By Cris Putnam
Christmas is certainly not pagan. Sure, Jesus’ birth was probably in the Fall rather than December but the exact day is uncertain. Even so, Christmas is the celebration of the savior’s birth because that is when most all Christian churches celebrate. While some customs have a distant pagan origin, the idea that Christmas trees are pagan is almost certainly false. Jeremiah 10 describes fashioning Canaanite idols from fresh cut wood and precious metals. It has nothing to do with Christmas trees. There have been a myriad of customs in different cultures using holly and evergreen but there is not a discernable evolution from paganism to today’s Christmas tree from the ancient world. Christianity relegated pagan belief to the cultural dustbin and tree customs were sporadic and divergent until after the reformation. The modern tree began in sixteenth century Germany. The best evidence points to Martin Luther for popularizing the candle lit evergreen tree.[i] As the reformation spread, so did Luther’s legacy. A popular artist, Carl Schwerdgeburth, painted a scene of Luther’s family around a candle-lit tree:
Painting source[ii]
This painting, depicting what oral tradition indicated happened in 1536, was engraved in a gift book titled Wheat Sheaf from 1853 that was published in Philadelphia. It also said that Luther was the first to light a tree with candles in order to illustrate the “light of God” to his children.
Because Luther was a great advocate of Christmas, the Christmas tree became a sign of Protestant solidarity and German nationalism. The Catholic majority of the lower Rhine discouraged the lighted tree as a Protestant custom. In the early nineteenth century, lit trees gained widespread acceptance across Germany.[iii] Most likely, the tradition came to the United States with Hessian troops during the American Revolution and/or the German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Many have pointed out the New England puritans did not recognize the holiday. However, their reasoning for disdain was not its alleged pagan origins but rather a form of strict biblicism that asserted that if a holiday is not in scripture it should not be celebrated. Not many folks still agree that conclusion is scriptural because it is inconsistent with our freedom of conscience in Christ (Col 2:16). Because we are not under Israelite ceremonial law, we are free to celebrate the birth of the savior any day we please! Finally, it is safe to say, that hardly anyone is thinking about pagan deities while performing Christmas traditions. Most of the conspiracy theories give paganism too much credit. Paganism did not infect Christianity but rather Christianity made paganism irrelevant.
[i] Karal Ann Marling, Merry Christmas! Celebrating America’s Greatest Holiday,( Boston: Harvard University Press, 2009), 176.
[iii]Johannes Marbach, The Holy Christmas season for meaning, history, customs and symbols (Stutgart: 1859), 416. http://books.google.com/books?id=FXhEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA416#v=onepage&q&f=false
About Cris Putnam
What do you SEE you walk into the homes in America around Christmas time. A CHRISTMAS TREE…and usually a very small ceramic NATIVITY SCENE. Most of the focus is on the lighted decorated tree. Some take more time decorating the TREE than they will WORSHIPPING and PRAYING to GOD thru the whole season, and if thats the case with YOU, then you my friend are either worshiping IDOLS or very close to it.
Furthermore, theres not any mention in Gods Word to “Do this in remembrance of ME. And that comes to the EASTER BUNNY (the fertility god) Many Denominations are focusing on the Easter Egg Hunt as well. Including it in their day of activity’s…to appease the children, to get them into the doors of the church…
Gods Word doesnt state EXACTLY that we should not worship or raise a TREE, nor does His Word state we should. Moreso, worshipping idols was forbidding by the Israelites, and they paid the price. The seeds of those sins were passed down to the second, third and fourth generation…and we see this today as well, in all areas of society.
However, not be be dogmatic, I would suggest to be cautious in this practice. Once you give a foothold to the adversary, satan, the devil, he will run with it.
Love not the world , neither the things in the world…1 John 2:15-16
I am so surprised that so many of you are missing the whole point in the difference between A.)living with/using all of these pagan things… (going so far as to the names of days of the week etc); and B.)what we use and how we worship God. This includes things that are directed to and or for God such as Christmas, we need to have biblical authority for how and what we use for worship, not for what we happen to use thru the day. This is why if we may be using a pagan name for a day or any use of something that may have originated with the pagans outside of worship, this is no matter, this is where we have freedom in Christ, but to use it for worshipping God always was and always will be abhorred by God.
This is the difference, we can use pretty much anything for practical purposes outside of worship and the history of it has no significance, however we cannot choose what ever we want to worship our Holy God. And think about, it makes practical sense also… just think how the worship of God could be perverted by those who think they could use anything as long as their focus is God or Jesus… anything could be made in a “good light” sexual perversion because God made us so beautiful could be directed and focused on Him… you get the idea, it could be taken to any extreme that our evil hearts could dream up and sincerely done by those who believe that they are right in their own minds.
This is why we need biblical authority for how we worship, not what is ok in our own minds and fleshly wisdom. We are not to worship in our way… we are to worship in Gods way by which we have been given instruction and if there is no biblical authority for it then we cannot choose it, period.
Many say that all that matters is where your heart is and the pagan origins have no significance in our time, but the Bible has shown that just because your intentions may be good does not mean that God will accept it.
Again, all of your ridiculous views of not having biblical authority for practical use of things is not the same, this is not about things outside of worship… it is about what is allowed or not allowed in worship including it’s forms such as Christmas.
So to answer all of your nonsensical questions of should we do away with all of these other holidays and birthdays and such that are so entangled with worldliness too… yes we should, but christmas is directed toward God and therefore needs biblical authority, but it was created by man and has no biblical authority. These questions are asked as if it wouldn’t make sense for God’s holy people to separate from such things that are so common to the world, why? Have we become so entangled that we have lost sight or become numb to the traditions of men? We are called to use the bible for our authority, not our own wisdom of how we think we can worship our Holy God. We are not to rely on our own wisdom, our heart is deceitful above all things, and we cannot make anything we want into something to honor God with, we see this in the Old Testament, and God changes not.
In summary, there is a distinction to be made between having authority for how we worship and how we may do everything else.
and so just where is that line between worship and the secular? Really?
I think you are missing the point. There is no delineation between what we do and how we worship. All acts are an act of worship because our body is the temple, housing the Holy Spirit of YHVH. But here’s the thing, YHVH says we are not to SIN. He says we can make an image (like the bulls in the temple laver) but not bow down and worship an image. He says we can decorate with a tree (like in the sukkah and in the temple doors and carved into lamp stands) but not fashion into an idol that we bow down and worship. He says we can cut our beards but not if we are participating in a pagan mourning ritual for the dead. The whole point is to not involve ourselves in worshipping another god and by this, to not SIN. So the act itself, unless it is specifically SIN (see following sentence) does not determine whether we are sinning. It is the motive behind the act. Why would YHVH command the shaving of the head/beard for a nazarite vow or cleansing if the act itself was declared SIN. That is not so.
Your example of sexual acts as part of worship does not apply. It would be sin to be involved in that regardless of the motive.
A tree was used in the garden to symbolize eternal life. It is used again in Revelation for the same thing. Along comes a pagan worshipper and whatever he believes about his fictitious god, he uses a tree. Who cares! Why would this matter to us? If it does, then we would have to do an exhaustive study (impossible) throughout all of history to see what all a pagan has done with a tree so we don’t mimic them. That’s absurd.
