This study is downloadable for free at:

www.ChristmasTruth.info

"Christmas /'krismes/ n. (also Christmas Day)

annual festival of Christ's birth, celebrated on 25

Dec.
[Old English: related to Christ, Mass] "
- Christmas, The Oxford Dictionary of Current English

"An annual church festival (December 25) and in

some States a legal holiday, in memory of the birth

of Christ, often celebrated by a particular church
service, and also by special gifts, greetings, and
hospitality."
- Christmas, Webster Dictionary
(http://www.webster-dictionary.net/definition/Christmas)

 You would have to be living under a rock to have not

heard of Christmas. It is celebrated across the globe

by Christians and non-Christians alike.
Traditions and celebrations vary and are influenced
greatly by a person's nationality, culture and religious
background.
However, a few things I've noticed are fairly common
during this winter festival:
Celebrating the Birth of Jesus
Putting up and decorating a Christmas Tree
Decorating Homes, Churches, Schools, Workplaces, etc..
Exchanging gifts, going to parties, spending money, etc..

"Aren't we forgetting the true meaning of Christmas?

You know the birth of Santa." - Bart Simpson

I'm certain most people don't believe in Santa

Claus (at least not anymore), and some don't

include him in their Christmas celebrations.
However, even casual research confirms that

there's a few things that have come to be

associated with Christmas that really have
nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.

Let's put Christ back in

Christmas
and

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

are just some of the slogans Christians have come
up with over the years to combat the
secularization and commercialization of
Christianity's biggest holiday.

The following quote shows the frustration some

Christians feel:
"As a devout Christian, I am alarmed at the way
a few people are trying to take Christ out of
Christmas and Im calling on all fellow Christians
to take a stand.
- Yes, let's DO put Christ back into Christmas!,
by Russell King, Dec 16, 2009
(http://www.streetprophets.com/story/2009/12/15/223334/86 )

The primary goal of this whole Christmas

celebration (at least from a Christian point of

view) is to bring honour and glory to Jesus for
what He came to earth to accomplish.
If this is really the case, then we should at

least take a step back every once in a while to

see if we are, in fact, doing what Jesus wants
us to do.

You don't need a Ph.D. to figure out that lying to

your children year after year about Santa Claus

isn't exactly something Jesus would promote. On
the contrary, it is clearly taught in the Bible that
lying is wrong. It's even one of the 10
commandments (Exodus 20:16).
The point of this presentation is to figure out

exactly how much of this celebration of Christ's

birth that we call Christmas actually falls in the
category of acceptable worship to God and to
Jesus Himself.

 Let us start off with the origin of the word Christmas:

"The word for Christmas in late Old English is

Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found
in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131"
- Christmas, Catholic Encyclopedia
(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm)

The word "Christmas" is just a contraction of

"Christ's Mass" or "Mass of Christ", which was a

special Catholic Mass to celebrate Christ's birth.

I wonder if Christmas Eve communion services in

protestant churches today also stem from this

practice?

"The Catholic practice of celebrating Christs birth

through a special Mass on Christmas Eve,
technically speaking is a contradiction, since the Mass
for Catholics is a re-enactment of Christs sacrifice.
Honoring Christs birth, by re-enacting His atoning
sacrifice, obscures the significance of His birth."
- The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.2
Ok, so they didn't pick the best name for the holiday.

It's not that big of a deal for most people. Christmas

has the word "Christ" in it and that's whats
important, right?

Let's continue...

"While most countries celebrate Christmas on December 25

each year, some Eastern Orthodox national churches...
celebrate the Great Feast of the Nativity on January 7... On the
other hand Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Christmas on
January 6."
- Christmas (subheading: Orthodox churches), Wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas)

"by the end of the third century Christmas in Rome was held on
December 25, which coincided with a major pagan feast, while
in the Eastern churches it was observed on January 6. The
Armenian Church has maintained that ancient tradition to this
day, whereas the Greek-speaking Christian world switched to
the Latin tradition at the end of the fourth century."
- Christmas, The Armenian Church
(http://www.armenianchurch.net/worship/christmas/index.html)

 Right off the bat, we see that there's already some

sort of discrepancy regarding the dates that are

observed.
Most of the world celebrates Christmas on December
25th on our standard Gregorian calendar.
The Eastern Orthodox churches also celebrate it on
December 25th, but on the traditional Julian Calendar,
which falls on January 7th on our standard Gregorian
calendar.
Then there's the Armenian Church that still celebrates
Christmas on January 6th, claiming that the date was
changed to December 25th in the late 4th century.
Let's try to find out which date is actually the correct

one.

"Christmas is an annual Christian holiday commemorating the

birth of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on December 25, but this
date is not known to be Jesus' actual birthday"
- Christmas, Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas)
"There was no consensus among third and fourth century
scholars as to the birthday of Jesus. Different scholars gave many
different dates. It seems that January 6th was one of the more
popular choices during that time period."
- Christmas, by Richard Rives, author of the book Too Long in the
Sun
(http://www.toolong.com/pages/christmas.htm)

Inexplicable though it seems, the date of the [Messiahs] birth is

not known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month,
- The New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3, p. 656.

"The month and day of Jesus' birthday is also unknown.

However, we can be fairly certain that it was not DEC-25"
- When was Jesus born?, by B.A. Robinson
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_date.htm)

"The Bible itself therefore hints strongly at the falsehood of

Yeshua's birth occurring on, or even near December 25 as
this would be during Kislev/Tebeth, the dead of winter. "
- The Messiah's True birth date, by Hilke Dokter
(http://www.members.shaw.ca/hdokter/birth.htm)

"it is important to note that the date of December 25 is

totally devoid of Biblical meaning and is grossly inaccurate
as far as the actual time of Christs birth."
- The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.15

"Based on the biblical passages that record the nativity story

and related events, many scholars reject December 25 as the
date when Jesus Christ was born. The Bible appears to
indicate that Jesus was most likely born in late September;
however, December 25 has become so entrenched as
Christmas Day that it will likely never change."
- Date of the Birth of Jesus Christ, by Ronald G Falconberry,
(http://biblestudies.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_birth_of_jesus)

And, as these shepherds had not yet brought home their

flocks [when Christ was born in Bethlehem], it is a
presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced,
and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of
December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could
He have been born later than September, as the flocks were
still in the fields by night. On this very ground the nativity in
December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by
night in the fields is a chronological fact . . . See the
quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot.
- Adam Clarke, Commentary, Vol. 5, p. 370.

"There is no contemporary evidence of the exact date of Jesus'

birth."
- Jesus, Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus)
Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any evidence that either

December 25th or January 6th was actually the day that Jesus was
born on.
The biblical account of the nativity is silent regarding the date and
most scholars agree that the exact date of Jesus' birth is not
known.
Furthermore, the probability of Jesus being born on either
December 25th or January 6th is slim to none, making us wonder
how they came up with those dates in the first place.
Let's try to find out when the celebration of Jesus' birth first began.

