The Christmas Controversy – Is the Celebration of Christmas and Its Traditions Rooted in Paganism?
Christmas time is here, and as with many of the past Christmases, some well-meaning, and other self-righteous, professors of Christian faith begin to slander and condemn the saints of Christ who chose to celebrate the birth of the Saviour on and around December 25. They regularly repeat the false accusation that Christmas (and Easter in its turn) are pagan festivals reappropriated by Christians to somehow clean up the paganism and give Christians something better to do at that feast time.
The second accusation is that all of the symbols of Christmas are pagan. This is likewise false; while pagans co-opted many symbols God used to illustrate His truth to His people, that does not give Satan authority over the symbols, but obligates us to determine whether a symbol is uniquely pagan, and whether and when a symbol is being used in a godly, biblical manner, and when it is used in a demonic manner.
History refutes these accusations for anyone who will research, not “Christmas IS pagan” but “Christmas is NOT pagan”. The former produces millions of links repeating the same false formulae, while the latter will provide a few links that present the historical facts that demonstrate the accusation to be false. What constitutes the truth matters, because many professing Christians are aiding and abetting the enemies of Christ in falsely accusing the saints of God of committing paganism and syncretizing their worship of God with demonic activities and ideas.
This article will provide a number of links containing the historical data, as well as Biblical teaching on the matter, so that all Christians regardless of present opinion about the Christianity of Christmas celebration, may find out the facts of the matter. Because this was first assembled as a social-media response to the accusations, it is not as polished as it could be. I have tried to add quotation marks to all quotes, which were originally posted without comment. I will try to correct any missed quotes, but for the present I want to make the information available, more than correct its technical presentation. The source links are provided in the article.
Honest questions submitted through the “ask questions” portion of the site, will be answered as time allows, and if warranted, answers may be added to this post if they add to what has been said, or bring forward new information, but the reader is encouraged to first read the article in its entirety, check out the links provided, and do their own research into why Christmas is not a pagan holiday nor its celebration and symbols pagan in nature or origin.
Christians are free in Christ to engage all godly pursuits, and we are forbidden to do the devil’s work of falsely accusing the brethren. As Paul wrote, one saint esteems a day more than others, another saint esteems all days alike; all is right so long as the day is observed to the Lord with special esteem or common. As Mary, Elizabeth, the unborn John, the angels, shepherds, and wise men celebrated the birth of the “Saviour Which is Christ the Lord”, this is most certainly a good reason for any Christian to celebrate, and we are most certainly free to do so, as long as we do so in holiness.
The first link conveniently contains reference to several points, so for ease, it is first. It is one of many with similar information, but has quite a few points in one place:
Source of the Accusation
“Puritan preacher Increase Mather preached that “the early Christians who first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that ‘Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian.”[1]
December 25
“When translating Hippolytus’ Commentary on Daniel, written just after AD 200, Schmidt notes that five of the seven manuscripts contain December 25 as the date for Jesus’ birth and another offers the 25th of either December or March.
Clement of Alexandria in this same time offers the date of March 25 as the date of the incarnation, that is the conception of Jesus, in his Stromata (1.21.145-146).5 Both works tie the idea that Jesus’s death would have happened on the same day as his conception[2]
St. John Chrysostom in his writings goes ever further by noting that the Angel Gabriel’s announcement of Mary’s conception happened while Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John the Baptist (Luke 1:26). Chrysostom argues that Zechariah’s service was the Day of Atonement, thus making the conception of John the Baptist happen in the fall. Add six months and Jesus’s conception lands in the spring, e.g March 25.
Earliest mention of Dec 25 as the possible birth date of Christ is early 3rd C; earlier than the institution by Aurelian of Sol Invictus – more probably to counter the growing Christian devotion to Christ – making it impossible as an explanation for the date.”
Extended discussion of date of Christ’s birth: http://web.archive.org/web/20130111095351/http://www.dec25th.info/Unto%20You%20Is%20Born%20This%20Day.html
Meaning of the Name – Christmas
The word “Christmas” is alleged by the legalizers to be a Romish word referring to the Roman Catholic eucharist. This is incorrect; the word is a compound of the Greek word kristos, and the old AngloSaxon word maesse or messe, which simply means feast, or celebration.
