Christmas http://www.yrm.org/b-day-sun.htm
and http://www.seedofabraham.net/christmas.html
December
25- Birthday of the Sun
The Christmas super-holiday
is the standard for popular observances today. Families will gather on December
25, gorge themselves on ham and turkey, stare at a decorated tree while a swooning
Bing provides the ambience, and exchange billions of dollars in gifts, many of
them unwanted. A crescendo of months of retailer hype will climax on one grand day of thhe Savior’s supposed birth.
But hold on. Amid the bells and
booze, frolicking elves and fruitcake, many sense that something isn’t right.
If Christmas is a celebration of the birth of the Savior at
Maybe the problem is simply
that people fail to catch and hold the “spirit of Christmas.” Or could the holiday
itself be flawed? Why do so many people sense an emptiness
at this time of year, a major letdown amid the torn gift-wrapping and crushed
ribbon bows?
Where’s the Scriptural
Christmas?
Christmas,
after all, is supposed to be rooted in the Bible. It is assumed to honor the
birth of the Savior of men in a manger at
A revealing survey would be to poll frantic Christmas
shoppers to find out how many know the origins of Christmas. Do you know what Christmas is all about?
Are you mildly amused each year with newspaper and magazine articles detailing
the strange, irreverent customs of Christmas? On the other hand, maybe you have
found these facts somewhat troubling. Isn’t it time you honestly investigated
the matter? If Christmas is that significant – the biggest holiday of the year
demanding a great deal of your time and money — shouldn’t you at least know
what it is actually all about? This is especially serious considering the
religious flavor of Christmas. The Creator in heaven may just have a definite
opinion about the observance of this holiday that you need to discover.
Do you observe Christmas because you believe it is in the
Bible? Try as you might, you will not find a hint of Christmas anywhere in the
Scriptures. There is neither a call to observe it nor an example where anyone
in the Bible did so. Shocking? Millions are oblivious to this simple fact. As one authority puts it, “There is no historical evidence that our
[Savior’s] birthday was celebrated during the apostolic or early post-apostolic
times,” Christmas, p. 47, The New Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Another writer makes this
astounding statement: “The day 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, by George W. Douglas.
What a revealing statement! The single most important religious holiday observed today
in Christianity would have been FORBIDDEN in early New Testament times. Many
historians and Biblical scholars corroborate this fact. Now read a candid
admission from The New Catholic Encyclopedia,
“Inexplicable though it seems, the date of the [Messiah’s] birth is not known.
The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month,” vol. 3, p. 656. And the
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
says, “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,
p. 276.
Celebrating birthdays was never sanctioned in the
Scriptures, nor is a birthday party ever mentioned that didn’t end in someone’s
death. If Christmas is as popular and pervasive a religious holiday as retail
sales indicate, why isn’t it found anywhere
in the Bible? Why aren’t we told the month —let alone the day—
of the Savior’s birth?
“But what about the manger scene with shepherds and wise
men?” you ask. Yes, the manger is described in the Bible, but it was never
provided as a focus for the continued observance of the birthday of the Savior.
Shepherds came to the manger, but the wise men visited a house up to two years
later. Here’s the account of these wise men, right from Matthew 2:11, “And when
they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary
[Miriam] his mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.”
And then there is the timing. Usually during Christmas
plays someone will read the account in Luke 2:8: “And there were in the same
country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by
night.” Is this describing a cold December scene? According to Jeremiah 36:22,
December is wintry in the
Luke, however, says that sheep were still in the open
fields. This had to be before the
cold winter rains and snows began to fall. The livestock had not yet been moved
to shelters. Notice: “It was a custom among Jews to send out their sheep to the
deserts about the Passover [early spring], and bring them home at the
commencement of the first rain” (Clarke’s Commentary by Adam
Clarke, vol. 3, p. 370). Clarke says the first rain commences in October or
November. He adds, “As these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks,
it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that,
conse-quently, our Savior was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks
were out in the fields ...the [Bible says] flocks were still in the fields by
night. On this very ground the nativity in December should be given up.”