The fathers of the first three centuries do not speak of any

special observance of the nativity. No corresponding festival
was presented by the Old Testament ... the day and month of
the birth of [the Messiah] are nowhere stated in the Gospel
history, and cannot be certainly determined,
- Christmas, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and
Ecclesiastical Literature, by Rev. John McClintock and James
Strong, p. 276.
"In the first two centuries of the Church, Christmas was not a
feast day. None of the lists of feast days compiled during that
time include Christmas"
- Why is That in Tradition?, by Patrick Madrid. p. 176
"Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church.
Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts"
- Christmas, Catholic Encyclopedia,
(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm)

"There is no historical evidence that our [Savior's] birthday was

celebrated during the apostolic or early post-apostolic times,"
- The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,
"Christmas," p. 47.
"There is no record of a December 25th celebration of the birth of
Christ in Rome earlier than 336. In Constantinople, no record of a
celebration before 378. In Alexandria, not before 400; and in
Jerusalem, not before 425. "
- Christmas, by Richard Rives, author of the book Too Long in the Sun
(http://www.toolong.com/pages/christmas.htm)

"There are no indications that during the first two centuries the early
church ever celebrated Christs birth. The event that was widely
celebrated was the death and resurrection of Jesus at the annual
Passover."
- The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.7

"Indeed, it is admitted by the most learned and candid writers

of all parties that the day of our Lord's birth cannot be
determined, and that within the Christian Church no such
festival as Christmas was ever heard of until the third century,
and that not till the fourth century was far advanced did it gain
much observance."
- The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, p. 92-93
"So again Origen had evidently some similar thought before
him when he insists that "of all the holy people 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 below" (Origen, in Levit., Hom.
VIII, in Migne P.G., XII, 495)."
- Natal Day, Catholic Encyclopedia,
(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10709a.htm)

"The day [Christmas] was not one of the early feasts of

the Christian church. In fact the observance of birthdays
was condemned as a heathen custom repugnant to
Christians"
- The American Book of Days, George W. Douglas, p. 658.
Once again, there is no record of Jesus, the apostles or

even the early Christian church ever celebrating such an

event.
What is even more interesting is that the mere observance
of birthdays in general was considered a heathen custom.
So that begs the question, when did people start
celebrating the birth of Jesus and how did they come up
with the dates that we have (Dec 25 and Jan 6)?

"The December 25th birthdate is that of the sun, not a

real person, revealing its unoriginality within Christianity
and the true nature of the Christian godman. Christmas
was not incorporated into Christianity until 354 AD/CE. In
reality, there is no evidence, no primary sources which
show that Jesus is the reason for the season."
-The Christmas Hoax: Jesus is NOT the "Reason for the
Season", by Acharya S. and D.M. Murdock
(http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/christmas.html)

"The adoption of the 25th of December for the celebration

of Christmas is perhaps the most explicit example of Sunworships influence on the Christian liturgical calendar. It
is a known fact that the pagan feast of the dies natalis
Solis Invictithe birthday of the Invincible Sun, was held
on that date."
- The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.23

"A feast was established in memory of this event [Christ's

birth] in the fourth century. In the fifth century the
Western Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the
day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, as no
certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth existed."
- Christmas, Encyclopedia Americana (1944 edition),
"in [C.E.] 354, Bishop Liberius of Rome ordered the
people to celebrate on December 25. He probably chose
this date because the people of Rome already observed it
as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the birthday of the
sun. Christians honored Christ in-stead of Saturn, as the
Light of the world,"
- Christmas, The World Book Encyclopedia (1962), p.
416.

"Prior to the celebration of Christmas, December 25 in the

Roman world was the Natalis Solis Invicti, the Birthday of
the Unconquerable Sun. This feast, which took place just
after the winter solstice of the Julian calendar, was in
honor of the Sun God, Mithras."
- Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays
by Robert J. Myers
"In the Roman Empire, Mithra became associated with the
sun, and was referred to as the Sol Invictus, or
unconquerable sun. The first day of the week -- Sunday -was devoted to prayer to him. Mithraism became the
official religion of Rome for some 300 years. The early
Christian church later adopted Sunday as their holy day,
and December 25 as the birthday of Jesus."
- The Philosophies and Religions of the Roman Empire, by
Dr. C. George Boeree,
(http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/romanempire.html)

"... that date of the pagan festival for the birthday of

Helios, December 25, was taken over by Christians for the
birthday of the Christ."
- The Harvest of Hellenism, by F.E. Peters (New York, 1970)
p.443
"Why, we may ask, did the Church choose December 25 for
the celebration of her Founder's Birth? No one now
imagines that the date is supported by a reliable tradition;
it is only one of various guesses of early Christian writers.
As a learned eighteenth-century Jesuit has pointed out,
there is not a single month in the year to which the Nativity
has not been assigned by some writer or other. The real
reason for the choice of the day most probably was, that
upon it fell the pagan festival just mentioned [the birthday
of the unconquered Sun]."
- Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan,
by Clement A. Miles, p.22

"Moreover, hundreds of millions continue to celebrate the

25th of December as the birth of Jesus Christ, completely
oblivious to the notion that this date does not represent
the 'real' birthday of the Jewish son of God. Lest
'Christmas' eventually end up being acknowledged widely
as the birthday not of the Jewish messiah but of the sun, it
needs to be immortalized that for hundreds of years that
day was celebrated as the birthday of Jesus Christ."
- Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D. M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.80
"The bottom line is that there are no reliable historical
documents that would place the birth of Jesus on
December 25th. On the other hand, there is overwhelming
documentation that the birthday of many of the sun gods
of antiquity was recognized as December 25th."
- Christmas, by Richard Rives,
(http://www.toolong.com/pages/christmas.htm)

"Before Christmas was ever invented, December 25th

was known as "the birthday of the unconquered sun"
and it was celebrated as the birthday of pagan gods
such as Mithras, Attis, Sol, Dionysus and others."
- Pagans Celebrated Dec. 25th BEFORE Christmas Was
Invented, News Article from Tuesday, December 16,
2008, (http://themoralcollapseofamerica.blogspot.com/2008/12/pagans-celebrated-dec25th-before.html)

Wow! Apparently, the Christian Church in the fourth

century decided that they are going to start

celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25th,
which happened to be the same date that the pagans
were celebrating as the birth of numerous sun gods.
Why in the world would they do such a thing?

"Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian
era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that
precise time of the year, in honor of the birth of the son of the
Babylonian queen of heaven. It may fairly be presumed that, in
order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the
nominal adherents of Christianity, the Roman Church, giving it
only the name of Christ adopted the same festival. This
tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism halfway
was very early developed; and we find Tertullian, even in his
day, about the year 230, bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of
the disciples of Christ in this respect, and contrasting it with the
strict fidelity of the Pagans to their own superstition"
- Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, p. 93
December 25 was the date of the Roman pagan festival
inaugurated in 274 as the birthday of the unconquered sun
which at the winter solstice begins again to show an increase in
light. Sometime before 336 the Church in Rome, unable to
stamp out this pagan festival, spiritualized it as the Feast of the
Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness.
- New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 223

"After the peace the Church of Rome, to facilitate the

acceptance of the faith by the pagan masses, found it
convenient to institute the 25th of December as the feast
of the temporal birth of Christ, to divert them from the
pagan feast, celebrated on the same day in honor of the
Invincible Sun Mithras, the conqueror of darkness."
- Manuale di Storia Liturgica, by Mario Righetti, 1955, II,
p. 67.
"Historians agree that through the subsequent centuries,
traditions from ancient pagan (non-Christian) religions
became intertwined with those of Christianity, and
depending upon one's point of view, either paganism
became Christianized, or Christianity became paganized."
- Christmas in America becomes battleground, by Joe
Kovacs, (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?
fa=PAGE.view&pageId=16242)

The pagan Saturnalia [an eight-day December 17-24 festival] and

Brumalia [The December 25 celebration] were too deeply entrenched
in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence,
- Christmas, New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, p. 48.