This is why Paul says “do not inquire” about where the meat has been that is bought in the marketplace. If its been part of a pagan worship service, it does not matter. Our own conscience tells us that the “earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” and no one can defile (by his imaginary god worship) what YHVH has declared as good. The other person’s conscience is the weak conscience. The other person thinks otherwise and in front of them, we should be considerate of their lack of understanding. But that does not mean Paul never ate a steak again. We’re expected to grow up and mature and put away our ignorance and misunderstandings. And we are to teach our brethren the truth of these matters. Just like the meat cannot be defiles, neither can the tree.
oops, olive trees carved into cherubim, not lamp stands (which were solid gold)
This is just some of the info I have been given by friends in no particular order and could not source them all, I tried to consolidate but is still a lot. Just trying to make sense of it all. Thank you to all who reply and thank you jmvpho, very good points.
Just because some 2 billion people—roughly 1 billion Catholics and another billion in Protestant faiths—observe Christmas, does that make it right?
A true Christian cannot decide what he will obey, only whether he will obey God’s truth.
In Deuteronomy 12:28-God told His people to worship only in the ways He commanded, telling them “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” He explicitly ordered them not to copy or adopt the religious practices of the pagans, calling such practices “abomination [ s ] … which He hates.”
Yet hundreds of millions of men, women and children unwittingly observe Christmas, not knowing or caring from where it came. They assume that 2 billion Christians can’t be wrong or that it doesn’t matter how we worship God so long as our intentions are good. But why should we think we honor God or please Him when we worship contrary to His commands?
only celebrate the one event that Jesus commanded his followers. The memorial of his death (1 Cor. 11:23-26).
Christmas has pagan origins and associations; Christmas is based upon falsehoods and Christmas also promotes idolary, a practice the Bible condemns.
Christmas is a corruption of Christianity and was adopted from terribly pagan customs and celebrations:
“December 25 was already a major festival in the pagan Roman world, the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, or `Birthday of the Unconquered Sun,’ a feast honoring the renewal of the sun at the winter solstice. Pagan celebrations on December 25 had included feasting, dancing, lighting bonfires, decorating homes with greens, and giving gifts. So when this became a Christian [?] festival, the customs continued, but with a Christian [?] meaning imparted to them.” – p. 414, Vol. 4, Encyclopedia International, Grolier, Inc., 1966.
“Most of the Christmas customs now prevailing in Europe [and America] … are not genuine Christian customs, but heathen customs which have been absorbed or tolerated by the Church… The Saturnalia in Rome provided the model for most of the merry customs of the Christmas time…. Christmas inherited the general merriment in a more restrained form (excessive only in eating and drinking) [but see 1 Pet. 4:3, 4]: games, giving of gifts (especially to children), abundance of sweet meats and, as more ceremonious elements, burning of candles…”
“It is believed that the custom is a survival of the tree worship of ancient German tribes.” — “Tree worship was common in Scandinavian countries…. When the pagans of Northern Europe became Christians [?], they made their sacred evergreen trees part of the Christian festival, and decorated the trees with gilded nuts, candles (a carry-over from sun worship), and apples to stand for the stars, moon, and sun.”
If pagan ceremonies, customs, god names, etc. are really mixed in with ceremonies, customs, etc. that we use today, they are not merely unacceptable – – – they are detestable to God. We must completely get away from these unclean things and not even “touch” them. (2 Cor. 6:17) Notice how exclusive the worship of God must be: “Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.” – Exodus 23:13, NIVSB.
But it would be wrong to incorporate anything used for pagan worship, into our worship or related activities. Holidays, for example, are “Holy Days” and are a part of “worship”, by their very name
“Christians of the first century did not celebrate the festival honoring the birth of Jesus – for the same reason they honored no other birthday anniversary. It was the feeling at that time by ALL Christians that the celebration of all birthdays (even the Lord’s) was a custom of the PAGANS.”
Many of the details of Jesus’ birth that are widely accepted as heartwarming facts are untrue and are actually sinister in nature. For instance, when Joseph, Mary, and Jesus received an unexpected visit from a number of foreigners, the Bible writer Matthew does not specify how many of these men came, nor does he call them “wise men,” much less “three kings.” He uses the Greek word ma’goi, which means “astrologers.” This alone should give us a clue that something evil is at work here, for astrology is an art that God’s Word condemns and that faithful Jews scrupulously avoided. (Deut. 18:10-12; Isaiah 47:13, 14)
And the “star” that these astrologers followed? It first drew them to Jerusalem and to Herod the Great who had great motive to harm young Jesus. Disturbed to hear of the birth of a future “king of the Jews,” he dispatches the astrologers to find that One. The “star” then lead these pagan worshipers right to Jesus. The unwitting astrologers likely would have reported back to Herod, leading to Jesus’ destruction. But God intervenes through a dream and sends them back home by another route. – Matthew 2:9-12.
Neither scripture nor secular history records the date of Jesus’ birth. …. In A. D. 350 Pope Julius I formally designated December 25 as Christmas. He chose that date because it coincided with important pagan festivals.
we do have a choice whether or not to participate in customs which were originally devoted to honoring these gods. And according to Scripture, we should take advantage of that choice. So if we are a true Christians and want to honor God rather than participate in things that are rooted in honoring false gods, then we will choose against these things even when they are accepted as socially normal things to do.
And what about the popular myth that so many parents intentionally tell their children? Many adults feed children dishonesties and distortions which eventually may lead to atheism. The anticipation of a mythical gift-giver ends up taking on much more importance to young ones than Jesus Christ. And when children eventually realize that they have been lied to, they very well could also conclude: “Since Santa is a myth, why couldn’t Christ be also?”
“But,” some may ask, “why should it matter if not all of the details are correct?”
Because if true Christians really wished to celebrate an occasion in honor of Jesus Christ, matters should be presented truthfully. Jesus said at John 4:23 that true worshipers shall worship “in spirit and truth”. So anything to which Christ’s name is attached should therefore be factual. Christmas really does not measure up to this primary identification of Christ’s teachings and true Christians.
Those who honestly wish to be true worshippers of God would do well to consider – Would the “God of truth” (Ps. 31:5) really appreciate having people worshiping Him with so many lies and distortions?
Regardless of what the motivation may be, participating in Christmas customs perpetuates practices rooted in ancient idolatry, something that is also forbidden in the Bible. (1 John 5:21) Santa, stars, solar worship, birthdays of Gods, tree worship… they are all idols that were and are still used by non-Christian worshipers. Many of these are still used by Satan worshipers today. (1 Cor. 11:14)
There are many who, before becoming True Christians, celebrated Christmas at one time in their lives. They fully understand how enjoyable and sentimental this time of year can be. However, after they learned the truth about Christmas they acted upon what they knew. (Eph. 5:10, 11) They accepted God’s word over the desires of their hearts and the traditions of men. By rejecting the pagan associations, idolatry and falsehoods that Christmas has to offer and modeling themselves after the first-century disciples of Jesus who observed no such holiday, they can aspire to be counted among the “true worshippers” that Jesus said worship “in spirit and truth”. (John 14:23)
Most people never stop to ask themselves what the major symbols of Christmas—Santa Claus, reindeer, decorated trees, holly, mistletoe and the like—have to do with the birth of the Savior of mankind. In the southern hemisphere summer climate of December, few people question why they observe a Christmas with northern hemisphere winter scenery!
