"stole" Pagan holidays? They had to! They were being thrown to the lions for Isis sake. If they "borrowed" Pagan holidays and traditions into thier own so they no one would think anything odd was going on. It was so they could worship is some peace. It's not a bad thing, its just a part of the history of the religion.
2007-06-01 02:37:08 · 23 answers · asked by ~Heathen Princess~ 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I don't mean all of them were being thrown to the lions. But they were persacuted for a while as heretics. Lots of people didn't like them. They also "borrowed" holidays to make more comfortable with conversions. Point being a lot of Christians get upset over this and I just don't understand why.
I'm Pagan by the way.
2007-06-01 02:45:12 · update #1
Good point Aunt93...
2007-06-01 02:51:52 · update #2
No, I don't think they "stole" them at all. What happened (and it happened after the pagans were basically defeated and Rome had become Christian) was that Christian holidays got positioned where pagan holidays already were, namely at the solstices and the equinoxes. The winter solstice, Yule, was not so much replaced by Christmas as supplemented by it. People who wanted to continue the pagan traditions could pretend they were celebrating the Christian holiday. Thus, Yule logs and Christmas trees, both originally pagan. And Easter eggs were once celebrations of the spring, generally just dyed red, possibly with blood. Halloween, literally the eve of All Hallows, now has witches and black cats and so on adapted from Samhain.
As you say, having the two religious traditions side-by-side made it politically expedient to have holidays at the same time. But it was probably more during the time when Christians were persecuting pagans than the other way around. The evidence is which traditions were carried forward. We have very little left of the Roman pagan holidays (the May pole is the only one I can think of); most of the cross-over symbolism came from Europe and England. They were not Christianized until later, after Rome was already Christian.
2007-06-01 02:48:26 · answer #1 · answered by auntb93 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Well, Christians didn't really "steal" the Pagan holiday, they just decided to celebrate the birth of Christ on the same day as "Sol Invictus". This was the Pagan holiday that celebrated the birth of the unconquered sun, as well as a few other sun gods of the time. Actually there was a week of festival prior to the date of Dec. 25, but, Dec. 25 was the actual holiday of celebration. Now, it is pretty well known that Jesus of Nazareth was born sometime in the spring, but Sol Invictus was the event of the year, & had an established date in the Roman calender, so in an attempt to make the celebration of Christ's birth jsut as big of a deal, why not celebrate it on a day that was aready established as THE major holiday.
Also some Christians believed the birth of the sun to be a big deal, & so was the birth of Christ. So, why not celebrate them on the same day?
Anyway, as time passed, & the Christian following grew larger, what is now known as "Christmas" just eventually took over the date of Dec. 25
But to answer your original question, it is a very human reaction to get upset as a responce to defend one's own faith, especially if they are ignorant to the actual history. Most people want to believe what they know is right, even if they haven't researched their belief at all, & when someone else challenges this belief, the usual reaction is a defence of some sort, sometimes even aggresive.
2007-06-01 03:06:33 · answer #2 · answered by Jason W 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Again, many things came in with Constantine.
While he claimed to be a Christian, he tried to appease all and took some parts of everything. The Romans were not about to give up their Festival to their sun god, (Dec. 25) so it was instead devoted to the birth of the Savior. That's one example.
So, following these "traditions", is it wrong ?
I don't believe God would hold it against us. We worship only Him.
Constantine actually had a coin minted that had the cross on one side, and a two faced god on the other side. He played everyone.
2007-06-01 04:01:07 · answer #3 · answered by Jed 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont know why they are so offended... its just a fact of history.... like you said, not a bad thing, its just what they had to do. i've known it for a while.... christmas coincides with winter solstice (i think) easter with spring equinox and so on. some people just dont like to take the time to think about what is being said.... all they hear is 'christians stole' and 'pagan' in the same sentence.... oh well theres not a whole lot that can be done about it
2007-06-01 03:32:02 · answer #4 · answered by Christi F 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've wondered why people even bring it up. I don't really care how something like a holiday started, I can celebrate however I want on that day. If you want to celebrate bunnies and chicks, and I want to celebrate my Savior's resurrection, why does it matter? I think to each his own. Celebrate what you want to celebrate. To me it doesn't matter if Jesus was born 12-25 or not, or if he died in the spring time. Spring is a good symbolic time to celebrate a resurrection I think.
2007-06-01 03:59:26 · answer #5 · answered by BaseballGrrl 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
are you able to offer an occasion so as that we would extra proper answer your question? EDIT: reason God exists; some thing had to have created count, skill, area, and time alongside with the regulations of physics. The universe has an intricate layout to it, one that of course seems to have a fashion designer. considering the fact that God created those such issues it is obvious that he's not created from an identical "stuff" that we are. Our regulations of physics or the "regulations" via which our actual worldwide abides via had to are transforming into right here someway. If God created time which ability he's not sure via it meaning that he's able to latest continuously. If God is powerful adequate to do those such issues which ability he's probable omniscient and all-powerful besides meaning He knows each little thing. there is data God exists merely no longer "actual" data, you merely have eyes that are blind to it.
2016-11-03 07:37:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I just think it's funny that so many uneducated Christians out there think that their religion invented everything! Did you know that Dec 25th has absolutely no relation to either the birth or death of Christ? Scholars believe that the man fitting the description/time period/location, was born sometime in April. I believe the date comes from Mithraism?
2007-06-01 02:44:37 · answer #7 · answered by carmandnee 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Is that the reason they gave their alleged savior a fictitious birthday?
According to the Bible, when Jesus was born the shepherds were in the hills with their flocks. Everyone knows that there is no grass in the hills during winter for sheep and goats to feed on. If Jesus really did live, he was born either in the spring or late-summer / early-fall.
2007-06-01 02:52:15 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I don't. I've read the history, I know where they come from and while I appreciate the day off with pay, I don't necessarily find those days especially holy. Any day I find Holy is a Holiday.
2007-06-01 03:02:01 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Thats not why they did it. If you don't realize that, you need to learn more about history. And very few Christians were actually thrown to the lions, though Christians would have you believe otherwise.
Go learn history because it isn't the way you think it is.
2007-06-01 02:41:57 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