to win more souls. By the end of the second century, numerous dates were being proposed as the correct date for the birth of Jesus. One popular method, allegorical theology, thought Christ must have born on the same day the sun was created, though our modern theorists estimate that the birth of Jesus was between 7 and 4 BC.
Unlike Easter, the earliest Christians didn’t celebrate the nativity or Christmas, which began in the late 3rd century AD as an alternative to pagan winter holidays. In the beginning, Christians only celebrated the baptism and resurrection of Christ and the death of the martyrs. The first evidence of Christmas being celebrated is in Rome in 336 AD and by the early fourth century, the 25th of December became the celebration day for the birth of Jesus Christ.
Origen of Alexandria, amongst others, opposed the celebration of Christ’s birth and pointed out that only Pharaoh and Herod celebrate their birthdays in the Bible, and that birthdays were for pagans, not Christians. Jehovah’s Witnesses follow this belief and reject the celebration of both Christmas and birthdays. Early religious Christmas customs began with special services held by candlelight and often at midnight. In Bethlehem, Midnight Mass is celebrated at the place of Jesus’ birth in the ancient Church of the Nativity.
But as the years passed, going to church, especially at Christmas, was something done by villagers and landowners as a custom, an obligation, or to show respect to the local clergyman rather than for any great religious reasons. People attended Church services on Sunday and Holy Days and donated money to village or church causes but the religious fervor of early years had dimmed. If a person was particularly devoted, they would read the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, or a book of sermons on a regular basis and probably attend the Church of England, which was the main church by the late Georgian and early Regency years.
