Where did Christmas
originate? From the Bible or paganism? What is the real origin of Santa
Claus—mistletoe—Christmas trees—holly wreaths—and the custom of exchanging
gifts? Many are concerned about putting “Christ back into Christmas.” Was He
ever there? Here are the stunning answers!
Every year after Thanksgiving,
most people's thoughts turn to Christmas. It is the time when professing
Christians are supposed to focus on Jesus Christ. After all, it is the “Christ-mass”
season!
Christmas is thought by most
to be a wonderful time, focusing the participants on giving, family
togetherness, beautiful music and decorations, feasting on special foods and
singing Christmas carols throughout the neighborhood (as my family did every
year). All of this is supposedly centered around the worship of Christ. Surely
the Bible instructs us to do all this—right?
The answers will shock you!
Why do people think that
Christmas is wonderful? Most never reflect on why they believe what they
believe or do what they do. We live in a world filled with customs, but few
ever seek to understand their origin. We generally accept them without
question. Most people basically do what everyone else does—because it is easy
and natural!
Let's carefully examine the
roots of Christmas. Let's look at why people follow the customs associated with
it. Why is it kept on December 25th? Did the early New Testament Church keep
it? This article is filled with facts from history that, when placed together,
paint a complete picture. Let's avoid all assumptions and only accept what can
be PROVEN!
Pagan Origin
In 1990, the Solon, Ohio (a
Cleveland suburb) school board banned all nativity and other Christmas scenes
on any school property because they felt it violated the separation of church
and state. They were challenged in court when outraged parents opposed them,
feeling that Christmas was being stolen from their children and the community. The
board lost the case! The citizenry had contended that Christmas was a
worldwide tradition that was not part of, and transcended, religion. It was
deemed to be secular—a part of virtually all cultures worldwide.
The court decision affirmed
that Christmas has no Christian roots! However, the court's opinion also noted
that bible reading and prayer obviously are associated with
Christ-ianity—a remarkable admission! The court concluded that
Christmas-keeping and manger scenes could remain because they are not really
part of either Christianity or religion—but prayer and Bible reading, which
are, must remain excluded from schools!
Nearly all aspects of
Christmas observance have their roots in Roman custom and religion. Consider
the following admission from a large American newspaper (The Buffalo News,
Nov. 22, 1984): “The earliest reference to Christmas being marked on Dec. 25
comes from the second century after Jesus' birth. It is considered likely the
first Christmas celebrations were in reaction to the Roman Saturnalia, a
harvest festival that marked the winter solstice—the return of the sun—and
honored Saturn, the god of sowing. Saturnalia was a rowdy time, much opposed by
the more austere leaders among the still-minority Christian sect. Christmas
developed, one scholar says, as a means of replacing worship of the sun with
worship of the Son. By 529 A.D., after Christianity had become the official
state religion of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian made Christmas a civic
holiday. The celebration of Christmas reached its peak—some would say its worst
moments—in the medieval period when it became a time for conspicuous
consumption and unequaled revelry.”
Consider these quotes from
the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, under “Christmas”: “Christmas
was not among the earliest festivals of the Church…the first evidence of the
feast is from Egypt.” Further, “Pagan customs centering around the January
calends gravitated to Christmas.” Under “Natal Day,” Origen, an early Catholic
writer, admitted, “…In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast
or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like
Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were
born into this world” (emphasis mine).
The Encyclopedia
Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed in the first
centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to
celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth…a feast was
established in memory of this event [Christ's birth] in the fourth century. In
the fifth century the Western Church ordered the feast to be celebrated forever
on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of
the Saturnalia, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth existed.”
There is no mistaking the
origin of the modern Christmas celebration. Many additional sources could be
cited and we will return to this later. Let's begin to tie some other facts
together.
It was 300 years after
Christ before the Roman church kept Christmas, and not until the fifth century
that it was mandated to be kept throughout the empire as an official festival
honoring “Christ.”
Can Christ Be Honored by
Christmas?
The most common
justification that one will hear regarding Christmas is that people have
replaced old pagan customs and intents by asserting that they are now “focusing
on Christ.” I have heard many say that they are “honoring Christ” in their
Christmas-keeping. The problem is that God does not say this is acceptable
to Him! Actually, He plainly commands against it! Keeping Christmas dishonors
Christ! He considers everything about it to be an abomination! We will soon see
why.