"But let your works shine, says He; Matthew 5:16 but now all our
shops and gates shine! You will now-a-days find more doors of
heathens without lamps and laurel-wreaths than of Christians."
- On Idolatry, by Tertullian (2nd-3rd century Christian writer), Chapter
15
(http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0302.htm)

"The conflict is keen at first; the Church authorities fight tooth and
nail against these relics of heathenism, these devilish rites; but
mankind's instinctive paganism is insuppressible, the practices
continue as ritual, though losing much of their meaning, and the
Church, weary of denouncing, comes to wink at them, while the
pagan joy in earthly life begins to colour her own festival."
- Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan,
by Clement A. Miles, p.25

"Certain popular holidays, such as Yule, and customs such

as lighting candles and offering small sacrifices under
certain holy trees could not be easily suppressed, so they
were given new meanings. Yuletide rituals were
incorporated into Christmas. The candles were lit to
remember Christ as light of the world. The holy offerings
came to symbolize the gifts the wise men brought."
- The Solstice Evergreen: The History, Folklore and Origins
of the Christmas Tree, by Sheryl Ann Karas (Fairfield: Aslan
Publishing, 1998). p. 91
"1st century believers, taught personally by Christ, did not
celebrate His birthday. 2nd century theologians
condemned the thought. Only after severe persecution,
destruction and inaccessibility of biblical scripture and the
blending of pagan doctrine with the worship of God was
the Mithraic celebration of December 25th proclaimed to
be "Christian" in nature."
- Christmas, by Richard Rives,
(http://www.toolong.com/pages/christmas.htm)

"It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25

December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights
in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the
Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the
Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this
festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity
should be solemnised on that day."
- Syriac bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi, cited in Christianity and
Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries, Ramsay MacMullen.
Yale: 1997, p. 155
"In 375 A.D., the Church announced that the birth date of Christ
had been discovered to be December 25, and allowed some of
the light-hearted customs of the older celebration, such as
feasting, dancing and the exchange of gifts, to be incorporated
into the reverent observance of Christmas. The use of
greenery, however, popularly used to decorate homes and holy
places during Saturnalia, was still prohibited as pagan idolatry."
- The Solstice Evergreen: The History, Folklore and Origins of
the Christmas Tree, by Sheryl Ann Karas (Fairfield: Aslan
Publishing, 1998). p. 88

"The Baal-fire feast, or meeting, was a great festival in

Ireland, on the 25th of December, and midsummer
eve. Baal, or Bel, was a name of the sun all over the
east."
- The Christian mythology unveiled, lectures by Logan
Mitchell, p.80
"The Irish have ever been worshippers of Fire and of
Baal, and are so to this day. This is owing to the
Roman Catholics, who have artfully yielded to the
superstitions of the natives, in order to gain and keep
up an establishment, grafting Christianity upon Pagan
rites."
- Rev. Donald M'Queen, of Kilmuir, in the Isle of Skye,
on ancient customs preserved in that Island in
The Gentleman's Magazine for February 1795:--

"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."
- Christmas, New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of
Religious Knowledge, p. 48.
"The Mithraic Christians actually continued to
celebrate Christmas Day as the birthday of the sun,
despite the censures of the Pope; and their Sunday
had been adopted by the supplanting faith."
- Pagan Christs, by John M. Robertson p.332

 It's almost unbelievable that the Christian church

would allow this to take place. Why was this time of

year so sacred to the sun worshipping pagans
anyways?
"The ancient winter solstice, December 25, signifies
the rebirth of the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus). At
this point in the year the days grow longer and light
re-enters the world. As we noted in the last chapter,
this festival of the Reborn Sun was initially associated
with the solar divinity Mithras and like, so many other
ancient religious customs and celebrations, was taken
over by the early Christians to maintain a sense of
continuity between the old and the new."
- Jesus Christ, sun of God: ancient cosmology and
early Christian symbolism, by David R. Fideler, p.159

"The largest pagan religious cult which fostered the

celebration of December 25 as a holiday throughout
the Roman and Greek worlds was the pagan sun
worship -- Mithraism... This winter festival was
called 'the Nativity' -- the 'nativity of the sun' "
- The Golden Bough, by James George Frazer, p. 471
"the time at which we fix the birth of Jesus Christ,
the 25th of December, when the sun has risen one
degree above the solstitial point: which answers to a
moment to the births of the Egyptian Osiris, the
Grecian Bacchus, and the Mithra of the Persians.
These mystic births are manifestly identical, being
metaphorical of the Sun's annual birth at the winter
solstice, after which he gradually becomes, not only
figuratively, but positively, the Savior of the world."
- The Christian mythology unveiled, lectures
by Logan Mitchell, p.86

"...another birthday celebrated on the same date by

the Romans of the Empire, that of the unconquered
Sun, who on December 25, the winter solstice
according to the Julian calendar, began to rise to
new vigour after his autumnal decline. ...The 'Dies
Natalis Invicti' was probably first celebrated in Rome
by order of the Emperor Aurelian, an ardent
worshipper of the Syrian sun-god Baal."
- Christmas in Ritaul and Tradition, Christian and
Pagan, by Clement A. Miles, p.23
"In the calendar of Canopus, 239 C.E., the notation
'Birthday of the Sun. Light will increase' appears at
the date of the solstice, indicating some notion of
the sun dying and being reborn as a child."
- Toward the origins of Christmas, by Susan K. Roll, p.
33

"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!"
- Babylon mystery religion, by Ralph Woodrow
"Many people celebrate Semiramis (using the name
'Ishtar', among others) on the 1st day of spring, which
is either March 20th or 21st. If we count from 'Ishtar's
Day' (say, March 20th) for the length of the average
pregnancy (40 weeks), we come to December 25th,
the day celebrated as Tammuz's (the sun god's)
birthday!"
- Babylon Religion, by David Daniels, p. 67

"The birthday of Adonis (Tammuz) was celebrated on

December 25, and this celebration is mentioned by
Tertullian, Jerome, and other early Fathers of the Church,
who agree that the ceremonies took place in a cave"
- Secret of Regeneration, by Hilton Hotema, p.131
"The Madonna and child theme, which is universal or
evident in hundreds of religions down through the
centuries, had its origin in Babylon. Nimrods wife was
Semiramis, the first deified queen of Babylon. She is also
known variously as Diana, Aphrodite, Astarte, Rhea, and
Venus. Her son was Tammuz, also called Bacchus, Adonis,
and Osiris. He was the supposed reincarnated Nimrod. He
came back to life when the dead yule log was cast into
the fire and the evergreen tree appeared as the slain
king-deity reborn at the winter solstice"
-The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, p. 98

"In Epiphanius's writings appear important details

about the Alexandrian festival celebrating the winter
solstice, when the days and sun's light begin to
increase, and culminating with an image being carried
forth of a child with a golden cross who was born at
that time of a virgin! Nowhere does Epiphanius
apparently attempt to claim that this widely celebrated
non-Christian virgin birth at 'Christmas' had been
copied from Christianity, leaving us to conclude that
any borrowing occurred in the opposite direction"
- Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D. M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.87-88
"Vishnu, being moved to relieve the earth of her load of
misery and sin, came down from heaven, and was born
[as Krishna] of the virgin Devaki, on the twenty-fifth of
December."
- Aryan Sun Myths, by Sarah Elizabeth Titcomb, p.37

"Apollo and Dionysus were considered by ancient

writers such as Pindar, Aeschylus, Euripides and
Plutarch to be 'different forms of the same god.'
Like Dionysus, Apollo also had his birthday at the
winter solstice or December 25th. From Macrobius it
is clear that the Egyptians brought out an image of
a baby god, lying in a shrine or 'manger,' on the
'shortest day,' around December 25th."
- Suns of God, by Acharya S., p.112
"It is obvious that Horus, as the morning sun born
every day, was also born on 'December 25th' or the
winter solstice".
- Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D.M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.92

"... the winter solstice in Egypt was not only widely

recognized but also viewed as the birthday of the
new sun, which in turn was 'Horus the Child' or
Harpocrates, the very popular god during the GrecoRoman period whose birth was well known".
- Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D.M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.95
"...at the winter solstice the sun would seem to be a
little child, like that which the Egyptians bring forth
from a shrine on an appointed day, since the day is
then at its shortest and the god is accordingly shown
as a tiny infant"
- Saturnalia, 1:18,19; Percival Vaughan Davis, ed.
Macrobius: the Saturnalia (New York, 1969): 129,
cited in TALLEY, Origins, 107 note 37.

