The True Origin of Christmas: All aspects of Christmas observance have their roots in Roman custom and religion. Consider the following admission from a large American newspaper (The Buffal News, Nov. 22, 1984): “The earliest reference to Christmas being marked on Dec. 25 comes from the second century after Jesus’ birth. It is considered likely the first Christmas celebrations were in reaction to the Roman Saturnalia, a harvest festival that marked the winter solstice — the return of the sun — and honored Saturn, the god of sowing. Saturnalia was a rowdy time, much opposed by the more austere leaders among the still-minority Christian sect. Christmas developed one scholar says, as a means of replacing worship of the sun with worship of the Son. By 529 A.D., after Christianity had become the official state religion of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian made Christmas a civic holiday. The celebration of Christmas reached its peak — some would say its worst moments — in th medieval period when it became a time for conspicuous consumption and unequaled revelry.” Consider these quotes from the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, under “Christmas”: “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church…The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt.” Further, “Pagan customs centring round the January calends gravitated to Christmas.” Under “Natal Day,” Origen, an early Catholic writer, admitted, “…In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world” The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth…a feast was established in memory of this event [Christ’s birth] in the 4th century. In the 5th century the Western church ordered the feast to be celebrated on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia , as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.” It was 300 years after Christ before the Roman church kept Christmas, and not until the fifth century that it was mandated to be kept throughout the empire as an official festival honoring “Christ.” Christ said, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9 ). Christmas is not a command of God — it is a tradition of men. Christ continued, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” ( Mark 7:9). Every year, throughout the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions do just that! Was Christ Born on December 25th? Christ was born in the fall of the year. Many have mistakenly believed He was born around the beginning of winter— December 25th! They are wrong! Notice the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 370, New York edition: “It was custom among Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts about the Passover [early spring], and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain.” The first rains began in early-to-mid fall. Continuing with this same quote: “During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As…the first rain began early in the month of March-esvan , which answers to part of our October and November [begins sometime in October ], we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. And as these 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 this very ground, 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.” Luke 2:8 explains that when Christ was born, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field , keeping watch over their flock by night .” Note that they were “abiding” in the field. This never happened in December. Both Ezra 10:9-13 and the Song of Solomon 2:11 show that winter was the rainy season and shepherds could not stay on cold, open fields at night. Numerous encyclopedias plainly state that Christ was not born on December 25th! The Catholic Encyclopedia directly confirms this. In all likelihood, Christ was born in the fall! A lengthy technical explanation would prove this point. Since we now know that December 25th was nowhere near Christ’s actual birthdate, where did the festival associated with this date come from? Now read this quote under “Christmas”: “In the Roman world the Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. December 25 was also regarded as the birth date of the Iranian mystery god Mithra , the Sun of Righteousness. On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain, and central Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always been associated with the winter festival, both Upagan and Christian” (Encyclopedia Britannica , 15th Edit. Vol. II, p. 903). A final quote about the selection of December 25th as the birthdate of Christ is necessary. Note an article in The Toronto Star, December 1984, by Alan Edmonds, entitled, “We owe a lot to Druids, Dutch ”: “The Reformation cast a blight on Christmas. By then, of course, clever ecclesiastical politicians had adopted the Pagan mid-winter festival as the alleged birthdate of Jesus, of Nazareth, and thrown in a few other Pagan goodies to make their takeover more palatable.” December 25th was not selected because it was the birth of Christ or because it was even near it. It was selected because it coincided with the idolatrous pagan festival Saturnalia —and this celebration must be carefully examined. In any event, we do not know the exact date of Christ’s birth. While God certainly could have made it known, He chose to hide it from the world’s eyes! Do you know Jesus was never crucified or died? Jesus look-alike was crucified while the real Jesus ascended to heaven. “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah” but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:- Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise [Quran:4:157-15 8]. We believe He(as) will return at the end of the world. The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger; surely, Messengers like unto him had indeed passed away before him. And his mother was a truthful woman. They both used to eat food. See how We explain the Signs for their good, and see how they are turned away. (Al Quran Do Muslims believe in the virgin birth of Jesus? Muslims believe that Jesus(Isa; in Arabic) was the son of Mary, and was conceived without the intervention of a human father. The Quran describes that an angel appeared to Mary, to announce to her the gift of a holy son(19:19). She was astonished at the news, and asked: How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste? (19:20). When the angel explained to her that she had been chosen for the service of God, and that God had ordained the matter, she devoutly submitted herself to His will. In the Quran and other Islamic sources, there is no mention of Joseph the carpenter, nor any recollection of the inn and manger legend. On the contrary, the Quran describes that Mary retreated from her people (outside the city), and gave birth to Jesus underneath a remote date palm tree. The tree miraculously provided nourishment for her during labor and birth. (See Chapter 19 of the Quran for the entire story. The chapter has aptly been named The Chapter of Mary.) However, the Quran repeatedly reminds us that Adam, the first human being, was born with neither a human mother nor a human father. Therefore, Jesus miraculous birth affords him no higher standing or presumed partnership with God. When God ordains a matter, He merely says, Be and it is so. The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam. He created him from dust, then said to him: Be! And he was (3:59). In Islam, Jesus is regarded as a human prophet and messenger of God, not part of God Himself.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 11:36:17 +0000
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