Shalom, you are exactly wrong about Christmas and Easter. The Christians stole these feast days from the pagans, in order to gain acceptance of their new religion. I am going to post some well-researched histories of these holidays, done apparently by a Jehovah's Witness minister, to show you how completely wrong you are. This first article is about Christmas.
CHRISTMAS-DECEMBER 25 -- this is the day designated on our calendars and on our hearts as the day of
Christ's birth. But is this really the day upon which Christ was born? Are today's customs during this season of
Christian origin? Or is Christmas a result of a mixture between paganism and Christianity? This is a question
that some will not even want to consider. Many have heard the rumor, many have thought through the question
and justified the celebration of the holiday and many just plain don't want to hear about it. But please, give these
facts some place in your mind so that you may know the truth and live accordingly.
The Wrong Date
The word "Christmas" is not found anywhere in the scriptures of course, and, as we shall see, December 25 is
definitely not the date on which Christ was born. It is evident that Jesus was not born during the middle of
winter, for at the time of his birth, the shepherds were living out in the fields with their flocks. As the bible says:
"There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night" (Luke
2:8). As is well known, the shepherds in Palestine do not "abide in the fields" during the winter season because
of the extreme, cold temperatures. The shepherds always bring their flocks in from the mountain slopes and
fields no later than October 15th!
Further proof of this conclusion may be seen from the fact that at the time Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary
had gone to Bethlehem to be taxed (Luke 2:1-5). There are no records of this period whatsoever that would
indicate that the middle of the winter was the time of taxing. Even Jesus said, when talking of the end times,
"pray that your flight not be in the winter" (Matt. 24:20). And so the harshness of the winter season in Palestine,
even though it is less harsh than what is experienced in much of the United States, it is harsh enough to stop
people from traveling and certainly to stop the shepherds from tending their flock at night. And so we see that
Christ could not have been born in the Winter. On the other hand, there is evidence that taxes were paid in the
fall season of the year. This was the logical time for the taxes to be paid since this was at the end of their
harvest. There is also evidence that when Joseph and Mary made this trip, it was the time of a great feast at
Jerusalem. This is the most logical reason why Mary went with Joseph, to attend the feast, as they also did on
later occasions (see Luke 2:41), for there was no law that required a woman's presence at a taxing.1
We know that the time they went to pay taxes was also the time of one of the great feasts at Jerusalem
because of the enormous crowd, so enormous in fact, "there was no room in the inn" at Bethlehem (Luke 2:7).
Jerusalem was normally a city of only 120,000 inhabitants, but (according to the Jewish historian, Josephus)
during the feasts, sometimes as many as two million Jews would gather there. With such vast throngs of people
coming to the feast, not only would Jerusalem be filled, but the surrounding towns also, including Bethlehem,
which was only five miles to the south. Mere taxation would not cause a crowd this big to be in Bethlehem, for
each person returned to his own city to be taxed. Even most scholars, among them A.T. Robertson, a late
professor of New Testament Greek at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, sets
the time of Christ's birth in the summer or early fall. And so, taking all of these things into consideration, it
seems evident that Joseph and Mary made the journey, not only to pay their taxes, but also to attend a great
feast at Jerusalem. This was at the end of the harvest season that they were taxed and this was also the time of
the Feast of Tabernacles. All of this, as well as the evidence already given would mark the birth of Christ not in
the winter and therefore not December 25th!2
The Merging of Paganism with "Christianity"
Since Christ was not born on December 25th, then how did this particular day come to be a part of the church
calendar? History has the answer. Instead of this day being the time of Christ's birth, it was the very day and
season on which the pagans for centuries had celebrated the birth of the Sun-god! A study into history shows
how far apostate church leaders went in their effort to merge Christianity and paganism into one apostate
religion, even to placing the birth of Christ on a date to harmonize with the pagan birthday celebration of the
sun-god!
There are four points in our calendar which are called "Solstice" or "Equinox" points, two of each. The equinox
occurs when the sun crosses the equator of the earth and day and night are everywhere of equal length. The
sun does not actually cross the equator but with the earth's natural tip on its natural axis as it orbits around the
sun it seems to. Then either one part of earth gets the most sun or the other part does. But on these two
occasions, the days are equal in length everywhere and this occurs about March 21st and September 23rd.
