CHRISTMAS: A BRIEF HISTORY

History is the study of the past events. The past remains very indispensable in life. This is because the knowledge of the past enhances a good relation with the present in preparation for the future. The importance of history can never be overemphasised; for without it, we cannot claim to fully know about our lives in general. Bringing it to a specific aspect of the human life, relating with such may not be possible without adequate knowledge of it. And knowledge of such a thing is never complete until its past is revealed. The only means through which the past is known is by studying the past. This study is no other but History. Arguably, the past of some things may not be needed at the moment. Yes this may be true. But supposing beyond this moment such information is needed and one lacks it, what then happens? If the sincere thought of this kind of situation will lead in one way or the other into regrets either at the short run or at the long run, suffice it to be enough to have the history of everything in life as much as one can. It is on this psychological atmosphere that I briefly present the history of Christmas. The mkpụrụ ihe of this work is simply to tell us about the childhood of Christmas in a concise manner.

Christmas is the Christian feast of the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is based on the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus Christ described in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (cf. Matthew chaps. 1&2; Luke chaps 1&2). In the Catholic Church, this is preceded by the Advent season which aims at preparing the faithful for this commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a further preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as he promised. Having developed from several languages, the term “Christmas” entered the English language sometime around 1050 as the Old English phrase Christes maesse, meaning “festival of Christ.” Scholars believe the frequently used shortened form of Christmas—Xmas—may have come into use in the 13th century. The X stands for the Greek letter chi, an abbreviation of Khristos (Christ), and also represents the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

Talking about the date of the celebration, the precise origin of assigning December 25 as the birth date of Jesus is unclear. Historians are unsure exactly when Christians first began celebrating the Nativity of Christ. However, most scholars believe that Christmas originated in the 4th century as a Christian substitute for pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. Before the introduction of Christmas, each year beginning on December 17 Romans honoured Saturn, the ancient god of agriculture, in a festival called Saturnalia. This festival lasted for seven days and included the winter solstice, which usually occurred around December 25 on the ancient Julian calendar. During Saturnalia the Romans feasted, postponed all business and warfare, exchanged gifts, and temporarily freed their slaves. Many Romans also celebrated the lengthening of daylight following the winter solstice by participating in rituals to glorify Mithra, the ancient Persian god of light. These and other winter festivities continued through January 1, the festival of Kalends, when Romans marked the day of the new moon and the first day of the month and year.

Although the Gospels describe Jesus’ birth in detail, they never mention the date, so historians do not know on what date he was born. The Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 as the day for the Feast of the Nativity in order to give Christian meaning to existing pagan rituals. For example, and as noted above, the Church replaced festivities honouring the birth of Mithra, the god of light, with festivities to commemorate the birth of Jesus, whom the Bible calls the light of the world. The Catholic Church hoped to draw pagans into its religion by allowing them to continue their revelry while simultaneously honouring the birthday of Jesus. The Eastern Orthodox Church took a slightly different course. However, ancient historical sources have it that Catholics first celebrated Christmas, then known as the Feast of the Nativity, as early as Ad 336. By the end of the 4th century the Eastern Church in Constantinople had also begun to acknowledge December 25 as Jesus’ birthday, but it emphasized the celebration of Christ’s baptism on January 6 as the more important holiday.

Another source has it that December 25 was first identified as the date of Jesus' birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221 and later became the universally accepted date. One widespread explanation of the origin of this date is that December 25 was the Christianizing of the dies solis invicti nati (“day of the birth of the unconquered sun”), a popular holiday in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice as a symbol of the resurgence of the sun, the casting away of winter and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer.

Also, one account has it that December 25 became the date of Jesus' birth by a priori reasoning that identified the spring equinox as the date of the creation of the world and the fourth day of creation, when the light was created, as the day of Jesus' conception (i.e., March 25). December 25, nine months later, then became the date of Jesus' birth. For a long time the celebration of Jesus' birth was observed in conjunction with his baptism, celebrated around January 6.