Another indication that the Savior was born in the fall
rather than in winter is the fact that Caesar Augustus had declared a census or
tax be made of the empire, and each citizen had to report to his hometown to
register, Luke 2:1-5. Ordering the people of the empire to travel great
distances in the dead of winter
would have surely incited a revolt, at least among the Jews in the
Various prophetic
Scriptures indicate that Yahshua the Messiah was born at the time of the fall
Feast of Tabernacles. That may have been one reason that the inn was full when
Joseph came to
Sun (Not Son) Worship
If Christmas is not in the Bible, where did it come from?
The answer is found in every encyclopedia and in many newspapers or magazines
appearing around December 25. What they say about the roots of Christmas should
shock every honest Bible believer into taking a serious look at the annual
observance and what it really
celebrates.
Historians do not hide the fact that Christmas was an
invention of the Roman church, designed to compete with the heathen Roman feast
of Saturnalia in honor of the sun deity Mithras. Mithras bore remarkable
similarity to the Biblical Messiah. The Mithraic feast, like Christmas, was
celebrated to commemorate his birth. Notice the remarkable parallels, as
detailed by Joscelyn Godwin, professor at
These two popular movements were vying for dominance in the
So today, much of what is
accepted as Bible-based tradition is the direct result of compromising and
mixing with heathen religion. Roman Emperor Constantine, a former pagan
himself, gave the most significant push to the Christian-pagan blending of
teachings like Christmas. Among other things, he would decree that worship for
Christianity switch from the seventh day Sabbath to the first day of the week –
Sun-day – the day superstitious heathens worshiped the sun.
“This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism
half-way was very early developed,” says Alexander Hislop in The Two
Babylons, p. 93. Interestingly, Hislop notes that the pagans gave up
precious little of their own beliefs and practices. “And we find Tertullian,
even in his day, about the year 230, bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of
the disciples of [Messiah] in this respect, and contrasting it with the strict
fidelity of the Pagans to their own superstition.”
Hislop quotes Tertullian, the most ancient of the Latin
church fathers whose works are extant, as he decries the early church
observances: “By us who are strangers to Sabbaths and new moons, and festivals,
once acceptable to [Yahweh], the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the
Brumalia, and Matronalia are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new
year’s day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated
with uproar.”
Why a Death Celebration
Honoring a Birth?
A mass is a celebration of the Eucharist or the emblems of
the death of the Savior. Yet, “Christ-mass” is an observance supposedly in honor
of His birth. Why? The answer is found with the secular ancients. Mithras was
known as the Sun Deity. His birthday, Natalis solis
invicti, means “birthday of the invincible sun.” It came on December 25, at the time of the winter solstice
when the sun began its journey northward again. Pagan peoples were overly
concerned with life and fertility. They saw life fading in the darkness of
winter and so held festivals in honor of and to beckon back the sun to give
life and light to the earth once more. The Dictionary of the Middle Ages
explains how a funeral mass came to be celebrated as the supposed birthday of
the Savior:
“In patristic thought [the Messiah] had traditionally been
associated with light or the sun, and the cult of the Sol invictus,
sanctioned as it was by the Roman emperors since the late third century,
presented a distinct threat to Christianity. Hence, to compete with this
celebration the Roman church instituted a feast for the nativity of [the
Messiah], who was called the Sol iustitiae ....
Usually when Christians celebrated the natalis of a saint or martyr, it
was his death or heavenly nativity, but in this case natalis was
assigned to be [the Messiah’s] earthly birth, in direct competition with the
pagan natalis,” pp. 317-318. (That is, it was to compete with the
birthday of Mithras.) So confused were some about what or whom they were
worshiping that Pope Leo I (440-461) chastised Christians who on Christmas
celebrated the birth of the sun deity!
The sun cult was particularly strong at
Where did Mithraism come from, this Roman religion that
venerated the sun deity and influenced Christianity so greatly? Kenneth Scott
Latourette in A History of Christianity, traces Mithraism to the
mystery religions of
Nimrod: The Grandfather
of Paganism
Clearly, Christmas as the observance of the Savior’s birth
did not come into existence immediately. It was not observed for at least three
centuries after His birth.