The Solstice is a little bit different. Earth orbits around the sun in an ellipse. When the earth is farthest from the
sun, we have the two points that are known as Solstice. They occur when the sun is at its greatest distance from
the celestial equator, about June 21st when the sun reaches its northernmost point on the celestial sphere, and
about December 22nd when it reaches its southernmost point. The solstice in December is the time when the
days of the year, in our hemisphere, are the shortest.
Pagan man saw this and feared that the days would get shorter and shorter and finally cease to exist. When the
day came for the sun to overcome the darkness, and for the sun to cause the days to be longer it meant that
there was not going to be eternal night. The sun had won another fight and so pagan culture had festivals and
feasts on this day. It was celebrated in China, in India, in South America, in Mexico, in Africa and in many other
cultures. There were presents exchanged, green trees decorated in honor of the sun-god and great celebrating.
When Christianity gained influence in the fifth century they outlawed the pagan holiday with little success. Finally
they adopted the holiday into the church and changed the words and meanings of the festivities to fit with
"christianity". It took many years to effect this. It took much propaganda and it took many penalties and reprisals
against those who continued with the old festival but eventually the "christian" community won the day. Then
there was a change from the Gregorian calendar to the present day calendar, and with that change Christmas
or the Solstice shifted a few days so that December 25th became officially recognized as a Christian day.
It was in the fifth century that the Roman Catholic Church commanded that the birth of Christ be observed
forever on December 25th, the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, one of the names of the sun-god!3
In pagan days, this birth of the sun-god was especially popular among the branch of the "mysteries" known as
Mithraism. Concerning this we read: "The largest pagan religious cult which fostered the celebration of
December 25th as a holiday throughout the Roman and Greek worlds was the pagan sun worship, Mithraism.
Their winter festival was called 'the Nativity', the "nativity of the SUN".4 And not only was Mithra, the sun-god of
Mithraism, said to be born at this time of the year, but Osiris, Horus, Hercules, Bacchus, Adonis, Jupiter,
Tammuz, and other sun-gods were also supposedly born at what is today called the "Christmas" season, the
winter solstice!5
Says a noted write: the "winter solstice (was) the time at which all the sun-gods from Osiris to Jupiter and
Mithra had celebrated their (birthdays), the celebration being adorned with the pine tree of Adonis, the holly of
Saturn, and the mistletoe.. ..tapers represented the kindling of the newborn sun-god's fire..."6
Now the fact that the various sun-gods that were worshipped in different countries were all born at the same
season (in old fables), indicates that they were but different forms (under different names) of the original son of
the sun-god, Tammuz, of Babylon, the land from which sun-worship originally spread.7 In Babylon, the birthday
of Tammuz was celebrated at the time of the winter solstice with great feasts, revelry, and drunkenness, the
same way most people celebrate it today! The ancient celebration spread and became so much an
established custom that "in pagan Rome and Greece, in the days of the Teutonic barbarians, in the remote
times of ancient Egyptian civilization, in the infancy of the race East and West and North and South, the period
of the winter solstice was a period of great rejoicing and festivity."8
When this mid-winter festival came to Rome, it was known as the Saturnalia, Saturn being but another name for
Nimrod or Tammuz as "the hidden god". This feast was the most vile, immoral feast that ever disgraced pagan
Rome. It was a season of license, drunkenness, and debauchery when all restraints of law were laid aside. And
it was from this very feast at Rome that the merry-making of this season passed into the Roman Catholic
Church and on down to our present civilization! "It is a matter of common knowledge", says one writer, "that
much of our association with the Christmas season, the holidays, the giving of presents and the general feeling
of geniality, is but the inheritance from the Roman winter festival of the Saturnalia- survivals of paganism."9
Tertullian, one of the early church fathers, mentions that the practice of exchanging gifts at this season was a
part of the pagan Roman Saturnalia. When this mid-winter festival was adopted into the Roman church, this
custom was also adopted. As usual, however, apostate leaders tried to find some point of similarity between
paganism and Christianity - to make the merger seem less obvious. In this case, reference was made to the
fact that the wise men, when they came to see the Christ-child, presented to him gifts. Some suppose that this
is where the custom of exchanging gifts at Christmas time came. But not so! The wisemen did not exchange
gifts among themselves. They presented their gifts to JESUS who was born king of the Jews. (It was an
Eastern custom to present gifts when coming into the presence of the King). But these gifts were not birthday
gifts. When the wisemen arrived, it was some time after the day on which Jesus was born. By this time, he was
no longer in a stable, but in a HOUSE (Matt. 2:9-11). Obviously, the gifts of the wisemen were not Christmas
gifts.
