David McElroy

For me, there’s only one “must see” Christmas story each year. You can keep your Charlie Brown Christmas and Frosty and all the rest. There’s no secular Christmas story in the world that compares to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Just be thankful I’m not around as you watch this, because I know the words to the songs — and I sing them with glee. I have the book version, too, just waiting to be read to the children I hope to have one day. I hope you’ll enjoy watching that old Grinchy Claus’s heart grow as much as I do each year.

Everybody knows what the nativity scene looks like. There were shepherds and their sheep on the left, bundled up on the cold winter night. On the right were three sharply dressed men — the three kings — who had come to worship Jesus. With Mary and Joseph in the middle is a strangely silent and wise-looking baby — who appears to have a 25-watt bulb inside his head to give Him an unearthly glow.

This is shared cultural mythology about Christmas. We’ve picked it up from movies, nativity scenes and Hallmark cards, but it’s not in the Bible. We fall prey to Christmas myths just as easily as we fall prey to political and economic ones. How many of these myths have you fallen for over the years?

Jesus was born on Dec. 25. Well, no. We don’t know the date. They didn’t have calendars hanging on walls back then and there’s no reason to believe they celebrated (or even noticed) birthdays. From the fact that shepherds were in the fields, according to the Bible, we know it wasn’t in December. I’ve read speculation ranging from spring all the way through September.

So why do we celebrate Jesus’ birth on Dec. 25? Simply because that’s when the Catholic church arbitrarily decided to celebrate it. There was a traditional non-religious holiday on that date anyway, which fell just after the winter solstice around Dec. 21. Since people were accustomed to a winter celebration then, the church gave them Christmas to take its place. That tradition continued to be followed by Protestant churches even after they broke away from Rome. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the date, but it has no biblical significance. You may even use this factoid to absolve yourself when you send people their gifts a few days (or even months) late.

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The Bible tells us that wise men came to visit the newborn Jesus, but it doesn’t say how many there were. So why is it that we popularly hear of three wise men visiting? Well, it turns out the fourth has been lost to history because his gift was completely unacceptable.

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