Posted on 12/21/2002 11:21:49 AM PST by DouglasKC
Christmas Before Christ?
The Surprising Story
Most people know the Bible doesn't mention - much less sanctify - Christmas. Does it make any difference as long as it's intended to honor God and bring families together?
by Jerold Aust
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"I don't think you should tell kids that there is a Santa Claus," he said. "That's the first lie you tell your children." Instead, "tell kids that Santa's a character we made up to celebrate a time of the season." Otherwise "when kids get to be 5 ... they realize their parents have been lying to them their whole life."
Earlier in the year the Arts & Entertainment cable television channel aired a program about Christmas titled Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas. The promo for this program read:
"People all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th. But why is the Savior's nativity marked by gift- giving, and was He really born on that day? And just where did the Christmas tree come from?
"Take an enchanting journey through the history of the world's favorite holiday to learn the origins of some of the Western world's most enduring traditions. Trace the emergence of Christmas from pagan festivals like the Roman Saturnalia, which celebrated the winter solstice."
These two programs addressed the fact that Santa Claus is fictitious and that Christmas and its trappings emanate from pagan Roman festivals. By no means are these the only sources of information about the background of Santa Claus and Christmas.
Is there more to these ancient traditions and practices than meets the eye? And, more important, does it make any difference whether we continue them?
Celebration of the sun god
It may sound odd that any religious celebration with Christ's name attached to it could predate Christianity. Yet the holiday we know as Christmas long predates Jesus Christ. Elements of the celebration can be traced to ancient Egypt, Babylon and Rome. This fact doesn't cast aspersions on Jesus; it does, however, call into question the understanding and wisdom of those who, over the millennia, have insisted on perpetuating an ancient pagan festival that has devolved through much of the world as Christmas.
Members of the early Church would have been astonished to think that the customs and practices we associate with Christmas would be incorporated into a celebration of Christ's birth. Not until several centuries had passed would Christ's name be attached to this popular Roman holiday.
As Alexander Hislop explains in his book The Two Babylons: "It is admitted by the most learned and candid writers of all parties that the day of our Lord's birth cannot be determined, and that within the Christian Church no such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and that not till the fourth century was far advanced did it gain much observance" (1959, pp. 92-93).
As for how Dec. 25 became the date for Christmas day, virtually any book on the history of Christmas will explain that this day was celebrated in the Roman Empire as the birthday of the sun god. Explaining how Dec. 25 came to be selected as the supposed birthday of Jesus, the book 4000 Years of Christmas says: "For that day was sacred, not only to the pagan Romans but to a religion from Persia which, in those days, was one of Christianity's strongest rivals. This Persian religion was Mithraism, whose followers worshiped the sun, and celebrated its return to strength on that day" (Earl and Alice Count, 1997, p. 37).
Not only was Dec. 25 honored as the birthday of the sun, but a festival had long been observed among the heathen to celebrate the growing amount of daylight after the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The precursor of Christmas was in fact an idolatrous midwinter festival characterized by excess and debauchery that predated Christianity by many centuries.
Pre-Christian practices incorporated
This ancient festival went by different names in various cultures. In Rome it was called the Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. The observance was adopted by early Roman church leaders and given the name of Christ ("Christ mass," or Christmas) to conciliate the heathen and swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity.
The tendency on the part of third-century Catholic leadership was to meet paganism halfway-a practice made clear in a bitter lament by the Carthaginian philosopher Tertullian.
In 230 he wrote of the inconsistency of professing Christians. He contrasted their lax and political practices with the strict fidelity of the pagans to their own beliefs: "By us who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals [the biblical festivals spelled out in Leviticus 23], once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia, are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year's day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar; oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians" (Hislop, p. 93).
Failing to make much headway in converting the pagans, the religious leaders of the Roman church began compromising by dressing the heathen customs in Christian-looking garb. But, rather than converting them to the church's beliefs, the church became largely converted to non-Christian customs in its own religious practices.