Other pagan practices that are included in the holiday of Christmas are the use of the round wreath, the
mistletoe, the use of the Yule log, the wassail bowl, holly, red berries, Santa Claus, the undue commercialism of
the season, the use of candles during the holiday, etc. The wassailing bowl of Christmas had its precise
counterpart in the "Drunken festival" of Babylon. The candles, in some parts of England, lighted on
Christmas-eve, and used as long as the festive season lasts, were equally lighted by the Pagans on the eve of
the festival of the Babylonian god, to do honor to him; for it was one of the distinguishing peculiarities of his
worship to have lighted wax candles on his altars. For complete documentation on these and other pagan
carry-overs see The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop.
The Tree
Finally, in connection with the customs of the "Christmas" season, we will mention the Christmas tree. An old
Babylonish fable went like this: Semiramis, the mother of Tammuz, claimed that overnight an evergreen tree
sprang up from a dead tree stump. The dead stump supposedly symbolized her dead husband Nimrod; the
new evergreen tree was the symbol that Nimrod had come to life again in the person of Tammuz!
This idea spread and developed to such a degree that the various nations all have had their legends about
sacred trees! Among the Druids, the oak was sacred; among the Egyptians, it was the palm; and in Rome, it
was the fir, which was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia!10 Among the Scandinavians, the fir
tree was sacred to their god Odin. "The Scandinavian god Woden or Odin was believed to bestow special gifts
at Yuletide to those who honored him by approaching his sacred FIR TREE."11 And even as other rites of the
Yuletide season were absorbed into "Christianity", so also is the wide-spread use of the tree at this season a
carry over of an ancient practice! "The Christmas tree recapitulates the idea of tree worship, with the gilded
nuts and balls symbolizing the sun. The festivities of the pagan winter solstice have been absorbed into the
celebration of Christmas. The use of holly and mistletoe come from the pagan, Druidic ceremonies, the use of
the Christmas tree from the worship paid to Odin's sacred fir."12
In at least ten Biblical references, the "green" tree is associated with idolatry and false worship.13 The "green"
tree refers to trees that are green all year round, since, of course, all trees are green at one time or another. So
the "green" trees that the scriptures are talking about are the evergreen trees or trees within that family! Taking
all of this into consideration, it is interesting to notice the reading of Jeremiah 10:1-5 and compare it with
today's custom of decorating a tree :
"The customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of
the workman with the axe." "They fasten it with nails and hammers. They deck it with silver and with
gold."
Now of course the people in the days of Jeremiah, as the context goes on to show, were actually making an
idol out of the tree. We are not inferring that people today who put trees in their homes during the Christmas
season are worshipping the tree, but that the use of the tree is plainly and totally a carry over from paganism.
Whatever the difference may be between the ancient use of the tree as compared with present day customs,
no one can deny that these things of which we have been speaking are customs of men. And God says: "The
customs of the people are vain"(Jeremiah 10:3)-and "the temple of idols have nothing in common with the
temple of God."(II Corinthians 6:16)
One Error Leads to Another
The Christmas celebration was adopted into the Roman church during the fifth century. In the sixth century,
missionaries were sent through the northern part of Europe to gather pagans into the Roman fold. They found
that the 24th of June was a very popular day among these people. In order to induce them into the "church", as
was the usual custom after the falling away, apostate church leaders would allow them to continue celebrating
their pagan holiday, only they would attempt to associate it with some Christian event. But what event could they
associate with June 24th? They had already adopted a day to celebrate the birth of Christ-December 25th. And
this error led to another error. They noticed that June 24th was approximately six months before Jesus, why not
set June 24th as the day to celebrate John's birthday? And this is what they did. To this day, June 24 is known
on the papal calendar as St. John's Day or the Nativity of St. John! But obviously, such an idea is built on a
false foundation, for John was not born on June 24; and mixing his name with this day was but a cover up, so
the old pagan holiday could be continued-now within the "church".
In ancient times, this day was set aside for Baal worship. In Britain, before the entrance of Christianity there, the
24th of June was celebrated by the Druids with blazing FIRES in honor of Baal (the sun-god, Nimrod in deified
form). The writings of such noted historians as Herodotus, Wilkinson, Layard, and others tell of these
ceremonial fires in different countries. When June 24th was adopted into the "church" and renamed as St.