In all these accounts, we can say that the date of Christmas as 25^th December is connected with some pagan celebrations and a Christianization of them. This is because after December 25 had become widely accepted as the date of Jesus' birth, Christian writers frequently made the connection between the rebirth of the sun and the birth of the Son. The official Christmas season, popularly known as either Christmastide or the Twelve Days of Christmas, extends from the anniversary of Christ’s birth on December 25 to the feast of Epiphany on January 6. This season extends up to the feast of the Baptism of our Lord in the Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church, a significant feature of this season is the construction of the Christmas crib which represents the place and early events of the birth of Christ. This crib is visited by the faithful throughout the season where they offer prayers to God either as individuals or groups.

Although Christmas is a religious feast, the holiday attached to its period has made it to be observed as a secular festival. For most people who celebrate Christmas, the holiday season is characterized by gatherings among family and friends, feasting, and gift giving. When it comes to the nature of the celebration, the bible did not explicitly define such. Nevertheless, the nature and character of the celebration has been developed by human beings who know what serves them best and are ready to go for it. Christmas celebrations have been shaped by the religious and popular traditions of each culture that celebrates the holiday. Traditionally, the sacred Christmas season starts with Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and continues to Christmas Day. It ends on the Christmas Eve as Christmas begins with the Vigil of 24^th December. During Advent, Christians especially Catholics make preparations for the commemoration of Jesus’ birth on December 25, and also look forward to the Second Coming of Christ. The Catholic midnight Mass was first introduced by the Roman Catholic Church in the 5th century. Christmas Masses are sometimes solemn and sometimes buoyant, depending on the particular culture that conducts them. 

Do you know about the Christmas tree, ornamentals and cards? I will tell you. The Christmas tree has evolved from German Culture. Although it was traditionally a symbol of fertility, they transformed it into a Christian symbol of rebirth. According to legend, the Christmas tree tradition began with the founder of German Protestantism, Martin Luther. While walking through the forest on Christmas Eve, Luther was so moved by the beauty of the starlit fir trees that he brought one indoors and decorated it with candles to remind his children of God’s creation. In 1841 Prince Albert of Germany gave his wife, Queen Victoria of England, a gift of a Christmas tree. This was reputedly the first Christmas tree in England, but the custom spread quickly. German immigrants took the Christmas tree to other parts of Europe and to the United States and Canada, where it soon became a popular tradition.  This Christmas tree has been made with some other materials to make it look better. 

The practice of exchanging Christmas cards also became a widespread custom in the 19th century. Europeans had distributed wood prints of religious themes for Christmas during the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century). In 1843 English illustrator John Callcott Horsley created the first modern Christmas card. The card depicted a family celebration and its caption read, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” In the United States, German-born printer Louis Prang made advances in colour lithography that enabled him to mass-produce a colourful Christmas card in 1875. The card sold extremely well, and soon the custom of exchanging Christmas cards spread throughout the country. Flowers and other objects like the Christmas lights, objects etc. have been made to make the celebration wonderful.

Christians traditionally and till today exchange gifts as a reminder of God’s gift of a saviour to humankind. Gift-giving also recalls an ancient Roman custom of exchanging gifts to bring good fortune for the New Year. This history remains brief. Perhaps a further research on the matter will enlighten us the more. We need to know very well and knowing very well has no limit. Mine is only a step to know the more.

Nwanyanwu Chris

LIBERAL DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA?

Let it not be the case that I am very tired of my country because from time to time I must say one or two things about her. Perhaps they may not be the truth although they are not in communion with the being of lies. I have always suggested that we leave talking about the future of this country and face other issues. But the fact remains that Nigeria is my country and I have that social duty to put in my quota in her good. Recently, in one of my discussions with a friend of mine, he said that Nigeria will definitely attain liberal democracy sometime someday. At first the statement was not taken seriously, but when my body departed from the venue we were discussing the issue my mind could not allow my body to rest as it started to grapple mentally with that statement.  When it comes to the issue of whether Nigerian will become a liberal democratic state, it is very good to come to terms, perhaps a full terms with the terms here; for clarification of terms sets a better stage for any discussion with a foreign clothing.