Although at first the early Catholic Church censured this celebration, "the festival was far too strongly entrenched in popular favor to be abolished, and the Church finally granted the necessary recognition, believing that if Christmas could not be suppressed, it should be preserved in honor of the Christian God. Once given a Christian basis the festival became fully established in Europe with many of its pagan elements undisturbed" (Man, Myth & Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion, and the Unknown, Richard Cavendish, editor, 1983, Vol. 2, p. 480, "Christmas").
Celebration wins out over Scripture
Some resisted such spiritually poisonous compromises. "Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under Pagan superstition. That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin" (Hislop, p. 93).
The aforementioned Tertullian, for one, disassociated himself from the Roman church in an attempt to draw closer to the teachings of the Bible.
He wasn't alone in his disagreement with such trends. "As late as 245 Origen, in his eighth homily on Leviticus, repudiates as sinful the very idea of keeping the birthday of Christ as if he were a king Pharaoh" (The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, Vol. 6, p. 293, "Christmas").
Christmas was not made a Roman holiday until 534 (ibid.). It took 300 years for the new name and symbols of Christmas to replace the old names and meaning of the midwinter festival, a pagan celebration that reaches back so many centuries.
No biblical support for Santa Claus
How did Santa Claus enter the picture? Why is this mythical figure so closely aligned with the Christmas holiday? Here, too, many books are available to shed light on the origins of this popular character.
"Santa Claus" is an American corruption of the Dutch form "San Nicolaas," a figure brought to America by the early Dutch colonists (The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, Vol. 19, p. 649, "Nicholas, St."). This name, in turn, stems from St. Nicholas, bishop of the city of Myra in southern Asia Minor, a Catholic saint honored by the Greeks and the Latins on Dec. 6.
He was bishop of Myra in the time of the Roman emperor Diocletian, was persecuted, tortured for the Catholic faith and kept in prison until the more tolerant reign of Constantine (ibid.). Various stories claim a link from Christmas to St. Nicholas, all of them having to do with gift-giving on the eve of St. Nicholas, subsequently transferred to Christmas Day (ibid.).
How, we might ask, did a bishop from the sunny Mediterranean coast of Turkey come to be associated with a red-suited man who lives at the north pole and rides in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer?
Knowing what we have already learned about the ancient pre-Christian origins of Christmas, we shouldn't be surprised to learn that Santa Claus, too, is nothing but a figure recycled from ancient pagan beliefs.
The trappings associated with Santa Claus-his fur-trimmed wardrobe, sleigh and reindeer-reveal his origin from the cold climates of the far North. Some sources trace him to the ancient Northern European gods Woden and Thor, from which the days of the week Wednesday (Woden's day) and Thursday (Thor's day) get their designations (Earl and Alice Count, pp. 56-64). Others trace him even farther back in time to the Roman god Saturn and the Greek god Silenus (William Walsh, The Story of Santa Klaus, pp. 70-71).
Was Jesus born in December?
Most Bible scholars who have written on the subject of Jesus' birth conclude that, based on evidence in the Bible itself, there is no possible way Christ could have been born anywhere near Dec. 25.
Again we turn to Alexander Hislop: "There is not a word in the Scriptures about the precise day of [Jesus'] birth, or the time of the year when He was born. What is recorded there, implies that at what time soever His birth took place, it could not have been on the 25th of December. At the time that the angel announced His birth to the shepherds of Bethlehem, they were feeding their flocks by night in the open fields ... The climate of Palestine ... from December to February, is very piercing, and it was not the custom for the shepherds of Judea to watch their flocks in the open fields later than about the end of October" (Hislop, p. 91, emphasis in original).
He goes on to explain that the autumn rains beginning in September or October in Judea would mean that the events surrounding Christ's birth recorded in the Scriptures could not have taken place later than mid-October, so Jesus' birth likely took place earlier in the fall (Hislop, p. 92).