The fact is, and you can verify this in any number of books and encyclopedias, that all these trappings came from ancient pagan festivals.
Even the date, Dec. 25, came from a festival celebrating the birthday of the ancient sun god Mithras. (If you’d like to learn more about the origins of the many customs and symbols associated with Christmas, request our free booklet
Jesus never told His followers to celebrate Christmas, but He did warn us not to adhere to false, man-made religious doctrines: “And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:. The truth is, Christmas and other non-biblical religious holidays constitute vain or empty worship of Christ.
“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 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” (Tertullian in De Idolatria, quoted by Hislop, p. 93).
In time Catholic religious leaders added solemnity to this pre-Christian holiday by adding to it the Mass of Christ, from which it eventually came to be known by its common name of “Christmas.”
1. Christmas trees are downright evil. They alternatively represent Nimrod worship, goddess Ashtoreth worship, or just a good old fashioned phallic symbol. They claim that Jeremiah 10 explicitly lays out why Christmas trees are evil. These claims are easily refuted HERE and HERE.
2. Jesus was not born on December 25, but a WHOLE bunch of other gods were.
3. Catholics usurped the pagan traditions in an effort to make Christianity more palatable to heathens, thus anyone who celebrates Christmas is a heathen by proxy. Or a Catholic.
4. The Jesus worshiped by orthodox Christians is not the same Jesus as worshiped by the true believers who embrace a Herbrew Roots Movement. (It is also common for HRM folks to deny that they are HRM, knowing that it is rather bad PR to publicly associate with HRM)
Then he quoted Isaiah 44:14-15:
Isaiah 44:14-15 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak, and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. 15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down before it. (NASB)
Finally, he quoted Jeremiah 3:13:
Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the Lord your God And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,‘ declares the Lord.
The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible says:
Gradually a number of prevailing practices of the nations into which Christianity came were assimilated and were combined with the religious ceremonies surrounding Christmas. The assimilation of such practices generally represented efforts by Christians to transform or absorb otherwise pagan practices.
The Feast of Saturnalia in early Rome, for example, was celebrated for 7 days from the 17th to the 24th of December and was marked by a spirit of merriment, gift giving to children and other forms of entertainment. Gradually, early Christians replaced the pagan feast with the celebration of Christmas; but many of the traditions of this observance were assimilated and remain to this day a part of the observance of Christmas. Other nations, the Scandinavians, Germans, French, English and others, have left their mark . . . as well (pp. 804, 805).
Concerning these ancient elements, The Christian Encyclopedia says:
Various symbolic elements of the pagan celebration, such as the lighting of candles, evergreen decorations, and the giving of gifts, were adapted to Christian signification. Later as Christianity spread into northern Europe, the Celtic, Teutonic, and Slavic winter festivals contributed holly, mistletoe, the Christmas tree, bonfires, and similar items.
Finally, Unger’s Bible Dictionary adds:
The giving of presents was a Roman custom; while the yule tree and yule log are remnants of old Teutonic nature worship. Gradually the festival sank into mere revelry . . . . The custom was forbidden by an act of parliament in 1555; And the reformation brought in a refinement in the celebration of Christmas by emphasizing it Christian elements.
But what about passages like Jeremiah 10? Some believe this condemns the celebration of Christmas and especially the use of the Christmas tree. Is Jeremiah telling us to avoid the customs of the nations? No. Jeremiah 10 is a denunciation of the making and worship of idols and not the decoration of evergreen trees in the home.
Even if we looked at it as though we have freedom in Christ to celebrate it why would be want to acknowledge and support and participate in something that has become so worldly. Even if we try to make it something truly for God and of Christ for our family, why would we want to participate in things that not only originated in false god worship containing symbols that God abhors and we can never change an idle to something that honors Him but is so filled with worldliness of material things and lies of a magical fat man that flys around bringing presents… not to mention that this lie of a man knows when your awake and sleeping and if you’ve been good… everything about you, think about that one. Step away… don’t touch… don’t associate yourself with these things of the world that blend you in with everyone else, we are called to be holy, set apart… completely, from the things of this world and christmas is worldly in every aspect no matter how hard someone tries to make something that is not of God pleasing to God.
Although I personally do believe there is a LOT of synchronicity between many of the various sun-gods and Nimrod, whether Hislop was right concerning that issue or not is truly irrelevant. Nimrod was the “rebellious one” and most Christians are following in rebellion by discarding the truth for lies in order to defiantly hold onto their traditions, which are against the clear Word of Scripture. That sort of mentality, of course, is akin to the spirit of antichrist. So, again, whether Nimrod was ever represented as Mithra or Osiris, or any other false sun-god, it really does not matter concerning this issue.
The fact of the matter is that Yeshua was NOT born on December 25th (something you yourself admitted to acknowledging). Therefore, since when does anyone knowingly celebrate the birthday of a loved one on a totally different date from when they were actually born? That makes no logical sense whatsoever in any human context – much less when dealing with the Divine. Though some false sun-gods were believed to/said to have been born on December 25th, for the sake of argument, let’s assume NONE of them were born on that date. The argument against Christmas still stands. If our King was NOT born on that day, who then – what king – are we celebrating? At best: Nobody. At worst: The Antichrist… or at the very least a counterfeit. In all cases, our celebration is thus in vain.
The true King of Kings and Lord of Lords was born during one of YHWH’s “appointed times” in the FALL and not the Winter. The Feasts of YHWH (note I did not say the feasts of the JEWS) were designed to teach us all about Yeshua – His birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, power, justice and reign. My research as well as that of people like Dr. Michael Heiser (and many others) has revealed the most likely date of Yeshua’s birth to have been on Sept. 11, 3BC based on the exact fulfillment of the stellar alignment given in Rev. 12:1-4, which heralded His birth. Judging by the phase of the moon on that day, it would place His birth during the Feast of Trumpets. Some believe He was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, but that takes place during the full moon, and as such does not fit the perfect alignment that fulfilled Rev. 12:1-4. Either way, He was born in the FALL and most certainly was not born in the Winter. Thus, to celebrate His birthday during Dec. 25th is to practice a LIE. Combine that lie with the fact that most of the traditions commonly associated with it are directly connected with pagan rituals [ see for instance: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/…/2007-12-22-christmas… ], which pre-date Yeshua’s birth by hundreds (if not thousands) of years and we find there is not one thing about Christmas we should be participating in. Many early Church Fathers understood this as did a lot of Christians prior to the beginning of the 20th Century.