The term liberal democracy as can be seen seems to be a combination of two concepts or terms namely; Liberal and Democracy. Whoever thinks in this manner is not far from the salvation embedded in the understanding of the matter at hand. Liberal means projecting liberty. Liberty from its etymology simply means to be free from external constraints. For Ogbue Charles in his encounter with his Long Essay, Liberty can be said to be a moral and political principle that identifies the condition by which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions. Democracy on the other can be wholly be said to be a form of governance whereby the mind of the members of the society are heard and consulted on matters. But what of theWhy and How of Liberal Democracy?

 

The answer is that the proponents of liberal democracy have realised that the expected “good” democracy ought to be doing is far from being real; for it is doing more harm than good. This is because it was projected that democracy will provide, maintain and sustain the liberty of the members of the society; however, it turned out to be that in some democratic states, what they have is just the tyranny of the majority; a situation whereby only the greatest number will always be heard on issues discussed, while the poor minorities will never see their voices enter the kingdom of consideration. Even when there is a promise that it will be accepted, we all know the majority are all liars. In this situation, we find out that while some members of the society are fully and by every aspect are regarded as human beings, some others are only present in the society for the sake of being in the society. It is to avoid this kind of distinction and segregation which strips the victims of their liberty that that political situation/governance that will cater for the needs of EVERYBODY in the society, allowing for the wider participation all members and the respect to the contributions of the general public is developed. This is no other but Liberal Democracy. One of the salient natures of liberal democracy is that it has Liberalism as its brother.

Liberalism can be said to an attitude, philosophy or movement that has as its basic concern the development of personal freedom and social progress. It is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles.

But generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, free and fair elections, human rights, capitalism and the free exercise of religion. As related to Liberal Democracy, Liberalism is so much interested in the expansion of democracy. Simply put, the mkpuru ihe of Liberalism is the widening of democracy in terms of stringent application of its principles so that more people especially the minorities will have their say on any issue in the society. Liberal democracy aims as projecting the Respect for human dignity of all the members of the society, harnessing the best use of human freedom to attain great development, promotion of justice in the society especially economic and social justice, encouraging sensitivity to the needs of others, avoidance of cruelty and ill treatments on people, peaceful and harmonious co-existence in the society and all these will ultimately lead to living a meaningful life in the human society.  

Some of the features of this political Ideology is that it encourages majority rule in as much as the voices and inputs of the minority have been made. It encourages free and fair regular elections, Equality (equal opportunity to develop potentials, equal opportunity to have a say in Government, the strict application of Rule of Law, Freedom of speech, Association, Movement, Religious group; Political pluralism etc. All these and many others are the features of a Liberal Democratic society.

From the foregoing, I was able to further my critical reflection on the matter. When I started looking at the features of the Liberal Democratic society and compared my society with it, I realised that to say that Nigeria will become such a society will be true only after the non-liberal democratic societies in the world attain such height. I believe that before you count two, one must have been counted. Drawing from that, societies that are said to be Liberal Democratic societies were once democratic in nature. It then means that the extension of the existing Democracy brought about Liberal Democracy. And so, if Nigeria wants to be a Liberal Democratic Society, she must first of all become a democratic society. And unless this is the case, we cannot say that we will jump to six without counting from one to five.