John's day, so also were the sacred fires adopted and renamed as "St. John's Fires"! "I have seen the people
running and leaping through the St.John's fires in Ireland..", says one writer of the past century, "proud of
passing through unsinged, thinking themselves in a special manner blessed by the ceremony."14 In reading of
such rites, we are reminded of similar practices into which the backslidden children of Israel fell when they
would "pass through the fire to Molech"(Jer. 32:35; Ezek. 20:31). Obviously, none of these practices had any
connection with John the Baptist.
The Mixture
The mixture of Christianity and paganism is seen in the word "Christ-mass" itself. Though it includes the name
of Christ, it also mentions the "mass". Now the mass, with its rituals, elaborate ceremony, pagan prayers for the
dead, transubstantiation rites, etc. is most assuredly a continuation of paganism.15 Considering then that the
name of these pagan rites, the Mass, is connected with the name of Christ in the word "Christ-mass", we
immediately see an attempt to merge two conflicting systems together! Actually, to attach the name of Christ
with the word "Mass", a pagan and hedonistic ritual (for conclusive proof of the pagan origin of the Mass see
The Two Babylons)16 is but to pollute the Holy name of our God! And God says: "Pollute ye my holy name no
more"! (Ezekiel(20:39)
Conclusion
The days and times we have mentioned were all adopted into the calendar of the Roman church from
paganism. We wonder if the apostle Paul were to be raised up to preach to this generation, if he would not say
to the professing church today, as he did the Galatians long ago: "You observe days, and months, and times,
and years, I am afraid of you, lest I have labored in vain"(Gal. 4:9- 11). To what days did Paul give reference?
The context shows that the Galatians had been converted from the pagan worship of the "gods"(Gal.4:8), and
so it is evident that when some of them went back to their former worship, the days and times they were
observing were those days and times that were set aside to honor these pagan gods! And yet, it was these
very days that the fallen church merged into her worship, changing them slightly, disguising them with Christian
sounding names, and their observance has continued to this day!
Footnotes
1.Mede's Works, 1679. Discourse xlvii
2.Ibid.
3.Encyclopedia Americana, Vol.6, p.623.
4.The Golden Bough, p.471.
5.Doane, p.474; Hislop, p.93.
6.Man and His Gods, p.201.
7.The Two Babylons, pg. 96-97.
8.Curiosities of Popular Customs, p.242.
9.The Legacy of Rome, p.242.
10.Curiosities of Popular Customs, p.242.
11.Festivals, Holy Days, and Saints' Days, p.222.
12.Ibid, p.238.
13.Dt.12:2; I Kings 14:23; II Kings 16:4,17:10; Ez. 6:13.
14.Toland's Druids, p.107.
15.The Two Babylons
16.Ibid.
Comments and Remarks
The most common objections to separating oneself from the Christmas festival will now be answered. The
objections that will be answered are:
1.Shouldn't we convey the "true" meaning of Christmas during this time of the year?
2.If our heart-attitude is right then what does the origin of Christmas matter?
3.Did not Paul say not to judge one another in regards to holy days and religious festivals?
4.If we stubbornly abstain from the festivities of Christmas, how shall we ever win our families and friends to
Jesus (for they will surely call us fanatics)?
5.The Kingdom of God is not a matter of such trivial things so why waste our time in our concern over it?
6.I know that Christmas is pagan, but where do I draw the line in regards to abstinence from certain things?
1.Shouldn't we convey the true meaning of Christmas to everyone?
The above discussion establishes the true meaning of Christmas. Any meaning other than this meaning
could not be called Christmas. Furthermore, to give any other meaning to the origin and meaning of
Christmas other than the historical one would be deception. Also worth noting is that the early church had
no record of celebrating the birth of Christ and there is no authority in scripture given to believers which
allows them to celebrate His birth in this manner.
2.If our heart attitude is right, what does it matter if the origin is bad?
The scriptures such as II Corinthians 6:14-7:1 and I Corinthians 10:18-22 give evidence that we should
not be involved in a mixture of anything that involves the mixture of truth with error. We are so quick to
judge the cults for mixing truth with error, yet we allow ourselves to do the same thing. II Corinthians 6
exhorts us to keep away from that which is unclean and to separate ourselves from all forms of idolatry.