But Christmas as a pagan holiday traces back thousands of
years to a man named Nimrod, founder of ancient pagan
The Madonna and child theme, which is universal or evident
in hundreds of religions down through the centuries, had its origin in
Saturnalia – Forerunner
of Modern Christmas
Tammuz, the Babylonian sun deity, was the first counterfeit
savior. Yahweh in Ezekiel 8:14-18 condemns ancient
“Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house
which was toward the north; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of
man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater
abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s
house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and
the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple
of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward
the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O
son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of
Elements of this worship are still found in today’s Christmas
rites. The Romans worshiped Tammuz as the sun deity Mithras in a special
observance called the Saturnalia. The Saturnalia was named for Saturn,
otherwise known as Cronus. Cronus is an alias for Tammuz. His wife and mother
was Rhea (Semiramis). The Saturnalia, therefore, was just another observance
for Tammuz, the Babylonian, counterfeit redeemer. The Romans kept the
Saturnalia in December, at the time of the winter solstice, in honor of the
returning sun. The festival lasted seven days. “All classes exchanged gifts,
the commonest being waxed tapers and clay dolls,” says the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, Eleventh Edition.
Legend has it that the Saturnalia was instituted by
And so the church established the birthday of the Savior to
coincide with the heathen feast day. “...the Latin Church, supreme in power,
and infallible in judgement, placed it on the 25th of December, the very day on
which the ancient Romans celebrated the feast of their goddess Bruma. Pope
Julius I was the person who made this alteration” (Clarke’s Commentary).
This fact is supported by the New International
Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 223:
“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
This blending of observances only served to confuse
worshipers. By the middle of the fifth century, Pope Leo the Great rebuked his
over-cautious flock for paying reverence to the Sun on the steps of St.
Peter’s before turning their backs on it to worship inside the westward-facing
basilica. Even some bishops, like
Protestants
Object to Christmas Observance
As the
When the Protestant movement attempted to rid itself of the
excesses and sins of Roman Catholicism, there also came an opposition to
Christmas that almost obliterated it entirely in
For a period of 12 years the staunch Puritans kept the
shackles on Christmas, making it an ordinary day of business and even a day of
fasting. Yet “with the Restoration in 1660 the citizens reclaimed Christmas,
but it was a different festival from what it had been. The religious aspects
were often neglected, with the result that the secularization of the holiday
was well under way,” ibid.
In
Henry Ward Beecher, clergyman and lecturer, wrote in 1874
of his boyhood in
Thanks for the Memories?
Can anyone who sincerely seeks to worship in purity and
truth continue practicing a legacy from rank Mystery worship?
“But Christmas gives so many memories,” some may argue.
“What’s so wrong with giving the children happiness and joy at this time of the
year?” From a purely human standpoint, probably nothing.
If Christmas existed apart from a Creator who has very clear expectations for
worship, then no harm would be done to celebrate it.
Christmas, however, is a religious holiday as well as a
secular observance. Its pagan rites Almighty Yahweh outright and forcefully
condemns in the Scriptures. Because of that fact alone we must heed when He
thunders, “Learn not the way of the heathen!” Jeremiah 10:2. Nor is it
acceptable to the Father in heaven to take only what seems to be properly
religious about Christmas and downplay the pagan attributes.
Those seeking True Worship cannot mix the holy with the
profane. Paul writes, 14: “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness? 2Corinthians
They Worshiped Trees
Space prohibits us from detailing all of the customs of
Christmas and their origins in the mystery religions of ancient peoples, but
the Christmas tree deserves special note because of its prominent role. In Old
Testament times an indispensable part of Baal worship involved the asherah, a
sacred tree stem or pole (from which we get the May pole and totem pole). The
asherah was a carryover of even more ancient tree worship. These asherah were
used by the Canaanites in what the King James Version calls “groves.” Typically
asherah sites included an altar and a stone pillar (a survivor of even older
stone-worship).
Some historians believe asherahs were connected with
phallic worship. “At first [asherah] may have been living trees (Deut.
The “green tree” is mentioned 13 times in Scripture and in
every instance it is linked with idolatry! Can we find much difference between
idolizing trees anciently and adoration of
Christmas trees today? Notice what the prophet Jeremiah wrote in connection
with tree-idol worship: “Thus says Yahweh, learn not the way of the heathen ...
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. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be
borne, because they cannot go ...” Jeremiah 10:2-5.
Although based in mystery worship, the modern Christmas
tree traces to
The ancients were very concerned about the dead vegetation
in December and the waning of the sun. Fir trees were always green, symbolic of
life, and to the ancients represented immortality in a dead world. They were
often set on fire to portray and beckon back the sun, hence the modern practice
of stringing trees with Christmas lights and round bulbs and balls. Ultimately,
the Christmas evergreen springs from that old Babylonian, Nimrod. It represents
the resurrected and reincarnated man-deity. “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. p. 98. He was reborn as
his son Tammuz.