 Ok, I think we've got enough information about the

December 25th date. What about the January 6th

date?
"After the triumph of Constantine, the church at Rome
assigned December 25 as the date for the celebration
of the feast, possibly about A.D. 320 or 353. By the
end of the fourth century the whole Christian world
was celebrating Christmas on that day, with the
exception of the Eastern churches, where it was
celebrated on January 6. The choice of December 25
was probably influenced by the fact that on this day
the Romans celebrated the Mithraic feast of the Sungod (natalis solis invicti), and that the Saturnalia also
came at this time."
- Colliers Encyclopedia

"Certain Latins, as early as [A.D.] 354, may have

transferred the birth day from January 6th to December
25, which was then a Mithraic feast . . . or birthday of the
unconquered sun . . . The Syrians and Armenians
accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry."
- Encyclopedia Britannica, (1946 ed)
"the date of Christs birth did not become an issue until
sometime in the fourth century. At that time the dispute
centered primarily over two dates for Christs birth:
December 25 promoted by the Church of Rome and
January 6, known as the Epiphany, observed by the
Eastern churches. Both these days, as Oscar Cullmann
points out, were pagan festivals whose meaning
provided a starting point for the specifically Christian
conception of Christmas."
- The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas, by Dr.
Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.14 (quoting from The Early
Church, by Oscar Cullmann, 1956, p.35.)

"January 1, the main festival of the Roman divinity Janus,

also represents the rebirth of the cyclical year and the
renewal of time. Before the adoption of December 25 as
the birthday of Jesus the Spiritual Sun, the Nativity was
celebrated on January 6, the day of 'Epiphany' or
'manifestation of the Lord'".
- Jesus Christ, sun of God: ancient cosmology and early
Christian symbolism, by David R. Fideler p.159
In the Orient, however, the birth and the baptism of Jesus
were celebrated respectively on January 5 and 6. B. Botte,
a Belgian Benedictine scholar, in a significant study
concludes that this date also evolved from an originally
pagan feast, namely Epiphany, which commemorated the
birth and growth of light.
- The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.24 (quoting from B. Botte,
Les Denominations du dimanche dans la tradition
chrtienne, Le Dimanche, Lex Orandi 39, 1965, pp. 14ff.)

"Significantly, January 6 was a major pre-Christian

holy day in the ancient world. In Alexandrian Egypt
it was the birthday of "Aeon" - the personification of
Infinite Time. According to the church father
Epiphanius, the birth was celebrated in Alexandria
at the Korion, a pagan temple of the divine maiden
or Virgin. After ritually processing with an effigy of
the divine child, which bore the image of a golden
cross, the celebrants exclaimed at dawn: "Today, at
this hour, the Kore, that is to say the Virgin, has
given birth to the Aeon".
- Jesus Christ, sun of God: ancient cosmology and
early Christian symbolism, by David R. Fideler
p.159-160

"The feast of Aion is attested most clearly in Egypt

where it seems to have been a local festival with
deep roots in the Hellenistic city of Alexandria, of
which Aion was the mythical founder and patron
deity. The most detailed account concerning the
ritual which took place in the night of 5-6 January
comes from Epiphanius, whose description
explains how a small wooden statue of the baby
god of time was carried in procession at the hour
on which he had been born of the virgin Kore."
- Toward the origins of Christmas, by Susan K. Roll,
p. 34

 Great! More of the same on January the 6th as well. What

about some of the other things that are associated with

Christmas? Where did they come from?

The authors whom we consulted on this point are

unanimous in admitting the influence of the pagan
celebration held in honor of Deus Sol Invictus on the 25th of
December, the Natalis Invicti, on the Christian celebration of
Christmas. This influence is held to be responsible for the
shifting to the 25th of December of the birth of Christ, which
had until then been held on the day of the Epiphany, the 6th
of January. The celebration of the birth of the Sun god, which
was accompanied by a profusion of light and torches and the
decoration of branches and small trees, had captivated the
followers of the cult to such a degree that even after they
had been converted to Christianity they continued to
celebrate the feast of the birth of the Sun god.
- The Cult of Sol Invictus, by Gaston H. Halsberghe, 1972, p.
174.

"The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was

equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In
Egypt that tree was the palm-tree; in Rome it was the
fir; the palm tree denoting the Pagan messiah, as
Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as Baal-Berith. The
mother of Adonis, the sun-god and great mediatorial
divinity, was mystically said to have been changed
into a tree, and when in that state to have brought
forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son
must have been recognized as the 'Man the branch.'
And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule
Log into the fire on Christmas Eve, and the
appearance of the Christmas tree the next morning"
- The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, p. 97

...tree worship is well attested for all the great

European families of the Aryan stock. Amongst the
Celts the oak-worship of the Druids is familiar to
everyone. Sacred groves were common among the
ancient Germans, and tree-worship is hardly extinct
among their descendants at the present day
- The Golden Bough, by James George Frazer, p. 58
Therefore, the 25th of December, the day that was
observed at Rome as the day when the victorious
god reappeared on earth, was held at the Natalis
invicti solis, 'The birthday of the unconquered Sun.'
Now the Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified
as the sun-god, but cut down by his enemies; the
Christmas-tree is Nimrod redivivus -- the slain god
come to life again
- The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, p. 98

"Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees

that remained green all year had a special meaning for
people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their
homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir
trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their
doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that
evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits,
and illness... Early Romans marked the solstice with a
feast called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of
agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that
soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To
mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and
temples with evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe the
mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also
decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a
symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in
Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special
plant of the sun god, Balder."
- Evergreen Traditions, History.com,

(http://www.history.com/content/christmas/christmas-trees/evergreen-traditions)

"Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an

oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the
1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although
trees had been a tradition in many German homes much
earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had
community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the
1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and
not accepted by most Americans... In 1846, the popular
royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert,
were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing
with their children around a Christmas tree. Unlike the
previous royal family, Victoria was very popular with her
subjects, and what was done at court immediately
became fashionablenot only in Britain, but with fashionconscious East Coast American Society. The Christmas
tree had arrived."
- Evergreen Traditions, History.com,

(http://www.history.com/content/christmas/christmas-trees/evergreen-traditions)

"The interchange of presents between friends is

alike characteristic of Christmas and the
Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by
Christians from the Pagans, as the admonition of
Tertullian plainly shows."
- The Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 12, pages 153-155

Wait a second, I thought giving gifts at Christmas

time came from the story of the three kings that

brought gifts to newborn baby Jesus in the
manger, right?

Wrong! First of all, that story is highly

inaccurate biblically to begin with. Let's clear

up a few details.
"And when they [the Magi] were come into the
house, they saw the young child with Mary his
mother, and fell down, and worshipped him:
and when they had opened their treasures,
they presented unto him gifts; gold, and
frankincense and myrrh"
- Matthew 2:11 (KJV)

The 2nd chapter of Matthew tells us of an

unspecified number (not necessarily three) of

Magi (also translated as Wise men), who came
to worship the young child (not newborn baby)
Jesus in a house (not the manger).
That's why when King Herod found out the
Magi didn't report back to him, he didn't just
have all the male newborns killed, he had all
the male children under the age of two killed.
The Bible also never mentions that the wise
men were kings of any sort, this was an
assumption made in later Christian writings.

