If you are all excited about the advent of the holiday season, if Christmas traditions mean more to you than the one whom society professes to honor thereby, then read no further. You'll only be offended, become depressed, and likely even be resentful of the things said herein.
If, on the other hand, you truly intend to honor the man born of a virgin some two thousand years ago, then please do read on, thoughtfully. You will be enlightened.
We begin by asking, "What is Christmas?" The word itself, when broken into its components, Christ and mas(s), suggests that it is a mass in honor of Christ. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with the Bible, it may come as a surprise to learn that much of what pertains to Catholicism has nothing to do with the Bible. The Catholic mass is an example. The term "mass" describes something unknown in the word of God. (See box on page 3: "Catholic Mass is not Biblical Communion".) Then what is Christmas and from whence did it come?
It is a well known fact that, along with many other elements of Catholicism, many of the traditions associated with Christmas have their origins in Paganism. A little background will be helpful in showing how this came about.
During the first three centuries of its existence, the church of Jesus Christ (that is, Christians) was persecuted, often officially. To confess Christ was to put oneself at risk, sometimes of death (1 Peter 4:12-16, Revelation 2:9-10, 6:9-11). One did not usually confess Christ lightly.
With Constantine, however, came a public embracing of Christianity, or at least of the trappings thereof. Constantine apparently saw in Christianity a means by which his fragmented and ailing empire could be united. The pagan religions certainly were not going to be the cement of the empire, and Christianity had proven itself powerful enough to thrive in spite of persecution. And so it was that the Edict of Milan was issued in A.D. 313, and Constantine began to flaunt his new found fondness for things which he associated with Christianity. According to church historian, Philip Schaff, "Christianity became a matter of fashion. The number of hypocrites and formal professors rapidly increased" (History of the Christian Church, vol. 3, p. 125).
In fact, even prior to Constantine, a perverted Christianity had begun to develop. Sometimes motivated by a desire to thwart heresy, and sometimes motivated by power lust, men had been centralizing religious authority, supposing that the church of Christ was an entity much like an earthly kingdom. Suchinstitutionalization and centralization of religious authority in the hands of men was accelerated when the emperor embraced at least the terminology of Christianity. It was Constantine who called and directed the first of what came to be known as the ecumenical councils. All of this was involved in the structural evolution of the Roman Catholic church.
But the lack of spirituality among the growing number of professors also had much to do with the developing identity of this incipient Roman Catholic Church. As old stigmas disappeared and this perverted Christianity became popular, there was no longer any danger associated with claiming the name of Christ. There was nothing to lose and everything to gain. "Converts" were often not converted inwardly. Having no real convictions concerning the Christ and his word, they remained fashioned according to their former lusts. Likewise, they retained their attachment to the various superstitions, festivities, and rituals of their pagan religions. This was precisely the case with Constantine himself. While desiring to be looked upon as head of the Christian church, he retained his title, Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest of the pagan state religion. He continued to seek the favor of and honor pagan deities. And as late as A.D. 321, he still consulted regularly with soothsayers.
In some cases, those who had gained power in the evolving hierarchy of what would become Catholicism readily accommodated the traditions of pagan religion by attaching some "Christian" significance to them. Thus, as Schaff observed,
The christianizing of the state amounted therefore in great measure to a paganizing and secularizing of the church....The mass of the Roman empire...smuggled heathen manners and practices into the sanctuary under a new name (p. 93)
This is the background of the origin of Christmas.
The time of Jesus' birth had nothing to do with the origin of Christmas: There never has been any indication that Jesus was born on or about December 25. Rather, the time of certain pagan festivities lay behind its origin. The following is taken from the Chicago Tribune, December 12, 1979:
In the Roman world, Dec. 25 was considered the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun, the Natalis Solis Invicti. Each year a feast took place just after the winter solstice of the Julian calendar, in honor of the Sun God, Mithras. By the year A.D. 274, Mithras had become so popular that the cult of Sol Invictus was proclaimed the Roman Empire's official state religion....Meanwhile, other pagan forces were at work in Rome. From Dec. 17 to 23, Romans celebrated the ancient feast of the Saturnalia, a time of jubilation. The period commemorated the golden Age of Saturn, the pagan god of sowing and husbandry.
It was the name of the Sun-god, Sol Invictus, that appeared on one side of the coins Constantine minted. On the other side appeared the name of Christ. Just as Constantine's coins intermingled paganism with the name of Christ, so also many of the feasts and rituals of paganism were intermingled with Christian, or pseudo-Christian, terminology. Such was the origin of Christmas.
