Read more
When was Christmas first celebrated?
How did December 25 become the date
for the feast? How did the Bible's "magi
from the East" become three kings
named Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar who rode camels
from three different continents to worship the newborn
Christ? How did the Feast of the Nativity generate an
entire liturgical season from Advent to Candlemas?
Why did medieval and Renaissance artists portray
Joseph as an old man? When did the first Christmas
music appear? And who was the real Saint Nicholas?
These and many other questions are answered in
this revised and expanded edition of The Origins of
Christmas. The story of the origins of Christmas is not
well known, but it is a fascinating tale. It begins when
the first Christians had little interest in Christ's Nativity,
and it finishes when Christmas had become an integral
part of Christian life and Western culture.
The Origins of Christmas covers a variety of topics in a
concise and accessible style, and is suitable for group
discussions.
About the author
Joseph F. Kelly, PhD, (1945-2023), was the chair of the department of theology and religious studies at John Carroll University and was active in adult religious education in the Greater Cleveland area. The World of the Early Christians (1997), The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition (2002), and History and Heresy (2012) are among his nine previous books published by Liturgical Press.