"The Gospel of Matthew, the only one of the

four Gospels to mention the Magi, states that
they came "from the east" to worship the
Christ, "born King of the Jews". Although the
account does not tell how many they were, the
three gifts led to a widespread assumption that
they were three as well. Their identification as
kings in later Christian writings is linked to Old
Testament prophesies such as that in Isaiah
60:3, which describe the Messiah being
worshipped by kings. This interpretation was
challenged by the Protestant Reformation."
- Biblical Magi, Wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi)

So, why did the Magi give Jesus gifts if not for

His birthday or as Christmas presents?

"Verse 11. (They presented unto Him gifts).

The people of the east never approach the
presence of kings and great personages,
without a present in their hands. The custom
is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still
prevails in the east, and in some of the newly
discovered South Sea Islands."
- Adam Clarke Commentary, Vol. 5, p.46

 Clearly it was the custom at that time (and even now in some

cultures) to give gifts when you were to meet with someone of

great importance. Also, they only gave gifts to Jesus, not to
each other or anyone else.

The Magi giving Jesus gifts when they came to worship Him had

nothing to do with the exchanging of gifts during the Roman

pagan festival of Saturnalia during the winter solstice.

The gift giving that was done during Saturnalia is where our

modern Christmas gift giving originates.

"The festival was celebrated with similar customs (gift giving,

feasting) that are done to celebrate Christmas today."
- Saturnalia, (subheading: Saturnalia's relation to Christmas),
Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia)
Some might be thinking... But wait a second...
Are you saying it is wrong to give gifts to people to show them

that you love and care about them?

Nope! That's not what I am saying.

There is nothing wrong with giving the ones you love

gifts to show them that you care about them.

Or even to complete strangers as an act of kindness.
However, exchanging gifts every year during the
winter solstice is a pagan practice in worship to the
sun god.
Also, giving gifts should be done unexpectedly and
without obligation to reciprocate (a la Luke 14:1214).
Keep in mind that a gift exchange dictated by a
calendar is not a message of love but a ritual of
obligation.

 I have personally been a witness to seeing a grown woman

in her mid-to-late 20s cry hysterically on Christmas Day

after opening all her presents (worth well over $500
combined) and realizing that she didn't get what see
wanted.
So many people (kids, teens, and adults alike) are
disappointed on Christmas for not getting what they had
hoped for. Who set their expectations so high? How is it
that we can come to expect others to buy us whatever we
want at certain times of the year?
Similarly with couples during Valentines Day on February
14th?
Valentine's Day is connected to "a pagan Roman festival,
Lupercalia... This festival came under the patronage of
Juno, the goddess of marriage... St.Valentine replaced the
pagan goddess Juno as a patron of love"
- Catholic Customs and Traditions: A Popular Guide,
by Greg Dues (pg. 139f).

 I believe that it is because we are just following pagan

traditions.
Giving someone you love a gift (or anyone for that matter)
should not be dictated by any calendar or pagan traditions.
It should come from the heart, be sincere and be given
without expecting anything in return.
Plus, the best time to give someone a gift is when they least
expect it, that's when they'll appreciate it the most.
Concerning Santa Claus: "The origin of this tradition is a
fascinating and deliberate mixture of a bishop-saint, Father
Christmas, Christmas Man, and the Norse mythological god
Thor." Thor is described as "elderly, jolly (though a god of
war), with white hair and beard, friend of the common
people, living in the north land, traveling in the sky in a
chariot pulled by goats, and as god of fire, partial to
chimneys and fireplaces"
- Catholic Customs and Traditions: A Popular Guide,
by Greg Dues (pg. 60-62).

 If all this comes from ancient pagan sun-god worship, then

shouldn't there still be people today that celebrate the

winter solstice at the same time of year without trying to
incorporate the birth of Jesus into it or call it Christmas?

"That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival is beyond

all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies, with
which it is still celebrated, prove its origin. In Egypt, the
son of Isis, the Egyptian title for the queen of heaven, was
born at this very time, 'about the time of the winter
solstice.' The very name by which Christmas is popularly
known among us -- Yule-day -- proves at once its pagan
and Babylonian origin. 'Yule' is the Chaldee name for an
'infant' or 'little child'; and as the 25th of December was
called by our Pagan Anglo-Saxon ancestors, 'Yule-day,' or
the 'Child's-day,' and the night that preceded it, 'Mothernight,' long before they came in contact with Christianity,
that sufficiently proves its real character. Far and wide, in
the realms of Paganism, was this birthday observed"
- The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, P.93-94

 Anyone recognize this popular "Christmas" Carol?

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa-la-la-la-la, Fa-la-lala.

'Tis the season to be jolly, Fa-la-la-la-la, Fa-la-la-la.
Don we now our gay apparel, Fa-la-la, Fa-la-la, Fa-la-la.
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol, Fa-la-la-la-la, Fa-la-la-la.
"Yule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially
celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a
pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed
into, and equated with, the Christian festival of
Christmas."
- Yule, Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule)

"In Wicca, a form of the holiday is observed as one of the

eight solar holidays, or Sabbat. In most Wiccan sects, this
holiday is celebrated as the rebirth of the Great God, who
is viewed as the newborn solstice sun."
- Winter solstice -> Yule (Wiccan), Wikipedia,
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice)

"I'm not so much celebrating Christmas as acknowledging

Yule the old Germanic and Norse mid-winter festival
supplanted over a millennium ago by early Christian
missionaries and to which we owe most of the seasonal
fun, including the Christmas tree, the lights, holly,
mistletoe and the ham."
- Ancient Yule festivals lie behind much of our British Christmas,
by Ian Vince, 15 Dec 2008, Telegraph.co.uk
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/3776077/Ancient-Yule-festivals-lie-behind-much-of-our-British-Christmas.html)

"Yule, the winter solstice, is a festival of peace and a celebration

of waxing solar light. I honor the new sun child by burning a[n]
oaken yule log in a sacred fire. I honor the great goddess in her
many great mother aspects, and the father god as Santa in his
old sky god, father time, and holly king forms. I decorate my
home with lights and with holly, ivy, mistletoe, evergreens and
other herbs sacred to this season. I ring in the new solar year
with bells."
- Wiccan high priestess Selena Fox, (http://www.circlesanctuary.org)

"Yule has the longest night and the shortest day of the year. It is
the time when the Goddess gives birth to a son, the God.
Witches and Wiccans celebrate the Festival of the Gods Rebirth.
It is a time to honor the Holly King. Accomplishes of the past,
love, togetherness, and love are also celebrated. These things
are celebrated by burning the Yule Log in a bonfire. Other
Names: Winter Solstice, Christmas, Alban Arthan, Finns Day,
Festival of Sol, Yuletide, Great Day of the Cauldron, and the
Festival of Growth."
- A Beginner's Guide To The 8 Wiccan Holidays, by Silver Wolf, Oct. 28th,
2007
(http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?
a=usor&c=holidays&id=11776)

"Adorn the home with sacred herbs and colors. Decorate your
home in Druidic holiday colors red, green, and white. Place
holly, ivy, evergreen boughs, and pine cones around your home,
especially in areas where socializing takes place. Hang a sprig
of mistletoe above a major threshold and leave it there until
next Yule as a charm for good luck throughout the year. Have
family/household members join together to make or purchase
an evergreen wreath. Include holiday herbs in it and then place
it on your front door to symbolize the continuity of life and the
wheel of the year. If you choose to have a living or a harvested
evergreen tree as part of your holiday decorations, call it a
Solstice tree and decorate it with Pagan symbols."
- Celebrating Winter Solstice, by Wiccan high priestess Selena
Fox, (http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/SolsticeArticle.html)
"However, the enduring imagery of the festival is forever pagan,
from the top of the Christmas tree to the presents at its base,
the Druids' mistletoe and the Romans' holly over the fireplace,
with a Yule log burning in the grate."
- Seasons of the Witch: The Winter Sabbat , by L.P. Ruickbie, p.
7

But of course, now its time for the big one Yule. You
know, celebrating with Yule logs, and holly, and
mistletoe (not to mention the stolen kisses!) . Singing
those old Yule time carols. Putting up the evergreen Yule
tree and decorating it. Drinking a lot of mead - or these
days, spiced cider or spiked eggnog. Giving presents.
Lots of presents. The Sun [pause] of God being born
with the New Year. Gathering together and celebrating
with family and friendsdid I mention drinking a lot?
Yules a GREAT Pagan holiday! Yes, my friends, the
Puritans were right Yule (by any other name smelling
as sweet) is definitely NOT a Christian holiday.
- We Want them Back! (A Pagan View of the Holidays), by
Bluehawk, (http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?
a=usga&c=holidays&id=10378)

What about the Puritans? What did they think about

Christmas?

