The Origin Of The Holiday
December 25th was not the birthday of Christ. It was not until the fourth century, about twice as long a period of time as the United States has been a nation, that the apostate church adapted the pagan rituals and symbols to professing Christianity, thus beginning to recognize such customs as cutting down trees and bringing them indoors to decorate with orbs and bulbs.
The Encyclopedia Britannica admits, "...before the 5th century there was no general consensus of opinion as to when it [the Epiphany] should come in the calendar, whether on the 6th of January, or the 25th of March, or the 25th of December" (ibid. Vol. IV p. 293).
Origen, one of the so-called "church fathers" (known as the "ante-Nicene fathers" to scholars, meaning those writers of nominal Christian thought who lived prior to the Nicene Council, in 325 AD), repudiated the very idea of "keeping the birthday of Christ as if He were a King Pharaoh." Apparently, the very first mention of the idea of attaching December 25th to the birth of Christ came in about 354 AD, more than three hundred and twenty years after Christ sent the Holy Spirit to build His true church, from the pen of a LATIN chronographer. Translated into English, it read, "Year 1 after Christ, in the coinsulate of Caesar and Paulus, the Lord Jesus Christ was born on the 25th of December, a Friday and 15th day of the new moon." Long before, however, Clement of Alexandria, another of the so-called "ante-Nicene fathers," condemned such speculation as mere superstitions. Clement, in issuing a scathing denunciation of such writings, added that some chronologists alleged Christ to have been born on the 20th of May; others said on the 19th or 20th of April, and Clement himself argued it had probably occurred on the 17th of November, 3 BC. At least, he was a bit closer in his guesswork than those he dismissed.
The same Latin (Roman Catholic) chronologist, along with others, began arguing that the date should be fixed on the same day observed by the Mithraic Priests [a pagan order held in awe and reverence by superstitious adherents], who termed December 25th, Natalis invicti solis, or "birthday of the invincible [unconquerable] sun."
But the nominal Christians in Syria and Armenia scornfully accused the Romans of sun worship and blatant idolatry, contending that December 25th may well have been an invention of the disciples of Cerinthus to commemorate the "natural" birth of Jesus. Cerinthus may have been a contemporary of the apostle John during his last years, and was an advocate of a blend of gnosticism and Judaism; holding the strange notion that Jesus Christ was the "natural" son of Joseph and Mary, and that the "Christ" descended upon Him at His baptism, but left Him again prior to His death. He also taught that the resurrection was yet future; that Jesus was still dead during his time. Therefore, his suppositions about the birth of Christ were rejected by the "ante-Nicene fathers," such as Irinaeus, Polycarp, and Eusebius.
The Britannica, Eleventh Edition, states, "In Britain the 25th of December was a festival long before the conversion to Christianity [and therefore a pagan festival], quoting Bede, who said the pagans called it "the mother's night." This may be very significant indeed, as will be seen later. The Puritans in England, as late as 1644, by an act of Parliament, declared "Christmas" on December 25th to be an "heathen festival," and to show their contempt, ordered people to fast on that day. Their descendants outlawed any celebration of the pagan December 25th in New England up until only about 22 years before my father, Herbert W. Armstrong, was born, in 1892!
Actually, following their custom of superimposing "Christian" observances upon purely pagan, heathen celebrations, the apostate church eventually established December 25th as the birthday of Jesus Christ in order to make it easy for hundreds of thousands of Teutons and others, who were accustomed to feasting on that day in commemoration of "the Saturnalia," or the "birthday of the invincible sun," to embrace nominal Christianity.
The encyclopedias and history books are replete with information about the pagan origin of Christmas. Even the Bible encyclopedias admits the truth. An outstanding example is from the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge which admits, "How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (December 25th) following the Saturnalia (December 17th-24th), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and the `new sun'...cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence...The pagan festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers in the west and the near east protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ's birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival" (ibid. Article: "Christmas").
Don't assume that all these pagan sun-worshiping customs are only ancient practices of those long since dead. Believe it or not, there are "Saturnalians" and dozens of small sects of Satanism and witchcraft practicing in the United States and other "Christian" countries TODAY!
