why do you celebrate christmas when you know its pagan?

Question

any catholic encyclopedia or any other you choose has mountains of evidence that every custom in christmas is a slap in the face of god. ever heard of the book "the two babylons"? good one to look into. Suppose a crowd come to a gentleman’s home saying they are there to celebrate his birthday. He does not favor the celebration of birthdays. He does not like to see people overeat or get drunk or engage in loose conduct. But some of them do all those things, and they bring presents for everyone there except him! On top of all that, they pick the birthday of one of the man’s enemies as the date for the celebration. How would the man feel? Would you want to be a party to it? This is exactly what is being done by Christmas celebrations. If you don't believe me then look it up.

Answer 1

In A. D. 350 Pope Julius I formally designated December 25 as Christmas. He chose that date because it coincided with important PAGAN festivals. These, in turn, were linked with the winter solstice [the shortest day of the year]." - How it Started, p. 54.



The Christian Book of Why, by Dr. John C. McCollister (Lutheran minister and university professor, graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary), Jonathan David Publishers, Inc., 1983, tells us on p. 205:

"Christians of the first century did not celebrate the festival honoring the birth of Jesus - for the same reason they honored no other birthday anniversary. It was the feeling at that time by ALL Christians that the celebration of all birthdays (even the Lord’s) was a custom of the PAGANS. In an effort to divorce themselves from ALL pagan practices, the early Christians refused to set aside a date marking Jesus’ birth. As a result, the first celebration of Christmas by Christians [?] did not take place until the fourth century."



"December 25 was already a major festival in the PAGAN Roman world, the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, or ‘Birthday of the Unconquered Sun,’ a feast honoring the renewal of the sun at the winter solstice. PAGAN celebrations on December 25 had included feasting, dancing, lighting bonfires, decorating homes with greens, and giving gifts. So when this became a Christian [?] festival, the customs continued, but with a Christian [?] meaning imparted to them. Throughout the [Catholic] Middle Ages, Christmas was a richly varied religious holiday. However, during the Commonwealth, the English Puritans, repelled by both the PAGAN practices and the religious ceremonies, forbade any religious or secular celebration of Christmas. The English celebration returned with the return of the Stuarts ["near-Catholic" Church of England monarchs], but Christmas observances were still outlawed in Puritan New England for many years; and not until the 19th century did Christmas become a legal holiday in America." - p. 414, Vol. 4, Encyclopedia International, Grolier, Inc., 1966.

Answer 2

My family celebrates Christmas as a secular holiday. We are Christian, but don't observe it as a religious holiday.

The reason for the celebration should be fairly obvious. We are given the time off from work and school and it is a good opportunity to get together.

I agree that it is an offshoot of pagan winter holidays. As it happens, Easter is also an offshoot of a pagan holiday--one that uses eggs as a symbol of fertility. It also happens that it is timed to nearly coincide with Passover, so the timing is not a major problem.

As a Christian I don't feel major harm is done by having these holidays, as it does give an opportunity to teach others about our faith and what it is based on. A well-schooled Christian will know that Christmas is not timed to the actual birthday of Christ and that his birth can be celebrated every day.

I don't know how Jesus feels about all of this, but given his forgiving nature, I think he would accept the sincere worship of his followers. For those who just use it as an excuse to party, I don't see him taking offense.

Answer 3

I am celebrating the birth of my Savior Jesus Christ, this is not pagan. Just because some person decided to have Christmas on Dec 25th does not make it pagan. I can celebrate Jesus any day of the year, and someone else can celebrate something else, and it is still JESUS I am celebrating. I agree that the material aspect of Christmas has gotten out of hand, but please let us not forget the Christ of Christmas- and by the way, what does CHRISTMAS mean= "Christ's birth". LET US CELEBRATE JESUS- every hour of every day- and may we not worry about what others celebrate on that day. It may be a pagan holiday for someone else but not for me- Jesus loves it when we celebrate His birthday because He knows all those other gods that were celebrated on that date don't exist, so how could it bother Him.

Answer 4

Celebrating the Christmas holidays is a choice, neither an act of worship in and of itself, nor a moral issue. Celebrating the promise of rebirth and renewal in the dark of winter is as old as human history. The story of the birth of Christ was placed at this time of year to coincide with these traditions. As a Christian, I celebrate the birth of Christ not only as a real and wonderful intervention of God into human history, but symbolically through many of the traditional seasonal activities and practices, none of which involve worshiping Santa Claus, reindeer, trees or the Sun. And a merry Christmas to you!.

Answer 5

I believe what the Bible teaches about celebrating special days.

Romans 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

If you are fully convinced in your own mind that Christmas is a pagan holiday and that Easter is a spin off of Ishtar worship then don't celebrate them. Feel free to tell people why you don't think that it's right to do so too. But if another Christian says "I don't care whether Jesus was born on December 25th or not, I enjoy celebrating his birthday then because it's traditional and I get time off from work" then you shouldn't judge them for that decision.

Answer 6

I celebrate christmas as Christ's birth, as far as I am concerned it has ceased to be a pagan holiday but has in fact been given new meaning. How can it be a slap in the face of God if the main focus of this holiday is Jesus' birth?

Answer 7

HAHA! I am filing this one under the 'humor' section! As if any Christian alive has the first clue regarding the Pagan nature of Christmas. Did you SERIOUSLY think the Christians have enough intelligence to look this information up? On the million and one chance one did, did you seriously think they would believe it?

Answer 8

I don't consider Christmas pagan. It is the celebration of the birth of our Savior. I disagree with the overeating and the commercialization though.

Answer 9

Deceived Christians - paul prophesied them - Christmas is actually Mithras.

Jesus was born 6 months after his cousin John the Baptist. And John was born in the spring.

Answer 10

Christians took it from us, so let them deal with all the trouble it causes. I for one celebrate Winter Solstice which is four days earlier. They'll have to fight us for this one!