Yule (from huel meaning wheel) was a Germanic and
Celtic sunfeast in the period December-January which became absorbed into
Christmas. It commemorated the turn of the sun and the lengthening of the
day. The Christmas tree wasn’t found in
Virtually every Christmas custom is connected with some
man-made rite or heathen tradition that has little or nothing to do with the
Bible or True Worship.
The
Right Alternative: True Bible Holy Days
In the final analysis, how could Almighty Yahweh expect His
people to observe Christmas, which is so thoroughly steeped in heathen ritual?
He kept the month as well as the day of the Savior’s birth hidden. The answer
is obvious and clear – He never wanted it to be observed! If He did, He would
have told us when and how it was to be kept, just as He did for those days He
commanded in His Word.
Clearly, if Christmas were commanded in the Bible, few
would be observing it — as opposed to the vast millions around the world who
indulge in this ritual today. That should be proof enough that Christmas is not
Scriptural. What Yahweh commands, man ignores; what He prohibits, man indulges
in.
Once we are enlightened to the truth of Christmas, we find
the holiday not only distasteful but totally unacceptable to Yahweh.
Now that you know the truth, you must make a decision. Do I
continue keeping a nonBiblical observance that Yahweh
condemns? Or do I start honoring the very days He commands in His Word for all
True Worshipers?
His seven annual Feasts are found in Leviticus 23, the only
“holidays” sanctioned in the Scriptures. These Feasts were kept by
The choice is yours, and so is the promise of salvation for all who obey and follow the Truth--
http://www.yrm.org/b-day-sun.htm
Second Article
http://www.seedofabraham.net/christmas.html
CHRISTMAS
by Richard
A. Davis
edited by
Avram Yehoshua
If we were to ask several people the meaning of Christmas,
80% of them would say, 'The birthday of Christ, of course.' Most of the others
would say, 'The day we celebrate the birthday of Christ, since we really don't
know just when He was born.' Several years ago that would have been my answer
too.
About 23 years ago, just before Christmas, my family and I had returned from
church and were listening to a well-known evangelist on the car radio. He was
saying, 'Let's put Christ back into Christmas.' The thought appealed to me and
I thought, 'Yes, let's put Christ back into Christmas.' I was surprised to hear
a small Voice within me say, 'How can you put Christ back into something He was
never in?!
This not only surprised me, but alarmed me as well. What was the meaning of
this? I had been raised in a Christian home and all my life I had been taught
that December 25th was the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ. I had accepted
that without question. Now though, I was being challenged about it. So, I set
about trying to prove what I believed.
First of all, I re-read the accounts in the Scriptures concerning the birth of
our Lord. I didn't immediately find anything there that told when He was born.
I went next to the library to research 'Christmas'. This is what I found:
'Christmas (i.e. the Mass of Christ) was not among the
earliest festivals of the Church, and before the 5th century there was no
general consensus of opinion as to when it should come on the calendar, whether
on January 6th, March 25th or December 25th.' (Encyclopedia Britannica)
'In Britain, December 25th was a festival long before the conversion to
Christianity, for Bede relates that "the ancient peoples of the Anglo
began the year on December 25th when we now celebrate the birth of the Lord;
and the very night which is now so holy to us, they called the mother's night,
by the reason we suspect of the ceremonies which in the night long vigil they
performed.'" (Encyclopedia Britannica)
'It was according to many authorities not celebrated in the first centuries of
the Christian Church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the
death of remarkable persons, rather than their birth' (Encyclopedia Americana)
'It is unknown just when it originated, but surely December 25th was not
generally observed as the date prior to Chrysostom's time (4th century) in the
Eastern Church, although much earlier in the the Western Church. There was no
uniformity in the period of observing the Nativity among the early churches.
Some held the festival in the month of April or May, others in January. January
6th was the usual date for the feast of the Nativity in the Eastern Church and
still continues to be the date in the Armenian Church.