"It was only in the fourth century that the Church officially
decided to observe Christmas on Dec. 25. And this date
was not chosen for religious reasons but simply because
it happened to mark the approximate arrival of the winter
solstice, an event that was celebrated long before the
advent of Christianity. The Puritans were correct when
they pointed out and they pointed it out often that
Christmas was nothing but a pagan festival covered with
a Christian veneer."
- In the Pulitzer Prize finalist, "The Battle for Christmas,
by University of Massachusetts historian Stephen
Nissenbaum
"Few Americans are aware that large groups of colonists
objected to Christmas during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Many loathed it as an 'abomination' even though others
observed the occasion as a religious feast."
- The American Christmas: a study in national culture By
James Harwood Barnett, p.2

"In New England, for the first two centuries of white

settlement, most people did not celebrate Christmas. In
fact, the holiday was systematically suppressed by Puritans
during the colonial period and largely ignored by their
descendants. It was actually illegal to celebrate Christmas
in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681 (the fine was five
shillings). Only in the middle of the nineteenth century did
Christmas gain legal recognition as an official public holiday
in New England."
- In the Pulitzer Prize finalist, "The Battle for Christmas, by
University of Massachusetts historian Stephen Nissenbaum
"A decree issued in 1659 formally banned the observance
of Christmas -and all other like holidays- with a penalty of
five shillings to be levied against any lawbreaker. "
- Christmas in Colonial and Early America,
by World Book Encyclopedia, p.11-12

"Opposition of the English Puritans to festivals

culminated in an act of Parliament in 1647 which
abolished the observance of Christmas, Easter, and
Whitsuntide. This was echoed in 1659 when Puritans
of the American colonies enacted a law in the
General Court of Massachusetts to punish those who
'kept Christmas'."
- The American Christmas: a study in national culture,
by James Harwood Barnett, p.3

"In general, Puritans, Baptists, Presbyterians, and

Quakers strongly opposed the religious observance
of Christmas, but members of the Church of
England, the Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, and Roman
Catholic churches, as well as the German sects,
carefully followed their traditional celebrations."
- The American Christmas: a study in national culture,
by James Harwood Barnett, p.2

On Dec. 25, 1789, the first Christmas under the

brand-new Constitution, the United States Congress
was actually in session, with no day off for any
holiday. In fact, the U.S. did not even make
Christmas a federal holiday until 1870.
- Christmas banned in America ... by Christians!
by WorldNetDaily, November 21, 2008.
(http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=81144)

In England, for example, the Puritans could not

tolerate this celebrating for which there was no
biblical sanction. Consequently, the Roundhead
Parliament of 1643 outlawed the feasts of Christmas,
Easter, Whit-suntide, along with the saints days,
- Celebrations: The Complete Book of American
Holidays by Robert J. Myers, p. 312.

"The year 1681 saw the law against the celebration of Christmas
repealed, but many of the Puritans were not reconciled to this
action."
- The American Christmas: a study in national culture By James
Harwood Barnett, p.3
Henry Ward Beecher, clergyman and lecturer, wrote in 1874 of
his boyhood in New England, To me Christmas is a foreign day,
and I shall die so. When I was a boy I wondered what Christmas
was. I knew there was such a time, because we had an Episcopal
church in our town, and I saw them dressing it with evergreens,
and wondered what they were taking the woods in church for; but
I got no satisfactory explanation. A little later I understood it was
a Romish institution, kept up by the Romish Church. Eventually
the major Protestant denominations accepted Christmas,
although they reacted violently against the corruption of the
Christkindl, the Christ Child, into Kriss Kringle,
- Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays
by Robert J. Myers, pp. 315-316.

"The churches of the Presbyterians, Baptists, and

Methodists were not open on December 25 except where
some mission schools had a celebration. They do not
accept the day as a holy one, but the Episcopalian,
Catholic, and German churches were all open. Inside they
were decked with evergreens."
- Article in the December 26, 1855 edition of The New York Daily
Times

"By about 1870, Christmas was an accepted lesson topic

in the publications of the Sunday School Union. This
demonstrates a widespread change in the attitude of the
most denominations toward Christmas between 1830 and
1870. An interesting confirmation of this is found in the
fact that many of the popular Christmas songs of a
religious character were composed between the years
1850 and 1868."
- The American Christmas: a study in national culture,
by James Harwood Barnett, p.7

"Although it took a long time for 'Christmas' to

catch on, it was not particularly long before the real
significance of the date -i.e., the winter solsticehad been completely severed to the point where
very few people were aware of its existence.
- Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D. M. Murdock & Acharya S., p.80
Alright, we've got quite some information

regarding Christmas so far. Let's summarize what

weve learned.

 The bible does not mention any sort of celebration

for Christ's birth.

Jesus, the apostles and the early church did not
celebrate His birth either.
After the 3rd century, Christians started taking part
in blatant pagan sun worship celebrations.
The Church leaders tried as hard as they could, but
they could not stop the influence and the spread
of these pagan celebrations within Christianity
Getting tired of constantly fighting against them,
they decided to "Christianize" these pagan
celebrations and allow them to continue as
Christian celebrations
In the 4th century, the Church at Rome declared
December 25th (a well established pagan holiday)
as the official birthday of Christ.

The Eastern churches continued to celebrate

it on January 6th (which was also a pagan

holiday)
In the 17th century, Christmas was banned
for a time in England and in early America.
In the 19th century, most Christian churches
gradually adopted some form of Christmas
celebrations
That's where we stand today. Most Christian
churches celebrate the birth of Jesus on
December 25th (whether on the Gregorian or
Julian Calendar) and a few, namely the
Armenian church, on January 6th.

So now that we know exactly where these

celebrations come from and what they represent,

we can look to the Bible to see if this type of
worship is acceptable to God.
Sun worship is clearly forbidden in the Bible, no
one will argue that.
What about worship that used to be clearly
blatant sun worship, but that is now whitewashed, candy-coated, happily Christianized,
focused on the birth of Jesus and approved by
most Christian churches?
Does God disapprove of it as well?
Let's find out.

You shall not add to the word which I command you,

nor take from it, that you may keep the
commandments of the LORD your God which I
command you.
- Deuteronomy 4:2 (NKJV)
Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD
your God has commanded you; you shall not turn
aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk
in all the ways which the LORD your God has
commanded you, that you may live and that it may
be well with you, and that you may prolong your days
in the land which you shall possess.
- Deuteronomy 5:32-33 (NKJV)

Even the New Testament states:

"If you love me, you will keep my

commandments."
- John 14:15 (ESV)
First off, we see that God makes the rules.
He expects us to stick to them.
He does not want us to start changing His

commands in any way or modifying them little

by little to suit our own traditions.
If we love Him, we will keep His
commandments.