Christ said, “But in vain
they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). Christmas is not a command of God—it is a tradition of men. Christ
continued, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may
keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9). Every year, throughout
the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions do just that!
We will see that God plainly
commands, “Follow not the way of the heathen.” But most people do not fear God,
and He allows them to make their own decisions. Human beings are free moral
agents—free to obey or disobey God! But woe to those who ignore the plain Word
of God!
Was Christ Born on December
25th?
Christ was born in the fall
of the year. Many have mistakenly believed He was born around the beginning of
winter—December 25th! They are wrong! Notice the Adam Clarke Commentary,
volume 5, page 370, New York edition: “It was custom among Jews to send out
their sheep to the deserts about the Passover [early spring], and bring them
home at the commencement of the first rain.” The first rains began in
early-to-mid fall. Continuing with this same quote: “During the time they were
out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As…the first rain began early in
the month of March-esvan, which answers to part of our October and November
[begins sometime in October], we find that the sheep were kept out in the open
country during the whole summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought
home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet
commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December,
when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than
September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very
ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks
by night in the fields is a chronological fact…See the quotations from the
Talmudists in Lightfoot.”
Luke 2:8 explains that when Christ was born, “there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”
Note that they were “abiding” in the field. This never happened in December.
Both Ezra 10:9-13 and the Song of Solomon 2:11 show that winter was the
rainy season and shepherds could not stay on cold, open fields at night.
Numerous encyclopedias
plainly state that Christ was not born on December 25th! The Catholic
Encyclopedia directly confirms this. In all likelihood, Christ was born in
the fall! A lengthy technical explanation would prove this point.
Since we now know that
December 25th was nowhere near Christ's actual birthdate, where did the
festival associated with this date come from?
Now read this quote under
“Christmas”: “In the Roman world, the Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of
merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. December 25 was also regarded as the
birthdate of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness. On the Roman
New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts
were given to children and the poor. To these observances were added the German
and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain
and central Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes,
greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects
of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life,
have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian”
(Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., vol. II, p. 903).
A final quote about the
selection of December 25th as the birthdate of Christ is necessary. Note an
article in The Toronto Star, December 1984, by Alan Edmonds, entitled,
“We owe a lot to Druids, Dutch”: “The Reformation cast a blight on Christmas.
By then, of course, clever ecclesiastical politicians had adopted the Pagan
mid-winter festival as the alleged birthdate of Jesus, of Nazareth, and thrown
in a few other Pagan goodies to make their takeover more palatable.”
December 25th was not
selected because it was the birth of Christ or because it was even near it. It
was selected because it coincided with the idolatrous pagan festival Saturnalia—and
this celebration must be carefully examined. In any event, we do not
know the exact date of Christ's birth. While God certainly could have made it
known, He chose to hide it from the world's eyes!
What About Santa Claus?
Parents reason that they owe
the whole Christmas myth to their children! Christmas traditions are focused
primarily on kids, and they are certainly the center of most of what happens. I
know because I kept seventeen Christmases. My older sister and younger brother
and I were the recipients of much and the givers of very little on that day—and
it all started with the Santa Claus lie.
Some years ago, a priest in
New Jersey told his Sunday school class that Santa was a myth. The outrage from
parents and his supervisors was swift. He had “killed Santa!” He had “destroyed
family tradition!” He had “usurped family authority,” the article continued. He
was officially censored by his superiors for being “overzealous and
insensitive.”
His crime? He told the truth!
According to Langer's
Encyclopedia of World History, (article “Santa”), “Santa” was a common name
for Nimrod throughout Asia Minor. This was also the same fire god who came down
the chimneys of the ancient pagans and the same fire god to whom infants were
burned and eaten in human sacrifice among those who were once God's people.
Today Santa Claus comes from
“Saint Nicholas.” Washington Irving, in 1809, is responsible for remaking the
original old, stern bishop of this same name into the new “jolly St. Nick” in
his Knickerbocker History of New York. (Most of the rest of America's
Christmas traditions are even more recent than this.) “Old Nick” has long been
recognized as a term for the devil.
