'Twas A Bible Accurate Christmas...

[Music] [Music] hang on there's something wrong with this scene these shouldn't be here nor these sprinkle in some of these and there we are much better i think the nativity is one of the best known stories of all time but there are some weird parts to the original tale that often get overlooked and there are a bunch of non-christian elements like gifts trees and mistletoe that were originally pagan customs so what was the first christmas actually like and where do we get all the unusual traditions gather round grab a warm festive drink and place a

yule log on the fire it's time to explore the stranger side of christmas the christmas story can be found in the new testament the gospels to be exact they are four semibiographical accounts of the life of jesus the story of his miraculous birth or nativity is only mentioned in two of them matthew and luke they roughly share the same sequence of events but as we shall see there are some significant differences between them our festive tale begins roughly two thousand years ago in the roman occupied province of judea the puppet king herod rules the throne

in the small town of nazareth a girl named mary has just been told that she's pregnant this is a surprise to her especially as she's still a virgin perhaps more surprising is that she's being told this by an angel the angel gabriel to be exact when it comes to biblical history the angel gabriel is pretty new to the scene prior to this he's only appeared once in the bible in the old testament book of daniel here he acts as an interpreter to the strange vision the prophet is experiencing in fact he's more popular outside the

bible appearing in several apocryphal texts one of which is the book of enoch an apocalyptic tale about a heavenly war against a group of fallen angels gabriel is one of god's lieutenants along with fellow archangels michael uriel and surial it seems that by the new testament gabriel's fighting days are well and truly behind him nowadays his job is to deliver news of unexpected pregnancies to startle teenagers in matthew's gospel we get to hear joseph's side of events from his perspective his betrothed wife has got herself mysteriously pregnant suspecting an affair he secretly plans to divorce

her at the last minute however he is visited by an unnamed angel in a dream it tells him that she hasn't in fact cheated on him but instead has been selected to carry god's baby the baby is to be called jesus an aramaic name that literally means god saves back in luke's gospel the roman governor has issued a census in order to count the population and everyone is told to return to their ancestral home mary and joseph must make the 80 mil journey from nazareth to bethlehem the census of queerness was a real historical event

although it took place in the year 6 ce that's six years after jesus was supposed to have been born dating jesus birth becomes extra confusing when we find out that the real king herod died 10 years earlier in the year 4 bce historically speaking the roman census and the reign of king herod did not overlap contrary to what it says in the bible this leaves us with an awkward question when was jesus actually born many biblical scholars believe that luke's gospel probably got the dates confused and so discreetly moved jesus's birth date to 4 bce

to coincide with the reign of king herod after an arduous trek mary and joseph finally arrive in bethlehem but they need a place to stay you'll be familiar with this next bit they are told to lodge in a stable because there was quote no room in the inn this however is a mistranslation looking at the text's original language koine greek and the word in is often translated for kataluma in reality this word actually means guest room as in a spare room in someone's house this has led to the idea that the holy couple were probably

staying at the home of a relative although lacking any sense of privacy this is supported a bit later in the text where their dwelling is described as an oycan the greek word for house the whole idea that jesus was born in a stable is a myth it doesn't appear in the bible in fact some of the earliest christian thinkers believed that jesus was born in a cave whichever it was there may have still been animals present in ancient palestinian dwellings it was customary to keep animals on the bottom floor of one's home which may explain

the whole being born in a feeding trough thing after the baby jesus is born a star suddenly manifests above bethlehem although it's likely just a creative addition by the author many have attempted to find a scientific explanation behind this unusual cosmic phenomenon a popular theory is that the star of bethlehem could have been a comet modern astronomers have calculated that haley's comet could have been visible around this time it will take a few years and although comets travel at speeds of around 2000 miles an hour from the earth's surface they appear to be standing still

eerily hovering about in the night sky just like how the star of bethlehem was said to have quote stood over the site of jesus birth noticing this star or whatever it was are three wise men from the east despite the popular song these three are never referred to as kings instead matthew's gospel labels them as magi magi is a persian word that was used to describe priests in the ancient zoroastrian religion it's where we get the word magic and magician from the greek historian herodotus once described these magi as sorcerers fluent in alchemy and esoteric

knowledge but above all astronomy having followed this star the three men finally arrive in bethlehem they bring with them gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh now if you've ever wondered what myrrh is it's an ointment used to embalm dead people an ominous gift to be giving to a baby if you ask me the magi do not appear in luke's gospel instead visiting the baby jesus are the shepherds whilst relaxing on the hills outside bethlehem they are dazzled by a blinding flash an angel the bible is quick to point out that they are absolutely terrified by

this sight the being attempts to calm them down be not afraid for today in the town of david the savior has been born unto you with that hundreds of other angels appear in the sky and begin to chant and sing the shepherds promptly flee the scene in the desperate search of this miracle child this event known as the annunciation to the shepherds has been depicted by artists throughout history although using far less distressing imagery than i have eight days later the baby is taken to a synagogue and is circumcised according to jewish custom believe it