In other words, Christ-mas simply means ‘feast of Christ’ or “celebration of Christ”, which is precisely what we who love Him wish to do when December 25 rolls around. And while there is some historical evidence to support December 25 as both historically-accepted, and potentially correct date of Christ’s birth, even if the reasoning used to arrive at this date is incorrect, the Christian is free to “esteem one day above others” or to “esteem all days alike”, only “as to the Lord”.
In other words, if we choose to set a day aside which we specially appoint as a day to celebrate the love of God in coming to earth, taking upon Himself an human body, to be born as a man, live as a man among sinful men, die as a criminal though innocent, and to pay our sin debt so we may be forgiven, reconciled to God, receive everlasting life with Him, and have His image restored in us, then no man has any authority in criticizing or condemning us, for we are free in Christ to such rejoicing.
So brothers and sisters, do not allow yourselves to be judged in this matter, but if you are inclined to rejoice in the Lord on December 25 for His gracious gift of Himself in Christ, born to die and save us from our sins, then I wish you a very merry Christmas, and may His peace and joy be upon you as you rejoice in Him.
Christmas Symbols: Star, Evergreen Tree, Manger, Candy Cane
Some Christians are being pursuaded that the Christmas tree in particular has its origins in pagan symbolism.
Christians must remember that God owns all that is and we have neither obligation nor right to surrender what belongs to God, to God’s enemies.
The earliest use of a living green tree to symbolize life was by God in the garden of Eden. Throughout Scripture, God continued to use the ever-green tree to represent full life, and eternal life, right up to the last chapter of the last book of the New Testament. Therefore, the living, green tree is GOD’s symbol of life, and whether pagans or demons have attempted to steal it is of no consequence to a Christian, except that we ensure that our use of it is consistent with God’s use and not that of His enemies.
A Christian may choose to symbolize everlasting life through a green tree. We may choose to symbolize the coming Light of the World, bright and morning star, the Star of Jacob, Who is Jesus Christ, as God did to the magoi from the east – with the star that led them to where the young Child was.
Turning a tree into an idol to praise and feed, turning a star into a pentagram as a power symbol, does not give Satan the authority over or possession of the original symbol, but exposes him for what he is: a pitiful deceiver who tries to pervert everything God has created for good. We do not surrender to his schemes, but we resist them in the power and liberty of Christ, to proclaim to the world around us the sovereignty, power, grace, love, wisdom, and goodness of the living and true God.
The Accused Pagan Holidays: Saturnalia and Sol Invictus
From http://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2015/12/the-date-of-saturnalia-doesnt-line-up.html
“… the Romans divided a month into three parts: the first of a month, known as the Kalends, the middle or Ides of a month (as in “Beware the Ides of March” from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar), and the space in between them known as the Nones. Other dates were referenced as before these three points, so the 25th of December would be eight days before the Kalends of January [3]
When studying the ancient reference to Saturnalia, a primary source we have is written by the Roman Macrobius , who lived in the fifth century. His work Saturnalia provides much of the details of the origin stories of the celebration as well as its customs. Ancient texts scholar T.C. Schmidt highlighted this passage from Saturnalia Book 1, chapter 10 giving the dates of the celebration:
Our ancestors restricted the Saturnalia to a single day, the fourteenth before the Kalends of January, but, after Gaius Caesar had added two days to December, the day on which the festival was held became the sixteenth before the Kalends of January, with the result that, since the exact day was not commonly known—some observing the addition which Caesar had made to the calendar and others following the old usage —the festival came to be regarded as lasting for more days than one. And yet in fact among the men of old time there were some who supposed that the Saturnalia lasted for seven days… [But] one can infer, then, from all that has been said, that the Saturnalia lasted but one day and was held only on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of January; it was on this day alone that the shout of “Io Saturnalia” would be raised, in the temple of Saturn, at a riotous feast. Now, however, during the celebration of the Saturnalia, this day is allotted to the festival of the Opalia, although the day was first assigned to Saturn and Ops in common.
So Saturnalia was a three-day long feast that began sixteen days before January 1st. Their December was 31 days long as is ours, so that places Saturnalia on December 17, far too early to be mistaken for December 25. However, that isn’t the end of the story. Macrobius then notes that another celebration, Sigillaria was celebrated after these three days:
I think that we have now given abundant proof that the festival of the Saturnalia used to be celebrated on only one day, the fourteenth before the Kalends of January, but that it was afterward prolonged to last three days: first, in consequence of the days which Caesar added to the month of December, and then in pursuance of an edict of Augustus which prescribed a series of three rest days for the Saturnalia. The festival therefore begins on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of January and ends on the fourteenth, which used to be the only day of its celebration. However, the addition of the feast of the Sigillaria has extended the time of general excitement and religious rejoicing to seven days.