Further evidence supporting Jesus' birth in the autumn is that the Romans were intelligent enough not to set the time for taxation and travel in the dead of winter, but during more-favorable conditions. Since Joseph's lineage was from Bethlehem, and since he had to travel from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, and since his expectant wife Mary traveled with him, it would have been nearly impossible for Joseph and Mary to make the trip in the winter. As recorded by Luke, Mary delivered Jesus in Bethlehem during the time of census and taxation-which no rational official would have scheduled for December.
What difference does it make?
The Bible gives us no reason-and certainly no instruction-to support the myths and fables of Christmas and Santa Claus. They are tied to the ways of this world and contrary to the ways of Christ and His holy truth. "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles," God tells us (Jeremiah 10:2).
Professing Christians should examine the background of the Christmas holiday symbols and stop telling their children that Santa Claus and his elves, reindeer and Christmas gift-giving are connected with Jesus Christ. Emphatically they are not! God hates lying. "These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren" (Proverbs 6:16-19).
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Recommended Reading Does it matter to God which days and customs we celebrate to honor Him? Why do so many of our holidays have strange customs sanctioned nowhere in the Bible? Many people are shocked to discover the origins of most popular holidays. They're also surprised to find that the feast days God commands in the Bible-the same days kept by Jesus Christ and the apostles-are almost universally ignored. Be sure to request your free copies of the booklets Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep? and God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind. |
Christ reveals that Satan the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). Parents should tell their children the truth about God and this world's contrary and confusing ways. If we don't, we only perpetuate the notion that it is acceptable for parents to lie to their children.
Can a professing Christian promote a pagan holiday and its symbols as something that God or Christ has approved? Let's see what God thinks about people using customs and practices rooted in false religion to worship Him and His Son. We find His views clearly expressed in both the Old and New Testament.
God specifically commands His people not to do what early church leaders did when they incorporated idolatrous practices and relabeled them Christian. Before they entered the Promised Land, God gave the Israelites a stern warning: "Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them [the inhabitants of the land],... and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.'
"You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods ... Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:30-32, emphasis added throughout).
Many centuries later the apostle Paul traveled to and raised up churches in many gentile cities. To the members of the Church of God in Corinth, a city steeped in idolatry, Paul wrote: "... What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God ... Therefore 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.' ... Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God"
(2 Corinthians 6:14-17; 7:1).
Instead of allowing members to rename and celebrate customs associated with false gods, Paul's instructions were clear: They were to have nothing to do with them. He similarly told Athenians who were steeped in idolatry, "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).
God alone has the right to decide the special days on which we should worship Him. Jesus Christ plainly tells us that "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). We cannot honor God in truth with false practices adopted from the worship of nonexistent gods.
Jesus said: "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Mark 7:6-7). With God no substitutes are acceptable. It makes no difference that Christians mean well when they observe Christmas. God is not amused or pleased.
The knowledge of how to honor Almighty God, who made us, preserves us and gives us eternal life, has been made available to you. Will you honor God or follow the traditions of mankind?
Read it however you like. There's only one correct interpetation though.
Actually, he relied upon misquoted Scripture....
Sounds like some legalists I know...
Coulda' fooled me.
but the use of human logic in interperting the bible lends itself to a unique brand of folly.
Then why did Paul rely so much on logic in his epistles? I'm not employing "human logic" in making my points, just using normal, everyday logic to demonstrate that with 2sheep's faulty circular reasoning, one could prove that anything is heresy.
My little brother, who is nearing his sixth birthday, has a rather mobile tree in his room. Unable to find a cedar or the like, we cut down a scraggly little yaupon, a shruby Southern member of the holly family, with pretty shiny little leaves, but not much of a Christmas tree. He has, so far, kept it in one place though I suspect it could wander if it (or he, rather) had the will. But some oddly placed boughs of holly and cedar encumber it, along with a strand of multi-coloured lights.
Absolutely right.
It says what it says, and what it says is clear. Some regard the day unto the Lord, others do not regard the day unto the Lord. They are His servants, and they will stand before Him because He is able to make them stand.
Okay, good luck and God bless...