If you want to worship our Lord and Savior on that day (as we should any/every day of the year), do so in spirit AND in TRUTH [John 4:24]. As much as you may have fond memories of this time of the year, you simply cannot do the “truth” part while participating in and perpetuating lies. The true “O Holy Night” was in September, NOT in December. And as Stevie Knight said, Exodus 32 provides all we need to know concerning how YHWH feels about being associated with false gods and worshiped under such pretense. Sorry, but our “freedom in Christ” is not a license to sin and to associate the holy with the profane.
By the way… you’ve got the meaning of Col. 2:16 completely reversed.
The crucial question is, do we worry more about what others think or about what God requires? Also, can other human beings give us salvation? If honoring God’s truth determines our salvation, then why honor men over God?
Jesus Christ said to those who appeared religious but denied the power of His true teaching, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46 compare Matthew 7:21 Since Christ is opposed to Christmas, why would any thoughtful Christian observe it?
Walking in Jesus’ footsteps in a world that doesn’t is never easy. But it is much better and eminently more rewarding than following the empty ways of the world.
Folks; too much Conjunction & speculation in the face of reality.
If Pope Julius1 had not open the church doors to the heathen festival, there would be no such thing as christmas celebrations among the protestants. One has to see the spiritual connection.
It is not the worldly heathens who mix into a Christian festival, It is Christians that mix Christ into the old pagan festival,
The pope by his action created what we see as Christmas today!
(Just look at the fruits (not the fleshly pleasure) of the Christmas holiday season. The fruits of Christmas are greed, debt, stress, gluttony etc.)
Let us remember that there was no such thing as Christmas celebrated by the Apostles of the Lord, until such time as the unholy alliance took place by decree of the one who does as he wills.
Why don’t you folks acknowledge this fact?
1. Then where did we get “Christmas”?
Since it has come to us through the Roman Catholic Church, and has no authority but that of the Roman Catholic Church, let us examine the Catholic Encyclopedia, published by that Church.
Under the caption “Christmas,” you will find:
“Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt. Pagan customs centering around the January calends gravitated to Christmas.”
And, further, we find this truth acknowledged: “. in the Scripture, sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthday.
1. How This Pagan Custom Got Into The Church
These recognized historic authorities show Christmas was NOT observed by Christians for the first two or three hundred years — a period longer than the entire history of the United States as a nation.
It got into the Western, or Roman Church, by the FOURTH century A.D.
It was not until the FIFTH century that the Roman Church ordered it to be celebrated as an official “Christian” festival.
How did this heathen custom get accepted into Christianity?
The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia explains it clearly, in its article on “CHRISTMAS”:
“How much the date of the festival depended upon the Pagan Brumalia (Dec. 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), 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 of 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.”
Remember, the Roman world had been PAGAN. Prior to the fourth century, Christians were few in number, tho increasing, and were persecuted by the government and by pagans. But, with the advent of Constantine as emperor, who made his profession of Christianity, in the fourth century, placing Christianity on an equal footing with paganism, people of the Roman world began to accept this now popular Christianity by the hundreds of thousands.
These people had grown up in PAGAN customs, chief of which was this idolatrous festival of December 25th. It was a festival of merrymaking, with its special SPIRIT.
Now this same article in Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia explains how the recognition by Constantine, of Sunday, which had been the day of pagan SUN-worship, and how the influence of the pagan Manichaeism, which identified the SON of God with the physical SUN, gave these pagans of the fourth century, now turning over wholesale to “Christianity,” their EXCUSE for calling their pagan-festival date of December 25th (birthday of the SUN god), the birthday of the SON of God.
And that is how “Christmas” got into our so-called Christianity.
The Real ORIGIN of Christmas
But if we got Christmas from the Roman Catholics, and they got it from paganism, where did the pagans get it?
Where, when, and what was its real origin?
It is a chief custom of the corrupt system denounced all thru Bible prophecies and teachings under the name of BABYLON.
And it started and originated in the original Babylon of ancient Nimrod. Yes, it stems from roots whose beginning was shortly this side of the Flood.
Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah, was the real founder of the Babylonish system that has gripped the world ever since — the system of organized competition — of man-ruled governments and empires, based upon the competitive and profit-making economic system. Nimrod built the tower of Babel, the original Babylon, ancient Nineveh, and many other cities. He organized this world’s first kingdom. The name Nimrod, in Hebrew, is derived from “Marad,” meaning “he rebelled.” (Gen. 10:6, 8-12)
From many ancient writings, considerable is learned of this man, who started the great organized worldly apostasy from God that has dominated this world until now.
Nimrod was so evil, it is said he married his own mother, whose name was Semiramis. After Nimrod’s untimely death, his so-called mother-wife, Semiramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod.
On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25th, was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree.
Semiramis became the Babylonian “Queen of Heaven,” and Nimrod, under various names, became the “divine son of heaven.”
Through the generations, in this idolatrous worship, Nimrod also became the false Messiah, son of Baal the Sun-god.
In this false Babylonish system, the “Mother and Child,” (Semiramis and Nimrod reborn); became chief objects of worship.
(All of the Mythological god (false gods and idols) information can be found in multiple resources, not just one or two books.)
This worship of “Mother and Child”
The names varied in different countries and languages.
In Egypt it was Iris and Osiris. In Asia, Cybele and Deoius. In pagan Rome, Fortuna and Jupiterpuer. Even in Greece, China, Japan, and Tibet, the counterpart of the Madonna is to be found, long before the birth of Christ.
Thus, during the fourth and fifth centuries, when the pagans of the Roman world were “accepting” the new popular “Christianity” by the hundreds of thousands, carrying their old pagan customs and beliefs along with them, merely cloaking them with Christian-sounding NAMES, the Madonna and “Mother and Child” idea also became popularized, especially at Christmas time.
Every Christmas season you’ll hear sung and chanted dozens of times the hymn “Silent Night, Holy Night,” with its familiar “Mother and Child” theme.
We, who have been born in such a Babylonish world, reared and steeped in these things all our lives, have been taught to revere these things as holy, and sacred.
The real origin of Christmas goes back to the ancient Babylon.
It is bound up in the organized apostasy with which Satan has gripped a deceived world.
In Egypt, it was always believed that the son of Iris (Egyptian name for “Queen of Heaven”) was born December 25th. Paganism celebrated this famous birthday over most of the known world for centuries before the birth of Christ.
December 25th, is NOT the birthday of Yeshua, our savior.
The apostles and early true Church never celebrated Christ’s birthday at any time. There is no command or instruction to celebrate it in the Bible — rather, the celebrating of birthdays is a HEATHEN, not a Christian custom.
Nowhere does the Bible tell us to worship “Mother and Child.”
The apostles and early true Christians never did it! The Scriptures show an angel saying to Mary, “Hail, thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee” — the addition “blessed art thou among women,” is omitted in the best original manuscripts (in Greek). Elizabeth said to Mary, “Blessed art thou among women.” And Mary herself said, “From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:28, 42, 48).
She was highly blessed by God, and this has been acknowledged by all generations from that time — but this does not mean she is to be deified, worshiped, made a divine being, when she was merely human.
The widespread worship of Mary, as “the Mother of God,” the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which refers to her as a counterfeit mediatrix between man and God, is a continuation of this ancient Babylonian idolatry, begun by the clever deceptions of Semiramis, wife of Nimrod.