It is impossible to establish any date as the exact time in the year of the
birth of Christ. It is often objected that December 25th cannot be the true
date, for it is then the rainy season in Israel, when shepherds would hardly
have been watching their flocks by night in the fields...' (The New
International Encyclopedia)
This much of my research had
pointed out two things. One, the encyclopedias didn't seem to have the
information as to when Christ was born. And two, that
December 25th didn't seem to be that time. What they did point out
however, was that it was not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian
Church. And that when it began to be celebrated, the date
varied among the churches. This concerned me.
A question arose. If God had wanted us to celebrate the birth of His Son,
wouldn't He have made the date known to us in His Word? My studies so far had
told me what it was not, now to find out the original reason for the
celebration of December 25th.
WHOSE
BIRTHDAY?
Further research brought more light upon the subject:
'In the 5th 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. Among the German and
Celtic tribes, the winter solstice was considered an important turning point of
the year. They held their chief festival of Yule to commemorate the return of
the burning wheel. The holly, mistletoe, Yule log and the wassail bowl are
relics and symbolic of pre-Christian times...(Encyclopedia
Americana)
'The early church was eager to replace pagan festivals by Christian ones. As
Christianity spread, the feast of winter solstice, the time when the day begins
to increase and light to triumph over darkness was easily turned into the feast
of Christ, the light of life. Many of the great beliefs and usages of the old
German and also Romans, relating to this matter, passed over from heathen
practice into Christianity and have survived to the present day.' (The New
International Encyclopedia)
Now I had found that since no one seemed to know just when
Christ was born, Christianity had adopted someone else's birthday. Who was this
Sol anyway upon which so much honor had been bestowed?
And who or what was this burning wheel? Here was a 'chief festival' held in his
honor and it had come down from pre-Christian times, and had survived to this
present day. I had to know who this was that held so much
honor.
'The early Church Fathers probably chose December 25th
because the feast of the sun, or winter solstice, was a familiar Roman feast
celebrating the victory of light over darkness. This idea was easily turned
from a pagan to a Christian one since Christians consider Christ as the light
of life.' (The World Book) 'The real birthday of Christ is unknown. In Rome it
was kept on December 25th from about 330 AD onward, when to the 'birth of the
unconquered sun' or winter solstice was opposed that of the 'sun of justice'
(Christ); it can scarcely date from the 3rd century, for the earliest
Christians did not keep birthdays.' (Collier's Encyclopedia)
Oh, there was the answer. The birth of the 'unconquered sun.' That didn't sound too
good. Not only was December 25th not the birthday of our Lord, but it was the
time that the ancient peoples celebrated the birth of the sun!
This opened up another study for me, that of sun-worship. Further study on the
subject of sun-worship took me all the way back to ancient
It seems that shortly after the Flood, man realized that the sun traveled
southward for a certain length of time, during which time the days became
shorter and shorter. Then, they noted that there was a day when a noticeable
change was observed, and the 'return of the burning wheel' was celebrated.
Light began once again to triumph over darkness; the sun was 'born again.' And
so the 'Nativity of the Sun' became the chief winter festival.
There were several other aspects of worship involved which also included the
other celestial bodies, but the sun was considered 'chief.' It was the sun that
was thought to rule the heavens and the earth. It was the thing which they
thought, gave them life.
THE TREE ,
MISTLETOE AND YULE
Then I wondered how the Christmas tree and other Christmas
favorites were associated with this winter festival. The World Book, under
Origin of Christmas Tree related this:
'Several scholars believe the Christmas tree began in early
Opening the World Book under Yule, I read this:
'The early pagans of Scandinavian countries held Yule
festivals near the end of each year. After Christianity was introduced into
This really didn't tell me the
origin of these things. However, it did say that they were a 'carry-over from
sun worship.' My studies again took me back to ancient
The mistletoe was generally found in trees that were not themselves evergreen,
so it was quite noticeable. The ancient peoples thought that those things that
stayed green all winter somehow had the substance of the gods in them (of which
the chief was the sun). So, they began to worship these ever-green things in
relation to their great Sun god. They even took new born babes and tied them to
the branches of evergreen trees. If they survived the night, they were
dedicated to the sun god.
As these practices came down from
The names of the gods seemed to vary in accordance with the name of the person
ruling the people. Each succeeding ruler of the people wanted to be deified.
The original Babylonian festival started when Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod,
claimed that overnight, an evergreen tree sprang up from a dead tree stump
beside his grave. The dead stump supposedly symbolized her dead husband Nimrod.