Nigeria is said to have practiced democracy for up to thirteen years and yet we have seen little or nothing about the features of Democracy. Yes we have been having periodic elections at various levels and this is a sign of democracy. But what becomes of an election when the flaws are well pronounced such that the little children in the streets begin to question their parents on what they went out to do since they themselves were asked to do the same thing in their various schools. Yes we may not have a very free and fair elections, but I think that sin can be committed without causing scandal or a very little in the worst case. When it comes to Nigeria, what we see is sin committed in the broad day light and yet people say that elections have been credible. One good thing about democracy is that it encourages freedom of religious worship. But I believe that you my audience will agree with me that Christians have not known peace in this country just because they follow Christ against Mohammed. Have we forgotten that the Church in the Northern part of this country have had great martyrs? 

Democracy places everybody before the law. But what happens when the rich and wealthy are involved in criminal offences? We all know that the Judges who have heavily received bribe will continue to drag the case until Oblivion befriends such a case. The case will only be different when some judges never received like others. I want to say that Democracy is yet to be practised in the country and as such we cannot progress to Liberal Democracy. In the thoughts of my revered Philosopher Sir Richard Rorty, he says that Liberal Democracy is aimed at safeguarding the interest of the minorities and giving them respect and dignity. He further says that his own liberalist utopia is a society whereby everybody will be sensitive to the needs and sufferings of the other. And by extension, we shall be able to say no to cruelty to anyone in any form since the person is one of us. Will Nigerians live up to this stage. I strongly doubt. Why you may ask?

The recent flooding in the country kept people homeless and thanks to Governments who tried to provide for them. In Delta State, the man taking charge of one of the refugee camps was removed because he converted these refugees’ goods to his. What wickedness? I will remain ever grateful to Delta State Governor who never allowed that dangerous beast to be in-charged more a second he heard the news. Ordinary Democracy we have not practised and we think we can get to Liberal Democracy. How can our Goodluck Jonathan, Namadi Sambo, Okonjo-Iweala. Joseph Sanusi and co. say they want our good when in the early hours of 1^st January 2013 they removed the fuel subsidy if at all it was ever there? After the Nigerian Labour Congress had reached an agreement with them, what has been the result of the 50% removal which took place then? Finally, because they think that the ₦5, ₦10, ₦20 currencies were never seen around them, they want to keep them in blessed memorial in the name of coins whereas these currencies are the hope of the poor. How can you say that these people are sensitive to the needs of the common Nigeria? If Democracy promotes the rights of the majority most often, why did Sanusi and Co. not listen to the cries of the General Public who cried out against the ₦5,000 note? Thanks to our Big Brother OBJ whose statement and influence stopped that doom.

Liberal Democracy is been practised in some nations like USA, Britain, etc. These Nations have grown politically and socially to the extent that they understand and practised to the 99% stage the principles of Liberalism. Yes, no Ideology is free from problems. But I think that only the excesses of Liberalism make it harmful to an extent. Nonetheless, its advantages are more than the ugly side. Human dignity is respected and the Rights of the common man over there are respected.

My Beloved country, her leaders and everybody, I wish to say that Liberal Democracy will be practised in Nigeria when everybody is more concerned in the use of his/her freedom in such a way that the freedom of others are respected too. Locke says that adding sweat to the natural property and then converting it to a personal property is never a problem except when that is done at the expense of others. Our leaders have failed. We are failing in as much as in the way we live our lives we do not respect others in their rights and dignity.  In all these how can Liberal Democracy exist in Nigeria when the foundational Democracy is still in thorns?

Nwanyanwu Chris

LAW AND PUNISHMENT: A BIBLICAL JUSTIFICATION

Humans as social beings are meant to live together; for if not, they are either beasts or spirits. Human beings though are the same as having the same biological and physiological make-ups, they are equally different. This difference is seen in their diverse ways of perception of reality. With all these features of humans, they are meant to live together. In living together, they enter into a relationship which has various forms or kinds. It is in the context of this relationship that a guideline is made. This guideline is aimed that protecting this relationship as it makes it better. This guideline is called “Law”.