The ancient idolatrous “Chaldean Mysteries,” founded by this wife of Nimrod, have been handed down thru the pagan religions into the Catholic Church under new Christian-sounding names, and from there into the Protestant denominations and on to all of us today.
John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
the law – the torah – the commandments
It does not say He came to abolish them but rather to bring GRACE so that we may learn to live the law as He did and intends us to. He came and added to and completed what Moses and the other prophets preached.
Mark 7:8
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men
You can call a goat a sheep, but it is still a goat.
Part2 (continued)
God tells us in 1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
We may think to ourselves… well how are we expected to know this, God will look over our simple mistakes… he is a loving and merciful God, But he calls us to diligently study and find out what is true and to know and test all things that they be true… and if we love Him we will so there is no excuse and we will only face judgement on these things as any other sin.
What we are told in the bible is important and to celebrate is his resurrection, this is what is important and what makes Jesus different… not to mention the only reason that anyone might be saved thru Him is because of this.
“Do not do the things of the land of Egypt, where you once dwelt: and don’t do the things of the land of Canaan, where I am taking you.” – GOD, Leviticus 18:3″
But what did the genuine Jesus (the one found in the Bible) say about remembering his birth? It is very telling, that he NEVER once highlighted his humble birth in a stable. The very fact that the Bible is SILENT about the actual date of his birth should be the “green card” for those “celebrating” the birth of Jesus. The fact the the Bible has no record of ANYONE celebrating his birth is the “yellow card”. The fact that Jesus chose, NOT his birth, but the repeated recollection of his torn and bleeding body as the ONLY mode of remembering him, should be the final “red-card” for those hell-bent on choosing their own celebrate his birth. I mean “hell-bent” literally, because those who justify celebrating the BIRTH (on whatever date) merely display the same attitude of Cain, who thought “why not bring my vege stuff, after all I am sacrificing to GOD?”
If one is genuinely BORN-AGAIN, one would be VERY careful to put on the mind of Christ and walk in his footsteps, instead of beating one’s OWN self-chosen path in his Name
Apostasy 2Thes2:3-8
It is obvious from the standpoint of Scripture that The Spiritual force at work to bring forth this Apostasy is none other than the seductress Mystery Babylon the Great Whore.
o Ancient writings speak of this man, Nimrod, who started a great, organized world apostasy against God, which continues to dominate the world to this day. In Genesis 10:8 9, the Hebrew word translated “mighty” is GIBBOR, which means “tyrant” over the people. The Hebrew word translated “before” in verse nine is PANIYAM, which actually means “against.” When properly translated, these verses clearly reveal that Nimrod was a “tyrant against God, ruling over the people.”
He was so wicked, it is said, that he married his own mother, Semiramis. After Nimrod was killed, his mother wife propagated the doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full grown evergreen tree sprang over night from a dead tree stump which symbolized the springing forth into new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed Nimrod would visit the evergreen and leave gifts upon it. December 25th was the supposed birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree!
Even in our current era of open and graphic talk about sex, it is surprising to learn that the male reproductive organ was of tremendous importance in the Mystery Religions representing, no doubt, power and fertility. Trees were common phallic symbols connected with the sun god. Ball ornaments, representing the womb as well as the sun and moon, were hung all around the phallus. (Many sources, from which we will spare you, actually boast as they expound on the details concerning these symbolic representations which they practiced in their religious beliefs!) Today, families gather together in breathless anticipation and delight when the obelisk (tree top ornament) is placed in its position of honor. When you learn that it represents the sexual union between the Babylonian mother-goddess and her sun god, son/husband, it becomes an object of disgust. (The Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th edition, 1973.)
o Hear what God says in Deuteronomy 12:30 31:
“Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire 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.”
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” — Colossians 2:8
2 Kings 17:10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: 18 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:
Exodus 34:13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
The heart is deceitful above all things
1. Just look at the fruits (not the fleshly pleasure) of the Christmas holiday season. The fruits of Christmas are greed, debt, stress, gluttony etc.
You know a tree by it’s fruit.
Brothers and sisters in Christ..grettings in the full faith and love of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, Amen..whom we now see the signs of His coming. Hallelujah and Glory to God in the Highest and to Christ our King. For what does it profit a follower of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour of causing strifes of words amoungst one another, whereof cometh also envy, railings, and evil surmisings? For is not God our Father in Heaven that says of a truth, “that whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God?” See to it that we follow the words of our beloved apostle Paul in his second epislte to Timothy that we should purge ourselves of this world of vain babblings. Be “a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” Do we not also know that in the latter times we will all be turned against one another? Put off this world and the things in this world seeing that all things of this world are about to be destroyed. Build up on your most high the love and joy of our salvation and the looking up into the Heaven at the coming of our King. “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?”
Does celebrating Christ’s birthday with streamers, lights, a birthday dinner, presents, music and cake etc, resonate with anything about His nature or how he came into this world as a poor, humble, undecorated King born in a manger?(see The Jesus I never Knew for notes)
People do not need christmas “opportunities” to reach out to others… this is not something that is supposed to be needed for this or any other thing for worship or honoring God. We can’t look at christmas as something that if it didn’t exist Christianity would suffer or the lost won’t be reached out to… it is through daily sharing of faith and inviting to church and reading and teaching the word to others that we do. This one day of this year does nothing for Christianity and is only a mockery of God.
(Lev. 10:1-3). (Matt. 15:7-9 (Matt. 15:7-9 These are enough examples to prove the point that all forms of worship is not acceptable with God, but only worship which conforms to the pattern given by God’s holy Word. We must have biblical authority from God for everything that we do in worship if it’s our intention to please God. (Jn. 4:24).
What God Authorizes For Worship
There are only 5 specific acts of worship ordained by the scripture:
1. SINGING
“Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” Eph. 5:19 Those who are familiar with the Lord’s church know that instrumental music is not part of the worship of the church which we read about in the New Testament; therefore, we do not use instrumental music because such would pervert the worship which God has authorized, and cause it to be unacceptable in his sight. Because the Lord never mentioned the use of instrumental music or commanded such, new testament Christians revere the silence of God. 1 Pet 4:11
2. PREACHING GOD’S WORD
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Cor 1:18 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” 1 Cor 1:21 “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.” 2 Tim 4:2 Each Sunday the church was taught by the means of preaching. Acts 20:7 This preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but words which were authorized by the Spirit, that our faith should not stand in the wisdom of man but in the power of God. 1 Cor 2:4-5 “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” 1 Cor 2:13 The pulpit of God has no room for preachers who preach smooth words and flattering speeches to lead away new born babes in Christ. Rom 16:17,18 Congregations should avoid preachers who use philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men and the rudiments of the world, but not after Christ. Col 2:8
3. PRAYING
“I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also:” 1 Cor 14:15 “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;” 1 Tim 2:8 “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Jam 5:16 This is the confidence we have when Christians pray according to the Will of God. 1 Jn 5:14 Despite the false teaching of denominations, the prayers of sinners are not heard by God, for such are an abomination to God. Jn 9:31 ff; 1 Pet 3:12; Prov 28:9 Therefore, only members of the Church of Christ are heard by God, and their prayers are answered when they are offered according to God’s divine Will.
