The origin of the Christmas
Christmas is the birth of Jesus, so the western Christian countries celebrate that day in order to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. The Bible doesn’t record the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can one examine the date. It’s widely acknowledged that Jesus Christ was born in Israel, but the formation of Christianity was conceived in the Roman empire. Nevertheless, during the first to third centuries AD, the Roman regime did not recognize Christianity and persecuted it frantically. December 25 was the winter solstice in the Roman calendar, which had the shortest daylight, but it was the day when the sun began to return, that was, the day of the restoration of light. Therefore, the Romans had the custom of commemorating the winter solstice.
圣诞节既耶稣诞生的节日，西方凡是基督教国家的人们都会在那一天庆祝，以此为了纪念耶稣基督的诞生。圣经并未记载主耶稣降生的日子，人们也无从考察这个日子。大家知道，耶稣基督降生在以色列，但基督教的形成却孕育在古罗马帝国。只是在公元1-3世纪期间，古罗马政权并不承认基督教，并且在疯狂地迫害基督教。那时风行罗马的许多异教，供奉太阳神。而12月25日是罗马历的冬至，冬至日光最短，但却是日光开始回归的日子，即“光复”的日子，所以罗马人早有纪念冬至的习俗。
In the 4th century AD, Christianity was recognized and became the state religion in Rome. Romans began to realize that the incarnate Jesus Christ was the god who brought people the true light of life and was truly worthy of worship and praise. Hence, December 25 was used to commemorate Jesus Christ and this day was the birth of Jesus. According to the records, the first Christmas was celebrated in 336 AD. In 440 AD, the holy see established December 25 as Christmas; In 1607, church leaders from around the world met in Bethlehem to further determine December 25 as Christmas day, then Christmas began to become a worldwide holiday.
公元4世纪，基督教在罗马被承认并成为国教，罗马人开始认识到，道成肉身的耶稣基督才是给人们带来生命真光的神，是真正值得敬拜、赞美的，因此把12月25日用来纪念耶稣基督，并把这一天做为耶稣降生的日子!据记载，第一次过圣诞节是在公元336年;公元440年，罗马教廷确定12月25日为圣诞节;公元1607年，世界各地教会领袖在伯利恒开会，进一步确定12月25日为圣诞节，从此圣诞节开始成为世界性的节日。
The origin of Christmas trees
Christmas trees first appeared in Germany, when Germans celebrated Christmas, they put some evergreen trees such as pine, cypress and ivy into the room, which was on behalf of the eternal life Jesus gave people. Martin Luther, a German, once placed a small candle on a pine branch to celebrate Christmas. He said the candle symbolized the light leading to the child's presence, which are now replaced by small neon lights. The top of the Christmas tree must hang a star, which called ‘the star of Bethlehem’, symbolizing the star that led the doctor to see the baby Jesus. The star on the western Christmas tree is not hanging casually, the star of the Christmas tree in the family should be hung by the head of the family, and the star of the church Christmas tree should be hung by the pastor in charge of the church. December first is the light festival in the United States, the largest Christmas tree outside the national church of America is lit by the President himself. The symbolic meaning of ‘the star of Bethlehem’ on the Christmas tree is to illuminate the hearts of the dark and guide people to see the true light of Jesus Christ----the savior of mankind.
圣诞树最早出现于德国。德国人在庆祝圣诞时，把一些常青的树木如松柏、常春藤等搬进房间。四季常青的树木代表耶稣赐给人的生命是永远的生命。德国人马丁·路德有一年庆祝圣诞节时在松树枝上插了小蜡烛，他说这蜡烛象征着引人朝见圣婴的引路灯。现在人们改用小霓虹灯。圣诞树的顶端一定要挂一颗星星，这颗星星叫作“伯利恒之星”，象征着那颗引导博士朝见圣婴耶稣的星。西方圣诞树上的星不是随便挂上去的，家里圣诞树的这颗星要由一家之主挂上去，教会圣诞树的星星要由教会负责牧师挂上去。12月1日是美国的亮灯节，美国国家教会门口最大的那棵圣诞树要由总统亲自点亮。圣诞树上“伯利恒之星”的象征含义就是照亮人心中的黑暗，引导人去见真光—人类的救主耶稣基督。
The origin of Santa Claus
The origin of Santa Claus was a very caring Christian named Nicholas, later known as saint Nicholas. He was born in 280 AD in Asia minor into a wealthy family. His parents died when he was a child, leaving him a large fortune. Nicholas loved god so much that he was determined to be a man who gave his love to others when he was young. When he grew up, he became a preacher and later a bishop. He lived a very loving life and often gave his money to poor people. As a bishop, many people knew him, but he didn’t want to let others know his good deeds, so every Christmas he disguised himself, dressed in old clothes, with a long beard, a hat, dressed up as an old man to go out into the street, to give food, clothes and Christmas gifts to the poor homeless children. In 1822, a Dutch missionary spread the story of the philanthropist to the United States, where he was imitated by the American people and later spread to Asia and even the world, diffusing the custom of dressing up as Santa Claus to celebrate Christmas.
圣诞老人的原型是一位非常有爱心的基督徒，他叫尼古拉，后来被称作“圣尼古拉”。他于公元280年出生在小亚细亚一个富有的家庭，幼年时双亲去世，给他留下一大笔财产。尼古拉非常爱神，从小立志做一个把爱分给别人的人。长大后他做了传道人，后来成为一名主教。他的一生是非常有爱心的一生，经常把自己的钱财施舍给贫穷的人们。
尼古拉是主教，很多人都认识他，而他却不愿意让别人知道他的善行。所以每到圣诞节他就乔装改扮，穿上破旧衣服，粘上大胡子，戴上帽子，装扮成一位老爷爷到街上去，给那些贫穷的、无家可归的孩子们分发食物、衣服和圣诞礼物。1822年，一位荷兰传教士把这位慈善家的故事传到美国，被美国民众所效仿，后又传到亚洲乃至全世界，使装扮圣诞老人庆祝圣诞节的风俗传扬起来.
Information source: http://wannianli.tianqi.com/
Translator：Yao jialing
Time: 2018-12-19