Macrobius does an excellent job summarizing authorities that were available to him, most of which I think have been lost. His conclusion is quite clear, Saturnalia originally was one day and occurred on the 14th day before the Kalends January, but when Caesar altered the calendar it was extended to three days and started on the 16th, later a new Festival of Sigillaria extended the celebrations to complete seven days, meaning that the Festival ended on either the 10th or ninth day before the Kalends of January depending on how we count. Of course neither of these days fall on the eighth day before the Kalends of January, that is December 25
Remember, Macrobius was writing in the fifth century AD and we have Christmas sermons from John Chrysostom preached on December 25th from a century earlier.
Saturnalia began as a 1-day feast, and was changed to a 3-day feast, but did NOT fall on Dec 25 at any time. There is no justifiable reason to conclude that early Christians co-opted this pagan festival to “christianize” it because they do not happen on the same date.
This was the Dies Natalis Solis Invictus, translated as is the “Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun.” It was celebrated on December 25 in 354 AD according to the calendar of Philocalus.
Thomas Talley reports that while Emperor Aurelian did not first introduce Rome to the cult, he popularized it and the celebration day. Previously, local celebrations of Sol revolved around the dedication of the god’s temples in August and/or November. In fact, the word Natalis can mean more than simply birthday, but it may also be used for the concept of an anniversary, as Roger Pearse notes:
There is also the question of what “natalis” means. It could mean birthday; but also it can mean “anniversary of the dedication of a temple”. This seems to be the meaning for other “natalis” in the calendar. We know that Aurelian dedicated the temple of Sol Invictus. Thus we would get a festival on the anniversary of the dedication of the temple, and thus the idea that the festival was created at the same time by Aurelian.2
Tally tells us the “indigenous Sun cult at Rome does not seem to have been especially sensitive to the winter solstice or any other quarter days.”3 Also, Steven Hijmans declares that while Aurelian set the feast, it may not have been set in December until much later:
there is no evidence that Aurelian instituted a celebration of Sol on that day [December 25]. A feast day for Sol on December 25th is not mentioned until eighty years later, in the Calendar of 354 and, subsequently, in 362 by Julian in his Oration to King Helios.[4]
Schmidt quotes Macrobius who states it was the Egyptians of the 4th or 5th century that developed the metaphor of the sun coming on the solstice as an infant and growing until the summer, where it would then shrink again as an aging man.5 Of course, all of this is well after the 202 to 211 AD mark where Hippolytus ties December 25 to Jesus’s birth. If the Natalis was originally celebrated in August or October or November, why was it changed to December? One possibility is that Aurelian dedicated a new temple on that day and thus they celebrated that dedication as a feast day. Thomas Talley gives us an even more interesting possibility:
Halsberghe, without suggesting that there already was a Christian festival on December 25, presents the probability that one item in Aurelian’s religious agenda was the provision of an authentically Roman alternative to the increasingly successful Christian mission
- Saturnalia did not occur on December 25 and had nothing to do with the birth of any god or anyone else.
- A feast to Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) did occur on December 25, but the earliest evidence for it dates from the mid to late 4th century. There is no evidence that Emperor Aurelian established a Festival of Sol Invictus (or anyone or anything else) on December 25.
- Egyptians apparently presented an infant as a representation of the newborn Sun on the winter solstice, but this evidence also dates from the fourth and fifth centuries.
- Hippolytus in 202-211 AD set the date for the birth of Jesus on December 25, because he thought Jesus was conceived 9 months earlier on the Passover, the day in which he also thought the world was created (5500 years earlier), the Vernal Equinox March 25. Clement of Alexandria (193-215 AD) quoted various anonymous sources about the birth of Jesus and roughly agrees with Hippolytus, claiming that Jesus was born in late fall to early winter. Clement’s sources clearly seem to believe that Jesus was conceived on the Passover and was born roughly 9 months later; in fact the only difference between them and Hippolytus is that they differed on when the Passover actually occurred. However there is a significant possibility that one of Clement’s sources was Hippolytus himself because of the preponderance of possible dates he gives that fall on the 25th of a month (He gives 4 of them and then another date on the 24th) which corresponds with Hippolytus’ belief that Jesus was both conceived, born, and executed on the 25th of a month.
