Why do Christians celebrate Christmas?

Question

They stole it from the pagans and slapped a fancy name on it and called it Jesus birthday and as we all know its not...

There for Christians should not get to celebrate Christmas because they stole it.

So i submit to you the Y! answers community that they should not get to celebrate it!

A Wiccan and Proud
-Why?

Answer 1

Christians celebrate Christmas because it celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ the son of God and saviour of mankind, the basis of their religion. They have every right to celebrate their religious holidays, just as any other religion.

I would recommend that you get your facts straight before accusing an entire religion of thievery, more so if you have decided to take it upon yourself to deny an entire group their right to celebrate their religion.

Christmas was not stolen from Paganism, it may have similar themes to some Pagan traditions and celebrations however it is a Christian celebration none the less and furthermore even if it were to have common traditions in common with earlier religions this is true of all religions for the very simple reason that there is no such thing as original thought, all is influenced by that which came previously and when talking about a social or cultural tradition then ideas will merge over time.

December 25th was chosen not only because it was near to the winter solstice as a matter of common sense and survival in that it is the middle of the winter and so the perfect time to celebrate, it was also calculated from religious texts to be correct in accordance to when Jesus was crucified – March 25th, also significant in other area's of Christian faith, like Pagans Christians were influenced by days of astronomical significance, as are many religions as would stand to reason. The idea was popularised within the Sextus Julius Africanus and then popularised further by it's relation to a Roman cult following the mythology surrounding Mythris who was a Persian god of light who came from the earth.

When you have a culture that is primarily Pagan then of course when a new religious movement comes through then ideas will mix – look at today, our primary religion is Christianity, however as we move into the New Age we are seeing new religions pop up where a person continues to be Christian but takes on the new ideas of the New Age movement – for example Sea of Faith Movement – that does not mean they are stealing things from Christianity, they are simply evolving.

When a large part of society was Pagan but Christianity was favoured by those in power then it would have been seen as prudent or fashionable to follow suit, in some areas even a necessity for survival. Traditions however stand strong and as such ideas from the old Pagan ways merge with the new Christian ways, it's like if your family was one religion but a family member converted bringing in new traditions, the family would start to follow and even merge both traditions from both religions.

Christians have just as much right to celebrate their traditions and holy days as any other religion, they did not steal a thing, and why should it matter anyway? A religion cannot steal a date, Pagans still celebrate their holidays, I am assuming then you mean Yule which in fact is celebrated on December 21st typically it is simply the traditions that have merged and the fact both religious holy days have similar themes is coincidence given as they were originally celebrated at different times of the year but changed in accordance to new academic ideas.

Aren't the days of the week also given names based on Pagan gods? Should Christians not be allowed to live on these days, and given as they are not gods Wicca follow perhaps then neither should you - by your own logic.

There is no pride in prejudice, it's funny your profile claims that you are open-minded but you are too closed minded to do your research or treat other religions with respect.

Answer 2

The reason that Christians began to celebrate Christ's birth on December 25th, was due to the pagan revelry that occurred during the feasts of Saturnalia and the Winter Solstice. These pagan holidays were quite a temptation for new believers in Christ, who had not learned to control their passions.

The bishops in Rome, especially, decided to give the Christians something else to do on that day, recalling the birth of Christ. Not that is was Christ's birthday, but to celebrate that He was born to save mankind. The had a Mass in honor of Christ's birth.

It is not an issue of the holiday being "stolen" per se, because the Winter Solstice has been celebrated since antiquity by pagans. However, you just don't find anyone celebrating Saturnalia anymore. This is because Christianity became the dominant faith of the western world.

Answer 3

Yes you are correct, Christmas and even Easter is a pagan thing, maybe they (the Christians who came up with the ideas) should have selected another day. My personal opinion on this is that the Christian who came up with the ideas of celebrating those two days did it with good intentions, that the birth of Christ as well as the day he rose up should be celebrated - it's just a celebration of Jesus' life, over the years things were changed. For example in the Bible it says the seventh day/Sabbath day is a Saturday but now it was made to be on a Sunday (Sunday in the beginning was a day to worship the god called the sun - if I'm not wrong).

So just move with the flow, if it's Christmas celebrate Jesus' birth, if it's Easter celebrate Jesus' resurrection, if it's Sunday keep the day holy and so on. God WILL KNOW that you did all that with the intention of worshiping him and nothing/no one else.