4. COMMUNION
“For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you , as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death till he come.” (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:23-26), Upon the first day of the week all true Christians assemble together to remember the Lord’s death by partaking of the communion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Omitting partaking of the Lord’s supper each Sunday is an abominable and foreign worship to God. Also, we must examine ourselves in order that we are worthy of partaking of the Lord’s supper lest we eat and drink damnation to our souls. 1 Cor 11:28,29
5. GIVING
“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.” 1 Cor 16:1,2 The money given by the saints of God is for the saints only. It is not to be given unto sinners or any man-made organization to do the work of the church. The church of Christ is self sufficient to do the work of God which is the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry and the edifying of the church. Eph 4:12
Often people follow religious practices that are nowhere found in God’s word. They are different from what God has told us to do. People often reason that these practices are acceptable unless God’s word expressly tells us not to do them. The Bible teaches differently.
Jeremiah 10:23 – The way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Since we do not think like God does, we cannot possibly know God’s will unless He reveals it [1 Corinthians 2:10-13]. Knowing this, God completely revealed His will for us in the Bible, then He warned us not to follow human wisdom.
Galatians 1:6-9 – Any man is accursed if he preaches a gospel different from what inspired men taught in the first century. If a practice is not included in the gospel, then, for us to say it is acceptable, would be to preach a different gospel.
2 John 9 – Whoever goes beyond and does not abide in Jesus’ teaching, does not have God. To have God we must abide in Jesus’ teaching. Since Jesus’ teaching is revealed in the New Testament, to practice things we cannot find in the gospel would be to separate ourselves from Him.
Revelation 22:18,19 – When we truly respect God’s word, we will refuse to add to or take from what He says. We will do exactly what He says without changing it.
When we study about a certain practice, then, we should not ask, “Where does God say not to do this?” Instead, ask, “Where does God’s word show this act would be acceptable?” If the act cannot be found included in God’s will for us, then we should refuse to participate in it.
[Cf. Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; Colossians 3:17; Isaiah 55:8,9; Proverbs 14:12; 2 Corinthians 10:18; 1 Corinthians 1:21-24; 2:5; John 4:23,24; 1 Peter 4:11; 1 Corinthians 4:6; Romans 10:1-3; Colossians 2:8.]
Isaiah is even stronger – saying, in effect, “I’m sick of your sacrifices. I’m sick of your sabbaths and holy days.” Here is Isaiah 1:11-17: “I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats…. Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates…. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.” The people were doing rituals, bringing animals, keeping Sabbaths and festivals, even praying, but despite all that, there was something seriously lacking in their worship.
Do we spend more time preparing, sacrificing, and honoring christmas than we spend in true honor and duty of of God’s work and worship? Do we spend more time defending rituals, christmas and such than worshipping in spirit and truth? The point here is… even if we view participating in christmas as ok with God, we could do away with it and focus on making sure that we are spending our time, money and energy to true reverence and promotion of God that is pleasing to Him which are in the ways we are instructed in His Word. If we neglect the details of our spiritual life and true worship, how can the detailing of a tree or lights on a house be pleasing to Him… He says He takes no pleasure and they are detestable. Isaiah 29:13 (NIV) 13 The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
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 centring round 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 on which they were born into this world”
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 4th century. In the 5th century the Western church ordered the feast to be celebrated 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.”
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!
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!
Previous quotes introduced the subject of the Saturnalia. Let’s carefully study just exactly who Saturn was. Consider the following quote from another large American newspaper, The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, December 1984: “The Roman festival of Saturnalia, Dec. 17-24, moved citizens to decorate their homes with greens and lights and give gifts to children and the poor. The Dec. 25 festival of natalis solis invicti, the birth of the unconquered sun, was decreed by the emperor Aurelian in A.D. 274 as a Winter Solstice celebration, and sometime (later)…was Christianized as a date to celebrate the birth of the Son of Light.”
Dr. William Gutsch, chairman of the American Museum of Natural History—Hayden Planetarium, further confirmed the original name of Christmas with this quote on December 18, 1989, in a Westchester, New York, newspaper, The Reporter Dispatch:
“The early Romans were not celebrating Christmas but rather a pagan feast called the Saturnalia. It occurred each year around the beginning of winter, or the winter solstice. This was the time when the sun had taken its lowest path across the sky and the days were beginning to lengthen, thus assuring another season of growth.
“If many of the trappings of the Saturnalia, however, seem to parallel what so many of us do today, we can see where we borrowed…our holiday traditions. And indeed, it has been suggested that while Christ was most likely not born in late December, the early Christians—then still an outlawed sect—moved Christmas to the time of the Saturnalia to draw as little attention as possible to themselves while they celebrated their own holiday.”
The Saturnalia, of course, celebrated Saturn—the fire god. Saturn was the god of sowing (planting) because heat from the sun was required to allow for planting and growth of crops. He was also worshipped in this dead-of-winter festival so that he would come back (he was the “sun”) and warm the earth again so that spring planting could occur. The planet Saturn was later named after him because, among all of the planets, with its rings and bright red color, it best represented the god of fire!
Virtually every civilization has a fire/sun god. The Egyptians (and sometimes Romans) called him Vulcan. The Greeks named him Kronos, as did the Phoenicians—but they also called him Saturn. The Babylonians called him Tammuz (as Nimrod, resurrected in the person of his son), Molech or Baal (as did the Druids). These were all simply the various names for Nimrod. Nimrod was considered the father of all the Babylonian gods.
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. (Our article “Are Birthday Celebrations Christian?” expands on this subject.) 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!
The Encyclopedia Americana states, “The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log…are relics of pre-Christian times.” In other words, paganism! The Yule log was commonly used in a rite of Teutonic nature worship.
Frederick Haskin further states, “The use of the Christmas wreath is believed by authorities to be traceable to the pagan custom of decorating buildings and places of worship at the feast which took place at the same time as our Christmas.”
The Encyclopaedia 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 refuges 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 the 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 Encyclopaedia 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.”
The modern term for merging false pagan customs with the worship of the true God is called syncretism. Anyone who did this in ancient Israel was put to death (Lev. 18:21, 29)! It was that serious!
A fascinating look into how Israel thought and believed, in their own minds, that they were worshipping God as an entire nation, comes from II Kings 17:33: “They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from there.”
Did you grasp this? Yes, they feared the true God while serving other gods. No wonder the very next verse (34) states that they really “fear NOT the LORD” according to the way God commanded. This is how God views what people are doing today—no matter what these people copying ancient pagan practices might think of their own actions!
Verse 30 says that all this had been learned from contact with “the men of Babylon” (among others), whose chief god, we will recall, was Nimrod (Baal or Molech)—who we now know were one and the same.
Notice how specific was God’s warning to Israel in Deuteronomy 12:29-31, and why He warned them! “When the LORD your God shall cut off the nations from before you…and you succeed them, and dwell in their land; Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. You shall not do so unto the LORD your God: for EVERY ABOMINATION to the LORD, which HE HATES, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods.”