The Internet contains weird pages of material about HOW TO CELEBRATE THE SATURNALIA! At least, Satanists and sun worshipers know the true meaning of the season!
Was The Birth Of Jesus Christ The "First Noel"?
The "first noel" is a common phrase. Not only is it one of the dozens of best-known Christmas carols, it may be found on cups and glasses, on orbs and bulbs, on gaily-colored wrapping paper, and practically everywhere, including huge letters set up on brightly-lit neighborhood lawns.
The words of the famous song are well-known: "The first noel, the angels did say, was to certain poor shepherds in fields where they lay," etc. Thus, a purely pagan phrase is adapted to the annunciation of the birth of Christ by the angels. Millions casually assume that the "first Noel" simply means "the first Christmas." Not so.
The word has a Celtic origin, and comes from two words among the ancient region of Gaul (modern day northern France and Brittany), novo Hel. Novo means "new" and Hel means "sun." You will recognize both ancient words in our English words "novice," and "heliograph." It meant "new sun", or the winter solstice, and marked the first day of the year when the days began lengthening.
The holiday is actually nothing more than the ancient "Saturnalia," celebrated among different pagan, heathen peoples in different lands by amazingly similar customs and nonsensical beliefs. SUN worship was virtually universal among all savage, heathen tribes, clans, and nations.
Truth be told, the celebration of the birth of Christ has occurred in every month of the year among different peoples at different times. For a period of centuries, it was celebrated in January. To this day, a common expression is "the twelve days of Christmas," which refer to the signs of the Zodiac, and pagan, agrarian rituals. In other words, as pagans prayed to the sun god, they celebrated the signs of the seasons; appealing to the solis invictus, or the invincible sun, to "begin his journey back to the northern latitudes," lengthening the days, warming the earth, melting the ice and snow of winter, and bringing once again the springing forth of new life.
By taking such "quaint" beliefs, and adapting them to nominal "Christian" beliefs, the universal church was able to "convert" countless hundreds of thousands of savage peoples in dozens of countries all over the world. As one book, The Origins of Christmas, states, "Across Europe, Roman, German or Celtic festivals marked the beginning of winter. Christianity originated and expanded in the ancient world by promising a new life, and by announcing a new light to the world in the person of Jesus Christ. Little by little, a calendar of religious festivals was established from the forth century, replacing ancient rituals and pagan celebrations."
But the ancient rituals and pagan celebrations, with all their accompanying symbolism and enactments were by no means replaced with anything that was "Christian." One may claim a pig is a duck hundreds of times, but the pig is a pig, nevertheless.
Christ Was Not Born In The Winter
Christ was not born on or anywhere near the 25th of December. The Bible says, "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night [Note carefully! The sheep were gathered into sheep cotes much earlier; no sheep were still "abiding in the field" this late in the year. But in September or early November, such a scene could have obtained. There is ample proof for this]."
There is virtual unanimity among some of the most well-known commentators on this point: Barnes, Doddridge, Lightfoot, Joseph Scaliger, and Jennings, who wrote Jewish Antiquities all agree that December 25th could not have been Christ's date of birth. Joseph Mede, following a long dissertation on the subject, says, "At the birth of Christ every woman and child was to go to be taxed at the city whereto they belonged, whither some had long journeys; but the middle of winter was not fitting for such a business, especially for women with child and children, to travel in. Therefore, Christ could not be born in the depth of winter. Again, at the time of Christ's birth, the shepherds lay abroad watching with their flocks in the night time; but this was not likely to be in the middle of winter. And if any shall think the winter wind was not so extreme in these parts, let him remember the words of Christ in the gospel, "Pray that your flight be not in the winter," if the winter was so bad a time to flee in, and women and children to travel in.
Here is what Christ Himself said: "Then [when the Abomination of Desolation is in place] let them which be in Judaea [the very place of Christ's birth] flee into the mountains:
"Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
"Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
"And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day:
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matthew 24:16-21).