A law is a binding custom or practice of a community. It is a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognised as binding or enforced by a controlling authority. Laws are various prescriptions and guidelines vis-à-vis human actions that are encouraged or discouraged within a particular society. The sole aim of law is the better organization of the human society. That is, laws are provided to guide humans’ relationships with themselves so as to guarantee the peaceful and harmonious relationship of them as they co-exist in the society. 

Laws could be documented while some are not. The documented law is exemplified in the constitution of a civil society. Also, there are universal laws and particular laws. While universal laws are believed and practice by all human societies, particular/relative laws are those that are practised within a culture. Be it as it may, laws are meant to organise the human society. Laws as they are need to be very useful and be respected by the people for which it was made. In ensuring that these laws are maintained by the people, there comes again the idea of punishment which serves as means of enforcement of laws in the society. If there is no punishment, laws may not be kept and hence they become useless.

Punishment is a penalty for doing something wrong: a penalty that is imposed on somebody for wrongdoing. It can take several forms such as fines, work, and other ways of punishment for wrong doing. One thing about punishment is that it only occurs when there is a breach of a value of a law. That is to say that the justification of punishment lies in the infringement of the law.

Punishment is primarily and essentially geared towards the restoration of the judicial order violated by a crime. Punishment has three main functions- it is retributive, corrective and deterrent.  It is retributive because it pays back the offender for the offence, gives the just desserts, re-establishes the equal balance of justice which has been outraged and re-asserts the value of the law which has been flouted. It is corrective as it is directed towards the improvement of the offender and the person’s rehabilitation as a member of the society. Finally, it is directed towards preventing similar crimes by others, showing by example what happens to the offenders. Thus, the functions of punishment should be retributive: vindicating the rights of the offended; corrective: rehabilitating the offender and deterrent: forewarning the community at large.

Law and Punishment are meant to guide the relationship of humans in the society such that they will experience peace and harmony. The importance of law and punishment is such that without them, there will be chaos and problems within the human society. 

Biblically, law and punishment could be seen in its place in humans’ relationship with God. The relationship between God and his people is aimed at uniting them here on earth and also in heaven. Hence there is need to clearly state the nature of the relationship. It is in this context that we see the existence of the Ten Commandments and the significance. The Ten Commandments are meant to guide the relationship between God and humans on the one hand and among humans themselves on the other hand. It contains required and encouraged behaviours and those that should be avoided.

From the bible, we are meant to understand that God gave several punishments to people who disobeyed his commands in one way or the other. The punishments he gave out to the offenders were retributive, corrective and deterrent. This is to show that the law is very important and punishment serves as the purpose of respecting and keeping the law. At least the book of Leviticus clearly illustrates the place and role of law and punishment in the human society in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, Christ taught this when he mandated Peter to pay the tax of both of them from the coin he will get from the mouth of the fish. We also see Christ encouraging people to obey the laws of the land by paying taxes to Caesar.  However, it is worthy to note here that not all laws and punishments are entirely good, as they may have one or two shortcomings. But the fact remains that the bible acknowledges the importance of law and punishment.

Finally, law and punishment may seem to limit humans’ freedom or may be seen as unnecessary by some people. But law and punishment are very important. Hence beyond others, the bible recognizes the legitimacy, necessity and efficacy of law and punishment in the society, in this way giving it a justification. And so, laws and the punishments attached to them in any environment are meant solely for the good of the community, and that is why all in that environment must abide by it.

Nwanyanwu Chris

WELCOMING CHRIST IN THE WORLD

WELCOMING CHRIST IN THE WORLD

After the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, God out of His infinite mercy sought a way to redeem man from eternal damnation. Hence, he decided to send His Son Jesus Christ to carry out the mission of man’s redemption. But before the coming of Christ, God sent so many prophets to the world, so that through their preaching and prophecies, the people may be ready to receive the Son of God who is to come. So many came and few persons listened to them. Others were very hardened in accepting the message of the coming of Christ. Even when  the last prophet John the Baptist preached and prepared the way for the Lord, so many people never got interested in that regard. In fact many prophets of Old had to end their mission sorrowfully as they were all humiliated and Mal-treated.

