在人类的历史上，有很多的文化都是慢慢的演变出来的，在节日中，历史上或许有很多的事件、时间铺垫，这些都是我们所不了解的，那今天的文章就是要看看在圣诞节中，有什么有趣的往事跟大家分享呢？

　　关于圣诞节的由来英语——The Origin of Christmas
　　Christmas Day-December 25-which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ， the founder of the Christian religion， is the biggest and best-loved holiday in the United States.

　　According to the Bible， the holy book of Christians， God decided to allow his only son， Jesus Christ， to be born to a human mother and live on earth so that people could understand God better and learn to love God and each other more. "Christmas"- meaning "celebration of Christ "- honors the time when Jesus was born to a young Jewish woman Mary.

　　Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph， a carpenter， but before they came together， she was found to be with child. Because Joseph， her husband， was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace， he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this， an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said， "Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife， because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son， and you are to give him the name Jesus， because he will save his people from their sins."

　　Although the exact date of the birth of Jesus nearly 2，000 years ago is not known， the calendar on the supposed date divides all time into B.C. (Before Christ)and A.D.(a Latin phrase， Anno Domini， "in the year of our Lord.")For the first 300 years， Jesus’ birthday was celebrated on different dates. Finally， in the year 354， church leaders chose December 25 as his birthday.

　　圣诞节只是基督徒庆祝其信仰的耶稣基督(jīdū)诞生的庆祝日。圣诞节的庆祝与基督教同时产生，被推测始于西元1世纪。很长时间以来圣诞节的日期都是没有确定的，因为耶稣确切的出生日期是存在争议的，除了《新约》以外，没有任何记载提到过耶稣;《新约》不知道日期，当然就没有人知道确切日期了。在西元后的头三百年间，耶稣的生日是在不同的日子庆祝的。西元3世纪以前的作家们想把圣诞日定在春分日上下。直到西元3世纪中期，基督教在罗马合法化以后，西元354年罗马主教指定儒略历12月25日为耶稣诞生日。现在的圣诞节日期跟西元纪年的创制是密不可分的。

　　西元纪年创制于西元5世纪，后来圣诞节这一天就按格里高利历法，即西元纪年的“公历”来确定了，而日历按着假定日期把时间分为公元前(耶稣基督诞生前)和公元后(A.D.是拉丁文缩写，意思是“有了我们主--耶稣的年代”)。后来，虽然普遍教会都接受12月25日为圣诞节，但又因各地教会使用的历书不同，具体日期不能统一，，于是就把12月24日到第二年的1月6日定为圣诞节节期(Christmas Tide)，各地教会可根据当地具体情况在这段节期之内庆祝圣诞节。西方教会，包括罗马天主教、英国圣公会和新教，确定的圣诞日是公历的12月25日。东正教会确定的圣诞日是公历1月7日(实际上是叫“主显日”)，这与东正教没有接受格里高利历改革和接受修正后的儒略历有关，因此把圣诞节在1900年到2099年的这一段时间内将延迟到1月7日。保加利亚和罗马尼亚也是东正教区，但圣诞节日期上遵循西欧习惯为12月25日，但复活节则遵从习惯。而最古老的基督教会亚美尼亚使徒教会确定的是公历1月6日，同时亚美尼亚教会更关注主显节，而不是圣诞节。圣诞节也是西方世界以及其他很多地区的公共假日，例如：在亚洲的香港、马来西亚和新加坡。世界上的非基督徒只是把圣诞节当作一个世俗的文化节日看待。

　　教会开始并无圣诞节，约在耶稣升天后百余年内才有。据说：第一个圣诞节是在公元138年，由罗马主教圣克里门倡议举行。而教会史载第一个圣诞节则在公元336年。由于圣经未明记耶稣生于何时，故各地圣诞节日期各异。直到公元440年，才由罗马教廷定12月25日为圣诞节。公元1607年，世界各地教会领袖在伯利恒聚会，进一步予以确定，从此世界大多数的基督徒均以12月25日为圣诞节。十九世纪，圣诞卡的流行、圣诞老人的出现，圣诞节也开始流行起来了。

　　这个词的含义是指“基督的弥撒(Christ’s mass)”，即“为基督的一次聚餐”。这个仪式源自《新约》的“最后的晚餐”。而“基督的弥撒(Christ’s mass)”这个词是希腊语和拉丁语的拼凑，因为Christ来自希腊语Χριστ？？，意思本来只是指犹太人的“受膏者”，引申为救世主;而mass来自拉丁语missa，本意为散会(dismissal)，引申为基督教会感恩聚会。所以有时又缩写为“Xmas”。这可能是因为X类似于希腊字母Χ(Chi);Χ是“基督”的希腊语Χριστ？？ì(Christos)中的首个字母。为了尊重其它信仰的人士，以淡化圣诞节的宗教色彩。荷兰语名称类似英语，称作Kerstroeten。圣诞节西班牙语称为Navidad(或Pascuas)，葡萄牙语称为Festas，波兰语称为Narodzenie，法语称为Noel，意大利语称为Natale，加泰罗尼亚语称为Nadal，意思是“诞生”，更清晰地反映圣诞节的意思。与此相对，德语称为Weihnachten，意思为“神圣的夜晚”。

　　@关于圣诞节的由来英语
　　Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christs birth, but most Christians observe Christmas on December 25. On this day, many go to church, where they take part in special religious services. During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts and decorate their homes with holly, mistletoe, and Christmas trees. The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, an early English phrase that means Mass of Christ. The story of Christmas comes chiefly from the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew in the New Testament.

