The word Christmas has Christ in it, so there must be some connection with Jesus Christ and if there is, we should be able to read of it in one of the four gospels. However, upon careful examination, we find neither this holiday nor its observance mentioned in the entire Bible. The church in the first century did not celebrate the birth of Christ. The tradition of celebrating December 25th as Christ’s birthday came to the Romans from Persia. Mithra, the Persian god of light and sacred contracts, was born out of a rock on December 25th. Rome was famous for its flirtations with strange gods and cults, and in the third century the unchristian emperor Aurelian established the festival of Dies Invicti Solis, the Day of the Invincible …show more content…
It was not until the fifth century that the Roman Church ordered it to be celebrated as an official "Christian" festival. 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 spirit 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 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 by the hundreds of thousands. The Christians learned the heathen practice and incorporated it into their …show more content…
The pagan customs associated with Christmas are clearly condemned in the scriptures. Jeremiah says we should not learn the way of the Gentiles and we are not to learn it nor practice it and incorporate it into the Christian worship. And lest some think this is simply an Old Testament command that no longer applies, the apostle Paul makes the same point in the New Testament. He addresses whether unbiblical religious customs and practices have any place in the worship of God’s people. Jesus Christ warned against worshiping him in vain and teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Rather than relabeling pagan customs as Christian, or allowing members of the Church to continue their old pagan practices, the apostle Paul told them in no uncertain terms to leave behind all these forms of worship and worship God in true holiness as He commands. Jesus likewise says His true followers “must worship Him in spirit and
Christmas was originally called "The Feast of the Nativity of Jesus". The word "nativity" comes from the Latin word Natalis, meaning birthday. The observance probably does not date earlier than 200 AD and did not become widespread until the 4th century. The actual date of Jesus birth is unknown but what is known is that Christian leaders in 336 A.D. set the date to December 25 in an attempt to eclipse a popular pagan holiday in Rome. The date of Christmas coincides closely with the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere, a time of rejoicing among many ancient cultures. Christmas, as the great popular festival of Western Europe, dates from the Middle Ages.
There are quite a number of people who believe that Jehovah's Witnesses are prudish for their differences in their morals and standards. For example, many find it difficult to believe that they do not celebrate Christmas or birthdays, or any other festive holiday. Many don't understand what's so wrong about standing for O Canada or singing anthems for any other country. The fact of the matter is, there are quite a number of festive holidays that people around the world celebrate that they may or may not know have pagan backgrounds, or are quite obviously based on its influences. To Jehovah's witnesses, it is very important to stay away from such kinds of celebrations because they feel that it's a necessity to worship God with their whole soul and in the way he wants them to. This would not be possible while participating in celebrations that have paganism as its origin.
Christmas is a holiday celebrated by most of the world. Christianity is very popular in the US and Hispanic cultures. In the US, Christmas is celebrated with going to Church on Christmas Eve, spending time with their families, and many other things. People also reenact the nativity scene, sing Christmas carols, and do
From 300-600 CE The Roman Empire allowed new religions to be formed and universalized. The Religion that was associated with The Roman empire was Christianity. Christianity became the religion of Rome because of a man named Constantine who allowed Christianity to spread and flow throughout the empire create a harmony throughout the people. Constantine allowed for the Roman officials to adopt Christianity and this led to the building of the Constantinople. Christianity had basilicas which were opulent churches that were open to all which meant any person could go there allowing Christianity to be very universal. Christianity was also very appealing because the worshiped deity walked on land with the people. Christianity split and became the Roman Catholic church which consisted
The rise of Christianity in Rome did not come easily. It came with much destruction and death. The spark of Christianity in Rome came from an appearance of Martyrs in Rome. Martyrs were people that were executed for going against the common beliefs of pagan (polytheistic) ways. (Tignor, 2011, p. 286) Because of these awful executions, Christianity is said to be based off of “the blood of martyrs.” One of their main ways of spreading Christianity was through the sharing of their writings and by 300 CE there was an exceptional amount of book production throughout Rome. (Tignor, 2011, p. 289) “Christianity operated as one among many minority religions in the Roman Empire, and on several occasions experienced widespread persecution, especially under the emperors Nero (r. 54–68), Decius (r. 249–251), and Diocletian (r. 284–305). However, the situation changed radically under the emperor Constantine (r. 306–337), who in 313 issued the Edict of Milan that made Christianity a legitimate religion in the empire.” (Melton, 2010, p. 634)
Sol Invictus is the Roman sun god whose birthday celebration falls on December 25. Scholars agree that this date was most likely picked because the Roman calendar lists the 25th as the winter solstice. Interestingly, evidence suggests there was an undeniable overlap between the sun god Sol Invictus, Judaism and Christianity during the 1st through 3rd centuries CE. This makes very little sense because this time period was very tumultuous for both Christians and Jews. Still visible to this day are mosaics of Sol Invictus throughout synagogues in Israel. Why did the Jews ignore a blatant Pagan reference in their places of worship for well over a thousand of years? Or perhaps more importantly, why were the mosaics ever put there to begin with? Emmanuel Friedheim explains his reaction:
Christmas was originally supposed to be a celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ. Modern historians suggest that Christ was actually born sometime in April, but that is hardly the point; the point is that a day on which to celebrate his birth and life was needed, and so one was chosen. During the season surrounding this holiday -- especially since it coincided with that of other, similar holidays -- it was thought right to honor Jesus by acting as he did, i.e., in a kind, generous, and forgiving manner. Out of this sprung the custom of giving gifts to loved ones on this holiday.
