IS CHRISTMAS A PAGAN HOLIDAY?

The Birth of Christ [The Nativity]. Artist: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Engraver: Gaber, inscribed lower right. Source: Die Bibel in Bildern, Plate 166.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. [Luke 2: 10-12]

ACKNOWLEDGMENT: I will be accused of casting a wet a wet blanket in publishing this post, virtually on the eve of Christmas celebrations in a large portion of the world. In reality, however, it will have little ill-effect on eighty-five per cent of readers who simply consider December 25 as an annual occasion for family gatherings replete with turkey, the exchange of gifts, alcohol, hilarity, mythical Santa Claus "ho ho's" and over indulgence; with little (if any) acknowledge of the real reason for the traditional celebration of Christmas.

Wikipedia: Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts 12 days and culminates on Twelfth Night. The traditional Christmas narrative, the Nativity of Jesus, delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies.

Up front, I am a traditionalist. Commercialism aside, I love everything about Christmas and relate it to my youth and the way my parents and family celebrated it. I, along with my wife, faithfully tried to pass that heritage on to our children. And it warms my heart to see the tradition passed on to our children's children.

All that aside, and just to be clear, it should be acknowledged that nowhere in the Holy Scriptures are we told about a celebration commemorating the birth of Christ Jesus. Nothing in the Scriptures gives us any sure evidence about the date of this magnificent event.

It is a man-created celebration, not one that was God directed.

The lack of Scriptural specificity about the facts surrounding the birth of the Judean King stands in sharp contrast to the details available about his death (each of the four Gospels provide the exact timing of Jesus’ death).

In the late second century, the Greek Church Father Origen mocked yearly celebrations of Roman birth anniversaries, discounting them as deeply *pagan practices. This suggests that Christian communities did not yet celebrate Christmas during Origen’s lifetime (c.165-264). 

The first church figure to discuss the date of Jesus’ birth was Clement (c. 200), an Egyptian preacher from Alexandria. However, December 25 was not even mentioned. By the middle of the fourth century, however, we find that Western churches were already celebrating the Birth of Christ on December 25, while the Eastern Churches did so on Jan. 7th.

How did the early Christians arrive at this dating?

Surprisingly, the early church followed a very Jewish idea – that the beginning and the end of important redemptive events often happen on the same date (Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashana 10b-11a). In the beginning of the third century, Tertullian reported that since he knew precisely when Jesus died (14th of Nissan or March 25), he also knew exactly when he was conceived! He was most-likely wrong in his conclusions, but at least we can now see how they arrived to date of Christmas.

The logic went as follows: If Jesus was conceived on March 25 then counting forward to the 9 months of Mary’s pregnancy would place His birth on December 25. This is especially intriguing because January 1st used to be celebrated as the Day of Christ’s circumcision (8 days from the evening of Dec. 24).

It is very important to note that it was not until the 4th-6th centuries of the Common Era that Christians began to “Christianize” the local pagan celebrations of the peoples they sought to evangelize. There is no doubt that it was at this time, but not before, that Christmas began to acquire some of its pagan traditions. Why? Because until c.300-320 CE, Christians were fighting a counter-cultural war with the pagans of the Roman and Persian world. Consequently, they were not in the mood for cultural adaptations just yet.

Since December 25 as the supposed date of Christ’s birth was circulated 100-150 years before the practice of “Christianizing” pagan celebrations commenced, it is unreasonable to conclude that this date was adopted to please the Roman pagans as popular conspiracy theory suggests.

It is true that in 274 CE a Roman Emperor declared December 25 to be, “The Day of the Unconquered Sun,” (Sol Invictus). However, that was some 70 years after Christians had settled on December 25 as their Christmas date. (Moreover, the decree itself may have been issued to help stamp out the newly established Christian celebration). 

Now, before answering the main question asked in the heading on this post, I think we should answer few related ones:

Is Christmas a Biblical Holiday?

No. It was not commanded by God in the Bible.

Does the celebration of Christmas contain elements that are pagan in origin?

Absolutely. There is no doubt about that whatsoever.

Is December 25 the correct date for celebration of the Birth?

Possible, but highly unlikely.

And finally, is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

There is nothing pagan about speculating that December 25 is the birthday of Jesus...And celebrating the date as such. God just did not command it!

So as far as December 25, 2021 is concerned dear friends, celebrate it as you wish and as is your family custom, given of course limitations imposed as a result of COVID restrictions for the second year in a row. As for me, I will miss the traditional church Christmas Eve candlelight services that have been generally cancelled this year...And numerous other things as society grows increasingly secular.

And, oh yes, how would Jesus celebrate his own birthday if he were alive today? He would no doubt fast and glorify his Heavenly Father all the while giving what human sustenance he had to the poor and needy around him.

*Paganism (from classical Latin pāgānus "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism or ethnic religions other than Judaism. In the time of the Roman empire, individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population, or because they were not milites Christi (soldiers of Christ). Alternative terms in Christian texts were hellene, gentile, and heathen. Ritual sacrifice was an integral part of ancient Graeco-Roman religion and was regarded as an indication of whether a person was pagan or Christian. Paganism has broadly connoted the "religion of the peasantry". During and after the Middle Ages, the term paganism was applied to any non-Christian religion, and the term presumed a belief in false god(s).