2006-12-15 13:06:28 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Other - Holidays
Yes. The early Christians chose that time of year to celebrate the birth of Christ because they felt it would be easier to attract pagans to their new religion. The holiday and many of the rituals and beliefs were already in place in the celebration of the winter solstice.
Christ was really born in August.
2006-12-15 13:15:16 · answer #1 · answered by The Gadfly 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yes...it celebrated the shortest day of the year...ok, not true, it was the day after that they celebrated because now the days were beginning to get longer.
Check the sunrise and sunset times between now and mid January. You will see that somewhere around the 25th of December the days start to get longer. I believe for the pagans it was the birth of a new year.
Back many years ago the Roman Catholic church tried to entice people into their congregation. Of course the larger the congregation, the more money came into the coffers.
There is nothing in the Bible that even gives any hint that Jesus was born at that time of year, In fact two real strong points show that he was born sometime in the beginning of October to the beginning of November.
The two points...the animals were still in the fields and if it were winter, they would not have been outside. The second point is that Jesus was 33-1/2 years old upon his death...if he died on Nissan 14, which is around April, then it would have put his birth back in October.
There is nothing in the Bible that talks about Christmas whatsoever and on top of that, the only three incidents that it talks about birthdays were all tragedies. Imagine how much Jesus enjoyed birthdays knowing full well that John the Baptists head was delivered on a plater as a birthday wish.
Christmas has nothing to do with Christ and never will no matter how much society today wants to believe it.
2006-12-15 21:24:04 · answer #2 · answered by Paul J 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes and No. Pagans never celebrated Christmas. The Pagan holiday is Yule (winter solstice) celebrated on Dec 21 or 22 each year - whichever day the solstice falls on. The Church decided to designate Christmas (celebration of Jesus's birth) around the same date to draw more pagans to christianity. It was also a way to discredit the pagan holiday and make it their own. However, we still have Yule. It hasn't been forgotten, and Christians have Christmas. Jews have Hanukkah, etc... So I guess we're all happy!
Thanks for asking and blessed be!
2006-12-15 21:23:24 · answer #3 · answered by LadyMagick 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, Christmas is a pagan holiday. In fact, it comes from the happy little islands of England, Ireland, and Scotland. The Druids, Celts, and such...a.k.a Wiccans...celebrated Yule. This is where the Yule log comes in. Christmas isn't the only holiday that is pagan. Easter and Halloween are also pagan. The early church at the time wanted to convert the pagans into the Christian belief and they were having a hard time doing it so they adopted the pagan holidays and added their own twist so it would make it easier for them to be converted. In fact, it is believed that Jesus was actually born in the middle of the summer. I hope this helps.
2006-12-15 21:17:21 · answer #4 · answered by Bubbles 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yup. The Pagens originally worshiped the tree. Th christians came in and had to change it a bit so thats where we get the tree from. The idea of Christmas frist developed on the island of Crete. The 25th is actually the birthday of Connstantene, the christian religous leader.
2006-12-15 21:12:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, and so was Easter. Lots of people think of dirty people in huts when they think of paganism but Paganism can be associated with the Roman Empire. There it was very popular for a long while with all the rich and highbrow, even.
2006-12-15 21:34:35 · answer #6 · answered by Vik 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes
2006-12-15 21:15:09 · answer #7 · answered by Lolitta 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
yes... it was originally a holiday celebrating winter solstice... but then the christians came along and were trying to convert everyone... so they took the solstice celebration and move the date... i heard somewhere that the birth of jesus was in the spring... easter was ostara... all saints day was samhain...
theres others just look it up
2006-12-15 21:15:50 · answer #8 · answered by Aislynn K 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
yes it was but so what christmas now regardless of religion or race is celebrated because of the big man in red that brings everyone something
2006-12-15 21:18:21 · answer #9 · answered by sarah 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Christmas was never celebrated by disciplesso it is manmade.
2006-12-15 21:14:49 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