　　“圣诞节”这个名称是“基督弥撒”的缩写。弥撒是教会的一种礼拜仪式。耶诞节是一个宗教节。我们把它当作耶稣的诞辰来庆祝，因而又名耶诞节。这一天，世界所有的基督教会都举行特别的礼拜仪式。但是有很多圣诞节的欢庆活动和宗教并无半点关联。交换礼物，寄圣诞卡，这都使圣诞节成为一个普天同庆的日子。

　　在美国，圣诞节宴席上的传统食物有填馅的火鸡、土豆泥、越橘酱等。A traditional Christmas dinner in America includes stuffed turkey (火鸡) , mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (越橘酱) , and a variety of other dishes.烤火鸡不但在美国，在加拿大、澳大利亚和新西兰也是圣诞宴席上最普遍的主菜。Roast turkey is the most popular main course not only in the United States, but also in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.也有的人家不吃火鸡，而吃火腿或烤鹅。Some families have ham or roast goose instead of turkey.人们最喜欢的饭后甜点包括甜馅饼或南瓜馅饼、李子布丁和水果蛋糕。Favorite desserts include mince pie or pumpkin pie, plum pudding and fruitcake.蛋奶酒是许多家庭喜欢的饮料。Eggnog is a popular Christmas beverage (饮料) in many homes.在英国，圣诞宴在中午举行，传统食品有烤火鸡或烤鹅、圣诞布丁、甜馅饼和葡萄酒。In Britain, Christmas dinner is eaten at noon, and the dinner usually includes roast turkey or goose, Christmas pudding with mince pies, and accompanied by wine.

　　圣诞节的重要传统之一是接受圣诞老人赠送的礼物。One of the most important Christmas traditions is receiving gifts from Santa Claus.许多小孩子相信自己在圣诞节收到的礼物来自圣诞老人。圣诞老人是个快活的胖老头儿，长着白胡子，身穿红袍，头戴红帽。据说圣诞老人从北极附近的某地出发，驾着驯鹿拉的雪橇从空中飞到各家，从烟囱进入屋内，留下礼物。Many young children believe that the presents they receive at Christmas are given by Santa Claus, who is a jolly, white-bearded fat man in a red suit and red hat. According to the story, Santa Claus travels through the air from somewhere near the North Pole in a sled drawn by reindeer (驯鹿) and comes down the chimney to leave the presents.现在，许多国家，包括美国、加拿大、英国 和澳大利亚都有圣诞老人把节日礼物送给孩子们。Today, Santa Claus brings presents to children in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia.许多商店雇人装扮成圣诞老人，倾听孩子们的愿望。Many department stores hire people to wear a Santa Claus costume and listen to childrens requests.在英国，圣诞老人也叫“ Father Christmas ”。 In Great Britain Santa Claus is also called Father Christmas.圣诞节前几周，孩子们就开始写信给圣诞老人，告诉他自己想要什么礼物。During the weeks before Christmas, children write letters to Father Christmas and tell him what presents they would like to receive.然后他们把信扔进壁炉的火里。They then throw these letters into the fire.他们相信，如果上升的气流把灰烬顺烟囱带了上去，他们的愿望便会得到满足。Children believe that if a draft draws the letter up through the chimney, their wishes will be fulfilled.

　　关于圣诞节的由来英语——圣诞老人的由来英文版
　　"American Origins: (As sent to me by Brian Dodd)Quote from ENCARTA 95

　　The American version of the Santa Claus figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, brought by settlers to New York in the 17th century.

　　As early as 1773 the name appeared in the American press as "St. A Claus,"

　　but it was the popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas. In his History of New York, published in 1809 under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, Irving described the arrival of the saint on horseback (unaccompanied by Black Peter) each Eve of Saint Nicholas.

　　This Dutch-American Saint Nick achieved his fully Americanized form in 1823 in the poem A Visit From Saint Nicholas more commonly known as The Night Before Christmas by writer Clement Clarke Moore. Moore included such details as the names of the reindeer; Santa Clauss laughs, winks, and nods; and the method by which Saint Nicholas, referred to as an elf, returns up the chimney. (Moores phrase "lays his finger aside of his nose" was drawn directly from Irvings 1809 description.)

　　小结：以上就是小编精心为大家整理的有关圣诞节的由来的英文资料，有需要的可以多关注本栏目其他圣诞文章，今天的内容就到这里。