Christmas or Christmas is the feast of Christ's birth. It is a two-day festival in Christendom; it will be held on 25 and 26 December in the non-Eastern churches, and on 6 and 7 January in the Eastern churches. The word "Christmas" means "Christ", so "Christmas" is literally "Christ's Feast". Although the festival is not mentioned or prescribed in the Bible, it is almost universally recognized in Christendom. 'Christmas' literally means 'the (Roman Catholic) mass of the Christmas party'.
At Christmas, the incarnation of the Son of God and the birth of the Jesus Christ is commemorated and celebrated. "... the saving grace of God has appeared to all men" (Titus 2:11, HSV). Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants and most orthodox Christians celebrate the festival on 25 and 26 December. Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Coptic and Ethiopian Christians celebrate the celebration according to the Julian calendar on January 6 and 7.
The party is in the Netherlands the family celebration par excellence, the only national family celebration. It is usually celebrated more exuberantly than the Easter party. Although the influence of Christianity in our society is decreasing and society is becoming more intolerant of believers, Christmas is still being celebrated, also by people who have turned their backs on church and faith.
In the West, Christmas is celebrated more without reference to Christ. This is apparent, for example, from the Christmas cards. A newspaper in England looked at more than 6500 Christmas cards in four large supermarket chains in 2011 and found that only 36 cards showed an explicitly Christian image [1]. The worldly celebration of the Christmas party revolves around:
- food and drink;
- conviviality;
- the so-called Christmas thought: peace-lovingness;
- light in dark days.
"Without Christ is Christmas ... wrong" is sometimes said among Christians.