We fail when we try to constrain God's ways to our own ideas that seem logical or reasonable to us. That is when we devise ideas on God purely on our own thought, without asking of Him or of Scripture. But that does not mean we are to suspend all thought in our faith; in fact, by faith we come to much higher knowledge and thought. We do not aspire to the emptiness of mind of the Buddhist, but rather to a transformation of mind in Christ, by which we think in Him so to speak.
And deductive logic is certainly good to use with Scripture, for without it we would be left askance at many things. We are not told what the proper way to vote in a given election is, nor, I imagine, is God going to send me a word of prophecy on a matter of that sort. Instead, we see from Scripture what a good leader is, and deductively conclude whom we should vote for- but we also temper that with prayer and meditation, as should any such decision.
You need to re-read my post where I explained Christians gathering together during Saturnalia and what they did. I mentioned gifts, food and singing.
Neither Christ nor His apostles or the 1st church participated in these pagan practices, so it doesn't take a slide rule to figure out from whence they came.
I do not recall where scripture indicates Christ or his apostles participated in sporting tournaments either. The Olympics originated in pagan greece. The athletes competed nude. There was a strong current of homosexuality and pagan fertility associated with the games. Does that mean Christians should not participate in track and field competition or the the olympics? Did you read my previous post about the necktie? Did you read in my post about celebratory toasting? If you are going to be legalistic, don't do so in a cafeteria style picking and choosing. Quit wearing neckties. If you're out at a banquet and your manager stands up and offers a toast to you for a job well done, get up and walk away. Don't have any part in such pagan practice. Don't be inconsistent in your legalisms.
The bible lays out principles for living The fact that you used the word "tradition" shows that these rituals were either made up or just continuations of previous heathen rituals.
When referring to traditions, please be more specific. Actually, here's a short list for you to respond to:
A. Getting together with friends and family.
B. Enjoying special meals with friends and family.
C. Exchanging gifts.
D. Singing.
E. Decorations. Before you go into a long thesis about evergreens inside the house, do you have any plants inside your house?
If His birthday was such an important event, why did neither He nor any of his followers observe it? The answer is because it was a pagan practice to celebrate yourself.
If birthdays weren't important, why is so much of the bible devoted to detailed geneologies? Christ lived to be 33 1/2 years old so, his birthday was obviously once known and tracked although shortly after the gospels it was lost in history.
Also, birthday parties are typically held by friends and family for the person having the birtday. I do agree celebrating oneself is wrong.
The bible makes it clear throughout to not do as the heathens do.
I already went into this and expect that you are consistent in your legalism and do not wear a necktie, that you neither give nor allow yourself to be the recipient of a toast and that you avoid sporting activities, especially track and field events.
Am looking forward to your reply.
Ok perhaps I missed something.
Then I would suggest that you study what the differences would have been in the 1st century between Jews who did not believe the messiah had come as opposed to Jews who believed the messiah had come.
Ugh! You must think I'm retired with plenty of free time on my hands. Why not give a brief explanation and perhaps a comparison with modern day pre-millenialists -vs- millenialists.
Just as an aside on this, if anyone is brave enough...look up the Satanic Bible on the internet and examine which holiday is the highest holy day in Satanism.
Why not go ahead and tell us. I'd be interested inknowing but have too many other things to do at the moment.
There is no reason that I should be of any less joyous than those around me, whether they are saved and worshipping a secular/pagan season, or the saved partaking in pagan celebrations and untrue church traditions.
What I find interesting is how 'Christians' will act for two weeks of the year the way that they should act all year.
There are some things that God told Isreal not to do, many of which closely resemble traditional xmas celebrations. Yet, despite God telling Isreal not to do these things and with nothing that specifically gives the NT church any approval, NT 'believers' want to cling to these practices.
If I have a party at my house on Oct 31, decorate with black and orange and scary masks and costumes, will this be anything other than a Halloween celebration even if we say we aren't celebrating Halloween?
If in the spring we have celebrations with eggs, bunnies and other fertility symbols, are we worshipping Christ or Dianna/Aster?
