Jeremiah 10:2-5; II Cor. 6:17; I John
2:15-16
It is generally believed by many that Christmas, according to
the Bible officially commemorates the birth of Jesus. Did the apostles, who
knew Jesus personally and were taught by him, celebrate His birthday on
December 25? Did they celebrate it at all? If Christmas is the chief of the
Christian holidays, why do so many non-Christians observe it?
The word “Christmas” means “Mass of Christ,” or,
as it came to be shortened, “Christ-Mass.” It came to non-Christians and
Protestants from the Roman Catholic Church. And where did they get it? Not from
the Bible or the apostles of Jesus, but was adopted by the Roman Catholic
Church in the fourth century from paganism.
Since the celebration of Christmas has come to the world from
the Roman Church, and has no authority but that of the Catholic church, let's
examine the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, published by that church.“Christ-mass
was not among the earliest festivals of the Church… the first evidence of the
feast is from Egypt.” “Pagan customs centering around the January calends
gravitated to Christmas.” The Catholic Encyclopedia (vol. III p. 724)
declares that Irenaeus and Tertullian do not make mention of this festival and
they lived during the second century. It also states that by the time of Jerome
and Augustine, the fourth century, the christmas festival was already
established.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946 edition, “Christmas
(i.e., the Mass of Christ)… Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of
the Church…”
The Encyclopedia Americana, 1944 edition, “Christmas…
it was, according to many authorities, not celebrated in the first Centuries of
the Christian church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the
death of remarkable persons rather than their birth. (The “communion,” which is
instituted by New Testament Bible authority, is a memorial of the death of
Christ.)… A feast was established in memory of this event (Christ’s birth) in
the fourth century. In the fifth century the Western Church ordered it to be
celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, as no
certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.”
These recognized historical authorities show Christmas was
not observed by Christians for the first two or three hundred years. It got
into the Western or Roman Church by the fourth century A.D. It was
not until the fifth century that the Catholic Church ordered it to be
celebrated as an official Christian festival!
We do not know the exact date as to when Christmas began to
be celebrated on December 25th. Before this date, the Church did not
celebrate the birth of Christ. The writings of the New Testament indicate that
Jesus was not born in that time of the year; the Historical data appear to
indicate that He was born in the fall. We do not know the exact date because
the Word of God does not declare it, neither does it make mention that the
Primitive Apostolic Church celebrated the birth of Christ.
Jesus was not born in the winter season! When Jesus was born,
the bible says there were shepherds in the field, watching over their
sheep (Luke 2:8). This could have never occurred in Judea in the
month of December. The shepherds always brought their flocks from the
mountainsides and fields and corralled them no later than October 15th,
to protect them from the cold, rainy season that followed that date (Song
of Solomon 2:11; Ezra 10:9, 13) winter time is a rainy and cold season
it does not permit shepherds to abide in open fields at nigh. (Adam Clarke
Commentary, vol. 5 p.370: N.Y. ed.)
“It was an ancient custom among Jews of those days to send
out their sheep to the fields and deserts about the Passover (early spring),
and bring them home at commencement of the first rain. During the time they
were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As… the first rain began
early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our October and
November (begins sometime in October), we find that sheep were kept out in the
open country during the whole summer. And, as there shepherds had not yet
brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not
yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of
December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born
later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On these
very grounds, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the
flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact… See the quotations from
the Talmudists in Lightfoot.”
The exact date of Jesus’ birth is entirely unknown. If Jesus
had wished us to observe and celebrate His birthday, He would not have hidden
completely the exact date.
The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
explains it clearly, in its article on Christmas:“How much the date of the
festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (Dec. 25th) following the
Saturnalia (Dec. 17th – 24th), and celebrating the
shortest day of the year and the “new sun”… cannot be accurately determined.
The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom
to be set aside by Christian influence… The pagan festival with its riot and
merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue
its celebration with little change in spiritual and in manner. Christian
preachers of the West and the Near East protested against the unseemly
frivolity with which Christ’s birthday was celebrated, while Christians of
Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for
adopting as Christian this pagan festival.”
The Roman world had been pagan. Prior to the fourth century,
Christians were few in number, though increasing, and were persecuted by the
government and by pagans. But, with the advent of Constantine as emperor, who
made his profession of Christianity in the fourth century, placing Christianity
on an equal footing with paganism, people of the Roman world began to accept
this now popular Christianity.
These people had grown up in pagan customs, chief of which
was this idolatrous festival of December 25th. It was a festival of
merrymaking, with its special spirit. They enjoyed it! They didn’t want to give
it up! This is how “Christmas” became fastened on our Western World! We may
call it by another name, but it’s the same old sun-worshipping festival still!
The Encyclopedia Britannica: “Certain Latin’s, as
early as 354, may have transferred the birthday from January 6th to
December 25th, which was then a Mithraic feast… or birthday of the
unconquered Sun… The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6th,
accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry, contending… that the feast of
December 25th had been invented by disciples of Cerinthus…”
THE REAL ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS
If we got Christmas from the Roman Catholics, and they got it
from paganism, where did the pagans get it? Where, when and what was its real
origin? It is a chief custom of the corrupt system denounced all through Bible
prophecies and teachings under the name of Babylon, and it started and
originated in the original Babylon of ancient Nimrod! It stems from roots whose
beginning was shortly this side of the Flood!
Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah, was the real founder of
the Babylonish system that has gripped the world ever since. Nimrod built the
tower of Babel, the original Babylon, ancient Nineveh and many other cities.
The name Nimrod, in Hebrew, is derived from “Marad,” meaning “he rebelled.”
From many ancient writings, much is learned of this man.
Nimrod was an evil man; he married his own mother, Semiramis. After Nimrod’s
untimely death, his mother-wife propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of
Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full grown evergreen tree sprang
overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new
life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed, Nimrod
would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts under it. December 25th was
the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree.
Some countries that celebrated festivals on the 25th of
December centuries before the birth of Christ were England, Syria and Babylon.
The Roman Empire (Christianized) adopted this day, the 25th of
December like a Christian festival in the year 354 A.D. by pope Liberius 357
years after the birth of Christ. Until that year only the Roman pagans
celebrated festivals on that day.
For more than 250 years after the birth of Christ the Romans
worshiped many gods, the main deity being Jupiter. His festival was celebrated
in September. In the year 273 A.D. Jupiter was dethroned and another deity was
put in his place, who was the supreme god of Rome, it was the god of the sun,
Bel or Baal. The Roman Emperor who was responsible for this
change was Aurelia’s. He declared the Babylonian Baal the supreme god of the
Roman Empire under the name of the Invictus sun “Invisible God”.
What was it that caused the Emperor Aurelia’s to change gods?
It was that during his life he had become interested in the religions of Persia
and Babylon and at the same time there was many Romans who considered that
Jupiter was out of style and they didn't serve him with much dedication and
this is also what influence the Emperor to look for a more attractive religion
for the Roman populace. Another thing that influenced in this was that through
the years, many people had migrated to the oriental countries and the majority
of them worshiped the deities, that represented the sun and also Romans that
had returned from those countries brought the doctrines of that religion that
adored the sun with them.
Why did the pagan Romans worship the sun on the 25th of
December? According to the Julian calendar it was accepted that the 25th day
of December was the birth of the sun, for it was when the sun began to expand
and it increased its power or force, it turned on its axis. It was a time for
festivals, great idolatry joy, and ended in a general drunkenness with sensual
pleasures. During that time the Persians also introduced the Roman soldiers to their
system of worshiping the sun. Their Festival was in honor of Mitra the god of
the sun. The participants would enter some special chapels and at midnight they
would come out shouting in high voice “The virgin has conceived!” “The light is
shining!”
The Egyptians represented the birth of the sun with the image
of a child and on the 25th of December they would present the
image of the child to the people. It was believed that the virgin that
conceived that child (the sun) on that day was the oriental goddess whom the
Semites called the celestial virgin or the celestial goddess. (Golden Rough
page 358 abr.) Notice that the pagans observed a festival on December 25th many
years before Jesus was born. They also worshiped a “mother and child.” The
difference was that for them the mother was the queen of the heaven and the
child was the god of the reincarnated sun.
Why was this day chosen (Dec. 25) by the Christians to
celebrate the birth of Christ? About half a century after the worship of the
sun god Baal was introduced to the Romans, Constantine was converted. The
church encouraged him to discard all the pagan festivals and the one on
December 25th was one of them, but there were no results,
because the pagans didn’t want to leave their festivals. Consulting with the
Emperor the leaders of the church influenced the Emperor to sign a decree that
all those prisoners that would get baptized would be given their freedom. It
was believed that by doing this it would encourage those who were baptized to
stop worshiping the sun god. It resulted contrary to their belief, because the
pagans that got baptized continued every year worshiping the god of the sun on
the 25th of December.
The church was in a dilemma but Constantine had the answer
and told the leaders of the church that they arrive at a compromise with the
baptized pagans and that they allow them to retain their festivals. The advice
of Constantine was this “Don’t make it more difficult so that the pagans are
converted without making it easier,” and the church accepted his advice. The
historians of those centuries wrote that the church was very willing to arrive
at a compromise with the pagans and permit them to retain their festivals which
they were accustomed to celebrating and give them a “Christian dress” or giving
them a “Christian meaning”. (The Bible for Learners vol. III – page 67).
Not being able to abolish the customs of the pagans the
church tried to “purify” these festivals and customs that the pagans loved so
much. The church tried to distract the attention of the Christians from the
pagan festivals with celebrating festivals on the same day. So that the pagans
should no longer worship the god of the sun, Baal, on the 25th of
December, but rather now they should worship the Son of God on that day, but
still using some customs and pagan methods.
December 25th is not the birthday of Jesus!
The apostles and early Apostolic Church never celebrated Christ’s birthday at
any time. There is no command or instruction to celebrate it in the Bible.
However, we are commanded to observe, not celebrate, the date of His death (I
Cor.11:24-26; John 13:14-17).
No comments:
Post a Comment