When Christ finally came, the people at that time never took Him seriously especially those arrogant Pharisees and Sadducees. They not only never wanted to accept the truth of the presence of Christ in their midst, but equally discouraged others from doing so. In the end when they thought that they had won Christ by nailing him on the cross, they never knew that he was actually completing his work of salvation after he had taught man how best to relate with God.

Ever since the world became in need of the Savior, the same world had not taken time to prepare for the coming of Christ just as they do when ordinary prominent human beings are coming. The truth is that the first time Christ came into the world his reception was never something to boast about. Biblically, he was nearly killed if not for the intervention of the Angel who directed Joseph to travel to Egypt and instructed the Magi not to go back to Herod. And unfortunately, in the desperate desire to rubbish the coming of Christ numerous children were killed by King Herod. This is the world for us.

In our own time, especially as we enter into the season of Advent, is the world ready to welcome Christ? The season of advent is essentially given for us to prepare for the coming of Christ which starts with his birth subsequently. It not only reminds us of the celebration of the memorial of the nativity of the Lord, but also reminds us of the Parousia the final coming of Christ to the world. Hence we are called to prepare for these two great events.

Given this as the case, is the world ready for any of the two events? That is, is the world ready to welcome the birth of Christ and his Second Coming? The readiness we actually mean here may not be the physical readiness although it is a part of it. The readiness we are talking about here is the spiritual preparation for the Coming of Christ. Of course the spiritual readiness will be manifested in the physical by words and actions. It actually means keeping our spiritual candles burning steadily.

If this is exactly the spiritual readiness we are talking about, can we actually say that with the events of our society there is any sign that the world is indeed preparing for the coming of Christ either in the case of the Christmas celebration or in the case of the Second Coming?

We may not answer in the affirmative because we all are guilty of those things that are in great contradiction with the nature of the coming of Christ. The life of the world is a complete contradiction with the nature of Christ. And that is why we cannot say that the world is ready to meet the Lord either at Christmas or the Second Coming. There are so many acts of inhumanity being carried out in the world today. Do we even talk about the growing rate of injustice and social inequality in the world? What about the envy and jealousy among us? These and many other negative attitudes indicate that the world is never ready and in fact does not want to receive Christ. This is because if the world wants to receive Christ, the people would have to prepare the way of the Lord and then make his paths straight. But as it is, no way has been made for Christ and the existing way is already rough and uneven. With these, we can conclusively say that the world is not ready to welcome Christ.

The question as to whether the world is prepared or not to receive Christ should not be a problem here because whether we are ready or not and whether we want it or not, He must surely come. That is to say that the coming of Christ either at Christmas or the Second Coming is never dependent on our preparedness. In other words, whether we are ready to receive Christ or not he will surely come. In fact our preparedness at the coming of Christ is an advantage to us.

Where the above is the case, it now makes it clear to us that we all have to get prepared to welcome Christ in the world. We all have to come back to ourselves and find out those things we do that are not in consonance with the nature of the person we are expecting to come. We will also continue to prepare for the coming of Christ by explaining to people by words and deeds that they too need to get ready for the coming of Christ. This is a task given to us at baptism and we must carry it out.

In essence, the season of Advent helps us to prepare to welcome Christ in our individual hearts and then to the entire world. Christ will come at the appointed them of which only God knows, and as such this unknown time of the coming should make us ever conscious of that fact and then we shall get ready by words and actions for the coming of Christmas.

Beyond the liturgical celebration of Christmas, it is a reminder that just as Christ came the first time to die for us all, he will come again to judge us all. Thus we all should prepare for the coming of Christ as much as is expected of us Christians. We have to welcome him not just by words but by our actions. The season of Advent will help us to do this, so that having done that, we may be worthy to welcome Christ in the world anytime, any day and anywhere.

 Nwanyanwu Chris