Notice how Jesus Christ singled out pregnant women, or nursing mothers, saying they should PRAY that they should not have to flee their homes into the countryside, and into the mountainous country of Judaea in the winter! Further, it was not the practice of the Roman government to force their subject peoples into arduous, even perilous, travel in the middle of winter. Their object was census-taking for taxation purposes, not to create popular rebellion. Therefore, they would have chosen the season of the year when it was the easiest time for travel, not the most difficult.
Now, continuing with the account of the annunciation of Christ's birth:
"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
"And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men [actually, the verse reads, in the original, `Peace on earth among men of good will'].
"And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
"And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger" (Luke 2:7-16).
However, one may see the shepherds AND the wise men, or the "Magi" (Persian followers of the "Magus," and believers, perhaps, in Zoroaster, who were forced to acknowledge the King of kings and Lord of lords) standing about the manger in many, many pictures, movies, books, and of course, in decorations on millions of lawns.
But the Magi did not arrive in Bethlehem until after a journey of many, many MONTHS, perhaps a YEAR after the birth of Christ. Historical facts mean nothing to those who blindly adopt "custom," however.
Study carefully the 2nd chapter of Matthew. Herod would not have risked killing all the little boys from two years old and younger if he had known the Christ child was a mere week or two old! He ordered the murder of all those from two years and younger because he had carefully interrogated the wise men about the time the star had appeared. Notice the account, how the Magi had "...come into the HOUSE [not a manger], [where] they saw the young child [not here called a baby, or an infant] with Mary His mother..." (Matthew 2:16).
This is simply another example of the ignorance of millions, who, though they believe they are celebrating a "Christian" custom, have not bothered to so much as read the Bible account carefully.
What Is The Origin Of The Christmas Tree?
Tree worship is virtually universal among heathen peoples. To this day, there are those who believe trees have a spirit; those who will "apologize to the spirit of the tree" before cutting it down.
From the earliest times, since trees come in so many thousands of varieties, and are so useful to man, ancient mankind ascribed any number of god-like qualities to trees. Trees produce many hundreds of varieties of foods for man, from nuts to bananas; from fruits to bark used as spices, as in the case of the cinnamon tree. The ubiquitous palm trees of the tropics and Middle East have been used for rafts, canoes, building homes, thatching roofs, producing clothing, and for dozens of kinds of foods, from coconuts to dates.
But it was not only the most "primitive" peoples who worshiped trees. Even such notable Greek philosophers a Plato and Aristotle taught that trees possessed reason, just as humans do; believed trees had "feelings." Ancient Egyptians held to the superstition that the life of a human being and the life of a tree were somehow connected; that the fate of one was identical to the fate of another. In the famous Egyptian fable called "the tale of two brothers," dating from perhaps 1,000 B.C., one of the brothers allegedly "leaves his heart on the top of the flower of an acacia tree," but then falls down dead when the tree is cut down.
There is a "black arts" connection here. As in voodoo, wherein people believe a human being can be cursed with sickness, wounds, or even killed by sticking pins in a doll-like caricature of the victim, many believed that a person's life was inextricably intertwined with the life of a tree. By depositing fingernail clippings, human hair, or some article that had been in close contact with the man, pagans believed they were putting themselves into close "personal" contact with the tree. Then, if certain boughs were cut off, and investigated, and it appeared that a blight was affecting the tree, the man drew conclusions from this—believing he would be stricken with a disease, or die.
Encyclopedias are replete with pagan concepts of tree worship. Customs in dozens of countries all over the world show that it was common belief that humans and trees had some common bond; some spiritual interconnection. Some believed it was possible to transfer disease from a sick person to a tree. Thus, they would place bits of hair, items of clothing, or some personal item from the sick person; even fingernail clippings, into a niche or hole bored into the tree. The Encyclopedia Britannica, eleventh edition, states that some sick persons would be passed through the aperture resulting from splitting a tree, and then, if the tree survived, the patient would surely recover. In India, the Korwas hung rags on trees which formed the shrines of their various village gods. Even in early America, in Nebraska, some believed that hanging of objects on the branches of trees propitiated supernatural beings, or could give them such blessings as good hunting and good weather.
The universality of tree worship was also observed by the well-traveled Charles Darwin, the "father of evolution," who wrote of a tree he saw in South America festooned with various offerings, including rags, meat, and even cigars! Not only were libations made to this tree, but horses were sacrificed to it.