Many verses, similar to Deuteronomy 12, should be carefully studied. (See Exodus 34:10-17; 23:23-33; Leviticus 20:22-26; Deuteronomy 20:13-18, etc.) The true God knew that serving other gods always led to sacrificing children to them!
Deuteronomy 12:32 made clear that God does not want us to mix His ways with any false ways: “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”
These are God’s PLAIN WORDS to all who say that they can mix the horrible customs of outright paganism with a supposed “focus on Christ.”
Deuteronomy 12:2-4 establishes an important context. God plainly says, “You shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which you shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And you shall overthrow their altars…and burn their groves with fire…you shall not do so unto the LORD your God.”
Notice God’s references to “every green tree” and “their groves.” There are at least ten similar verses throughout the Old Testament referring to “green trees” and their association with idolatry. Historians hold that the reference to the term “green” refers to green year-round—evergreen trees!
Once again, let’s more closely examine the actual history and origins of some of the Saturnalia customs still practiced today. Notice the following chilling quote from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, “Oscilla” 3rd edition, volume II: “…all ranks devoted themselves to feasting and mirth, presents were exchanged among friends, and crowds thronged the streets, shouting ‘Lo Saturnalia.’ An offering was made beneath a decorated evergreen tree, according to the pagan poet, Virgil. Figurines and masks—called ‘oscilla’—were hung on the tree, as are Christmas decorations today. History admits…there can be no doubt that we have in these ‘oscilla’ a relic of human sacrifice…”
Doesn’t all of this sound familiar? Presents, singing in the streets, evergreen trees, decorations, offerings under the tree, merrymaking, feasting? They may sound wonderful, but they represent things that are truly abominable.
Modern oscilla look like chubby little “angels” when hanging on a tree. I placed these little “angel babies” on our tree, myself, as a small child. At least I thought they were angel babies. How wrong I was! Do you think any of your friends realize what they really represent? Of course not—but that does not make it any less serious or less wrong in God’s eyes!
One additional source demonstrates how this all came to be a heritage practiced so “innocently” by millions—yet far from innocent in God’s sight. Now read the following quote from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, volume 10, pages 1062-3: “Christianity…by a complex and gradual process…became the official religion of the [Roman] empire.
“For a time, coins and other monuments continued to link Christian doctrines with worship of the sun, to which Constantine had been addicted previously. But even when this phase came to an end, Roman paganism continued to exert other, permanent influences, great and small…The ecclesiastical calendar retains numerous remnants of pre-Christian festivals, notably Christmas, which blends elements including both the feast of the Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithra. But, most of all, the mainstream of Western Christianity owed ancient Rome the firm discipline that gave it stability and shape.”
The next powerful quote reveals how this idolatrous, pagan festival slipped into the “Christian” world. It is from the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, under “Christmas”:
“How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (December 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), 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 merry-making was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of 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.”
One additional source reveals how the Roman church absorbed Christmas into an official celebration. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1946 edition, states, “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church…Certain Latins, as early as 354, may have transferred the birthday from January 6th to December 25, which was then a Mithraic feast…or birthday of the unconquered SUN…The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6th, accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry, contending…that the feast of December 25th, had been invented by disciples of Cerinthus…”
Thus, a pagan festival, celebrated long before Christ’s birth, found its way into recognized Christianity.
Did you know that even the seventeenth century Puritans of New England understood how wrong Christmas was? They actually banned its observance by law, in 1659, throughout the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Fines and imprisonment could result from being found keeping it. It was almost 200 years (1856) before people stopped working on Christmas in Boston. The Puritans knew its roots and labeled it “heathen, papist idolatry.”
The prophet Daniel (7:8) speaks of a “little horn,” which (7:25) “shall speak great words against the Most High…and think to change times and laws.” This little horn is a great religious authority that attempts to superimpose its own view of dates and celebrations, on an unsuspecting world, in place of God’s plain instruction.
The Hebrew word translated “change” means to “transform, alter or set.” The word translated “times” means “appointed occasions, seasons or times.” The Hebrew word translated “laws” means “decrees or laws of God.” When put together, this phrase refers to an authority that attempts to “transform appointed occasions and seasons within the Law of God.” Certainly, Christmas is a great example of how this has been done. God’s instructions have been replaced with religious traditions of men.
The following quote reveals how this has happened. It also comes from the Encyclopaedia Britannica, under “Christianity”: “Thus, the Easter liturgy has been developed more highly in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Christmas liturgy more highly in the Roman Catholic Church…The Christian calendar is the most widely disseminated Christian institution. The seven-day week and the rhythm of the Christian festivals have been accepted even by most of the non-Christian countries. Despite energetic attempts at the introduction of a sliding work week, the seven-day week with work-free Sunday could not be eliminated even in Communist states with an Atheist world view. Even in Atheistic circles and organizations throughout the world, Christian holidays enjoy an undisputed popularity as work-free days…especially Christmas.”
Truly, it has been the “ecclesiastical politicians,” referred to earlier, who have sought to impose the modern “Christian” calendar on an unknowing world. It is these leaders who have “thought to change times and laws.”
The Dangerous Power of Lies
One of Satan’s names is Destroyer (Rev. 9:11). Nimrod/Saturn/Molech/Baal, like Satan, is the fire god who destroys and devours little children.
The real Jesus Christ was never in and never will be in Christmas! He cannot be put back into where He has never been. But the “god of this world,” Satan (II Cor. 4:4), has always been in Christmas. He is its author!
The true God commands that we “must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). This does not mesh with the great Christmas and Santa Claus lies that all children so willingly believe.
I Timothy 4:2 warns of those “speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” Parents can “burn” their own children, to the point of searing them, with the Christmas deception and lie!
There is no “safety in numbers” in this world for those who keep Christmas, because Satan, who is called “the father of lies” and “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44), has “deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9)! Turn to this verse and read it. Then recognize that Christmas is certainly a testimony to that great deception.
But Christ refers to His Church as a “little flock” (Luke 12:32). Many other verses show this. This Church does not have the large numbers of the respected, established brands of the Christianity of this world.
“Another ¬ Jesus”
There is another problem with the idea of “putting Christ back in Christmas”—and it is big! The “Jesus” that is the focus of this season is NOT the true Jesus Christ of the Bible! (Our book The True Jesus Christ – Unknown to Christianity reveals more about this topic.)
Most have been taught that there is only one Jesus Christ. But God’s Word speaks of a counterfeit, and this substitute Christ is identifiable in history. The proof? The apostle Paul warned of “another Jesus.”
Grasp what is at stake ¬ here!
First, consider Paul’s entire introduction as he sets the stage for the warning that follows: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent [Satan] beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor. 11:3).
Now for the actual warning in the next verse: “For if he that comes preaches ANOTHER JESUS, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him” (II Cor. 11:4). The Corinthians seemed to “bear with this” without much ¬ resistance.