or not a number of churches across medieval europe have claimed to be in possession of the byproduct of this procedure you see according to christian theology when jesus ascended into heaven he left no physical trace on earth except that is for something that was removed during his early childhood throughout history there has been a total of 18 claimants of the holy prep use as it's known this includes charlemagne who had received it as a gift from empress irene of constantinople the fact that so many people have come forward claiming ownership of this bizarre relic tells

us one of two things one that there was either a lot of material that needed to be removed or two someone has been sold something that didn't originally belong to jesus to finish the nativity story the gospel of matthew ends on a really dark note having heard of the so-called king of the jews has been born in bethlehem king herod has become paranoid that this infant will one day overthrow him he does what any good king would do and orders a mass slaughter of infant boys in bethlehem in later christian tradition these babies are regarded

as the first martyrs depicted here as cute cherubs fortunately there is no historical evidence of such an event taking place so many believe that it's simply a myth the whole thing was pointless anyway as the holy family had already fled to egypt having been warned by an angel there they spent jesus childhood in the shadow of the pyramids only to return once jesus had grown up into an adult and with that our christmas story comes to an end the modern christmas story is a synthesis between these two gospel accounts we've seen how both roughly tell

the same story but there are some events that take place in one gospel and not in the other as the renaissance came around certain stock images of christmas became formalized although as we've seen some elements like the stable are not strictly accurate in fact so many non-biblical elements have been piled onto the christmas story on the holiday in general let's have a look at some of them starting with the date december 25th noah in the bible does it say that jesus was born on the 25th of december in fact the references to shepherds and sheep

may suggest that the nativity took place in the spring it will be roughly three centuries later in 350 ce when the date was officially set but why the middle of winter was it simply plucked at random it's commonly thought that the first christmas celebrations were timed to coincide with the roman festival of saturnalia dedicated to the god of agriculture saturnalia was the biggest event in the roman calendar it was basically one giant party the streets of the capital were rowdy with scenes of drinking singing gambling and general merriment it was also a time of gift

giving particularly of small clay figurines known as sigillaria smallworks candles called cere would be lit and wreaths would decorate villas saturnalia was a time of role reversal the only time of the year when slaves could dine with their masters after a lavish banquet of roast pork and cooked wine guests would appoint a lord of misrule whose job was to pull mischievous pranks on partygoers saturnalia was typically held between the 17th and the 23rd of december and was followed by the day of the unconquered sun or soul invictus this day took place on the 25th of

december and it marked the winter solstice the shortest day of the year once christianity was adopted as the official religion of the roman empire saturnalia waned in popularity and was eventually replaced with christmas we don't know much about how these early christmases were celebrated by all accounts easter was the big one in the religious calendar but as you can already see many events of saturnalia like gift giving advent candles and festive dinners were able to survive the transition as christianity spread outside the borders of the roman empire up into the pagan tribes of northern europe

indigenous folk practices soon became absorbed by christmas germanic and baltic people were known to decorate pine trees with nuts berries and small charms the celts believed that mistletoe had magical properties and was used as a fertility symbol druids would hang mistletoe on doors to ward off witches and demons as i'm sure you've already guessed by now these ancient customs form the basis of many beloved christmas traditions for most of its history christmas wasn't the big holiday it is now it was most often celebrated in pubs and taverns and an opportunity for drunken merriment and mayhem

because of this it's been banned a number of times in 1647 oliver cromwell outlawed all christmas festivities believing that they encouraged immoral behavior christmas cheer would not return to england until 1660 when the monarchy was eventually restored christmas also fell out to favor in america where it was seen as too english of a custom it was not until the 19th century when the holiday went through a revival authors like charles dickens sought to bring the heart back to christmas putting family-friendly values front and center their books captured the imagination of their readers and helped put

christmas back on the calendar where it became the warm-hearted winter holiday that it is today christmas has had a strange two thousand and something year journey to get here with many twists and turns along the way wherever it is celebrated it fuses with local customs and cuisines in east asian countries like japan it is customary to eat fried chicken instead of roast to turkey in countries in the southern hemisphere like australia christmas takes place in the middle of summer and is often celebrated with a barbecue perhaps christmas has become so popular because it's no longer

strictly a religious holiday whilst many do observe its religious significance many others like me just enjoy the chance to get together with family and friends however you celebrate this period or don't celebrate it at all i wish you peace and happiness in whatever you get up to [Music] hey thanks for watching i really hope you enjoyed this one i had good fun making it if you'd like to see more why not subscribe a like and a comment also go a really long way i need to rest up over the holiday season but we'll return early

in the new year in the meantime click this playlist here to watch some of my videos that you may have missed anyway i look forward to seeing you next time goodbye