12月25日的圣诞节是庆祝基督教创始人耶稣基督生日的日子，
是美国最大、人们最喜爱的节日。

　　据基督教徒的圣书《圣经》说，上帝决定让他的独生子耶稣基
督投生人间，找个母亲，然后就在人间生活，以便人们能更好地了
解上帝、学习热爱上帝和更好地相互热爱。“圣诞节”的意思是“
庆祝基督”，庆祝一个年轻的犹太妇女玛丽娅生下耶稣的时刻。

　　玛丽娅已和木匠约瑟夫订婚。可是，在他们同居之前，约瑟夫
发现玛丽娅已怀孕。因为约瑟夫是个正派的人，又不想把这件事说
出去让她丢脸，所以他想悄悄地和她分手。他正在考虑这事时，上
帝的天使出现在他的梦中，对他说，“不要嘀咕了，把玛丽娅娶回
家。她怀的孩子来自圣灵。她将生下个男孩子，你们给孩子起名叫
耶稣，因为他将从罪恶中拯救人们。”

　　尽管耶稣的确切生日并不清楚，大约是在2000年前，但是日历
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”）。在公
元后的头三百年间，耶稣的生日是在不同的日子庆祝的。最后，在
公元354年，教堂的领导人把12月25日定为耶稣基督的生日。

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.