"It was only in the
fourth century that the Church officially decided to
observe Christmas on Dec. 25. And this date was not chosen for
religious reasons but simply because it happened to mark the
approximate arrival of the winter solstice, an event that was
celebrated long before the advent of Christianity. The Puritans were
correct when they pointed out – and they pointed it out often
– that Christmas
was nothing but a pagan festival covered with a Christian veneer."
-
In the Pulitzer Prize finalist, "The Battle for Christmas”, by University of Massachusetts
historian Stephen Nissenbaum
"Few Americans are
aware that large groups of colonists objected to Christmas
during the 17th and 18th centuries. Many loathed it as an
'abomination' even though others observed the occasion as a religious
feast."
- The American Christmas: a study in
national culture By James Harwood Barnett, p.2