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Home 3-God's Word Provides Proof: Each Day of Creation a Literal Ordinary Day 4-God's Word Provides Proof: Genealogies Show Creation of Adam Happened 6,000 Years Ago 5-Creation:
For God's Glory, To Display His Character and His Attributes Letter 3-The Celebration of Christmas:Looking Toward the Future Revealing
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One Example: This
article published by Pagewise was copied off the Internet Why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as
Christmas, on December the 25th? The answer lies in the pagan origins of
Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature)
was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and
drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast. In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated
many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday
Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed
the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This
whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the
Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in
ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups
of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining
their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born. In northern Europe, many other traditions
that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the
participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated
their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun
God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As
the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was
customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to
reappear next year. Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the
sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for
the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant and the custom of kissing
under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Holly berries were thought to
be a food of the gods. The tree is the one symbol that unites
almost all the northern European winter solstices.
Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a
reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs
were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at
weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious
symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge
trees. In 350, Pope Julius I declared that
Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that
he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained
a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down
a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them. Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today,
most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still
disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an
evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace
region of Germany. A
prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they
should look to the true tree of life, Christ.” Return to Christmas Project E-Mail 1
Go to Christmas Project E-Mail 2 Part 1
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| Last Update: May 29, 2008 |