The new evergreen tree was Nimrod come to life again in the person of the god
Tammuz.
So, the practice of burning the dead stump began and the following morning (it
was said) the evergreen tree had appeared; the god had been 'born again' from
the dead tree stump in the form of the evergreen tree. The stump or Yule log,
represented the dead stock of Nimrod and the Christmas tree was Nimrod revived,
deified as the Sun god or the 'son of the Sun.'
THE UNDECORATED TREE
By now my head was in a spin. All of this was so new to me.
I had truly believed that December 25 was the birthday of the Lord Jesus
Christ. To find that it wasn't really bothered me. To find that it was a
carry-over from sun worship bothered me even more.
It is not an easy thing to discard from one's mind, that which had been put
into it from childhood. At this point I began to justify and said, 'Oh, it
doesn't really matter whether it is the birthday of Jesus or not. We are
honoring Him and that's all that really counts.'
Then just before the next Christmas, I was sitting by the fire one evening
reading the Bible. My wife was putting up lights around the windows and was in
the process of decorating the Christmas tree. She wanted me to come and help
her and got a bit upset when I didn't do so right away. She fell from the
ladder and that really upset her. I checked to see if she was hurt and helped
her up and then asked her to come and sit beside me. I was reading in Jeremiah
10:2-5:
'Thus says 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 peoples are vain. For one cuts 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 the hammer that it moves not.
They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not. They must be lifted to go
anywhere, because they cannot walk on their own. Be not afraid of them. For
they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.'
The words just seemed to leap out at me. My wife said, 'Oh,
but we are not worshiping the tree like they did then.' But the words 'Learn
not the way of the heathen' began to burn themselves in my mind. And I couldn't
help but see the connection between how God felt about the tree cut out of the
forest and decked with gold and silver, and our Christmas tree. I began to feel
uneasy about what we were doing 'for Jesus.'
The Christmas lights were not strung up that year and the tree remained undecorated.
Then one day, while reading in Deuteronomy 12:29-32 I saw:
'When the Lord your God has cut off before you the
nations whom you are about to enter to dispossess them, when you have
dispossessed them and live in their land, take care that you are not snared
into imitating them, after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire
concerning their gods, saying, "How did these nations worship their gods?
I also want to do the same." You must not do the same for the Lord your
God, because every abhorrent thing that the Lord hates they have done for their
gods. They would even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their
gods.You must diligently observe everything that I command you. Do not add to
it or take anything from it.'
These Scriptures came alive for
me. I began to see how I was caught in a snare not of my own making. I was
imitating the rituals for the pagan gods of
I was worshiping Jesus the way the pagans worshiped their gods. I saw that God
did not desire it. That it was not pleasing to Him.When Christmas came around
again, we found ourselves not putting up the tree or exchanging presents. It
was a little strange and there was a pull to participate, but we knew that it
wasn't of God. I did not want to sin against Jesus.
I have found since then that there is so much anxiety attached to Christmas.
Getting presents for everyone, while it seems that the whole world is doing the
same thing, is no longer missed. There is such a relief, where there was so
much pressure before. Not that pressure is bad, if it is from God. But we could
see that Christmas pressure was not His.
SANTA CLAUS
Another thing we realized quite
early that had to be discarded was Santa. Regardless of where he came from, I
knew he had to go. In Deuteronomy 4:25, the Lord talks about the Children of
Israel making 'a graven image' to provoke Him.
Some of the meanings of the word 'image' are, 'a mental picture of anything not
actually present to the senses; a picture drawn by the imagination; a symbol.'
When a man dresses to look like an imaginary figure (Santa), it's still an
image.
The practice of teaching children that Santa is the judge of their behavior,
giving them gifts if they're good, or withholding them if they're not, is
unbiblical and a lie. We set up an image in their minds as to who is watching
them. Where does God ever tell us to lie to our children, so they can feel
good? And how many times have we been told and in turn tell our children, that
Santa will bring them gifts?
How many times have you heard well meaning pastors proclaim from their pulpits
that Jesus was born on December 25th? Or that we're doing it
to honor the birth of Jesus. Where in God's Word does He tell us to
honor the birth of His Son? Because if He does not tell us, then by whose
authority are we as Christians proclaiming a holy day (Christmas) to ourselves
and the world?