Paul, under inspiration of the true Jesus Christ of the Bible, was moved to record the peril of unwittingly following “another Jesus.” Consider. Most have probably never remotely considered the idea of a false Jesus for even a ¬ moment—that ¬ there is such a thing as a wrong, different and “false ¬ Christ” (Matt. 24:23-24)—¬ called “another Jesus.” In the past, this “Jesus” has even corrupted the thinking of true Christians. This much is plain. But the “subtilty” of how this can happen, and how it has occurred in history, is so ¬ deceptive—¬ so ¬ seductive—¬ that even true Christians can unknowingly slip into worshipping this ¬ so-¬ called Jesus. This is what was happening to the ¬ Corinthians.
People can worship in ways that represent things that are far different than what they sincerely believe or intend. Bible “believers” today can think that they are worshipping the true Savior when they are really worshipping a false ¬savior—-ANOTHER JESUS! The entirety of traditional Christianity is actually worshipping Nimrod/Saturn/Molech/Baal. The modern mother/child “Mary/Jesus” emphasis, including the worshipful adoration of Mary by millions, is a parallel with Nimrod and his mother, Semiramis, that cannot be ¬ missed.
Here is the point of what is being explained. Many speak of “putting Christ back into Christmas.” This is heard every year from thousands of pulpits and elsewhere. But the true Christ was never there! Just as a person cannot go back into a room that he had never entered, Jesus Christ cannot be “put back” into an event that He has never been in, and that He in fact hates! (Again, see Mark 7:7.) The Jesus that these preachers and religionists have in mind is another Christ, one with another gospel, another spirit—the Christmas spirit!—bringing totally different doctrines and teachings.
Can you see the connection?
Finally, let’s examine what God told His people they should do and the way they ought to teach their children.
Recall Jeremiah 7:31, where God condemned Israel for burning their children in the Valley of Tophet. Eight verses earlier (vs. 23-24), God had made plain what He requires: “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people: and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not…but walked…in the imagination of their evil heart…”
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—from slavery—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.
Jesus said twice, in Matthew 7:16 and 20, that “you shall know them by their fruits.” Everything that people say or do, good or bad, has fruits. The fruits of Christmas are terrible… and this is even recognized by those who still promote christmas. This season leads the entire year in adultery, loneliness, jealousy, drunkenness and drunk driving, family arguments (and worse), and accumulation of debt that often lasts until March. This problem is so significant that almost all churches typically report that their incomes—how ironic—drop during this period as people “recover” from all their spending!
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).
“Christmas has become a commercial season. It’s sponsored, kept alive, by the heaviest retail advertising campaigns of the year. You see a masqueraded ‘Santa Claus’ in many stores. Ads keep us deluded and deceived about the ‘beautiful Christmas spirit.’ The newspapers, who sell the ads, print flowery editorials exalting and eulogizing the pagan season, and its ‘spirit.’ A gullible people has become so inoculated, many take offense when told the truth. But the ‘Christmas spirit’ is created each year, not to honor Christ, but to sell merchandise! Like all Satan’s delusions, it appears as an ‘angel of light,’ is made to appear good. Billions of dollars are spent in this merchandising spree every year, while the cause of Christ must suffer! It’s part of the economic system of Babylon!(Herbert w. Armstrong)
The church of Christ does not observe Christmas because of the apostle Peter’s statement in I Peter 4:11, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.” We cannot speak as the oracles of God and speak of Christmas. Why? Because the oracles of God are silent about such a holiday. If the New Testament spoke of Christmas and we had the teaching that Christians in New Testament times observed that holiday, the church of Christ would do so now.
IT IS A CATHOLIC HOLIDAY
I have already mentioned that originally Christmas was called Christ Mass Day, having been inaugurated by the Pope. Protestant churches borrowed this day from the Catholic church. The church of Christ has never borrowed it. Let me say in this connection that nearly everything that it practiced in many Protestant churches has been borrowed from the Catholic church. Instrumental music, infant baptism, sprinkling, Christmas and Easter Day observance are just a few of the inventions of Catholicism which have been borrowed by Protestants. A number of years ago a priest friend of brother Carl Finley remarked that it was amusing to see Protestants borrow such things as Christmas and infant baptism from the Catholics and try to prove that the Bible mentions and commands such things. He added, “We practice them because our church councils decided that we should do so. We do not believe that the Bible mentions or suggests these things.” He explained that the Catholic church differs from many other churches in that it does not believe that it is necessary to prove by the Bible all things that they do. I think this priest had a greater respect for the church of Christ after learning that we do not take this inconsistent position of being opposed to Catholicism, but at the same time imitating and borrowing from these things invented by Catholicism, of which Christmas is one.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God (1 Pet. 4:11).
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds (2 John 9-11).
The issue about Christmas is the issue of whether man has the right to establish a holy day for the church to observe or has God revealed how he wants men to worship him. In the Old Testament, the northern nation of Israel had a king named Jeroboam who made many changes in Old Testament worship. He moved the place of worship from Jerusalem to Dan and Bethel, appointed priests of every tribe, set up a calf at the two sanctuaries, and made new holy days. “And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made” (1 Kings 12:32). One could argue that, so long as one worships God, what difference does it make which day the feast is observed? However, the biblical historian succinctly says about Jeroboam’s changes in Israel’s worship, “And this thing became a sin” (1 Kings 12:30). So significant were the apostasies which Jeroboam introduced that the historian made this assessment of several of Israel’s subsequent kings, “And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 15:34; cf. 16:2, 19; 22:52; 2 Kings 3:3; 10:29; etc.). The point is that God has revealed to man how he wishes to be worshiped and man does not have the right to change divinely revealed worship.
The New Testament draws upon the principles revealed in the Old Testament. Jesus said about the changes which the Pharisees made in their teaching and worship, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:8-9). Worship that is authorized by man rather than by God is sinful worship. Paul spoke about humanly devised worship being “will worship” (that is self-imposed rules) that had no value to God (Col. 2:22).
“I began to think of the songs we sang, ‘O Tannenbaum’ and ‘Oh! Christmas Tree.’ I had been singing to a tree as though it were alive and had some strange power. We decorated it and placed our gifts below the tree as though the gifts and good feeling emanated from and through the tree.
Love and wisdom motivates us to examine ourselves to see what sort of person we are in light of God’s Word (James 1:21-25). We seek to worship properly because of our new understanding of God and who He is (1 Corinthians 5:4, 6-8). We learn that our prior worship practices were based on ignorance that amounted to worshipping of demons (1 Corinthians 1:18-22). Finally, our worship can be done anywhere and anytime.
Brandon, no one is going to read all of that…….quite caught up in yourself though.
Bottom line. No one in the bible celebrated Yeshua’s birth. No Torah command telling us to celebrate it. I concede.
However, you need to stop condemning for one minute and think. Are celebrations for honorable reasons found in the bible? Are they comdemned? Are any celebrations instituted by man? Are any celebrations commemorated year after year? Are those condemned?
Unless you can find clear definitive condemning statements of the above, you need to drop the argument because you are assuming a position of God and telling us what you define as “sin”. That is no different than some Rabbis sitting around writing a Talmud.
As well, not one person or angelic host that celebrated Messiah’s birth the first time was considered to be in error, sinning or worshipping pagans. And if the wisemen arrived two years later to celebrate His birth, their worship was not paganism either. Get a clue!