The LORD your God will cut off before you

the nations you are about to invade and
dispossess. But when you have driven them
out and settled in their land, and after they
have been destroyed before you, be careful
not to be ensnared by inquiring about their
gods, saying, "How do these nations serve
their gods? We will do the same." You must
not worship the LORD your God in their way,
because in worshiping their gods, they do all
kinds of detestable things the LORD hates.
- Deuteronomy 12:29-31
(NIV)

The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to

them: 'I am the LORD your God. You must not do as they do
in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as
they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do
not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be
careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God.
- Leviticus 18:1-4 (NIV)
Secondly, we see that God does NOT want to be worshipped

in a fashion similar to how the pagan nations worshipped

their gods.

God clearly states throughout the Bible that we should NOT

follow pagan practices in regards to worshipping Him.

Note: So not only is worshipping pagan gods wrong, but

worshipping the True God with practices adopted from pagan

forms of worship is also wrong.

 The 1st of the 10 Commandments:

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

- Exodus 20:3
(KJV)
Do not worship any god except me.
- Exodus 20:3 (CEV)
You must not have any other god but me.
- Exodus 20:3
(NLT)

And when you look up into the sky and see the
sun, moon, and starsall the forces of heaven
dont be seduced into worshiping them.
- Deuteronomy 4:19 (NLT)
God already knew that people would start worshipping other

gods, including the sun, moon, stars, etc...

So He clearly told us to be careful and to NOT get seduced into
worshipping them.
Did most people back then listen? Lets find out.

And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it

with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said,
"These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of
the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar
before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow
shall be a feast to the LORD." And they rose up early the
next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace
offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose
up to play.
- Exodus 32:4-6 (ESV)
Here is a clear example of using pagan practices to worship.

Just in case people at the time might have thought this was
idolatry (which it clearly was), Aaron tries to smooth things
over by declaring that they were doing all this as a feast to
the True God.
By claiming that they were worshipping God, Aaron was
attempting to "christianize" a pagan practice of worship.
But did God accept this form of worship?

The Lord told Moses, Quick! Go down the mountain! Your

people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have
corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned
away from the way I commanded them to live! They have
melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed
down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, These are your
gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Then the Lord said, I have seen how stubborn and
rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my
fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy
them.
- Exodus 32:7-10 (NLT)
Not only did God disapprove of this kind of worship, He

was so angry that He wanted to destroy them all.

Shouldn't this serve as some sort of warning for us?
Maybe we should learn from this story and be very careful
to not worship God in ways He does not approve of.

The subtle danger of syncretistic worship lies in its claim

to be worshipping the true God, Yahweh. When the
Israelites brought idols and idolatrous practices into the
Temple, they did not think of their actions as an
abandonment of Yahweh. They thought of it as just
supplementing their worship with customs borrowed from
heathen idol worship. Even the golden calf at Mount Sinai
was not regarded as a substitute god to replace Yahweh;
rather, it was regarded as a symbolic representation of
Yahweh. This can be seen in Aaron's reference to the
golden calf as the God "which brought thee up out of the
land of Egypt" and his proclamation that the worship of
the golden calf would be "a feast unto Yahweh" - not a
feast to some Egyptian god (Ex. 32:4f).
- SYNCRETISM: A Blending of Paganism & Truth,
by Dr. Daniel Botkin, (Gates of Eden, July-August 2005) p.8

Even though Aaron claimed that they were having a

feast to the LORD, it was clearly blatant pagan idol

worship that they learned from Egypt.
Therefore, this can't be considered as trying to
worship the True God, as it is so far from true
worship.
But what if you truly, sincerely want to worship the
True God and unknowingly use pagan practices to do
so, is that wrong?
Will God hold you accountable for something like
that?
Let's see what the Bible says...

Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put

fire in them and added incense; and they offered
unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his
command. So fire came out from the presence of the
LORD and consumed them, and they died before the
LORD.
- Leviticus 10:1-2 (NIV)
Nadab and Abihu merely took fire that wasn't from

the brazen alter of the tabernacle (the altar where

the sacrifices were performed).
They were killed for this oversight. This is another
example of how particular God is in regards to
worship.

When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his
crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a giftthe best of
the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his
gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very
angry, and he looked dejected. Why are you so angry? the Lord
asked Cain. Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted
if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then
watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But
you must subdue it and be its master.
- Genesis 4:3-7 (NLT)
Clearly Cain was trying to worship the True God. The only

problem was that he tried to do it his own way, not the way God
prescribed.
Cain was even upset that God did not accept his form of worship.
God told Cain exactly why He did not accept it, because it was
not the correct method of worship.
Instead of admitting he was wrong and repenting, we all know
what happened.
Cain went out and murdered his brother Abel.

 Another example is when Saul clearly disobeyed God

by sparing the Amalekite animals in 1 Samuel 15.

After being confronted by Samuel, listen to the
excuse Saul gives for disobeying God's command.

"The soldiers took the best sheep and cattle to

sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal." But
Samuel answered, "What pleases the Lord more:
burnt offerings and sacrifices or obedience to his
voice? It is better to obey than to sacrifice. It is
better to listen to God than to offer the fat of
sheep. Disobedience is as bad as the sin of
sorcery. Pride is as bad as the sin of worshiping
idols. You have rejected the Lord's command. Now
he rejects you as king."
- 1 Samuel 15:21-23 (NCV)

 Saul tried to use the excuse that he was going to use

the animals he spared as sacrifices to God.

Saul reasoned that surely God wouldn't mind this, as he
was doing it for Him. Was God flattered?
Absolutely not! This led to Samuel's famous phrase "to
obey is better than sacrifice".
We need to ask ourselves this same question: "Is it
better to obey than to sacrifice?" Samuel clearly
thought so.
How about if we rephrase the question a bit: "Is
celebrating Christmas (with its pagan-derived practices)
with the sincere goal of worshipping the True God
actually better than obeying God's clear commands to
refrain from any sort of worship that involves pagan
practices to begin with?
What do you think?

 Are there any other examples in the Bible regarding

ways of worship that were not acceptable to God?

Yes! There are numerous examples. The Bible is full
of them. Here are a few more:
Blatant sun worship in the house of the LORD by

God's own people. God calls these Abominations.

(Ezekiel 8:5-18)

To protect his kingdom and his life, Jeroboam thought

it would be a good idea to set up his own feast in the

eighth month (as opposed to the seventh month as
commanded by God) with two golden calves no less
and other aspects of pagan worship (1 Kings 12:2633). Not exactly a good idea!
God was definitely not pleased (1 Kings 14:14-16).

 Elijah's showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mount

Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40).

Things got so bad, to the point where God's people
weren't even sure which method of worship was the true
one.
They were mixing worship of the True God with the
worship of pagan gods, but they didn't think anything of it.
They didn't answer Elijah's question when he asked "How
much longer will you try to have things both ways? If the
LORD is God, worship him! But if Baal is God, worship
him!" (1 Kings 18:21 CEV), they didn't even say a word.
Surely, they could not think that elements of Baal worship
were acceptable to God? But it wasn't until God sent
down fire from heaven that burned up the whole altar that
God's own people proclaimed "the LORD, he is the God"
(vs. 39).

Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh

unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the
LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and
be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for
the heathen are dismayed at them. For the
customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth
a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands
of the workman, with the axe. They deck it
with silver and with gold; they fasten it with
nails and with hammers, that it move not.
- Jeremiah 10:1-4 (KJV)

Learn not the way of the heathen

Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven
The heathen are dismayed at them
For the customs of the people are vain
For one cutteth a tree out of the forest
The work of the hands of the workman, with

the axe
They deck it with silver and with gold
They fasten it with nails and with hammers,
that it move not.

