History of Christmas
Christmas has not always been like it is today but rather a dark dreary time of pagan worship of false god's.It originated back before Jesus Christ was ever born and since has grown more into what it is today. In order to fully understand about this holiday we need to go all the way back to the B.C era.
Before December 25th was named Christmas it was a time of false worship and pagan traditions.
False Worship
Europeans and Norse beliefs of Christmas
The Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter, while the Norse celebrated Yule thru December 21st till January. In which the men would cut huge logs from the forest and bring back home. They would then burn the logs and feast until they burned out, which could last up to 12 whole days. While the logs burned they said each spark from the fire would represent a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.
Romans and Germany
Rome would celebrate what they would call Saturnalia. On this day they would honour Saturn (the god of agriculture) This holiday would be celebrated from the week before winter solstice un-till a month later. During this time period the social order would be turned upside down and the slave would become the masters and the masters would be the slaves.
The Romans would also observe Juvenalia. This was feast a to honor the children of Rome. The upper-class would celebrate the birthday of Mithra,(the god of the unquenchable sun) on December 25th. For the Romans Mithra's birthdays was the most sacred day of the year!(Wow this sound familiar, which birthday is the most sacred today in which the Christians celebrate?)
In Germany the people would honour the pagan god known as Odin! Odin was believed to make nocturnal flights through the night sky to observe his people. Then decide rather they would prosper or even perish. This made the Germans very scared of Odin, many of them would stay inside during the winter solstice afraid to come outside. (Doesn't this kinda sound like a familiar figure that we know today.. Santa Clause flying during the night sky to visit the children)
Let's dig deeper and see what we can find!
Who is this Odin that the Germans worshipped?
Odin was a Norse god whom is associated with war,battle,victory,death,wisdom,and magic. He also had a eight legged horse that he would ride during the night to go check on his people. It is said that the Swedish would gather every ninth year and made sacrifices to Odin during Blots (Norse pagan sacrifices). They would sacrifice mostly male slaves as well as males form each species. They believed this would bring them a better year.
Christmas wasn't made a Christian holiday until sometime in the 400's when Pope Julius 1 chose December 25th as a Christian holiday. The Catholic church chose this day in an effort to adopt and absorb paganism and turn them to Christianity. But in doing so they had to adopt the pagan beliefs in order to sway the pagans into believing in Jesus Christ. The church changed the Greek god Odin into a familiar figure whom we all know well today as Santa Clause. Santa Clause rides his (used to be eight) reindeer but now nine into the night sky. Hence Slipner, Odins horse that has eight legs and could fly! The Christmas tree was also adopted by the Christians from the pagan traditions and worships.
Now that we know where Christmas originated lets talk more about the spiritual side of Christmas.
Linking it all together
What does the Bible say about it
Lets start off by saying that the word Christmas in not mentioned anywhere in the bible.
Neither is the date that Jesus Chrsit was born.
The Bible itself tells us that December 25 is an unlikely date for His birth. Palestine is very cold in December. It was much too cold to ask everyone to travel to the city of their fathers to register for taxes. Also the shepherds were in the fields (Luke 2:8-12). Shepherds were not in the fields in the winter time.They are in the fields early in March until early October. This would place Jesus Christ's birth in the spring or early fall.
Lets talk about the Christmas tree.
The bible says in Jeremiah 10:1-5 "Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go "
Although this may not be speaking directly about a Christmas tree its relations are very similar to what the heathens done and what people do today. Another thing to think about is. Once you have that Christmas tree sitting up in your home and decorated and the present are tucked snug underneath. How do you retrieve the presents out from under the tree? Well you would get on your knees like you were if you bowed down to pray, then you would reach underneath the tree like someone does when they are worshipping God. So here we put a false God in our homes and bow down to it to get presents!
Lets look at another scripture in the bible.
2 Cor.5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Do not Christians every December put Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger as a nativity scene? The answer to that is yes, yes they do!
What this scripture is saying is, Don't put the Almighty God back into a manger as a baby. Don't celebrate his birth. Remember him no more in the flesh.
The bible says that God is a spirit. Remember Jesus Christ as the Almighty God the Redeemer of souls. Not in the flesh.
When I talk to people about Christmas they always tell me that they do it to remember and to honour Jesus Christ. That they take December 25th as a day of honouring Jesus Christ. My response is this, " Jesus Christ don't want you to take just one day out of a year to remember him or to honour him. God wants you to honour him everyday of your life not just the one".
In conclusion...
God does not want us to take part in pagan traditions. Even though we think we are doing them in the right spirit. If it was wrong when the world began it will be wrong when the world ends. In saying that, the bible says in Gal 5:9 "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." You can't take a little wrong and mix it with right to make it okay. What people are doing with Christmas is taken old pagan traditions and trying to add Jesus Christ in it to make it okay. That will never work. The catholic church tried to convert the pagans by adopting some of their beliefs but instead of converting the pagans to Christianity they got converted to pagans instead. You can't put CHRIST in something that he was never in and that would be Christmas!
