06 Aug '09 14:20>2 edits
Originally posted by daniel58The knowledge that December 25th was originally a Germanic/Anglo Saxon heathen holiday comes from the English Historian and Christian monk Bede (also known as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede). His work "The History of the English peoples" was written in the 8th century and includes this paragraph (referring to the local Anglo-Saxon heathens):
Nonsense, The first Christmas was 2009 years ago and the first Easter was 1976 years ago, what are your dates?
"They began the year with December 25, the day some now celebrate as Christmas; and the very night to which we attach special sanctity they designated by the heathen term Modraniht, that is, the mothers' night — a name bestowed, I suspect, on account of the ceremonies they performed while watching this night through."
Here is a Wikipedia article on Bede - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bede
But let's not take Saint Bede's word for it Daniel. Your willful ignorance is far more relevant and convincing.