According to Christian theology, the Christmas holiday commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whose teachings form the basis of the Christian faith. Christians didn’t begin celebrating Christ’s birth until the third century A.D., when Roman church officials settled on December 25 (the Bible doesn’t mention the exact date), probably to coincide with already existing pagan winter festivals. Today, Christmas is not the most important Christian holiday–in fact, it ranks fourth after Easter, Pentecost and Epiphany. Yet since the 19th century, when Americans began to celebrate Christmas in the way we think of today–including traditions such as decorating trees, sending holiday cards and giving gifts–it has grown into the biggest commercial holiday of the year and is now celebrated by the vast majority of Americans, Christian or not.
根据基督教神学的理念,圣诞节是为了纪念拿撒勒耶稣的诞生,其传教为基督教信仰构建了雏形。基督教徒们从公元前三世纪才开始庆祝耶稣的诞生,当时罗马官方将日期定为12月25日(圣经中没有提到具体的日期),可能是为了和当时异教徒的冬季节日同步。如今,圣诞节已经不是基督教最重要的节日了,其重要地位居于复活节、圣灵降临节和主显节之后。之后,自十九世纪以来,美国人开始像现在一样庆祝圣诞节,包括装饰圣诞树、赠送节日贺卡和礼物等传统,从那时开始圣诞节已经成为每年最大的商业节日;现在绝大多数美国人都庆祝圣诞,不论他们是否是基督徒。
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