is christmas really a pagan holiday?

Answer 1

Yes, certain aspects of it are... I watched it on the History Channel during the holiday season. Check it out on the listed source below.

Answer 2

Well, that would depend on what you mean by a "pagan" holiday, or for that matter, what you mean by "Christmas". It, like many Christian holidays (Easter, Advent) started out as a pagan ceremony - actually, several pagan holidays can lay claim to being the predecessor of "Christmas"- but was absorbed by early Christianity, so as to refocus the emphasis toward their own religion, rather than the pagan religions that were the original focus of the holiday.

If you mean the formal Christian Christmas celebration, well, it has its roots in the pagan gatherings and holidays of yore, but it is as Christian as, well, whatever flavor of the "Christian" Church you attend.

If you mean the way most people in the "Western" world celebrate Christmas, then you could make a very convincing case for the return of the "pagan" holidays in that it is now more of a celebration of materialism than of a religious event.

A good place to explore more of the facets of the history of Christmas is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/christmas... .
While not always 100 % accurate, it is a good place to start, and the best thing is, if you find an error, you can participate and correct it.

Answer 3

Only if you're retarded...

Actually, from what I heard, they changed Christmas from some time in October to where it is now to coincide with the Winter Solstice, which many to-be converts were already celebrating as a holiday. So the answer may be "yes" only if you use the meaning of pagan to mean an outsider 'other' religion. It has nothing in the least to do with the new age whackos today.

Answer 4

Sigh no it is not.
The Early Christian Church put the date there to try and stop the celebration of the Roman Pagan Holy Day of SATURNALIA.And called it CHRIST-MASS. it has since degraded to Christmas or Xmas with the mingling of different other religious ideas of the celebration of the birth of Christ.
The rest of the Pagans celebrate Yule on the 20-23 of Dec.(Winter Solstice) . Their New YEAR.

Answer 5

The tradition of decorating a tree is. Somehow over time Christian celebrations have been mixed up with pagan rituals. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ, but decorating the tree is a pagan tradition. The same with easter. It's the death and resurection of Christ, but the bunny rabbit is a pagan tradition.

Answer 6

Almost all major themes of Christianity started out as pagan. It helped convert followers and keep them over the years. One of the reasons it has survived so long.

Answer 7

Has Christmas Lost Christ?
- Jesus' Birth--The Real Story
http://watchtower.org/e/19981215/article_01.htm

Christmas Customs---Are They Christian?
- The Posadas, "the Three Wise Men," and the Nacimiento
- A Closer Look at Nativity Traditions
- Birth of Jesus According to the Bible
- The Astrologers
- What Can We Learn From the Account?
- The announcement of Jesus' birth set the stage for his future role as God's chosen King
http://watchtower.org/e/20001215/article_01.htm

Answer 8

Yes, it was a sort of and started as a pagan holiday...
and now it is Christian solemn holiday.

Answer 9

Yes

Answer 10

Although many fundamental christian sorts want to make an issue out of the 'war on Christmas', it is in fact rooted in many pagan traditions, which do predate Christianity. The thing is when the early church came to various regions, they replaced much of the pagan traditions and mixed them with the new Christian religion of the time. This is a normal occurrence.

But, to answer your question. Yes, there are roots in Pagan traditions. I know many don't want to believe it, but if we're going to be scholars and informed, we have to really look at this from what it is historically--it is a holiday that has adopted many practices from other cultures.

In any event, it's a lovely time of year and a wonderful time to reflect upon the messages that all the traditions offer, both Pagan and Christian. Below are some tidbits:

It is really well answered in this thread on yahoo questions too:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006021813847

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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.

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December 25th is not the birthdate of Jesus of Nazareth1; Jesus' birthdate is unknown, and nearly all scholars East and West agree it was likely in the spring, or possibly the Fall. December 25th is the birthday ofMithras,the Pagan Solar God of Persian origination, born on the day celebrated by the ancients as the Winter Solstice. The Cult of Mithras was so powerful within theRoman Legions at the time the Church was solidifying its power over Rome that the Church destroyed the Mithrasian temples, raised Churches on their very foundations, and then assimilated all the symbology in order to bring about a gradual conversion.

It was in Mithrasian temples that the Priest was first called "Father". It was there that theritual called the "Last Supper" was first performed, including the taking of bread and wine as the body and blood of Mithras. It was in the Mithrasian temples that a God was celebrated on Sun-day, in tribute to a Solar God, as opposed to the Christian practice of celebrating the Sabbath Day—the Seventh Day of Genesis, when Yahweh rested. How or why the "seventh" day celebration for Christians came to be held on the first day of the week— the "day of the Conquering Sun"----- remains a "mystery" to modern Christians.

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The first known reference to December 25th, as the birthday of Jesus, occurs in a Latin work about the year 354 AD. The Emperor Honorius, who reigned in the west from 395-423 AD, mentions this date as being kept in Rome as a new festival. An imperial rescript of about 400 AD includes it as one of the three great festivals of the Church, the other two being Epiphany and Easter. The churches of Syria and Armenia did not approve of the date as they objected to its pagan connections. However, the eastern churches were, in the end, forced to acquiesce, and December 25th became established as Christmas Day throughout Christendom. At the time the English were converted to Christianity (during the sixth and seventh centuries) the pagan Festival of the 25th of December, had long been established at Rome as a solemn festival. However, in England it became mingled with the equally pagan, Yule festivities. In this manner our present Christmas celebration has evolved. The word for ‘Christmas’, ‘Cristes Maesse’ (Old English -- the Mass of Christ) goes back to at least 1038; by 1131 ‘Cristes-messe’ was in use.