Christmas - Part I

Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

The "holidays" are just around the corner and as I feel strongly about not celebrating manmade "holy days", I thought I would post a couple of thoughts about this and other "holy days".

First I would like to look at when was Christ Born. Luke gives a time line which if you follow you can see Jesus was born in the late summer, but there is an even easier way to surmise His birth. Most historians agree Jesus was born sometime, in accordance with our modern day calendar, in September, approximately six months after Passover. To further this proof, it was a tradition among the Jews to send their sheep out to the fields about the Passover, and bring them home at the first rain. As Passover occurred in the spring, and the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which coincides with our modern day calendar months of October and November, we realize the sheep were kept out during the whole of the summer, and a part of Autumn (Fall). Since the shepherds had not yet brought their flocks in, we can only draw the one conclusion, Jesus was born in mid to late summer, no later than September.

Christmas falls under idolatry. The customs came from worship of idols. They were mixed into the birth of the story of Jesus. Jesus is then mixed with idolatries. We already have commandment that there is to be no other God. And we also have commandment not to be yoked with idols (II Corinthians 6:16, I John 5:21). We believe in the birth of Jesus our God. His birth records no celebrations of idols. The following will prove this.

Historical facts along with Biblical facts all point to “Christmas” being in existence for a long time, pre-dating Christ (no it wasn’t called Christmas – yet). From the prophetic writings of Jeremiah; Jeremiah 10:3-4, “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.” Notice the word “customs”, synonymous with traditions, of people (men), to which I point again back to what Paul says in Colossians 2:8. So we see there was a pagan tradition already in existence for hundreds of years prior to the birth of Jesus Messiah where they decorated trees just as people do today for “Christmas.”

The date of 25 December is a man-made date (in as much as it being Jesus Messiah’s birth date). Here is a short list of other celebrations on and around 25 December, either before Jesus Messiah, or before some people even knew of Him. In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Jesus. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast. In Roman, they called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year (Dec 21st). As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year. Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods.

The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids (witchcraft) used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.

In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.

Christmas (Christ’s Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.” At least he had some truth!

So This then is a man-made tradition which Paul clearly warns us against again in Colossians 2:8. Now, the actual Christmas which is celebrated in England and the US (and now mostly the world over) has only been around since the 1800s. In England, and hence the US, and other countries following suit, borrowed the tradition from Germany (which we read about earlier being the first to celebrate Christ’s Mass. Queen Victoria’s family, of England, was the first to bring a Christmas tree into her palace; prior to this, no one West of Germany had a tree or celebrated Christmas as it is now. Queen Victoria, when she became Queen, popularized Christmas in England, possibly because she was married a German Prince, who probably brought the German tradition with him and talked his wife into celebrating it. Gifts were not really exchanged at first, only for the children, and then as time went on, people were buying gifts for each other and now it’s the huge money making holiday. What is Christmas really about now, in this present age? Now it’s all about the money. As well, as endearing as he may seem, who is this Santa Clause, Father Christmas, Chris Cringle, etc., but a legend, a myth. Do we partake in mythology and legends? No, we do not. Perpetuating a being that has supposedly been in existence for who knows how long, who doesn’t die (is immortal), and whom children idolize and worship, is this not wrong? We only worship God, is this mythical figure worthy of praise and worship?

I find the main theme of Christmas today though, is how much can I, the consumer, spend, what am "I" going to get and how much can I, the retailer, make (avarice!). People go into thousands of dollars in debt for this holiday, and companies make billions of dollars off people. The root of all evil is the love of money, is it not? I Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

One can rationalize all they want about anything. I could rationalize Christmas and make it for me a time to especially thank God for coming in the flesh…but wait, is that not what we are to do daily (Psalm 72:15)? Christmas isn’t anything more than another day. It’s not holy, it’s not sacred, Jesus nor the apostles ordained or celebrated it. It’s manmade, it’s the tradition of men, and not of God. We find nothing in the Scriptures to support the celebrating of any holidays such as Christmas, not one apostle speaks of this, nor does any Scripture. I pray, again, this has helped you understand why we should not celebrate pagan holidays such as Christmas.
Be encouraged!
Minister of the New Covenant