Christmas, Pagan Origins of

Richard Ritenbaugh, acknowledging that our culture has been oversaturated with Christmas paraphernalia, honoring Christ's supposed birth on December 25th, reminds us that God has never commanded us to commemorate the time of His birth, but instead to annually observe the time of his death. Many 'Christian' leaders embrace a celebration that has undeniably pagan roots, stemming from the winter solstice festivals, observing the rebirth of the sun. John Chrysostom, by miscalculating the course of Abijah, thought he had made a case for a December 25th birth of Christ. Baptist scholar, author, and pastor John Piper proclaims that he sympathizes with those rigorous Christians who are alarmed about the origin of Christmas having pagan roots, but suggests that the roots are so far gone that it does not matter. Piper contends that even if these roots connect Christmas to pagan worship, it is worth "the risk," to enshrine Christmas as a Christian holiday because we moderns have placed a more "sanctified" meaning on it. The difficulty with Piper's position is that neither he nor any other human can sanctify anything; only God has that prerogative.

David Grabbe, taking issue with antinomian Protestant clerics who boldly claim that God's law was nailed to the cross, or that the law of love nullifies God's law, reminds us that God promised to write His Law on our hearts and minds—part of the proclamation of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8, compare Jeremiah 31). God's act of writing His Law on our hearts is not instantaneous. Rather, it requires time. Paul, when he chastised the Corinthian congregation for tolerating a man marrying his step-mother, reminded the people that such sins would not even be tolerated by the Gentiles, whose consciences had many of God's moral principles written on them. Overcoming sin and building character require constant practice. When we do miss the mark, God gives us another test to rewrite over our previous error. When we experience the consequences of our sins, we experience the depth of how bad it is. God is working out something more profound and important than "fairness." Trials and tests are not meant to crush us. We need to develop the reflex response of choosing God, allowing Him to write His word on our heart. When we let down, we automatically regress, and our senses become dulled. We must keep our hearts soft, realizing that God's laws are holy, spiritual, just, and good.

Kim Myers, warning teenagers and young adults, who will be starting their own families shortly, to avoid the world's holidays (Satan's counterfeit 'Holy Days'), explains the pagan origins of New Years, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and birthdays. The most universal of the counterfeit festivals is New Year's, derived from the Saturnalia sun worship, involving orgies, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, and child sacrifice. The accoutrements surrounding Easter-eggs, rabbits, ham, and hot-cross buns all derive from the Babylonian mystery religion involving Semiramis, Nimrod, and Tammuz. Halloween and the Day of the Dead derive from the Celtic Festival of Samhain, a time the Irish lit bonfires and put on costumes to ward off ghosts. These ancient customs began two generations after Noah and his family left the ark, with Ham's grandson Nimrod. Most thinking people are aware of the pagan origins of these customs, but Satan entices them into accepting them through the appeal of pleasing children and grandchildren with something fun. As God's called out ones, we should not let Satan guilt us into compromise; we should not be afraid of being weirdos and oddballs, swimming upstream against a Satanic culture hurtling toward perdition and disintegration.

Martin Collins, warning us not to be swept up in the bandwagon effect of compromising with sin, challenges us to make sure our convictions are not merely preferences. Solomon, a man gifted with immense wisdom, and whose preparation for leadership involved writing out the Book of Deuteronomy, nevertheless succumbed to incremental compromising, including 1.) multiplying horses (the equivalent of today's arms race by a dominating military—industrial complex), 2.) multiplying wives (for political advantage leading eventually to turning away from God's counsel), and 3.) multiplying wealth (leading to a false estimation of invincibility and to the temptation of corruption). The longer the leaders of the Israelitish nations 'serve,' the more corrupt and vile they become. Like the leaders of ancient Israel, syncretizing religion with the pagan nations around them, so are the leaders of the Israelitish nations, encouraging a one world religion worshiping the earth via the lie of global warming embraced by the Vatican, the New Agers, the Nones, and the Wiccans alike. It is vitally important that God's called-out ones do not compromise core doctrines for the sake of expediency in piecemeal fashion until they become totally desensitized to sin. In doing so, they tacitly accept mainstream Christianity's trashing of God's truth, after the manner of Constantine, replacing the worship of God with the worship of the unconquered sun.

Ryan McClure, acknowledging that our culture is in a 'post trust' and 'post truth' period with the majority of mankind not yet called, reminds us that God's called-out ones cannot stop proving all things, even though they may think they have proved everything already. Our entire spiritual walk requires that we exercise the gift of the Holy Spirit, continually testing, retesting, proving, and reproving all things. By doing this, we continue to grow spiritually. By perennially proving all things, we will be convicted and able to teach others. The days of deception are here. God is allowing us to be tested on a daily and yearly basis to see if we are willing to prove all things again.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh:  As I hustled through an office park on my daily morning walk, a woman arriving for work responded to my “Good morning” with, “Merry Christmas!” I waved politely and walked on. ...