Do we have authority to create a holy day unto the Lord? And if we did, why
pick a day of pagan sun-worship? I believe that if Jesus wanted us to celebrate
His birthday, we would find it somewhere in the New Testament. If not, then
it's sin.
When they finally come to the truth about Santa not being real, what will they
think about this Jesus that you've been telling them? How can a child trust us
if we lie to them? Would you really trust someone if they
continually lied to you?
You might say, 'I do it for my children. Their faces are so glad. How could I
take that away from them? Did you ever think that you could give them presents
once a month? Out of a love for them, not associated with pagan things? Why
must it be at Christmas?
Your children will give you everlasting thanks for telling them the truth and
walking in it. Truth does have its reward also. It's called Life. God's Life
and Light is not in illusion. Illusion may appear as light, but has no true
Light in it.
STILL UNDECIDED?
When we realize that all of these practices originated in
'And after these things I saw another angel come down
from the Heavens, having great power and the earth was lit by his glory. He
cried mightily with a strong voice saying, "
The Scriptures are referring to
those same practices and customs that originated in ancient
In 1st Kings 14:14 it states: 'And God will give
We have more knowledge than they did in many things. The Scriptures tell us
that to whom much is given, much is required. If they could not worship God any
way that they wanted to, how can we? If King Jeroboam could not ordain a feast,
if he could not make a day holy that God hadn't spoken of, then how can we
think that we can take a pagan day, rename it Christmas, the 'birth of Christ' and
that it would be alright with God?
The early Christian Church refused these practices. But over time, these pagan
practices were baptized with the name of 'Christian' and they gained
acceptance. But this is nothing less than a tradition of man. And we know what
Jesus had to say about those in authority teaching for the commandment of God,
the traditions of men.
If God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ had wanted us to celebrate His
birthday or His being born, don't you think that it would be found somewhere in
the New Testament?
You might say that there is good in Christmas. But what I have seen is that
Christmas time is a season where the carnal man runs around 'doing good.' If
that is not the case, then why does the world get involved with Christmas?
Since when does the world follow God? I'm saying that we need to get back to
worshiping Jesus the way He would want to be worshiped. Christmas is man giving
to God, worship He does not desire. Christmas is sin. It is an offense to our
Creator and Savior. It has no biblical leg to stand on and reeks of paganism.
As you decide (hopefully) not to keep Christmas, seek the Lord for wisdom in
how to relate this to others. Many are not ready for this. We need to be loving
and Christ-like in sharing this truth with others. As for me and my house, we
will worship the Lord...the way He chooses.
References:
The Two Babylons.................by Alexander Hislop
The Ancient Gods.........................by E.O. James
The Mother Goddess Cult..............by E.O. James
Babylon Mystery Religion...........by R. Woodrow
http://www.seedofabraham.net/christmas.html
Third Article—
http://www.religion-encyclopedia.com/C/christmas.htm
Christmas
Christmas. The Christian feast of Jesus' birth, celebrated
on 25 DEc. Its observance is first attested in
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. In Dutch it is Kerst-misse,
in Latin Dies Natalis, whence
comes the French Noël, and
Italian Il natale; in German Weihnachtsfest, from the preceeding
sacred vigil. The term Yule is of disputed origin. It is unconnected with any
word meaning "wheel". The name in Anglo-Saxon was geol, feast: geola, the name of a month (cf.
Icelandic iol a feast in December). EARLY CELEBRATION Christmas was not among the earliest
festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of
feasts; Origen, glancing perhaps at the discreditable imperial Natalitia,
asserts (in Lev. Hom. viii in Migne, P.G., XII, 495) that in the Scriptures
sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthday; Arnobius ( Finally, though never at According, however, to John of Nikiu,
Honorius, when he was present on a visit, arranged with Arcadius for the
observation of the feast on the Roman date. Kellner puts this visit in 395;
Baumstark (Oriens Chr., 1902, 441-446), between 398 and 402. The latter
relies on a letter of Jacob of Edessa quoted by George of Beeltân, asserting
that Christmas was brought to Constantinople by Arcadius and Chrysostom from
Italy, where, "according to the histories", it had been kept from
Apostolic times. Chrysostom's episcopate lasted from 398 to 402; the feast
would therefore have been introduced between these dates by Chrysostom
bishop, as at |
(2000). Text © Oxford University Press.