In Revelation 2:6 and 15, we read about a “doctrine of the Nicolaitanes,”
which Christ twice tells His Church “[He] hates.” Let's analyze the word
Nicolaitane. It means “follower of Nicholas.” Nikos means “conqueror,
destroyer.” Laos means “people.” Nicolaitanes, then, are people who
follow the conqueror or destroyer—Nimrod. If you have believed that following
Christmas is an innocent Christian custom, let this truth sink in!
Is It Scriptural to Exchange
Gifts?
Merchants regularly report
that over 60% of their annual retail sales occur during the Christmas shopping
season. This represents a tremendous amount of gift buying. Most today believe
that gift-giving comes from the Bible example of the “three wise men” (the
Bible gives no number) presenting gifts to Christ. Is this true? Where did
exchanging gifts come from, and what does God's Word say about it?
The Bibliotheca Sacra
states, “The interchange of presents between friends is a like characteristic
of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from
the pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows” (Vol. 12, pp.
153-155).
Like every other aspect of
Christmas, the shocking truth is that even this supposed Christian custom does
not come from the Bible. It is an irony that people love to believe they are
following the custom of the wise men giving to Christ, when actually they are
giving almost exclusively to each other! What hypocrisy! Christ is
completely forgotten.
The Bible actually teaches
that Christians should not keep birthdays. Numerous scriptures make this principle
clear. (Read our article “Are Birthday Celebrations Christian?”) However, what
if you went to a birthday party that had been prepared for you and everybody
gave gifts to each other and you were left out? The idea is ridiculous! If this
happened, you would say that people were being selfish and forgetting you. In
fact, most people give to others on Christmas merely because they expect to
receive gifts themselves!
Let's briefly return to the
“wise men” who gave gifts to Christ. The scripture describing this is Matthew 2:1-11: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod
the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where
is He that is born King of the Jews?…And when they were come into the
house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and
worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented
unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
It is commonly supposed that
these were birthday presents for “baby Jesus.” But is this what the Bible
actually says? Absolutely not! First, it is important to note that they did
give the gifts to Jesus. They did not stand in his presence and exchange gifts
among themselves or give them to others. The gifts were “presented unto Him.”
Also, they arrived well after his “birthday.” This is another reason these
could not have been “birthday presents.”
A long-standing, ancient
custom of the East was to present gifts when coming before a king. These men
understood they were in the presence of the “King of the Jews.” The Bible
carries many examples of people sending gifts to kings or presenting them upon
arrival into their presence. This custom is common today when ambassadors or
others come into the presence of a world leader.
Finally, notice what the Adam
Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 46, states about what really happened on
this occasion: “Verse 11. They presented unto him gifts. The people
of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without
a present in their hands. This custom is often noticed in the Old Testament,
and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Seas
Islands.” Gifts were customarily presented to kings.
What could be more plain?
Origin of the Christmas Tree
No article about Christmas
is complete without some explanation of the “Christmas tree.” We have touched
on it without directly focusing on it. The modern Christmas tree originated in
Germany. But the Germans got it from the Romans, who got it from the
Babylonians and the Egyptians.
The following demonstrates
what the Babylonians believe about the origin of the Christmas tree: “An old
Babylonish fable told of an evergreen tree which sprang out of a dead tree
stump. The old stump symbolized the dead Nimrod, the new evergreen tree
symbolized that Nimrod had come to life again in Tammuz! Among the Druids the
oak was sacred, among the Egyptians it was the palm, and in Rome it was the
fir, which was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia!” (Walsh, Curiosities
of Popular Customs, p. 242).
Frederick J. Haskin's Answers
to Questions states, “The Christmas tree is from Egypt, and its origin
dates from a period long anterior to the Christmas Era.” Did you know this—that
the Christmas tree long preceded Christianity?
Most aspects of Christmas
are not referred to in the Bible. Of course, the reason is that they are not
from God—they are not part of the way He wants people to worship Him. The
Christmas tree, however, is directly mentioned in the Bible! Turn to Jeremiah 10:2-5, “Thus says the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen…For the
customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the
work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and
with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They
are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because
they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is
it in them to do good.”