Answer 4

Why are you worried about it? Does it offend you? Do you have to go home and have a good cry because someone said "Merry Christmas?" If you are given a Christmas gift, do you turn it down and tell the person giving you the gift "no thanks?" Do you, did you, ever give a Christmas gift? Do you receive cards and gifts on a date before or after your actual birthday? Did you ever celebrate (party) your birthday on a date that isn't the actual date? Why would the same thing be wrong when considering Christmas? Stole it? Read the account of Christs birth in the Bible. It is believed (from ancient records)the time of year when people had to return to what might be called their home town and pay taxes was in, or around, mid to late December. The exact date is not recorded but it is believed that Dec. 25 is close. The event, what the event lead to, is what counts. and not the actual date. Let me be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas!

Answer 5

We celebrate Christmas as a commemoration of the birth of Jesus. Even though evidence tends to say he was born more towards the spring or warmer weather.

I didn't know any faith had a particular patent on any dates. How can anyone or faith steal a date? You are free to celebrate what you want when you want. Just as I am.....so why be afraid of something you don't believe in?

Yes, true the early Catholic Church used that day to help in the conversion of pagans to Christianity. True many symbols of Christmas have pagan origins. However again...I see no copyrights or patents.

Try being more tolerant of other faiths. I have Wiccan friends and I know that they would be ashamed of your question.

Answer 6

You are right it is a Pagan holiday. Or, close enough to the winter solstice AKA the birth of the new year AKA the birth of the prince of light. When the pagans were absorbed into the Christian (Catholic at that time) church they retained many of their traditions and so the church converted these traditions into Christian celebrations. That is why All Saints Day follows Halloween (All Hallows Eve). And the pagan "prince of light" has been converted to mean Jesus Christ "the light of the world".

If you study the Bible it makes more seance that shepherds would be in the fields watching their flocks by night in the spring. There are other things that would indicate that Jesus was probably born in early April.

Answer 7

Hate to breack this too you, but ahh they didn't steal it from us pagans....fraid they stole it from Mythracism wich predates christianity by fifty years... see ol Mythris was the son of an immaculate conception, born under a north star in a manger, and presided over by three wise guys. When christianity became the predominate religion of rome, the two kinda got confused, and when christanity finally got to us fun loveing pagans in western europe, somebody had the brilliant idea to take the holiday celebration of yule and tack it onto Mythris....oops i mean Jesus. So in reality they didn't so much steal as borrow and never bother to return.

It's also interesting to note that Christmas has been celbrated for less than 200 years in America, Yup up untill the 1800's it was illegal...probobly because it used to be exactly the same as Marti Gra.

Ohh and as for the Guy who posted above me:

My god is Hornier than your god. If you don't get it then you need to take some theology classes.

Answer 8

Why?,
Yep. It's a pagan festival and it has Christian stamped on it. That doesn't mean that Christianity isn't true though, which you weren't even thinking, right? You probably were just asking a question about Christmas? Right?

EDIT: Okay, why? Because it's a tradition. And because it's an occasion that is observed throughout the USA. It's a time for families to get together, and for people to be giving, and people are supposed to be joyous.

Note how many times that I mentioned Jesus in that. lol

Answer 9

If you want it back, you gotta stop calling it "Christmas"! Call it "Solstice"or "Yule" or something more descriptive of what you're trying to celebrate. That's how it got swiped in the first place. Christians saw everybody else going to the parties, drinking the punch, eating the little cocktail sausages and they got jealous. Nobody likes to look like a loser religion. So they sent out invitations, put up decorations, set out the crackers and cheese and put on the music. When guests arrived for the Sol Invictus party, they'd greet their Christian host with, "Hey, you'd better check the banner out front! What's a Christmas, anyway?" And that was it.

You just have to steal it back by being cooler about it!

Answer 10

My logic I think Christians celebrate X-mas, is for selfish reasons. Although I want to add that NOT all Christians celebrate. (At least not Jehovah's Witnesses.)

I totally understand with your viewpoint.

And too, I'd like to share a thought for those Christians that do celebrate Christmas :

Being Christians and know that liars will not inherit God's Kingdom (Rev.22:15) ...... Why are you carrying on this absurd tale of Santa Clause? Even the Easter Bunny? What kind of sense does that really make? Do you honestly think that God puts around some type of justification line drawn saying that its O.K. for you parents to lie to your children on THIS day?

Come on...... really think about that.