From the most ancient times, the Bible records how the pagan nations inhabiting Palestine in the time of Joshua and the Israelitish occupation worshiped in "groves." Wooded copses atop hills were used as pagan shrines. Sometimes, amidst the groves, the tops and branches were lopped off a standing tree, which was then carved to represent a phallic symbol, or carved with the face of a "god." Notice one outstanding example:
"And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
"And they set them up images and groves [groves of trees] in every high hill, and under every green tree:
"And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger" (2 Kings 17:9-11). God commanded them—as He commands us today—"LEARN NOT THE WAY of the heathen!" We are commanded of God NOT to adopt the customs; the "way" of worship of the demented, savage, ignorant minds of heathen peoples, thinking them "quaint" or "cute," and then pretending they are "Christian."
God said, "And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them" (2 Kings 17:15).
If pagan Amorites, Amalakites, Babylonians, Druids, Teutons, Celts, Greeks, Egyptians or Romans could come back to life today, they would immediately recognize many of the customs practiced by professing "Christians."
But where did the concept of cutting down millions of little firs, spruce, or balsams come from? Most authorities agree it stems from the fable of "St. Boniface" (meaning "pretty face"), who supposedly cut down the "great oak of Jupiter," a tree worshiped by pagan Teutons at Geismar in Hesse, Germany. As the story goes, Boniface, who is also identified as an early English missionary, named "Winfred", came upon a group of heathens who were worshiping at their huge, spreading oak, the "sacred oak of Jupiter." Poor little Prince Asulf was about to be sacrificed to "Jupiter," it seems, until Boniface and his armed men stopped the impending sacrifice and rescued Asulf. Then, Boniface ordered the tree cut down. The legend varies; one version claiming he then planted an evergreen in its place, and another claiming he told the pagans in the next day or so that, by a divine miracle, a little fir tree had "sprung up in its place," and that the new little tree was the "tree of life," and represented "Christ."
Quaint. Always accommodating, the apostate church and churchmen allowed heathens to cling to their symbols of worship, while merely calling them by a different name.
One version of the story says Boniface had a church built in honor of "St. Peter" from the felled oak. Some oak tree!
Today, some utterly ignorant "Christian" people will utter the bovine nonsense that the "evergreen is a symbol of everlasting life"!
But there is an even older version of the story, in which Nimrod, the first organizer of cities and city-states (Genesis 10:8-12), who was also identified with Tammuz, or the sun god, was depicted by a sacred tree, which was cut down, only to find that a young green tree had sprung up from the trunk overnight, thus representing the "rebirth" of Nimrod, or the sun god.
The early pagan Scandinavians were tree worshipers, and it was only natural that their "Brumalias" or the winter festival of Saturnalia should feature the holly tree and the fir tree, whose wreaths and branches were brought indoors. The Romans exchanged green tree branches on the "calends," or the 1st of January, as good luck symbols.
Today, tens of millions of beautiful trees, which COULD become huge, mature Douglas firs, spruce, balsams, or other kinds of conifers, and which COULD be used to build millions of homes, or produce resins, paper, and dozens of useful products, are instead cut down, then shipped via truck and rail to distribution points, then stood up, to have a base nailed to them, and sold to "Christians" to take indoors and decorate with orbs and bulbs.
As the tree withers and dies, it becomes a fire hazard. Each year, children and families die as a result of faulty wiring on Christmas tree lights.
Does God say anything about the Christmas tree? Notice, "Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
"For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
"They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not" (Jeremiah 10:1-4). When God says LEARN NOT the "way of the heathen," He means exactly what He says. Notice further, "When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
"Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
"Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods [this was done in groves of trees, or asherah, just as the worshipers of Jupiter were doing in Germany].
"What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it" (Deuteronomy 12:29-32). Many will argue that Christmas and other pagan festivals are "extra-Biblical"; that, while they are not enjoined by scripture, are nevertheless harmless inventions of sincere Christians in worship of God and Christ. But God thunders at rebellious mankind, "Thou shalt not add thereto" in methods of worship!
