A visit to the major markets and shopping malls in Lagos and commercial centres all over the country is a tedious undertaking at this time, because everybody is hustling about, pulling and pushing all in a bid to buy one thing or another.
Of course, petty thieves and pickpockets are on the prowl, cleverly stealing from people’s handbags and pockets. And given the ubiquity of Internet technology and explosion in electronic transactions, fraudsters are working hard looking for victims to defraud. Business people and transporters are already implementing strategies aimed at profit maximisation.
Unfortunately, with the growing hardship in the country right now, millions of Nigerians would not enjoy the Yuletide the way they would have wanted. Many of the roads in the country, especially federal roads in the South-East, are in a terrible state of disrepair, which means that road accidents will likely increase from now till after the New Year celebrations.
According to “The Truth about Christmas,” an informative essay on Christmas published in the December 2010 edition of Awake, Christmas celebration has spread to non-Christian countries such as China, Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon and Turkey. The article reports that in the West, Christmas has metamorphosed into a secular moneymaking enterprise, with many advertorials blatantly targeted towards children. Millions of Christians still go to church on Christmas day in the pretext of commemorating the birth of the purported “saviour of mankind,” whereas their real intention is to show off their expensive new clothes, shoes, bags etc. Meanwhile, the well-decorated shopping malls playing Christmas carols have become the new temples. Because of relentless commercialisation, people are unduly agitated and worried over how to buy Christmas gifts for their loved ones. Some of them borrow money in order to meet the expectations of family members and friends.
Overspending during Christmas has become an unfortunate feature of a supposedly spiritual event. From the foregoing, there is no patina of doubt that Christmas, which is supposed to mark the birthday of Jesus Christ, the most iconic spiritual teacher in human history (according to Christians), has evolved into the celebration of rabid materialism, debauchery and showy exhibitionism. But how did this come about? Is the transformation due to the largely non-Christian origin of Christmas itself, or is it an inevitable product of rampaging capitalism? Looking at the historical basis of Christmas, was the figure described as Jesus of Nazareth a genuine historical figure or were the narratives concerning him an admixture of fact and myth – more of myth, in fact? If there was indeed a historical Jesus, was he actually born on Christmas day, that is, 25th of December? What are the historical origins of Christmas? Attempts to answer these questions can open up fresh and interesting vistas of thought concerning one of the most celebrated festivals in human history.
Most Christians, particularly in Nigeria, do not know that Christmas celebrations developed from non-Christian sources. Tradition has it that Jesus was actually born on December 25, and his birthday is celebrated on that date. Indeed, ‘Christmas’ means ‘Christ’s Mass,’ that is, the mass commemorating the feast of Christ’s nativity, or birth. The Christmas Encyclopaedia states that canonisation of December 25 as Jesus’ birthday did not evolve from biblical precedent, but from Roman festivals held at the end of every year, about the time of winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Those festivals included the Saturnalia, in honour of Saturn, god of agriculture, and the combined festivals of two sun gods, Sol and Mithra from Rome and Persia respectively.
Both birthdays were celebrated on 25th of December, the winter solstice, according to the Julian calendar. The metamorphosis or adaptation of these celebrations into Christian practice began in 350 A.D., when Pope Julius 1 proclaimed December 25 a Christ’s birthday. The nativity gradually absorbed and supplanted all other solstice rites, while solar imagery became increasingly prominent in depicting the notion of “the risen Christ” or sol invictus, and the old solar disk was transformed into haloes around the heads of Christian saints. Now, granted that The Bible contains narratives of questionable historicity, and although, contrary to what most Christians believe, the question of whether the individual named Jesus in the Gospels actually existed is far from settled, Christmas celebration was never recommended in the Christian scripture. Indeed, The Bible did not state the actual date Jesus was born – it merely gave geographical indications surrounding the birth and early circumstances of Jesus.
In Luke 2:8, for instance, The Bible suggests that when Jesus was born, shepherds were living out of doors herding their sheep at night near Bethlehem. Meteorologically speaking, October usually marks the commencement of the cold rainy season in the area of Christ’s nativity, and at such period shepherds, especially in the colder highlands such as those around Bethlehem, brought their flock into protected shelters at night. The coldest weather, occasionally accompanied by snow, usually occurred in December, making that period inappropriate for shepherds to tend their animals at night. Thus, it appears that, judging from biblical account concerning the birth of Jesus and the weather condition of Bethlehem and its environs, it is unlikely that he was born in December.
Another work published by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, entitled Insight on the Scriptures suggests, that Jesus was born during the ancient Jewish month of ethanim, that is, in September or October. As already indicated, The Bible does not contain any account about Jesus celebrating his birthday, nor recommendation by Jesus or any of his twelve disciples that it should be celebrated by his followers. The pioneer Christians, some of whom accompanied Jesus in his missionary work, never celebrated it on any date. But interestingly, during the last supper with his twelve disciples, Jesus asked them to commemorate his death, probably indicating that his death is a momentous event for his followers (Luke 22: 17-20).
Two of the most popular manifestations of mythology in modern Christmas are the phenomenon of Santa Claus and the Christmas tree, the latter arising from ancient superstition connected to the god of agriculture. In many countries today, including Nigeria, it is generally believed by children that Santa Claus actually brings presents to them.
Children regularly write to Santa asking for presents which, according to tradition, elves help him to manufacture in his headquarters at the North Pole. There is a popular account of the myth of Santa Claus which claims that it was invented by the legendary Saint Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Asia Minor (Turkey). Probably, therefore, the appellation ‘Santa Claus’ could have originated from Sinterklaas, a corruption of the Dutch expression for ‘Saint Nicholas.’ Needless to say, there is no mention of Santa Claus in The Bible, which implies that the cheery, red-faced fabrication that goes by that name has absolutely nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.
VANGUARD
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