From the story of Bethlehem to familiar carols and Christmas traditions, there's probably more to discover than you think.
Christmas has a way of bringing people together. Families gather around the table, churches host Christmas parties, and someone inevitably starts singing a carol that everyone seems to know by heart. We hear the same familiar stories year after year. We decorate our homes, watch our favorite Christmas movies, and carry on traditions that have been around longer than any of us can remember.
But here's a question: How much do we really know about Christmas?
We know the songs, but do we know where they came from? We know the story of the wise men, but how carefully have we read Matthew's account? And what about all those Christmas traditions we've inherited without ever giving them much thought?
I thought it might be fun to put your Christmas knowledge to the test.
Five Christmas Questions to Get You Started
No searching online. No sneaking a look at your Bible. Give these five questions your best shot before scrolling down to the answers.
1. Before the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he delivered some remarkable news to an elderly priest. What was that priest's name?
2. According to Matthew's Gospel, how many wise men came to visit Jesus?
3. Which Old Testament psalm inspired the words of the familiar Christmas carol "Joy to the World"?
4. What was the name of Ebenezer Scrooge's deceased business partner in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol?
5. What famous Christmas ballet features Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy?
All right. Let's see how you did.
The Answers—and a Few Surprises
1. Zechariah. In Luke 1:5–25, Gabriel appears to Zechariah while he is serving as a priest in the temple. He announces that Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son—John the Baptist. Zechariah has trouble believing the news, and he spends the next several months unable to speak. It's a fascinating part of the Christmas story that often gets overlooked when we begin our Christmas readings with Mary and Joseph.
2. The Bible doesn't say. Matthew 2:1–12 tells us that wise men came from the East, following a star, and presented Jesus with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Three gifts, yes. Three wise men? Perhaps, but Matthew never gives us a number. Our familiar nativity scenes have supplied a detail Scripture leaves unanswered.
3. Psalm 98. Isaac Watts wrote the words of "Joy to the World" as part of a poetic adaptation of Psalm 98, published in 1719. Interestingly, the hymn celebrates Christ's reign and looks beyond the events of Bethlehem. It eventually became one of our most beloved Christmas carols. You can read more about its history at Hymnary.org.
4. Jacob Marley. Poor Marley. Even seven years after his death, he was still trying to teach his old business partner a lesson about greed and generosity. Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 1843, and generations of readers have been following Scrooge through his remarkable Christmas Eve ever since.
5. The Nutcracker. With music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker premiered in 1892. It's become a Christmas tradition in theaters around the world. Even people who've never attended the ballet have probably heard some of its music.
How did you do? Five for five? Congratulations! Three out of five? Still pretty respectable. If you missed a few, at least you've learned something new.
And that's part of the fun.
There's More to Christmas Than We Remember
The Christmas season is full of fascinating stories. Some come directly from Scripture. Others have grown out of centuries of Christian worship, music, literature, and cultural traditions.
Consider the carols we sing every December. Many have histories that are nearly as interesting as the songs themselves. Some were written hundreds of years ago. Others became popular only after being translated or set to new music.
Or think about Christmas celebrations around the world. The customs familiar to an American family might look quite different from those in Norway, Mexico, Germany, or the Philippines.
And then there's the biblical account itself.
I especially appreciate trivia that sends us back to Scripture. A question about the wise men might seem like a small thing, but it reminds us how easily we can confuse a familiar tradition with something the Bible actually says.
Sometimes a simple question encourages us to read a familiar passage more carefully.
Of course, there's another reason I enjoy trivia: it's fun to see what people know.
Put a few generations around the same table and you'll discover that Grandpa may know the old Christmas carols, the teenagers may know every Christmas movie ever made, and somebody who rarely says a word at family gatherings turns out to know an astonishing amount about Christmas customs.
That's when things get interesting.
Introducing Christmas Trivia Challenge
That's the idea behind Christmas Trivia Challenge: 300 Questions with Answers and Fascinating Facts, by Audrey Van Maren, published under our Puzzle Arbor imprint.
The book contains 300 questions arranged in 30 themed rounds of ten questions each. It begins with the biblical Christmas story, starting with Zechariah and Elizabeth and continuing through the birth of Jesus, the shepherds, the wise men, and the events that followed.
But it doesn't stop at Bethlehem.
Other rounds explore Christmas traditions around the world, beloved carols and their composers, Christmas food, decorations, literature, A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, and more.
Each answer comes with a short explanation. The biblical rounds provide Scripture references, while the other rounds draw on a source guide. There's also an optional conversation question following each round.
You can play by yourself, challenge a friend, or divide a gathering into teams. With ten questions per round, you can enjoy a quick challenge without turning your Christmas party into an all-evening examination.
And the book includes scorecards, so you can settle those arguments about who really knows Christmas best.
Try a Free Round Before You Buy
We've made the first complete round available for free on the True Bearing Press website.
It's called Before the Manger: Zechariah, and it features ten questions about the events in Luke 1 that set the stage for the birth of Jesus.
You can answer the questions online, reveal the answers as you go, or print the questions and answer key for a family gathering, church group, or classroom.
No purchase required. Just a chance to have some fun and perhaps discover something you didn't know.
If you enjoy the free round, you can explore the complete Christmas Trivia Challenge book here.
Christmas has a wonderful way of connecting generations through shared stories and traditions. Maybe this year, between the cookies, the carols, and the familiar Christmas movies, you can make room for a little friendly competition.
And when somebody confidently tells you there were exactly three wise men, you'll have a question ready for them.
"Really? Where does it say that?"