Christmas is one of the most important celebrations around the world. It is an important milestone for us, the end of a year, a time of gifts, celebrations, family reunions and – for practicing Christians – an emotional religious holiday.
Adoration of the ShepherdsMathias Stomer (1635-40)Although Christmas is currently a time of gifts, celebrations and family gatherings, the truth is that its origin actually responds to other historical factors that involve the powerful Roman Empire
, pagan rites and have little to do with the historical event they commemorate: The birth of baby Jesus.We all know that December 25 commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, but the truth is that the exact date of this historical event is unknown. The analysis of certain fragments of the gospels, as well as other documents from that time, has allowed historians to make different hypotheses about the birth of Jesus Christ. Some speak of April or May, while others conclude that it was in September or October.
THE PAGAN ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS
Although we normally associate the origin of Christmas with Christian myths and Catholicism, since it represents the birth of the baby Jesus; In reality, this is a mistake, at least as we have Christmas accepted today.Precisely because of this doubt between pagan Christmas and Christian Christmas, there was a case in 1990 in which the Solon (Ohio) school board decided to eliminate all representations of Christmas in any school setting, since it was a practice against of the secular State of the city, that is, it did not respect the separation between Church and State. Similarly, the board lost the lawsuit because the families argued that Christmas was a secular holiday observed by people from all over the world and that their children shouldn’t be allowed to celebrate it at school. Although the board lost the case, they did manage to eliminate the prayers and reading of the Bible, associated with the celebration of Christmas.
CHRISTMAS AND SATURN
Christmas has no Christian origins at all. As you read at the beginning of this article, the origin of Christmas is pagan. The first time we can hear of Christmas celebrated on December 25 (as we know it today) arose almost two centuries after the birth of Christ so, Christmas was still observed around the Roman-implanted image of Saturn even after the birth of the baby Jesus.
All that the Romans observed was a celebration honoring the god Saturn and marking the winter solstice, known as Roman Saturnalia. During this festival, the Romans were riotous and therefore, the few Christians who existed at that time opposed these uncontrolled celebrations. In this way, it is said that Christmas arose to replace the celebration of Saturn, king of the Sun, which in English is “sun”, which is why it was taken as the birth of the son of God, which in English is “son”. Later, when the Christian religion was imposed throughout the Roman Empire, King Justinian declared Christmas as a civic holiday, although this composure did not last long, since in the Middle Ages the Christmas holidays became days for drinking and carousing. From morning to night.In fact, if we look at ancient customs, it may seem very strange to celebrate someone’s birth since in the first centuries of the Christian Church, the deaths of important people were usually celebrated and not their births.We also have to look at the following quote to realize that, in reality, this holiday is not accepted in the Bible.For in vain do they honor me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). Christmas is a human tradition rather than a commandment from God. Christ said, “You do not follow God’s command to preserve your customs. (Mark 7:9)THE PAGAN ORIGIN OFSaturnalia was celebrated when the sun was lower in the sky and, thus, the days became longer. That symbolized growth. Saturn, the god of the Sun and fire, was revered at this period. It was also related to agriculture, since it needed the sun to be able to sow and for crops to grow. The winter festival called on this Sun god to return and the crops would continue to grow.The planet Saturn also takes the name of this God, since its rings and the color red marked this association.In the rest of the civilizations and cultures, this god of fire and the sun also existed. In Egypt they called him Vulcan, the Greeks called him Cronos, the Babylonians called him Tammuz (or Nimrod when he was resurrected in his son) and Moloch or Baal for the druids. For them, all these gods were Nimrod, considered the father of the Babylonian gods.Saturn was also considered a devourer of children because, being the father of the gods, he must have an impeccable character. Bearing the name Cronus, he tells the story that he devoured his children as they were born.If you are wondering why they considered it necessary to sacrifice children to worship this god, it is simply because they believed in fire as something divine that cleansed the sins and defects that were passed from generation to generation, so the Children had to burn them to eliminate these genetics.