Ronny H. Graham:  Many years ago, while talking to an acquaintance, the subject of Christmas came up. I told him up front, "I don't celebrate Christmas." He replied ...

Mike Ford, observing that we are being carpet-bombed by Christmas tunes this time of the year, reflects that a scarcity of information exists in the literature of the Church of the Great God about the pagan origin of the event adjacent to Saturnalia festival—New Year’s Eve. An article appeared in the 1964 Plain Truth magazine, penned by William H. Ellis, titled The Plain Truth About NEW YEAR'S EVE!, drawing on the primary source 4,000 Years of Christmas, authored by Episcopal priest Earl Count who, although recognizing the pagan origins of the mid-winter fire festivals, embraces these syncretized customs as “Christian” customs, morphed from pagan to Christian under the watchful care of the Church Fathers. Pope Gregory, a rabid anti-Semite, proclaimed January 1, 1578 as the day Judaism allegedly ended and Christianity begun, allowing taxation and confiscating of Jewish property and eventually death to Jews who refused to convert to Catholicism. Pope Sylvester, whose sainthood day is commemorated on December 31, urged that the New Year be brought in by killing Jews. New Year’s celebrations often involve drunkenness, debauchery, and adultery. From these customs and traditions of the world, rooted in the Babylonian system, we have been commanded to extricate ourselves.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh:  Despite the continuing secularization of our society, people remain fascinated and curious about the historical basis for the life of Jesus Christ. ...

John Reid, anticipating the pressure to conform and compromise placed on God's called-out ones in the coming years, admonishes all of us, that though we may feel worn out, we will ultimately prevail in the end. If the beast power succeeds in revising the calendar, it will make keeping God's laws more challenging and dangerously difficult. In modern Israel violent crime is on the rise. Abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, secular progressivism, hopelessly corrupt government, denying God's sovereignty, are reaping a horrible crop of curses, further wearing out the saints. Satan has already captured the world, but he cannot succeed until he has compromised the Saints. We must resist the darkness, keeping our light shining at all times. As God's called out ones, we must warn or caution our brethren against danger, comforting one another, praying without ceasing, holding fast to and proving what is true, abstaining from evil, praying for the ministry, anticipating the reward at the end of the spiritual trek.

Martin Collins, initially focusing on the commission of God's prophets as God's watchmen and messengers, switches his emphasis to the false prophets, those promoting the broad way, giving people what they want to hear. In the Roman Catholic Church, every month of the year was at one time a birth month of Christ. Finally, the Pagan date for the rebirth of the sun, or Saturnalia, was selected to resolve the hopelessly confused issue. Prophets, who falsely speak in God's name, prophesying lies, are particularly odious to God Almighty, causing people to go into captivity. The false prophets lead people away from God's way of life, causing them to forget His name, replacing God's truth with human tradition, telling people what they want to hear. Penalties were severe in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, proscribing the death penalty for falsehood. Christ warned against false prophets in the Sermon on the Mount and the Olivet prophecy, both from outside and inside the church, promising liberty by preaching against the Law of God. Even though the false prophets and teachers are subtle, they are easy to identify if one examines the fruit. The law of biogenesis demonstrates that good fruit cannot come from a bad tree. Even though they may be persuasive and gentle, promising liberty, they deliver depression and discouragement, and like wolves, desire to tear the flock to shreds.

Martin Collins, citing a Protestant commentator's article about the problem with Christmas, an article which admits pagan origin of this holiday and its contribution to religious confusion, marvels that the author wants to salvage the holiday anyway, even though it totally scuttles the truth. Human nature would rather indulge in pagan lies and idolatry, taking pleasure in unrighteousness, rather than be corrected or guided by truth. Christmas thrives in this syncretistic culture, having adopted the Roman Brumalia-Saturnalia festival, celebrating the birth of the invincible sun. The Roman Catholic Church carefully blended a little truth with a lot of falsehood in order to have the birthday of the Son of God coincide with the birth of the invincible sun. This shameless syncretism does not have God's endorsement. God does not approve of false ministers who try to appropriate God's words to promote their selfish ends, turning peoples' hearts away from Him. Pagan customs cannot be assimilated into the truth, as our forebears learned that worshipping a golden calf does not coincide with worshipping God. Christians need to extricate themselves from the worshiping of Satan. Regarding our beliefs, we must always start with God, not man, and that we regard the Bible, not human reason as our ultimate authority. Christmas seems to thrive on covetousness and the way of get, while God's holy days encourage the way of give.

