Merry Little Podcast The Very Old Christmas

[Jeff Westover]

Christmas is thousands of years old and in this episode we take a look at the very old Christmas. It is an age of Christmas that is not talked about enough — a time when so much of what we consider important to Christmas happened.

This is an age of Christmas before Dickens, before Christmas trees, before Santa Claus or Rudolph or shopping.

These are the years of Christmas between 1200 and 1500 — long after the life of Christ and long before the advent of the printing press, mass communication or even the widespread knowledge of the Bible story.

How did Christmas exist and how did it survive?

This episode tells the story of Francis, a monk who thought it important to teach the masses about the Birth of Christ only after he had visited the site of Jesus’ birth in the holy land. His tireless efforts led to a widespread tradition that continues to this day in many parts of the world and is considered a central part still in the celebration of Christmas.

This was also an age when the music of Christmas really has its beginning and in this episode we discuss some of the oldest Christmas songs since known and popular today.

In this merry episode we explore the times and the culture of Christmas during these important years.

Continue reading...

 

[NcGunny]

It was going great until the show hit the Crusades. As a student of military history let me explain the Crusades..apprx 1096-1291. It was waged by Europeans to try and retake holy sites they deemed were theirs and important to Christianity. More people died during the crusades than all the wars ever fought combined to retake land essentially that was never theirs to start with and to try and force a religion down Muslims throats. (This is a endless debate though on who owned what)
Now we get to the Pagan part...(sigh) Was religion not introduced and made to fit Alt religious beliefs to bring them in line? Uneducated people were wrong in practicing thousands of year old beliefs only because somebody hadnt thumped a bible at them and told them they are wrong in believing in what they did? I have always found it curious that so many people have died in the name of Christianity as a means to spread the "word" or as a way to make people conform to its practice.
-- btw..I am the first person in line to defend 'anyone' and their right to practice whatever they believe in. But I am also the first person to say not to try and change something to make it benefit a religion or make it more appealling.
This episode should have been a 2 part non politically correct piece. Out of all of them I have listened to...this one sadly has me infuriated.

 

[Jeff Westover]

Wow. That's a pretty strong reaction for a passing reference to the Crusades. What you're talking about is a huge topic and hardly associated in the least with the topic of the podcast.

 

[Jeff Westover]

And if this one infuriated you, well, the next one which comes out later this week isn't going to make you happy either.

 

[NcGunny]

Wow. That's a pretty strong reaction for a passing reference to the Crusades. What you're talking about is a huge topic and hardly associated in the least with the topic of the podcast.

I was honestly going to explain exactly why the Crusades happened, but I felt most people would be unhappy knowing they may or may not practice a religion that used Christianity for its name to wage a war for nothing other than "loot" and "power". But to try and associate anything related to Christmas with the Crusades is a very long stretch. So the Crusades run for 2 centuries under the slogan of "Deus Vult"-- God wills it. Thomas of Celano wrote that the only reason Francis made so many attempts at getting to Jerusalem was " to achieve martyrdom"....lol..enough of the Crusades!
What irked me was the dumping on alt religions. Nobody can ever prove the bible isnt just a collection of stories hand picked into a book. But they also cant disprove it. It comes down to a person having faith that it is more then just a collection of writings. I have tried to get my friends to join MMC, but like I wrote before. They all feel they will not be welcomed because they practice alt religions. Its sad to here because they are some of the best people I know.

 

[Jeff Westover]

The Bible as you know it is a hand picked collection of BOOKS. There were plenty of other books that should have been contained within it but were not. Like it or not, however, there is plenty of the Bible that is historically proven and as time marches on it continues to be historically validated in pieces. BUT....the Bible as we have it is also horribly corrupted and has been alternatively abused, ignored, misinterpreted and wholly manipulated for the purposes of men.

What that all means fits completely with what you're saying -- that corruption in the name and pursuit of power knows no limit, both within religion and outside of it.

While "Christianity" is most certainly guilt of such corruption they have no exclusive on it, that's for sure.

That being said I'll hold to my comments about paganism when it comes to Christmas. You might label it "alt religions", and that's fine, but I hold to my assertions that I'm finding less and less pagan about Christmas than historians claim. The proof is just not there. Some, I think, is obvious -- such as the Dec 25th date -- but other things are a real leap.

Of course, it can be said that paganism today -- much like Christianity -- isn't the same today as it was back then. That TOO warrants some discussion.

All that being said I take back my comments about the next episode of the Merry Little Podcast -- you'll actually love it, if I'm understanding you correctly.