SANTA CLAUS
Although in the modern age we refer to Santa Claus as Saint Nicholas, in an earlier age, Santa was the name of the god Nimrod in Asia Minor. If we think about it a little, we will see that the center of Christmas, in all its stages, has always been carried out by children. During Roman times, gifts were given to children and the poor; and the druids sacrificed children to the god they worshiped on these dates. In this same way, Nimrod or the past Santa, loved children and today distributes gifts to them.
Likewise, we must also analyze the figure of Saint Nicholas, who comes from a character called “merry Nick” or “old Nick.” If we focus on his name, Nick comes from Nikos which means “builder and destroyer”, while “Laos” means people. The Nicolaitans (followers of Saint Nicholas) are then defined as “the people who follow the destroyer”, which is, once again, Nimrod.
THE CHRISTMAS GIFTS
This Christmas tradition has its roots in the Romans, who gave and received presents during Saturnalia. Furthermore, no, this is not a Christian tradition, as you had previously surmised. Obviously, during these dates, we do not make offerings to God, but rather we make them to ourselves in the form of gifts, completely forgetting the figure of Christ. In fact, according to the Bible, birthdays should not be celebrated either, because they are being, in the same way, selfish with God who gave birth to human beings.As the Bible indicates, the moment the Three Wise Men offer gifts to the baby Jesus, it is what Christmas should really be: a time to make offerings to Christ.When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?… And when they entered the house, they saw the child with his mother. Mary, and falling down, they worshiped him; Opening his treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:1-11) history-and-origin-of-christmas-gifts-childrenIn this way, we realize that the customs and celebrations that we carry out at Christmas have nothing to do with a Christian origin and, therefore, it is not a Christian celebrity, as happens with its real origin.
THE BIRTH OF BABY JESUS
As we can read in the scriptures, from the descriptions they give us of that day, it is not possible that Christ was born on December 25. The reason explained is that the Jews sent their sheep to the deserts around Passover and they returned when the first rains arrived, which began during the fall. When Jesus was born, the sheep were grazing outdoors, so October had not yet arrived, so it is difficult to fit the birth of Jesus on December 25 and this had to be at the end of September or beginning of October.The scriptures that explain the birth of Jesus are collected in Luke and are told this way:
In the same region there were shepherds who were in the field, guarding their flocks during the night watches (Luke 2:8)But then, why do we associate December 25 with Christmas? Saturnalia was celebrated in Roman times, when gifts were shared amongst people. For this culture, December 25 celebrated the birth of Mithras, the Iranian god of Justice. They welcomed the new year by putting lights in their homes and distributing gifts to underprivileged people and little ones on January 1. By then they had acquired other Germanic and Celtic customs such as the Yule log, fir trees and food. These customs were also typical of the Christmas Festival.December 25 was not chosen for Christmas because it was the birth of Christ, but rather it was the best way to replace Saturnalia, a pagan celebration that, when the ecclesiastical world took over, had to be completely exterminated.
WHY IS DECEMBER 25 CELEBRATED?
The most consistent explanation from historians is that the origin of Christmas was related to a series of decisions made by the high command of the Christian church in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The most important of these is thought to have been Pope Julius I’s motion in 350 to celebrate Christmas on December 25. This was decreed 4 years later by Pope Liberius.The reason for choosing this date is related to the need for the recently made official Christian religion to impose itself on the traditional pagan Roman cults. In December, the cult of Saturn, god of agriculture (main sustenance and economic activity of these peoples), was celebrated – in the large space occupied by the Roman Empire. Saturnalia took place from December 17 to 23, the shortest days of the year, and then December 25 was considered the birth of the new sun.The Christian church then chose December 25 as the day of Jesus’ birth as a strategy in its expansion process, in which it systematically sought to absorb and merge its celebrations with the pagan rites of the various converted peoples.The Christmas ritual evolved over the centuries, what we celebrate today is very distant from these first Christmases, and responds mainly to customs originating in the 19th century and the influence of the consumer society.In any case, the true story of the origin of Christmas should not distance us from our personal and family beliefs. Since the essence of these festivals transcends the historical, and resides in the spiritual, and it is very good that this is so.