Today we hear the vehement cry to "Keep Christ in Christmas!", but what if He was never in it to begin with?
If we look closely we can see that every tradition of Christmas has it's
beginnings in the ancient winter solstice festivals of old. From the
christmas tree to santa claus, from the gift giving to the "spirit of
christmas". Even the downright silly clothing has it's origins in the
solstice.
Let's start with the date - December 25th. Was Christ born on this day?
If you ask your pastor he'll say "No." and he's right. Christ was
not born on December 25th nor even in that month. Unfortunately most
pastors will then proceed to tell you that it's okay to celebrate Jesus'
birth on that day, though, because we have liberty in His grace to do
such things. Really? Hmmm....I wonder, then, why does God say
not to worship Him with such things in
Deuteronomy 12:4? "Such things" being pagan, idolatrous images, places, and names.
So what is December 25th and what do others say about this date?
December 25th was the date chosen and designated by the Roman Catholic
church as the day to celebrate the birth of Christ. This was done in
350 A.D. by pope Julius I in an attempt to establish a time in which
Christians could celebrate the birth all on the same day. However, the
25th of December had always been the winter solstice*, when the dark
days of winter began to be longer, leading many to believe the sun was
being “reborn”. Consequently this made the date of December 25th the
“birth day” of nearly every single sun god in most pagan cultures
throughout the world.
In
Mesopotamia,
the festival was called Sacaea, or Zagmuk, during which slaves and
servants would trade places with their masters. It lasted 12 days
overlapping the winter solstice, or vernal equinox, in its center
peak. It was a festival held in observation of the sun god, Marduk and
his battle over darkness. The Babylonians held both land and river
parades as well. Sacaea, as Berossus* referred to it, had festivals
characterized by the aforementioned subversion of order leading up to
the new year. Masters and slaves interchanged, a mock king was crowned
and masquerades filled the streets. This has been a suggested precursor
to the Festival of Kronos, Saturnalia and possibly the modern version of
Purim.
In
Egypt,
they celebrated the feast of Osiris for 12 days by decorating their
homes with palms and other outdoor greenery. They kept it for 12 days
because that number was in accordance with their calendar system and the
palm was used because it was believed there was a correlation between
it and the twelve months in a year.
In
Rome,
the festival of Saturnalia was celebrated during this time, which
honored the god Saturn. The festival was kept to usher in the Golden
Age of Saturn. Following this celebration, the Romans commemorated the
god Mithra, the sun god, who was known as the Grand Deliverer. In Egypt
he was known as Horus and in Babylon - Tammuz.
During Saturnalia, the people gave themselves up to wild joy: they
feasted, they gave gifts, and they decorated their homes with greenery.
The usual order of the year was suspended: grudges and quarrels
forgotten; wars interrupted or postponed. Businesses, courts, schools
closed. Rich and poor were equal, slaves were served by masters, and
children headed the family (this is a forerunner to the transition in
America where the focus became more on the children during the holiday
season, and this grew evermore popular in the 1830‘s and 40‘s). This
all leads us in seeing the general “Spirit of Christmas” or the “Spirit
of the Season” with which people become much friendlier and more giving.
Cross-dressing and masquerades, merriment of all kinds also
prevailed. A mock king -- the Lord of Misrule -- was crowned. Candles
and lamps chased away the spirits of darkness.
Seneca the younger writes about Rome during Saturnalia around 50 A.D:
“It is now the month of December, when the greatest part of the city is
in a bustle. Loose reins are given to public dissipation; everywhere
you may hear the sound of great preparations, as if there were some real
difference between the days devoted to Saturn and those for transacting
business....Were you here, I would willingly confer with you as to the
plan of our conduct; whether we should eve in our usual way, or, to
avoid singularity, both take a better supper and throw off the toga.”
--From the Epistolae
In northern
Europe
the festival of Yule was kept, in which the people would celebrate by
decorating fir or pine trees, burning the Yule log, giving gifts,
drinking, and decorating their homes with the evergreen boughs and
holly. Our modern Christmas holiday is the most closely related to the
celebration of Yule.
In choosing the 25th of December, the Roman Catholic church was trying
to make the statement that Jesus is the only true God who was born, not
the false sun gods of pagan cultures. But mixing truth with paganism
and idolatry is an abomination to the Lord and as a result the church
began celebrating a holiday that was pagan from the beginning, only now
Jesus was thrown into the middle. What we see is that a door was opened
to celebrating the birth of Jesus with pagan traditions and a holiday
that has actually very little to do with Christ and more to do with
greed and heathen customs.
The early “church father”, Tertullian, wrote in 230 A.D., “By us who
are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals, once acceptable
to God, 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 sports 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.”
Are you willing to look further? Or would you rather pretend that it
wasn't true? Do you say to yourself, "Well that's not how I look at
Christmas." But doesn't it matter how GOD SEES IT? It does. If you're
willing to follow Him then at least ask Him to reveal the truth to you
no matter what that might be and He will. And those who trust in Him
will never be put to shame.
*Berossus - a Babylonian writer and astronomer from the early 3rd century B.C.