The word of God demands purity in both our attitudes and actions, to walk in Spirit and in TRUTH. So you
see that our heart attitude has got to be based upon truth or else it is the wrong attitude no matter how
'innocent' or 'good' it may feel to us.
3.Didn't the apostle Paul say not to judge one another in regards to holy days and religious festivals?
Yes, Paul did say this in the 2nd chapter of Colossians. In the context of this chapter, however, Paul was
dealing with Jewish holidays and festivals, not pagan or idolatrous festivals. We have seen that Paul has
much to say about idolatry and the believer's abstinence from it in all forms; therefore, in this context we
see that this passage of scripture does not apply to our discussion. Paul does, of course, talk about
eating meat sacrificed to idols and says that an idol is nothing and that we should not raise questions of
conscience about the eating of such meat. The logic of comparing 'meat sacrificed to idols' to 'Christmas
festivities' is faulty and cannot be done honestly. In I Corinthians chapter 10, starting at verse 20 Paul
writes:
"No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be
participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot
have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy?
Are we stronger than he?
So you see, that the sacrifices that unbelievers make during the Christmas season are offered to
demons, not to God. Paul exhorts us to not partake in such things.
4.If we stubbornly abstain from the festivities of Christmas, how shall we ever win our families and friends to
Jesus (they will call us fanatics)?
Whatever people may call us, fanatics, Jehovah Witnesses, etc. you will be known as Christians, and in
the secret consciences of men you will be acknowledged as such. How was it with the early Christians?
They lived so separate from the world and it made such an impression that even pagan writers say of
them, "These men win the hearts of the mass of people, because they give themselves up to deeds of
charity, and pour contempt on the world." If Christians would live like this today, the world would quickly be
converted. To put the feelings of unbelieving relatives (they may be offended if we don't celebrate
Christmas) before obedience and sincerity before God is putting them in a higher place of importance
than God. And Jesus has said, "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me..." (Matt.10:37).
5.The kingdom of God is not a matter of such trivial things as these, so why waste our time discussing
them?
A Christian who fears the Lord will pursue the subject until he is either cut off from conforming to the world
or cut off from the church. It is not only Christmas, as such, but it is conformity to the world in general that
is the great stumbling block in the way of sinners. How can the world be converted, while professing
Christians are conformed to the world? The unbelievers may just as well ask, "What profit will it be to
become Christians, when those who are Christians are pursuing the world with all the vigor that we are?"
"Born again" Christians are the laughing stock of many cults and secularists because of their ignorance
in matters such as these. Separation from the world is not a trivial matter. It is essential for engaging in
powerful prayer, which will bring forth the power and blessing of the Holy Spirit to convert the world. So
you see, this subject is not trivial.
6.I know that Christmas is pagan, but where does one draw the line regarding abstinence from certain
things?
This final objection is the hardest one to answer, but here some general guidelines that should be
followed: The spirit of Christmas is a counterfeit spirit. It is a spirit of 'false' love and 'false' joy that the
world enjoys during Christmas. This spirit is not the HOLY Spirit of God! For it does not lead the world to
conviction of sin and repentance and it does not confess Jesus as Lord. It is a false spirit, a spirit that
leads many to commit suicide during this season. Statistics show that the suicide rate is higher during the
Christmas season than at any other time of the year. This is the spirit of the world, the spirit of the
antichrist, who wishes death upon all men. The scripture refers to the devil as an angel of light and as the
deceiver and counterfeiter. This spirit is prevalent in most evangelical churches during the Christmas
season. It takes the form of Christmas parties, candlelight services, Christmas cantatas and the like. To
be separate from this spirit is important.
Final Comments
The facts that have been discussed should cause every true believer to doubt the godliness of the Christmas
celebration. The scripture says: 'everything that is done with a doubting conscience is sin' (Romans 14:23).
Many things associated with Christmas require abstinence but the Spirit of God will lead as one asks for His
guidance and His light. Why not try to help those who are being led into suicide by lying spirits during this
season, to trust the Holy Spirit to lead you to such hurting people as these and to others who may be ripe for
harvest. He will guide as one walks in the truth on this matter. Before ignoring this call of God to be separate
from the world, heed His word to us...
"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who
chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says without
reason that the Spirit He caused to live in us tends toward envy?" (James 4:4-5)
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