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Christmas really evolved out of the old Roman festival of Saturnalia. This was a midwinter feast and celebration of the sun. On the last day, 25 December, the feast of Mithras was held. Mithras ("the sun of righteousness") was a Persian god whose cult was adopted by the Romans. There were a number of different midwinter festivals throughout Europe, and many of their customs became part of Christmas tradition, such as drinking and exchanging gifts; even the Yule log is a survival of a pagan custom.
The Christian festival developed in the 4th or 5th century AD, and the old ones were deliberately adapted to make them more acceptable to a still largely unconverted population. Christ's birth date is uncertain, and there is no mention of winter in the gospels. In fact, the Puritans were so uneasy about the pagan and – even worse – Catholic associations of "Christ's mass" that they banned it. Even today, some hardline Christians regard it as a pagan irrelevance and refuse to celebrate it.
The Christian festival developed in the 4th or 5th century AD, and the old ones were deliberately adapted to make them more acceptable to a still largely unconverted population. Christ's birth date is uncertain, and there is no mention of winter in the gospels. In fact, the Puritans were so uneasy about the pagan and – even worse – Catholic associations of "Christ's mass" that they banned it. Even today, some hardline Christians regard it as a pagan irrelevance and refuse to celebrate it.
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