Ronny Graham, reflecting on the world's holiday of Christmas, suggests that if it really is Christ's birthday, it is strange that everybody else except Christ receives a gift. Christmas does not celebrate Christ's birth, but all of its trappings derive from worldly mythical pagan sources, including Samhain and Old Nick (another name for the Devil). Mistletoe is a poisonous herb, but ironically serves as a counterfeit of the tree of life. The Christmas tree, alternately associated with the tree spirit, the trinity, and the Virgin Mary, totally derives from pagan sources. A cult of Shamanism in northern Europe used the hallucinogenic mushroom as their mystical 'eucharist' celebrating the 'Christmas season' long before Christ was born. Nothing in the symbolism of the season has anything to do with Christ or His birth.

John W. Ritenbaugh:  This morning, upon opening the inbox of my email account, I discovered an item declaring that the United States Postal Service has issued a stamp commemorating the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. ...

Martin Collins suggests that when we look upon the modern preoccupation with political correctness and the wholesale abandoning of moral principles, we can see parallels with Paul's grieving over his countrymen for having zeal and sincerity, but rejecting their Savior. Today also there is a big disconnect between sincerity and truth, as is seen in the current political scene, in which the current players are calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20), infested with doublespeak, in which communism is "communitarianism" and socialism is "government partnership." It is dangerous to judge the value of something on the basis of misplaced 'sincerity,' which is often the opposite of godly sincerity. Godly sincerity must be paired with the truth, but worldly 'sincerity' does not require truth. Ironically, seeking has become more important than finding. Today society does not care about the real outcome just as long as one is 'sincere.' Tragically, sincerity is not a guarantee of truth. A sincere zealot, Paul of Tarsus, had to be rewired according to the truth in order for his sincerity and zeal to be useful. Knowledge and truth must trump zeal and sincerity in all cases. Sincerity cannot sanitize syncretistic religious defilement, namely Christmas and Easter, firmly rooted in paganism, particularly the cult of the sun. No zealous, sincere, carnal human being, equipped with a hopelessly reprobate mind, can decide what God wants, nor has the capability of living by God's standards. Sincerity without truth is worthless, but sincerity with God's truth is valuable.

In Dr. M. Scott Peck's disturbing book, People of the Lie, he tells the story of Bobby, a young man clearly suffering from depression. ...

The winter solstice has just passed, beginning the coldest three months of the year, and this means that Christmas is only days away. ...

Three brief essays, two by Richard Ritenbaugh and one by David Grabbe, contemplate the contradictions in Christmas, the modern debate over Christmas in an increasingly secular society, and the Christmas season as a time true Christians can make a godly witness.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh:  An anonymous quotation making the rounds of the Internet this year runs, "Christmas is weird. What other time of year do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of your socks?" Though it may induce a chuckle from its readers, most people either miss or ignore the larger point: Christmas is a bundle of contradictions, inanities, and outright lies. ...

...Written by Joe Kovacs, "Christmas in America becomes battleground" reveals the pagan origins of this esteemed tradition and demonstrates why increasing numbers of "fundamentalist Christians" are realizing that one cannot "put Christ" back into something in which He never was. ...

Mike Ford asserts that the major religious festivals—Easter, Halloween, All Souls' Day, Christmas—are all derived from sex, fertility, and sun worship. Pornographic pictures and condoms in cemeteries currently punctuate Catholic ritual (mixed with Voodoo) in Haiti. Christmas derives from the incestuous relationship of Semiramis and Nimrod, the prototype for the Catholic mother (Semiramis, Isis, Astarte, Venus) and child (Adonis, Baal, Tammuz, Horus). Ezekiel 8 depicts blasphemous sun—"son"—worship, which is unabashedly practiced in worldly "Christendom."

...Now, let us turn to the Scripture where God tells us to celebrate His Son's birth: —. Yes, that is correct. No place in either Testament tells us to honor our Savior by having a birthday bash for Him each year. Strangely enough, Jesus Himself tells us to remember, not His birth, but His death (Luke 21:14-20; I Corinthians 11:23-26)! ...

Many think keeping Christmas is fine because it honors Christ, yet God never tells us to celebrate the day of His Son's birth. John Ritenbaugh explains that it is presumptuous on many Christians' parts to believe that such a syncretized holiday could please God.

Three of the seven churches of Revelation 2 receive warnings from Christ to beware Nicolaitanism. What is it? Richard Ritenbaugh shows how Nicolaitanism—a form of Gnosticism—still plagues the church today.

As another Christmas season approaches, many in God's church dread having to endure it. Have you ever wondered how our children feel about it? What can we do to help them, not only to get through it, but also to understand why God's way is so much better?

Christmas is a very blatant form of syncretism, the melding of religious ideas and practices into one. Martin Collins explains some of the origins of Christmas and why these facts should cause us to reject this holiday.

Mike Ford takes a few stabs at Christmas trees, lights and Barbie dolls—all, believe it or not, traceable to pagan customs!

Where did we get Christmas—from the Bible, or paganism? Here are the astonishing facts which may shock you! Test yourself. How much do you know of the origin of the Christmas tree—of "Santa Claus"—of the mistletoe—of the holly wreath—of the custom of exchanging gifts?