Christians celebrate pagan holiday

Christmas, the mere name alone has children’s eyes twinkle with delight, parents groan with pain, and store merchants dreaming of dollar signs.  But what is Christmas really all about? What is its history? Let’s first explain what the word Christmas means. The word is derived from the old English “Cristes Maesse” which means Christ-Mass.  This feast commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ.  But does it really?  

We know that from the Bible and many theologians’ writings, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Israel.  Now let’s look at what we believe to know.   Unfortunately no one is exactly sure of Christ’s birthday, but most theologians believe it to be around the end of September.  So why do we celebrate His birthday on December 25^th?    To begin with let’s examine the December 25^th date. The ancient Roman pagans held many feasts for their gods. 

Two of these feasts are celebrated in December.  The first feast was called Saturnalia festival, which celebrated the god son of Isis, from the 17^th to the 21^st.  The second feast was on the 25^th which celebrated the feast of the goddess of nature.  What?  Did you say the goddess of nature?  Yes and with this feast there was a lot of partying going on including eating, drinking and gift giving.  So why are Christians all around the world, celebrating Jesus’ birthday on December 25^th when the historians tell us he was probably born in September?  

Well it all started with one pope by the name of Julius the First way back in 350 A.D.  But before we look into Pope Julius I, let’s dig into the works of a Jewish historian by the name of Flavius Josephus.  Now Flavius Josephus calculated and believed that Jesus was born around the year of what the early church called the “murder of the innocents.” Josephus entails that King Herod the great heard of a birth of a child who would be known as king of the Jews. 

Now Herod was king over Judea and he became concerned that this child in his later years would overthrow his throne.  He then ordered that all baby boys from the age of 2 and under be killed.  Theologians tell us if this did happen this would have been before 4 B.C. for King Herod died early in that year.  Since he targeted male babies 2 years and under, Jesus could have been born around 6 or 5 B.C.  Now permit me to dig into the month of Jesus’ birth.  

We have two clues.  One clue is from the Gospel of Luke.  He talks of shepherds in the field tending their flock. “Now there were in the same country {Luke is talking of Bethlehem} living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.} Luke 2:8.  Now in Israel, winter months begin around October, with snow in Bethlehem around December to February.  Shepherds do not graze their flock in the winter months, bringing them home to shelter around early October. 

So the shepherds in Luke’s Gospel account had to be there before October.   Another clue is the census that was taken in Israel where all had to register in their own homeland.  Joseph was from Bethlehem, so he and his wife Mary would have had to travel to Bethlehem for the registration. Theologians’ believe that this census decree would not have been required in the winter months, for the weather would have made it unbearable for the travelers, and would never be held before harvest. 

Harvest in Israel ended mid-September, so the ripe time for travel would have been at the end of September.  We know from the Gospel of Luke that during this travel Mary was heavy with child, and that His birth happened during the census in Bethlehem.{ Luke 2:5-7}  So to sum up, Jesus was probably born around end of September 6 or 5 B.C.  Now let’s get back to Pope Julius I. The early Church fathers around 336 A.D. proposed a mention of celebration for the birth of Jesus. 

Since they really were not sure of the exact date, they proposed to fix it around the Old Roman Saturnalia festival which was celebrated from December 17^th to the 21^st.  In 350 A.D. Pope Julius I set the date for December 25^th on the Pagan holiday of the feast of the goddess of nature.    Pope Julius I hoped that if they fixed Jesus’ birthday on this date, many Roman pagans would be converted to Christianity.  Many Roman Pagans did just that but continued to celebrate the pagan holiday as well. 

Now the early church frowned on this tradition especially gift giving because it held pagan gods in honor; however the Roman pagans would not part with the tradition.  Eventually the church justified the giving of gifts  by researching the scriptures of the Gospel of Matthew, and finding that Saint Matthew himself testifies to the gifts that were brought to the child Jesus by the astrologers {the Bible calls them Magi which traditionally means wise} who had studied the stars for Jesus’ exact birth date.  {Matthew 2:1-12} Too bad they didn’t tell anyone else.