I don't think that one can use the tools of the pagans to worship El Shaddai.
Da 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
I left FR for a few hours and came back to see that the heathen still rage and the people imagine a vain thing. You three have stedfastly stood against the specious arguments of the spirit of Jannes and Jambres and for that I commend you. The Holy Spirit is trying to restore truth to a church which has exalted itself above measure and is right in its own eyes. Individuals who know in their spirit that there is something dreadfully wrong in the world, the nation and the church should put an axe to sin in their own life and seek the L~rd. There is big trouble coming and too few are aware of it and are not prepared. There are many links on this thread to help anyone get info as to the pagan roots of Christmas. Hopefully some will investigate those links. What is coming down in the world soon will make what one thinks about Christmas and pagan roots of little effect.
Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
The doctrine that G~d loves children so much that they will not be judged is in direct opposition to what the Bible says. The Flood destroyed everyone but Noah and his family of eight souls. It is error to think God doesn't bring judgment on children. Read Deut. 28 and Lev. 26. The G~d of the Bible is holy and He exercises lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth. Jer 9:24.
Gen. 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make thee an ark...
Read of the cause (sin) and effect (storms) here:
Don McAlvany's Storm Warning Special Report
God's Perfect Storm Warning by John McTernan - 6/13/01
The whole world should have taken note on November 1 when the headline read "Quake Kills 23 in Central Italy" and we saw the biblical number of death, 23, posted yet again. It cannot have been a coincidence that Jezebel's children died celebrating a satanic feast. Judgment starts at the house of G~d. Those who believe must do so in a manner that reflects what G~d says rather than what the world says. True believers are to believe the Bible and not fables, myths and lies.
Quake Kills 23 in Central Italy
Friday, November 1, 2002; 2:25 AM
SAN GIULIANO DI PUGLIA, Italy –– An earthquake jolted south-central Italy on Thursday, sending a nursery school roof crashing down on a class of preschoolers during a lunchtime Halloween party. At least 23 people were killed, nearly all of them children at the school, firefighters said. ...Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus speaking here: Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel [see post #20], which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. 24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
We have seen headlines which indicate the parents in Italy whose children were killed in the earthquake are "angry" and are looking for whom to blame in the incident above. Often in the same sentence which reports that the parents are angry, it says the children were "celebrating Halloween." Those parents are completely ignorant of the satanic base of that unholy day and assume wrongly that G~d smiles at their disobedience.
Many people hold the erroneous belief (because they believe false doctrines in the church instead of believing the Bible), that G~d loves children so much that they will not be judged when the Biblc clearly indicates otherwise. The death of a child is not always, but can be a judgment against the parents as in Deut. 28 where the curse of disobedience is that parents would eat their children. Compare that to abortion and its horrors such as selling their body parts for use in cosmetics or using fetal tissue in smallpox vaccine!
In the verses below, children mocked the prophet of G~d, probably because their parents mocked the prophet of G~d and in doing so, mocked G~d Himself. Their taunt "go up, thou bald head" may indicate they were referring to Elisha's predecessor, Elijah, who did go up in a chariot of fire. In response to this mockery G~d proved that He will not be mocked and tare the children. In the Bible people had not only a correct fear of G~d but also a fear of His prophets. At other times they killed them, of course.
2Ki 2:22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Yes, He did it or allowed it. The God who has His eye on every sparrow knows and controls the fall of every tree and tower and liberty and country and the death of every child. He is painting enormous pictures in the earth and in events and calling people to seek Him for what they mean. Pr 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
If people do not understand, then they should REPENT, cultivate an appropriate fear of the Lord, and read His Book to see what He requires of them. Ps 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that dohis commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
The question should not be who to sue, but rather as Paul asked, "What would you have me do, Lord?" The L~rd said the following twice after a tower fell and He wasn't being mean and hateful:
Lu 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
[repeated for emphasis]
Lu 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Repentance should be the order of the day and in high style, but it is not.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
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