Of all religious holidays that have been adopted by secularists, one of the most popular would be Christmas, originally meant to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. With the exact date of Jesus' birth unknown during ancient times, Christmas was initially assigned to January 6th, but was changed to December 25th under the influence of the winter solstice (Nothaft 903). Peculiarly however, is the universal celebration of Christmas al...
By the fourth century C.E., the Roman Empire was declining. After so many years of perseverance the Roman Empire began to give into the changes that were happening all around them. One change in particular was the spread of Christianity. This new religion went against the traditions of the Romans, it was monotheistic and focused on the will of God. A religion that began small and under persecution became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Christianity, originally, was thought of as an outsider religion, and wasn’t accepted by most Romans. The Romans could learn to live with other religions, but not when they were harmful to public order. At one point, Romans viewed it to be just that. Christians tended ...
The Emperor personally invited bishops of the church to spend time with him. He treated them favorably by showering them with gifts. This was usual for a Roman to do this, because most Romans were not Christian. The Christians received ill treatment from the Romans for many years. It was then that Constantine began to send letters around the empire of Rome telling them to allow certain privileges to the Christians. Constantine also sent letters around the Roman Empire to tell them about the empire’s conversion to Christianity. By 400 A.D., Christianity became the official religion practiced by almost all Romans. Constantine’s profession to Christianity continued on throughout his descendants. Constantine’s loyalty to the bishops of the Christian churches, resulted in a vast majority of Christian
Christmas is not a Bible doctrine. If our blessed Lord had wanted us to celebrate His birthday, He would have told us when to celebrate it and how to celebrate it. But Christ never told anyone to celebrate His birthday. Furthermore, we know from the Bible and from the church that the apostles and the early church never celebrated Christ's birthday.
As the Imperial system gained hold, it was common practice for the Emperors to accept divine honors before their deaths. These living gods, in some cases, required sacrificial rituals as signs of loyalty and ingrained themselves with the older more traditional pagan gods. The requirement of a sacrifice to the emperor, as well as the forced belief in the complete pantheon became a significant source of conflict with early Christians. As Christians refused to worship the emperor as a god, persecution of the Christians and conflict with the cult was a constant source of strife. Emperor worship would continue until late in the western Empire until the reign of Constantine. In the early 4th century AD, Constantine either converted to Christianity or made it an acceptable part of Roman religion, eliminating the emperor deification altogether. Later Emperors such as Julian attempted to revive the old ways, but the deeply rooted Mithraism, and Christian cults combined were firmly set within Roman society. By 392 AD, Emperor Theodosius I banned the practice of pagan religions in Rome altogether and Christianity was, without question, the official religion of the state.
Christmas is a special time of year that deserves to be remembered for its true meaning. Every year, Christmas becomes more and more commercialized and society forgets the origin of Christmas. It was not started with cookies, toys, and a fat man that delivers them, but instead it started with a humble inn where our Savior was born. The definition of Christmas is “a holiday on December 25 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.” Nowhere in that definition does it say anything about the outrageous pressure society has set on consumers to buy, buy, buy during the Christmas season. Christmas is about presence not presents.
People have celebrated a mid-winter festival since pre-historic times. They marked the beginning of longer hours of daylight with fires and ritual offerings. The Roman festival of Saturnalia -- a time for feasting and gambling -- lasted for weeks in December. Germanic tribes of Northern Europe also celebrated mid-winter with feasting, drinking and religious rituals.