Originally was Christmas???????

Question

A Pagan holiday...that was stolen by Christians?? and if so what did 'christmas' mean to the pagans & how did they celebrate it....and if it wasnt...why do we clebrate Christs birthday in December when he wasn't born in december?

Answer 1

Does it really matter why we celebrate Christ's birth in December.

k1

Answer 2

December is the month of the winter solstice, which the Pagans worshipped in various ways. The Pagans were not the only ones who looked forward to the winter solstice ( Egyptian, Aztec, Incans, American Indians even ).

The reason we celebrate Christmas in December is because the Roman empire combined a lot of Christian and Pagen beliefs to appease the masses. By comprimising on holidays, traditions, ext the Roman empire could rule it's people without the fear of a religious uprising.

Several hundred years later, the real reason is lost, and we just do what we do because we don't know any better...or don't care.

Answer 3

It seems there was a pagan festival in December.

When Christians got some privileges under the new government, they decided to have public celebration of Christ's Nativity. Converts felt uncomfortable with their old pagan festivities; so as Christians they decided to celebrate Christ at that same time.

Unfortunately, in the past fifty years or so many have decided to have pagan celebrations again, but still keep the name CHRISTmas.

We recognize that Christ may have been born in some month other than December ... but, also, that He may have been born in December. Possibly even December 25th. [There may have been a global warming period of time then, too.]

Answer 4

The Christmas holiday is so placed as it was to coincide with the winter solstice,which is the day of the year with the longest period of darkness. Much of the pagan tradition is based in being in touch with the Earth in such ways as changing of seasons etc. How they may have celebrated is a question you will have to ask a person more in touch with pagan tradition than I. As for the reason,it's the same reason that many Christian holidays are celebrated in such a way that they align with pagan holidays,when these things were decided,in the Council of Niceae they were essentially replacing the pagan traditions with Christianity with the blessing of the Emperor Constantine,himself a life long Pagan. Whether or not he was putting in Christianity of his own volition or as a way to keep the Roman Empire from being torn apart by religious war is subject to debate. My personal opinion is that he simply wished to save the empire from ongoing civil strife.

AD

Answer 5

Yes. What we today call Christmas was originally a Roman holiday of the Pagan Sun god.
Remember that pagans accepted Christianity...so where is the confusion?
Sunday is also a day of the week..all pagan.
About you objection to celebrating Christ's birthday in December; it's a petty matter.

Answer 6

Here is a good explanation of the origins of Christmas and Easter :

http://ccg.org/english/s/p235.html\

Most Christians don't have a clue as to the origins or they know a little about where it came from but having been taught deceptive ideals about the OT no longer being valid, the law and feasts that God instituded being no longer necessary, they believe that it is okay to celebrate pagan feasts as Christian feasts even though many of the traditions are exactly the same and that none of these feasts are celebrated by the early Christians in the Bible.

Answer 7

Well, the Pagan holiday for December is Winter Solstice.
The death of the solor year/ rebirth of the Sun (god).

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the holy Son.

See any conection here? The Christions ( from back in the old days) did. So instead of partying in, (think Christ was born in Febuary) Feb., They celebrated it in December to make it easier to try and convert Pagans into Christions.

Just as those Christions built their own temples over the sites of old Pagan temples. Pagans were already going to that location...
invite them in...and try to convert them.

Answer 8

I hate when people copy and paste. But, there is too much here to just write it out.

The real reason for the season
Many mainstream Christmas traditions stem from original Pagan practices. Though Christian origins and associations have been attributed to many of these traditions, they do in fact pre-date Christianity.
Yule Log - A special log was chosen on the eve of Yule, for the holiday fire. A small piece from last year's log is used to light the fire. The lighting of the fire was a festive family event, to hurry the return of the sun. Charred pieces from the fire would be kept to protect the house through the coming year. The woods most often sought for the Yule log were birch, oak willow or holly. Today, the Yule log is sometimes represented as a log cake instead. Or a small log is decorated with candles. The burning of the Yule log is a well-known tradition, but it's not often done outside of the Pagan community anymore.

Kissing Under Mistletoe - The roots of this habit are unknown, but is likely tied with the fertility aspects of mistletoe and that it was viewed as a bringer of peace by the Druids. Mistletoe was also a powerful healing herb. Mistletoe and kissing are also seen in one of the Norse myths: Frigga is the Norse Goddess of love, marriage and fertility. Her son, Balder was slain by Loki with an arrrow made from mistletoe. When Balder was restored to life, Frigga blessed the mistletoe and gave a kiss to anyone who passed under it. Some later versions of this tradition say to remove one berry with each kiss. When there are no more berries on the sprig of mistletoe, no more kisses.

Tree Decorating - There is some debate on the origin of this tradition. Druids (and some other ancient cultures) saw evergreen trees as symbols of everlasting life, because they seemed to live through the winter undaunted by the cold. So using evergreen branches as decorations symbolized the undying strength of the Sun. Decorating the trees may have come from the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia (see below for more on Saturnlia).

Gift Giving - The Christians attribute the giving of gifts at Christmas to the wise men who brough gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Jesus. But this tradition was common well before the time of Jesus, during Saturnalia.

The Ancient Roman Festival of Saturnalia
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 honoured 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 occassions). Saturnlia 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.

The church was trying to get converts, and letting the people still celebrate their old holidays was an easy way to do it. So, Jesus suddenly was born on Christmas.

Answer 9

This is a common question and it represents a common misperception. All religions, when they spread, intentionally use the culture's existing holidays and rituals and concepts because it's the best way to present their own teachings (by changing the symbolism of course). Buddhism did this as it spread (e.g. mixing with Taoism, Confucianism, etc.). Christians did this intentionally as well. Given that the Paulean communities (non-Jewish) were the primary force behind this new religion, the use of their existing pagan rituals and beliefs was logical (and, again, intended). 'Christmas' is purely Christian -- meaning, the pagan holiday/belief that it integrated itself with had the symbols and customs reinterpreted to present Christian teachings. To concentrate on the literalness of the elements and the dates (and to think in terms of the original pagan meaning) is a misunderstanding of this standard mechanism. It's very important to think about this and realize what's being said; otherwise, we become blinded by sophomoric pedantry that makes us misunderstand.

Answer 10

Of course it was. The celebration of Christs birth by early christians was moved to december so they could celebrate it during some Roman holiday in order to conceal the festivities. Over time the original day was lost.

Answer 11

The Messiah did not want us to celebrate his so called birthday to remember him, in the Holy Scriptures, he gives us the proper way to remember him........

Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME!!!!!!!!

No where did he say to celebrate his birthday. In fact there are only 2 birthday celebrations mentioned in the Scriptures, and both ended with someone being killed, what does this tell you? Did the patriarchs celebrated birthdays? No mention of them celebrating either. Christmas is none other then pagan god worship and which is also know as the traditions of men!

Mar7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

8 For laying aside the Laws (commandment) of Yahweh, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the Laws (commandment) of Yahweh, that ye may keep your own tradition.


In the Roman world, the Saturnalia was a time of merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. December 25th was also regarded as the birthdate of the Iranian Mystery god, Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness.
On the Roman New Year houses were decorated with greenery and lights and gifts were given to children.
To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites...Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian."


http://www.yahweh.com/booklets/Xmas/Xmas.htm