Christmas
Christmas is the time of year that we observe the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus. How did we come to decide December 25th to use as his Birthday? And how did trees, mistle toe, gift giving, etc ... all come into being?
The early church had a hard time getting off the ground. If it was not
persecution from the Jewish leaders who denied Jesus was the son of God, It was
from the ruling government of Rome that denied the God of the Israel. There was a lot of persecution to believers in those
days.
In the 3rd century when Constantine was Emperor of Rome, he had a vision that caused him to believe
in Jesus. There are many web sites (and many versions) that go into detail of his conversion . He is the
one that legalized Christianity. And based on who's version you read, explains how Pagan worship and
Christianity were combined.
On one hand, some believe that the early church fathers, in an attempt to draw people away from their pagan worship, tried to "convert" their pagan practice into "Christian" ways of worship.
Some believe that in an effort to create harmony Constantine took the pagan worship practices and
combined it with the Christian faith to make everyone OK with what they do. Romans worshiped Saturnalia
(Roman sun God). During the winter solstice, the Romans in their worship of Saturnalia would included fir
trees (evergreen), boughs, mistle toe, gift giving, merry making etc ...... to bring in the longer days
and warmer weather. Everything they used to worship Saturnalia, we use on a day that we observe as the
birth of Jesus.
You COULD call that coincidental. I don't think so.
Deut 12:29-322
"When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to
dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 30 take heed to
yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from
before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did
these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' 31 You shall not
worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which
He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and
daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 Whatever I command you, be careful to
observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
NKJV
For me, there is certainly nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of the Messiah.
Though it is not a "Biblical" holiday, I don't think that it makes it wrong.
Why wouldn't we want to celebrate such a thing?
For the majority of people, Christmas has become more of a tradition heavily
influenced by the marketing world.
And it is sad that people focus on the material aspects of
Christmas rather than on "Christ". But I do still believe that, even though Christmas
has become nothing more than a time of "Merry making" for most people, there is
still a "Spirit" of Goodness that touches the lives of people
everywhere around me. Though I can not explain it, I can not deny it.
Decide for yourself. I have a lot of faith in Jesus.
But the love and fear of God makes me want to change my traditions so as not to dishonor him. He is the same God Yesterday,
today and forever. At the very least, I hope you will recognize that the things handed down to us from tradition are
rooted in Pagan worship. Below are a few of sites that tell the story of "Christmas".
It's about Worshiping God in Spirit and Truth!
Brumalia is...
...Brumalia was an ancient Greek solstice festival honoring Dionysus, generally held on December 25. The festival included
drinking and merriment.
Winter solstice is when...
...because of the earth's tilt, your hemisphere is leaning farthest away from
the sun, and therefore:
The daylight is the shortest.
The sun has its lowest arc in the sky.
Saturnalia is one of the best known ancient celebrations of the Winter Solstice. The name comes from the Roman God Saturn, who ruled over agriculture. He was the main God honored at this time, after the fall crops had been sown. Saturnalia lasted for several days (typically 7, but various officials changed the length of the festival on a few occasions). Saturnalia was the greatest festival of the Roman year, and was marked with great feasting, gift-giving, dancing, playing, and relaxing. Homes were decorated, work was suspended, and there was general merry-making done by all.
Macro History A link to the history of Constantine
Wikipedea; on-line dictionary/ Brumalia
Wikipedea; on-line dictionary/ Dionysus
Pagan websites describing some of the Pagan origins of our Christmas traditions from their perspective.