So indeed, no evidence that Aurelian set up a feast for Sol Invictus on December 25, what of the other two pieces of evidence? The Philocalian Calendar (part 6 of the Chronography of 354) says that “Natalis Invicti” or “Birth of the Unconquered) was celebrated on December 25, whether that refers to Sol or Jesus is unclear, what is clear is that other feasts of Sol are mentioned by name (for example on August 28) and that the Chronography of 354 does say that Jesus was born on Dec. 25 in part 12.[5]
A feast to Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) did occur on December 25, but the earliest evidence for it dates from the mid to late 4th century. There is no evidence that Emperor Aurelian established a Festival of Sol Invictus (or anyone or anything else) on December 25.
Saturnalia did not occur on December 25 and had nothing to do with the birth of any god or anyone else.
Egyptians apparently presented an infant as a representation of the newborn Sun on the winter solstice, but this evidence also dates from the fourth and fifth centuries.
Hippolytus in 202-211 AD set[6] the date for the birth of Jesus on December 25, because he thought Jesus was conceived 9 months earlier on the Passover, the day in which he also thought the world was created (5500 years earlier), the Vernal Equinox March 25.
Clement of Alexandria (193-215 AD) quoted various anonymous sources about the birth of Jesus and roughly agrees with Hippolytus, claiming that Jesus was born in late fall to early winter. Clement’s sources clearly seem to believe that Jesus was conceived on the Passover and was born roughly 9 months later; in fact the only difference between them and Hippolytus is that they differed on when the Passover actually occurred. However there is a significant possibility that one of Clement’s sources was Hippolytus himself because of the preponderance of possible dates he gives that fall on the 25th of a month (He gives 4 of them and then another date on the 24th) which corresponds with Hippolytus’ belief that Jesus was both conceived, born, and executed on the 25th of a month.”
The Pagans Copy the Church
History demonstrates the many times that pagan religions incorporated elements of Biblical fact into their myths, while there are no credible, historical evidences to show that Christians adopted pagan practices or concepts into their beliefs or worship of God. We must bear in mind that Christians endured exquisite tortures, and painful, terrifying death at the hands of evil men, precisely because of their refusal to worship the idols of the nations or to bow to the false gods of their neighbours or ruling governments. To suggest that these people who would be so courageous in the face of known abuse and murder, would be so foolish as to bring demonic spirituality into their Christian experience is absurd. Why would they die for the same thing that they embraced as a means of “enhancing” their spiritual experiences?!
I encourage those who are not convinced to do your own research, both in the pages of Scripture and the many sites by those who have read the books and histories that demonstrate the truth. I have provided you with a good beginning. Remember that Jesus Christ declared to His disciples that “the truth will make you free”. “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” The born-again saint of God is the only truly free man on the face of the earth: free from sin and its condemnation, free to live our lives through the Holy Spirit and in conformance to the Holy Scriptures, free to love and worship the Lord God and to call Him Father, and free from the fetters of rules: taste not, touch not. We are called to taste and see that the LORD is good, to rejoice and to praise His name forever. No human has jurisdiction over that freedom, and we cannot be bound unless voluntarily so.
As the Lord leads you, enjoy Him as you serve Him.
At the following link, you can find many articles discussing Christmas and its alleged pagan origins for your further reading and instruction:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140713193352/http://chronicon.net/blog/category/christmas/
[1] http://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2015/12/no-christmas-is-not-based-on-pagan.html citing Nissenbaum, Stephen. The Battle for Christmas. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. Print. 4.
[2] Quoted at http://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2015/12/no-christmas-is-not-based-on-pagan.html
[3] http://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2015/12/the-date-of-saturnalia-doesnt-line-up.html citing Schaff, Philip, and Henry Wace. “Table of Roman and Macedonian Months.” A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church: Second Series. Vol. 1. New York: Christian Literature, 1890. 403. eBook.
[4] http://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2015/12/christmas-solstice-and-december-25th.html citing https://web.archive.org/web/20140721202942/http://chronicon.net/blog/christmas/antiochus-of-athens-and-the-birth-of-the-sun/
[5] https://web.archive.org/web/20140721141415/http://chronicon.net/blog/christmas/sol-invictus-evidently-not-a-precursor-to-christmas/
[6] ibid
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