Perhaps more significant than the pagan origin of Christmas is the pagan behavior that, even today, is associated with Christmas. A recently published article by Dudley Ross Spears, a brother in Christ, included the following:
Around the world, this holiday will be celebrated, allegedly as an honor to the birth of Jesus Christ. Yet, sociologists tell us in unison that there will be more domestic violence, more alcoholic related injuries and death, more money spent uselessly, more infidelity by marital partners, than at any other time of the year. The annual office party, which is usually nothing more than a "drinking party," furnishes the stage for many adulterous relationships to be spawned. The drinking begins, the party gets rolling along rapidly, and at the end, dozens of drunk and half-drunk people stagger toward an automobile, ignition keys in hand. Is this really the way and the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus?
Christmas, then, is an adaptation of ancient pagan religious festivals, and an occasion of lasciviousness and revelry, and only ostensibly an honoring of Jesus. One might even go so far as to say that for many, it is very important to stress the supposed "Christian" significance of Christmas in order to salve their consciences for the licentious behavior in which they engage at this time of year.
At this point, you may be wondering if we have never experienced the childhood thrill of eagerly descending the stairs early Christmas morning to be greeted by an abundance of sparkling, gift-wrapped packages under a festively decorated tree. Surely, you may think, the generosity of the season, the love of family and time to be together, should provide convincing evidence of the goodness of Christmas. Surely the glow of the Christmas tree lights on the soft young skin of a toddler just old enough to be amazed by the sights of Christmas morning would cause even the grumpiest scrooge to see the real meaning of Christmas. As I write these words, hardly more than 150 feet away are hundreds of young people happily joining their voices to sing traditional carols and hymns. What can be wrong with all this?
But that which is good never makes that which is bad to be good. Generosity, love, joy, and even song are all found in Christ, and were found in Christ, before there was any such thing as Christmas. It was Jesus who said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35), and his apostle who wrote, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God" (Colossians 3:16). The question is not, what is wrong with those things, but rather, why should we let that which is wrong spoil such things.
Some will observe that we are not pagans and do not intend to worship the sun. True enough. Furthermore, the improprieties of some during this season do not in and of themselves make the observance of the season wrong. Again, we must agree. Then what is wrong with sincere Christians setting aside a day, any day, in this case, December 25th, to honor the birth of our Lord? Well, put that way, nothing. Perhaps on one day a Christian will contemplate the Lord's ascension, and on another day, the Lord's birth. The words of Galatians 4:4 would certainly be an appropriate theme for a Christian's meditation and praise: "When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons."
But let's be honest, that's not Christmas. Were an individual to do simply that, no one would recognize Christmas in his activities. Christmas is inherently the traditions derived from paganism. How can such honor Christ? For people who find religious significance in Christmas, Christmas is the special Christ-mass, or some semblance thereof; and Christmas is celebrated as the actual birthday of Jesus, and consequently as an inherently holy day.
Carefully note this point: We cannot possibly please God by setting up our own means of worshipping Him. Paul called worship contrived by man "will worship", or, in another translation, "self-made religion", and condemned it (Colossians 2:23; read the entire context from 2:8 through 2:23). Jereboam sinned by instituting a day of atonement which was "like the one feast which is in Judah," the one ordained by God, but on a different day. The inspired text indicts Jereboam because "he devised in his own heart" a month for a holy day (1 Kings 12:32-33). Even though they were offering incense to the Lord, Nadab and Abihu failed to treat Him as holy because they used fire from a source other than that which was prescribed (Leviticus 10:1-3). They were consumed by fire from the Lord for their transgression. Christmas, with all that the word entails, is man-made, and therefore an unacceptable means of worship. Worship by definition is an act recognizing the one who is worshipped as lord. If he is lord, whose will should prevail? If I dictate the means of worshipping, whose will does prevail? Do you see the point? Worshipping God in my own way is a contradiction. To worship God, I must do so according to His will.
Often we hear of those who wish to put Christ back into Christmas. They seem to want to honor Christ, and realize that Christmas as observed by most people fails to do the job. But we have attempted to demonstrate that Christ was not in Christmas from its beginning. What needs doing is not putting Christ back into Christmas, but putting Christ in our lives.
It seems passing strange that a work place where "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night" can be sung during the month of December is also a work place where everyone would look askance at an employee who carried a Bible. And it is absolutely nauseating to hear entertainers piously intone such hymns when the vilest profanities and the most ungodly philosophies characteristically spew forth from their mouths. Christmas is not a day honoring the Lord we serve. It is rather a substitute for the religion of the Lord whom we don't serve! Forget about Christmas. Let's start trying to be Christians.