I Love Christmas

Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?


On a recent Sunday morning I was flipping cable channels when I came across a program hosted by a preacher with a Southern accent (have you ever heard a television preacher with a Northern accent?). Anyway, I caught him posting Bible verses up on the screen, in which as he claimed nowhere in the Bible does it say to celebrate Christmas.
Well no, of course it doesn't say that.
Moreover, the preacher continued, Christmas is nothing but a pagan holiday with pagan traditions such as gift-giving, decorating trees, and general merriment.
Yeah, I know—many denominations condemn Christmas as a pagan festival that has no place in Christianity. And they're right! Christmas is based on the old Roman festival of Saturnalia, in which people tried to chase away winter doldrums by having a time of merriment.
They also say that we actually celebrate the Saturnalia on December 25 because Jesus Christ was not even born in December, but in the Spring.
This is true. Modern astronomers were able to pinpoint the appearance of the star (yes, folks, there really was one!) in 5 B.C. And we know it was Spring because according to the Bible shepherds were watching their flocks by night—and the only time they watched their flocks was during lambing time. Otherwise the sheep fended for themselves in the pasture and the sherpherds were free to go to sleep.
The Three Wise Men (we don't know how many there were but scholars have figured out the number because they brought three gifts) brought presents to Jesus because the ancient custom was to present gifts to a future king on his birth date. And of course this is why we exchange gifts today.
But wait a minute now—why do we celebrate a pagan holiday if we're Christians?
Because now it's a Christian holiday!
To get a simplified idea as to how this all came about, let's pretend for a moment that the United States had never heard of Jesus. And the Pope thought it would be a great idea to tell Americans all about Christianity, and in particular the Catholic Church (for the sake of argument of course).
So the people of America tell the Pope that they would like to join the Catholic Church, except for one big problem—they won't subscribe to any religion that does not celebrate the Fourth of July! And guess what—the Catholic Church does not celebrate the Fourth of July!
What to do?
Well, looking into his book of saints, the Pope discovers that the Fourth of July just happens to be the feast day of Saint Bob.
According to the story, Saint Bob was an ancient martyr who was born an aristocrat and was known for his purity. He died for his faith by being tossed into a barbecue pit and roasted to death. With onions.
So, decrees the Pope, let's make the date of this relatively obscure saint a national feast day. It's the feast of saint Bob, and there are special color themes for this day: Red for his martyrdom, white for his purity, and blue for his aristocratic background. Bunting is hung up all over America, and red, white and blue themes appear everywhere. Moreover, there are picnics and, in honor of the way he died, barbecues all over the nation. And of course in the evening there are fireworks.
But then some people notice one simple fact.
“Wait a minute!” they observe. “This sure looks like the Fourth of July!”
“Yes,” agree the religious leaders. “It sure does—but it ain't! It's now Saint Bob's Day—and it just happens to fall on the Fourth of July!”
So basically nothing has changed. The people still have their Fourth of July celebrations, but with a definite Christian twist. And this was how conversion of pagan nations to Christianity was made more inviting. Of course there was much more to it than that, but this is a simplified version that makes the point.
So that is why the Saturnalia became Christmas. Sure, at one time it was a pagan holiday, but now it's a Christian holiday and there is no reason not to celebrate just because it ain't what it used to be!