Is Christmas a pagan holiday?

Question

I consider myself a chrisian, however, I'm not too keen on Christmas. Being bought up in a church that believed we should be silent where the bible is silent and act when the bible says act, I can't quite come to terms with celebrating a holiday the bible doesn't tell us to celebrate. If you read the bible, it doesn't tell us to clebrate any religious holidays. In fact the only thing the bible says about gathering in His name is on the first day of the week to break bread. Am I the only one who feels that Christmas is simply, just a reason to party and for the big and small retailers to make money and put more of us in debt?

What I'm asking is, seeing as the bible didn't tell us to celebrate religious holidays, should we. Don't tell me that God forgot to add this little bit to the bible. I guess I can understand why the church began Christmas thousands of years ago, but lets be honest with ourselves, Christmas is the same as Mardi Gras in New Orleans, just a reason to party, bring family, friends an loved ones together once a year.

I believe in God as much as the next guy, I pray to him each night, each day, and I go to Sunday school and church on Sunday. But, I really do believe Christmas is just a big reason to party.

Answer 1

To your point, the New Testament did specifically mention at least one other specific holiday. Jesus most famously celebrated the Holiday of Passover. So I assume that since this aligns with your philosophy, you also see fit to celebrate passover with your family and friends as Jesus did.

But regarding your concern with commercialism, you're not the first to voice that. The Puritans of England and early America had actually outlawed Christmas celebration for just that reason.

But the latest round of commercialism that since became associated with Christmas is not of "pagan" or Christian origin. It is very much American in origin. America has 4% of the children of the world, but consumes 40% of the toys. Neither religious affiliation, economic class, nor sex is statistically significant to the quantity of toys each American has, though obviously the value to the toys increase with economic status. Capitalists have always seized on celebretory holidays to excercise commercialism, and American capitalists are especially good at what they do.

But don't despair entirely. The Christmas holidays are also the most generous in human events. In many cases, 80% of a charity's income are obtained due to Christmas generousity. And while profit is made by the retailers, a significant percentage of the expenditures pay salaries, taxes, and other "transfers of income" that are healthy for the local economies and the community.

So there is a choice, even with today's commercialism. It's up to you to regard this as a season of exceptional giving and charity, and not as a season "to party" or to go into debt. Believe it or not, it's very easy to do. So flip the Christmas coin over, devote your Christmas efforts to charitable concerns, and you'll feel far better about this holiday in your life.

Answer 2

The time of year now called "Christmas" was originally a pagan holiday called "Yule."

Yule consists of the longest, darkest days of the year. December 21 is typically the Winter Solstice (longest day of the year), although it may fall a day before or after depending on the lunar cycle. The Yule celebration includes soaking a large log in oil and inscence, and lighting it on fire. The pagans celebrated with song, dance, food and drink until the fire went out.

Church officials thought this merry-making to be unholy. Although historians estimate that Jesus was born sometime in March, the Catholics changed the date to December 25th, to land right in the middle of Yule. You know the song "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"? That pretty much translates to "Take A Break Party Boys".

To really answer your question, YES! Christmas has been commercialized. Whether you're pagan, christian, atheist-but-solstice-celebrating. YES! Walmart is the Ruler of Holidays. And that totally sucks.

Answer 3

Christmas is not a pagan holiday; it was started as a substitute for the pagan holidays. Let's say all the pagans are over at some temple for the winter solstice festival. The Christians don't want their converts from the pagans going back to those festivals, so they have one of their own celebrating Christ's birth.

I do believe that Christmas has become way too commercialized and secular.

Answer 4

many religions celebrate something or other at this time of year.

true, Christmas is filled with Pagan customs, but so is the entire religion of Christianity.

It is celebrated at this time because Pope Gregory 13 was trying to make conversions from the Pagan coltures more likely, and easier for the people converting. however they brought many of their own customs into the early church, and now it would be hard to find an element of the Catholic church that is not infused with Pagan customs. and many of the American break away churches have them as well.

were i you i would not worry too much about it. it is a reason to gather with your family and spend some paid time off work together.

Answer 5

I do the whole Santa Claus thing for my son, but we don't celebrate it as Christ's birthday, because it isn't. Encyclopedia's will tell you that it isn't the day he was born, and that it IS a pagan holiday. I'm not an expert on the bible, and I don't claim to be. I did a little bit of research on Christmas, because I became curious after seeing a special about it on the History Channel.

Answer 6

I understand what you are saying, but from your point of view, we could not celebrate any holiday on our present calendar because none of them are actual Biblically instituted holidays. Do you practice a seventh year sabbatical, or a fiftieth year jubilee? You see, you do not practice everything that the Bible says, anyway. As long as people celebrate Christmas while remembering the Son of God, I really don't think God has a problem with it, but I may be wrong.

Answer 7

No, Christmas is a Christian holiday with it's own unique traditions.

It does borrow many traditions (gift giving, trees, the birth of god, etc) from Yule, a Pagan holiday. You might also say it's borrowed from the Roman celebration of Mithras' birthday as well, especially the date.

Borrowing holiday traditions, however, doesn't make Christmas any less "Christian". The ancient Pagans who celebrated Yule or the Birthday of Mithras surely borrowed traditions for their holidays from elsewhere as well. Religions have been ripping each other off for thousands of years...

jw

Answer 8

Yes its roman in roots. The holiday was known as Sol Invictus (unconquerable sun) and was based on the summer solstices or equinoxes, something to do with that and they had many things like the yule log, christmas trees they decorated, exchanged gifts and sang songs. Dont be too rolled up in it and freak out, the day of Christmas is symbolical of his birth, same way with easter. The reason they did this was to blend in with the pagans so it wouldn't be so hard to convert them, find the common as they say.

Answer 9

I don't deny that christmas has become an extremely commericialized holiday, but that certainly does not mean we should not celebrate it. The Bible may not say "thou shalt celebrate christmas" but that does not mean we shouldnt. It is definately okay to celebrate the birth of our savior. Christmas is a time to remember that God loved us so much that he sent His son to the earth to be the ultimate sacrafice. Although the world has forgotten and changed its meaning, that doesnt mean that we should!

Answer 10

The holiday we have in America today was created by retailers who have goods to sell. But, we don't have to buy in! The "holiday" may be theirs, but the "Holy Day" still exists. God calls His children to be holy. Turn away from the secular cash vacuum, turn toward the Savior the day remembers.