This plain description of
the modern Christmas tree is clear. God directly refers to it as “the way of
the heathen.” Just as directly, He commands His people to “learn not the way
of the heathen,” calling these customs “vain.” Verse 23
adds a remarkable and powerful statement: “O LORD, I know that the way of man
is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his [own] steps.”
God must teach people how to live. Man simply cannot figure out God's ways for
himself.
There is no room in Jeremiah 10 to believe, as some have tried to suggest, that because these trees
are powerless of themselves, it is not really forbidden to have a
Christmas tree. God condemns the putting up of pagan (Christmas) trees with
this plain Bible command!
The Source of Holly Wreaths,
Yule Logs and Mistletoe
The Encyclopedia
Americana states, “The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log…are relics of
pre-Christian time.” In other words, paganism! The Yule log was commonly used
in a rite of Teutonic nature worship.
Frederick Haskin further
states, “The use of Christmas wreaths is believed by authorities to be
traceable to the pagan customs of decorating buildings and places of worship at
the feast which took place at the same time as Christmas.”
The Encyclopedia
Britannica, under “Celastrales,” exposes the origin of the holly wreath:
“European pagans brought holly sprays into their homes, offering them to the
fairy people of the forests as refuge from the harsh winter weather. During the
Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival, branches of holly were exchanged as
tokens of friendship. The earliest Roman Christians apparently used holly as a
decoration at the Christmas season.”
There are dozens of
different types of holly. Virtually all of them come in male and female
varieties—such as “Blue Prince and Blue Princess” or “Blue Boy and Blue
Girl” or “China Boy and China Girl.” Female holly plants cannot have berries
unless a nearby male plant pollinates them. It is easy to see why the holly
wreath found its way into pagan rituals as a token of friendship and fertility!
Christmas is incomplete to
many unless it involves “kissing under the mistletoe.” This pagan custom was
natural on a night that involved much revelry done in the spirit of drunken
orgies. Just like today, this “kissing” usually occurred at the beginning of
any modern Saturnalia/Christmas celebration. I will never forget having to
always kiss my friends' mothers upon entering each of their houses every
Christmas. It was the first thing that we did. I hated it—but it was something
I “had to do”! Mistletoe was considered to have special powers of healing for
those who “reveled” under it.
The Encyclopedia
Britannica, under “Santalales,” states, “The European mistletoe is thought
to have had special ritual significance in Druidical ceremonies and lives in
folklore today, its special status as the Christmas mistletoe having come from
Anglo-Saxon times.” Mistletoe is a parasite that lives on oak trees. (Recall
that the Druids worshipped in oak tree groves.) The ancient Celtics (associated
with the Druids) used to give mistletoe as an herbal remedy to barren animals
to make them fertile. It is still referred to as “all healer” in
Celtic.
Like mistletoe, holly
berries were also thought to be sacred to the sun god. The original “sun log”
came to be called the yule log. “Yule” simply means “wheel,” which has long
been a pagan representation of the sun. No wonder people today commonly speak
of the “sacred yule-tide season.”
What Should You Do?
Finally, let's examine what
God told His people they should do and the way they ought to teach their
children.
Human beings do not want to
obey God (Rom. 8:7). They would rather follow their own “imagination.”
They do not understand that God wants their lives to go “well.” He wants
happiness, joy and blessings to flow into people's lives. All these are the
results of obeying Him.
God inspired Moses to warn
parents of the grave responsibility that they have in what and how they teach
their children. Notice His instruction in Deuteronomy 6:1, 6-7,
20-21,
25:
“Now these are the commandments…which the LORD your God commanded to
teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it…And
these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And you
shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when
you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and
when you rise up…And when your son asks you in time to come, saying,
What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD
our God has commanded you? Then you shall say unto your son, We were Pharaoh's
bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand…And
it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments
before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.”
God took Israel out of
Egypt—out of the customs of the world around them and revealed His Law to them.
He does not want His people going back to the traditions, customs and ways from
which He has called them.
When all of the
interconnected traditions, filled with the symbolism of worshipping an ancient
pagan, humanly devised god, are taught, this is not worshipping the true
Creator.
The prophet Isaiah was
inspired to write, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet,
and show My people their transgression” (58:1). I have done this.
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