Plainly, God commanded His people NOT TO COPY the modes of heathen worship of the degenerate pagan nations of the world; not to adapt their ceremonies, symbols, and rituals, and call them by a different name. Yet, in direct, flagrant disobedience to this divine command, tens of millions indulge in customs which would be readily recognized by pagan sun-worshipers.
Today, the entire TIME of late autumn until mid-winter is celebrated. The day or so after Hallowe'en (itself a totally demonic, satanic, pagan celebration), millions of commercial establishments drag out their Christmas decorations, and put them in their shops and display windows. God commanded, "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
"Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer [one who claims to be able to communicate with the dead],
"For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD..." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
"`Tis the season to be jolly! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! Deck the halls with boughs of Holly!"—a familiar refrain. The "Christmas season" is exactly the same thing as "observing times"; observing the winter solstice, just as pagan sun-worshipers did.
The "holiday season," or "yuletide," or the "twelve days of Christmas" are commonly used to connote the "Christmas" holiday, or the "Christmas season."
The self-loving arm of flesh. You epitomize it to a T.
(And, you are a colossally lousy theologian. The scripture is not there to say whatever you can draw out of it as from a hat.)
Today, tens of millions of beautiful trees, which COULD become huge, mature Douglas firs, spruce, balsams, or other kinds of conifers, and which COULD be used to build millions of homes, or produce resins, paper, and dozens of useful products, are instead cut down, then shipped via truck and rail to distribution points, then stood up, to have a base nailed to them, and sold to “Christians” to take indoors and decorate with orbs and bulbs.
Talk about not reading something. You obviously didn’t read what I posted to you! The points you (or that article you posted) make are addressed by what I posted. Namely, the central point “learn not the way of the heathen”. The question you should be asking yourself, if you even want to pretend to be objective is, “what is God warning against when He says ‘learn not the way of the heathen?’”
He’s most certainly not saying “don’t do anything the pagans do”. He’s saying “don’t commit adultery against Me by committing idolatry”. Which is serving other gods, or taking them to be equal or superior to God.
From this understanding it’s clear that passages like Jer 10 are not warning against Christmas tree usage, rather they are warning against adopting pagan idol worship. Did you get that? *Idol Worship*, that is worshipping a tree or a statue or any “graven image” because one believes that statue or tree or image contains a spirit being inside it. That’s idolarty and that’s what passages like Jer 10 forbid. Here’s the rub though...
...no one (today, celebrating Christmas with a tree decoration) is worshipping the TREE! So the texts like Jer 10 don’t apply to the Christmas tree unless, like the article I gave you said, someone is literally bowing down to the tree and worshipping it like some god. (Or also as the article said if someone loves their Christmas tree more than they love God).
Now honestly, put down Alexander Hislop for a second and think on your own: do you believe that people are worshipping their Christmas trees? Bowing down and making sacrifices TO the tree itself? Think, THINK!
This same line of reasoning applies to claims such as Christmas itself is sinful because it is pagan or Easter, or any other such claim that relies on mere similarities in decorations to prove idolatry.
Also the mere fact (if it is) that Christmas is right around the time of some other pagan celebrations isn’t proof of anything sinister either, just proof that the pagan religion was destroyed and replaced by Christianity. Christ is victorious over all, including pagan religions themselves, and somehow this victory is bad? Somehow this supplantation and virtual elimination of paganism is evil, merely because it’s on (or near) the same day as the now dead pagan religion? Again, no one is worshipping “sol invictus” or whatever other forgotten old god you or Hislop use to justify your Grinch-like attitude. And that’s the POINT: a day isn’t bad in of itself, it’s what’s DONE on that day or date that’s “bad” (or good).
You don’t have to reply if you now realize the stupidity of this whole claim. If you do reply though, and continue to assert your original claim, then I can see no reason to reply to you further. Your mind will be known to be closed to reason at that point.
Not really. These trees come from Christmas Tree Farms and are grown specifically for this purpose. This is no different from visiting a nursery in spring to pick out some tomato or zucchini plants that will grow for one season and then be tossed onto the mulch pile. My Christmas tree, when taken down, will be used to provide shelter for birds in winter and eventually return to the earth as mulch to nourish other plants.