Christianity created Christmas as a religious holiday focused on salvation and redemption. Secularism, on the other hand, gave rise to a consumerist, materialistic Christmas. — After two thousand years, Christmas has morphed into something unrecognizable. Christmastime is a time we decorate trees, have red and green lights, and a jolly, chubby man brings gifts to good children. The first Christmas didn’t look much like a Currier and Ives print.