Is Christmas Biblical? If not, why observe it?

Christmas Pagan or Christian? Alexander Hislop (The Two Babylons) says it is pagan! • If true – should we observe Christmas? • Should we shun everything with a pagan

origin? • Jesus said we should pay taxes to Rome

(Matt 22:15-22) Does this mean taxes paid to any other government are unbiblical?

Pagan is Wrong?

• Acts 17:28 – Epimenides (6th Cent BC), “In him we live and move and have our being”

• Acts 17:28 – Aratus of Cilicia, Didactic poem, Phaenomena, (An Invocation to Zeus), line 5, 270 BC, “We are his offspring”.

• Titus 1:12 – Epimenides, “Cretans are liars …”

Other Pagan Bible Images

• Luke 16:19-31 – Hades & the river Styx

• Rev 1:12-16 – Jesus portrayed as Hecetar

• Rev 13:1-11 – Image of Greek Chimera

• Is the Freemason’s Hospital wrong?

Early Christmas • Was Christmas stolen from a pagan festival?

• Date of Christmas first mentioned on about 202 by Hyppolytus of Rome in his commentary of Daniel

• Donatists of Nth Africa were celebrating Christmas before 311.

More Early Christmas • First recorded celebration in Rome was 336

for Furius Dionysius Filocalus.

• Christmas introduced to Constantinople in 379

• What of the sun??

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti

Established by Roman Emperor Aurelian in 274, “placed a festival of Sol Invictus on December 25 in order to compete with the growing rate of the Christian Church, which had already been celebrating Christmas on that date first.” (Thomas J Tally) but not celebrated for another 100 years.

Who Copied Whom??

• It appears that Rome copied the Christians

• NOT PAGAN!

• What of the customs, Santa Claus, gifts, decorations, Christmas trees?

Nativity scenes

Introduced in the 10th century in Rome and popularised by St Francis of Assisi about 1233

Christmas Trees Fir tree first used by German Christians about 700 AD when Aeddi Stephanus, “took an axe to an oak tree dedicated to Thor and pointed out a fir tree, which he stated was a more fitting object of reverence because it pointed to heaven and it had a triangular shape, which he said was symbolic of the Trinity.”

Christmas Carols

• Earliest Christmas music was, "Veni redemptor gentium", written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan in the 4th century

Santa Claus

• Begun by Saint Nicolas (about 300)

• Commemorates the gifts of the Magi

• English “Santa Claus” comes from the Dutch “Sinterklaas” = Saint Nicholas.

Summary

• Christmas owes very little to paganism (except very recently in the 20th century)

What if Christmas were pagan?

Why not use this time to remind people of the unspeakable gift of

Jesus when they are willing to listen?

Conclusion

Rom 14:5, 6, “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.”