A lot of Bible commentaries claim this passage in

Jeremiah has nothing to do with celebrating

Christmas.
They say that it is simply referring to making idols
I admit that it could also be referring to making idols
And I agree that it is not referring to Christmas,

because Christmas wasnt around at that time.

However, it is definitely referring to the pagan
practices around the winter solstice, which is where
we get most of our Christmas customs and
traditions from.
Lets look at this passage in more detail...

 Learn not the way of the heathen

Clearly we are to NOT do these things...

Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven

What signs in heaven?

The heathen are dismayed at them

And why are the heathens scared of them?

The signs in the heaven are the changing of the seasons,

particularly, the winter season when everything seems to

die.
Just before the winter solstice, the days are at their
shortest, so the sun seems to be dying too. The pagans
were scared that the sun wouldnt come back and that
they would die too.
As believers, we dont need to worry about such silliness
We know that God will take care of all our needs

 So then why do we continue their pagan practices today?

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a

tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the

workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with
gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it
move not
Cutting down a tree and bringing it into your house is

a vain custom anyway you slice it.

Whether its in a shape of an idol or just as a
decorated tree, it doesnt matter. Its a pagan form
of worship.
God clearly tells us to not learn or practice these
things.

"The Lord then commands the people not to

engage in the customs of the heathen [Jeremiah
10]. The Lord specifically points to the pagan
festival of Saturnalia, which is the birthday of
Tammuz, the son God of ancient Babylon... The
heathen have celebrated this pagan holiday for
over 3,000 years. This is the modern holiday of
Christmas. The reference even describes the
tradition of cutting down and decorating trees
for the feast of Tammuz on December 25th."
- The Day of the LORD is at Hand, Second
Edition, Isaiah 13:6 By Benjamin Baruch, p.109

During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said

to me, Have you seen what fickle Israel has
done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel
has worshiped other gods on every hill and
under every green tree.
- Jeremiah 3:6 (NLT)
Do not bring any detestable objects into your
home, for then you will be destroyed, just like
them. You must utterly detest such things, for
they are set apart for destruction.
- Deuteronomy 7:26 (NLT)

Pagan sun worship is not what Christmas means to me!

And besides.... everybody is doing it:

my family, my church, my pastor, my friends, etc...

Clearly it can't be that bad, can it?
God cares greatly about the way in which we worship

Him.
It really doesnt matter what it means to you.
Or what it means to your family and friends.
The only person whos opinion matters when it comes
to the way we worship God is God Himself. Thats
because He decides how He wants us to worship Him.
Not the other way around.

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of

Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not
worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow
after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it,
and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
- Matthew 10:37-39 (KJV)
Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. - Exodus 23:2
(NIV)
And He said to them, You are those who justify yourselves
before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly
esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

- Luke 16:15 (NKJV)

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be
accursed
- Galatians 1:8 (NKJV)

But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided

devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was
deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You
happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if
they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach,
or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received,
or a different kind of gospel than the one you
believed.
- 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (NLT)
Just because everyone else is doing it or because your

church tells you it's ok, that still doesn't make it right.
God is the only one that makes the rules about
worship.

Jesus replied, You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when

he prophesied about you, for he wrote, These people

honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from
me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made
ideas as commands from God.[Isa 29:13] For you
ignore Gods law and substitute your own tradition.
- Mark 7:6-8 (NLT)
This was the same problem Jesus had with the

Pharisees. Instead of keeping God's commandments,

they made up their own rules on how to worship.
Jesus clearly tells them that their worship is worthless.

 'Christmas' -or the winter solstice- represents the

birth of the sun god dating back thousands of years.
In other words, as Christian apologists who claim
Christ was not born on December 25th must agree,
Jesus is NOT the 'reason for the season.
- Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D. M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.80
There's no evidence whatsoever that Jesus was born

on December 25th. Yet most of Christianity

somehow got seduced into this pagan-derived sun
worship celebration that we have supposedly
blessed, Christianized and somehow now blindly
accept as Christ's birthday.
The whole Christmas celebration on December 25th
is based on a big fat lie, whether you want to admit
it or not.

Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all

things to be right; and I hate every false way. - Psalm
119:128 (KJV)
for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood
have we hid ourselves.
- Isaiah 28:15 (KJV)
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (KJV)
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your
old self with its practices. - Colossians 3:9 (NIV)
We are part of the same body. Stop lying and start
telling each other the truth.
- Ephesians 4:25
(CEV)

O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and

my refuge in the day of affliction, the
Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends
of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers
have inherited lies, vanity, and things
wherein there is no profit.
- Jeremiah 16:19 (KJV)
The Bible clearly teaches against lying.
We need to give up all the lies we've inherited

from our ancestors. We need to search out and

promote the truth instead of continuing a lie.

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.
- 1 John 2:15 (NKJV)
Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you
concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary
to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for
the faith which was once for all delivered to the
saints.
- Jude 1:3 (NKJV)
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which
cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
- Hebrews 12:28 (NKJV)

But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even

now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit
to worship the Father according to the truth. These
are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be
led by the Spirit to worship him according to the
truth
- John 4:23-24 (CEV)
We need to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. We

can't do that if we are celebrating a lie every year

at December 25. We need to contend earnestly for
the faith that was once delivered to the saints.

Samaritanism and Roman Catholicism are not

the only systems of worship guilty of syncretism.
Syncretism exists in Protestantism, too. It can
even be found in Judaism. "But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the
Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a
Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth" (Jn. 4:23f).
Let's worship in spirit and in truth, not in a blend
of paganism and truth.
- SYNCRETISM: A Blending of Paganism & Truth,
by Dr. Daniel Botkin, (Gates of Eden, July-August
2005) p.8

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have
light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this
light within you produces only what is good and right
and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.
Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and
darkness; instead, expose them.
- Ephesians
5:8-11 (NLT)
At one time you didn't know God. You were slaves to
gods that are really not gods at all. But now you know
God. Even better, God knows you. So why are you
turning back to those weak and worthless beliefs? Do
you want to be slaves to them all over again? You are
observing special days and months and seasons and
years! I am afraid for you. I am afraid that somehow I
have wasted my efforts on you.
- Galatians 4:8-11 (NIRV)

"Do not be unequally yoked together with

unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness
with lawlessness? And what communion has light with
darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or
what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And
what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For
you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
"I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be
their God, And they shall be My people." Therefore
"Come out from among them And be separate, says
the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will
receive you." "I will be a Father to you, And you shall
be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty."
- 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (NKJV)

After these things I saw another angel coming down

from heaven, having great authority, and the earth
was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily
with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen,
is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons,
a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every
unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of
the earth have committed fornication with her, and
the merchants of the earth have become rich through
the abundance of her luxury. And I heard another
voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my
people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive
of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
- Revelation 18:1-5 (NKJV)

It doesnt matter how much you try to justify to

yourself that celebrating Christmas is acceptable to

God.
It never has been and it never will be acceptable.
Our minds like to make up excuses to justify
continuing in our old ways without having to change.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts."
- Isaiah 55:8-9 (KJV)

How long will you falter

between two opinions? If the
LORD is God, follow Him
- 1 Kings 18:21
(NKJV)

And if it seems evil to you to serve

the LORD, choose for yourselves this
day whom you will serve, whether
the gods which your fathers served
thatwereon the other side of the
River, or the gods of the Amorites, in
whose land you dwell. But as for me
and my house, we will serve the
LORD.
- Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)

Thank you for your time!

Any Questions?
Compiled by: FLO BORS (February 2010)
email: [email protected]