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4 Christmas Myths We’ve All Bought 37

4 Christmas Myths We've

All Totally Bought

And the truth behind them

BY TYLER HUCKABEE

Christmas might be the most heavily
mythologized thing of all time. Sure, it starts out
with the myth about Santa and eight tiny
reindeer, and most of us unlearn that one pretty
early, but then there are other myths that start
getting broken down. Eventually you learn that
December 25 wasn’t Jesus’ actual birthday,
Rudolph wasn’t part of the original gang and
“Jingle Bell Rock” is terrible.
But no matter how many myths we take
down, there always seem to be a few more. Here
are some common myths about Christmas a lot
of people—even Christians—still believe about
the holiday.

December 25 Used to Be a Pagan Holiday

now know that the Bible doesn’t specify the it’s safe to assume that, in this case, kataluma is
By this point, most people are probably aware
number of “wise men” who came to visit Jesus, referring to a family guest room.
that December 25th wasn’t Jesus’ literal
but that’s not the only myth at work here. In Now, the word “manger” here does
birthday. The more popularly held view now is
addition to the number, many of us are confused mean an animal feeding trough, but at the time,
that December 25th was a holiday that
about who these people were. They weren’t a family’s animals were often brought into the
celebrated one of the Roman gods, and
kings, but magi. We get our English word for house itself at night to protect them from theft.
Christians just re-appropriated it. But actually,
“magician” from the same root, and they were It was not at all uncommon for families have
that’s not totally correct either.
actually closer to magicians than they were to mangers in their ground-floor rooms so the
According to Andrew McGowan of the
royalty. animals could be fed at night while the human
Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, there’s really
Magi were usually men of noble birth members of the household slept in the upper
no record of a pagan holiday on or around
who devoted themselves to studying ancient levels.
December 25th. In all likelihood, choosing
wisdom of all kinds, something like a cross So what probably happened was this:
December 25th as the date of Christ’s birth was
between a philosopher, an astrologer and that Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem
a bit of an educated guess. Tertullian of
annoying guy at parties who listens to too many expecting to be able to stay with Joseph’s
Carthage estimated that Jesus was crucified on
podcasts. The cuddly pictures of the magi family. But the guest room was full by the time
March 25th, and Christian tradition held that he
showing up around the same time the shepherds they arrived, so Mary and Joseph stayed
died on the same day he was born: the Feast of
did is wrong, too. While the shepherds did show downstairs with the animals. Not exactly an
Annunciation. And exactly nine months after
up on night of Jesus’ birth, according to the ideal scenario for giving birth, but not a barn
March 25th? December 25th.
Gospel narrative, the magi came later—maybe a either. []
lot later. We know they arrived after Jesus was
“Xmas” is taking the “Christ” out of
presented at the temple, which would have been
Christmas
at least 40 days after His birth.
We also know Herod ordered his
Wherever the word “xmas” is used as shorthand
soldiers to kill every child in Bethlehem
for “Christmas,” you can be sure there will be a
younger than 2 years old, so we can assume
few people claiming the “x” is a weapon of
Jesus was under 2. That means the magi showed
those secularists and their unending War on
up anywhere between 40 days and 2 years to
Christmas.
congratulate Mary and Joseph on their new
Actually, the usage of “X” for
baby.
“Christmas” is almost as old as the holiday
Hey, it’s the thought that counts.
itself. In the fourth century, when Constantine
elevated Christianity into a state religion, he
Jesus was born in a stable, because there was
started using “X” as a symbol for Jesus Christ.
no room in the inn.
Parchment was expensive at the time, so it was
it was common for people to use shorthand for
We have to be careful here, because this is such
popular words like Jesus.
an important part of many people’s vision of the
According to Vox, “XPMas” had
Christmas story. The Bible does say that Jesus
become a popular nickname for Christmas by
was laid in a manger, which gave rise to the
about 1021, which was later shortened to
popular notion that all this happened in a barn
“Xmas.” The phrase has stuck ever since,
next to an inn. But the Bible doesn’t say that
making it an interesting literary holdover from a
and, in fact, there is good reason to assume
millennia ago, but not particularly relevant to
otherwise.
the alleged secularization of Christmas.
The greek word being translated to “inn”
here is kataluma. That word can mean “inn,” but
Three kings came to visit Jesus on the night
it doesn’t have to. The only other time kataluma
he was born
is used in the New Testament is in reference to
the well-furnished guest room where Jesus ate
It’s hard to know where to begin with this one
the Last Supper with His disciples. We know
because the pop culture idea has become so
Joseph had family in Bethlehem (which is why
prevalent. Many (although not all!) Christians
He traveled there to take the Roman census) so