Christmas
Today, a Merry Christmas to all. The University of Houston presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them.
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This Christmas, I need to ask, “How does Christmas have such staying power in our increasingly secular society?” And something clicked as I read the long Wikipedia article about Christmas.
It showed how all the various religions observe Jesus’ birth. They are all over the map. But whatever reasons people might give for its selection – they all pick a date that’s either December twenty-fifth – or not far from it. (Bear in mind that we have no clear knowledge of that birthdate.)
So why December twenty-fifth? Well, be aware that it’s the first day on which we might see daylight beginning to lengthen after the Winter Solstice. After the time of maximum darkness. It’s when we finally see light and renewal ahead of us.
At first, we’re inclined to say that there’s really nothing Biblical there. But, wait a minute. The choice of that date – that recognition of the flow of the seasons – it all does underscore the theme of spiritual renewal.
And so: We struggle with the idea that Christmas is a religious holiday. Or, for that matter, that it’s secular. It blurs. In either case, its present social form is pretty much as Dickens described in his “A Christmas Carol”: Gift-giving with all its rituals, family gatherings, alms for the poor, and so forth.
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In which Dickens warns us that we need renewal. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.)
And don’t forget: We should also look at the overlapping Jewish observance of Hanukkah. It celebrates another Biblical event: The Jewish Maccabean Revolt. They defeated the Seleucid Empire after a long bloody war. I won’t even try to talk about that complex history. But what stands out is the date when we observe it.
Like the Christian Easter, it’s set by a complex Biblical formula. And that formula inevitably places it, like Christmas, at a time near the Solstice. We, once more, sense that same renewal after a season of darkness.
So, you might see why the whole question of whether Christmas is religious or secular, gets blurred. If it is secular, it still reflects religious imperatives. Or, if it is religious, it reflects secular hopes and values.
Philosophers have long debated the so-called Law of the Excluded Middle. It says that something is either true or not true. That it cannot be both. At first glance, we might accept this without blinking. But then we look more closely. Both mathematicians and philosophers find that law to be far too simplistic. Many things are too complex to be treated with such simple binary logic.
So, I see Christmas as a curious common ground among my believer and my nonbeliever friends, alike. And, I am certain of at least one thing: It is that I can quite safely wish all of us, a joyful Christmas this year.
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Christmas Creche Scene (Photo by J. H. Lienhard)
I’m John Lienhard, at the University of Houston, where we’re interested in the way inventive minds work.
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Some Sources:
The Meaning of Christmas in a Secular Society – Letters from Tomis
Law of excluded middle - Wikipedia
This Episode first aired December 24, 2025.