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Christmas Before Christ?
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“The pagans were cutting down everlasting trees and decking them with gold and silver many centuries before Christ was born, see Jeremiah 10 which was written in the 6th century BEFORE Christ’s birth!” See Jeremiah 10:2-5
“The Surprising Story. Most people know the Bible doesn’t direct us to celebrate Christmas. Does it make any difference as long as it’s intended to honor God and bring families together?
None of the symbols, traditions or even characters, like Santa Claus, has any basis in biblical teaching. So where did they come from?
At this time of year it’s fairly common to see programs like the one titled “Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas,” which aired on the A&E (Arts & Entertainment) cable television channel. The promo for the program read:
“People all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th. But why is the Savior’s nativity marked by gift-giving, and was He really born on that day? And just where did the Christmas tree come from?
“Take an enchanting journey through the history of the world’s favorite holiday to learn the origins of some of the Western world’s most enduring traditions. Trace the emergence of Christmas from pagan festivals like the Roman Saturnalia, which celebrated the winter solstice.”
This program addressed the fact that Santa Claus is fictitious and that Christmas and its trappings emanate from pagan Roman festivals, as many other sources corroborate.
Is there more to these ancient traditions and practices than meets the eye? And, more important, does it make any difference whether we continue in them?
Celebration of the sun god
It may sound odd that any religious celebration with Christ’s name attached to it could predate Christianity. Yet the holiday we know as Christmas long predates Jesus Christ. Elements of the celebration can be traced to ancient Egypt, Babylon and Rome. This fact certainly calls into question the understanding and wisdom of those who, over the millennia, have insisted on perpetuating its observance throughout the Christian world.
Members of the early Church would have been astonished at the customs and practices we associate with Christmas being incorporated into a celebration of Christ’s birth. Not until centuries after them would His name be attached to this popular Roman holiday.
As Alexander Hislop explains in his book The Two Babylons: “It is admitted by the most learned and candid writers of all parties that the day of our Lord’s birth cannot be determined, and that within the Christian Church no such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and that not till the fourth century was far advanced did it gain much observance” (1959, pp. 92-93).
As for how Dec. 25 became associated with Christ’s birth, virtually any book on the history of Christmas will explain that this day was celebrated in the Roman Empire as the birthday of the sun god. For example, the book 4000 Years of Christmas says: “For that day was sacred, not only to the pagan Romans but to a religion from Persia which, in those days, was one of Christianity’s strongest rivals. This Persian religion was Mithraism, whose followers worshiped the sun, and celebrated its return to strength on that day” (Earl and Alice Count, 1997, p. 37).
Not only was Dec. 25 honored as the birthday of the sun, but a festival had long been observed among the pagan nations of celebrating the growing amount of daylight after the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The precursor of Christmas was in fact an idolatrous winter festival characterized by excess and debauchery that predated Christianity by many centuries.
Pre-Christian practices incorporated
This ancient festival went by different names in various cultures. In Rome it was called the Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. The observance was adopted by early Roman church leaders and given the name of Christ (“Christ mass,” or Christmas) to permit pagans converting to Christianity to continue in their former practices, helping to swell the number of nominal adherents of Christianity.
The tendency on the part of third-century Catholic leadership was to meet paganism halfway—a practice made clear in a bitter lament by the Carthaginian theologian Tertullian.
In A.D. 230 he wrote of the inconsistency of professing Christians, contrasting their compromising practices with the pagans’ strict adherence to their own beliefs: “By us who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals once acceptable to God [referring to the biblical festivals spelled out in Leviticus 23, which they failed to embrace], the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year’s day presents are made with din . . . Oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to THEIR religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians” (Hislop, p. 93, emphasis added throughout).
Failing to make much headway in converting the pagans, the religious leaders of the Roman church began compromising by dressing the heathen customs in Christian-looking garb. But, rather than converting them to the church’s beliefs, the church largely converted to non-Christian customs in its own practices.
Although the early Catholic Church at first opposed this celebration, “the festival was far too strongly entrenched in popular favor to be abolished, and the Church finally granted the necessary recognition, believing that if Christmas could not be suppressed, it should be preserved in honor of the Christian God. Once given a Christian basis the festival became fully established in Europe with many of its pagan elements undisturbed” (Man, Myth & Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion, and the Unknown, Richard Cavendish, editor, 1983, Vol. 2, p. 480, “Christmas”).
Celebration wins out over Scripture
Some resisted such spiritually poisonous compromises, but it was not enough: “Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under Pagan superstition. That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin” (Hislop, p. 93).
The aforementioned Tertullian wasn’t alone in objecting to compromise. “As late as 245 Origen, in his eighth homily on Leviticus, repudiates as sinful the very idea of keeping the birthday of Christ as if he were a king Pharaoh” (The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, Vol. 6, p. 293, “Christmas”).
Christmas was not made a Roman holiday until 534 (ibid.). It took 300 years for the new name and symbols of Christmas to replace the old names and meaning of the winter festival, a pagan celebration that reaches back so many centuries.
No biblical support for Santa Claus
How did the mythical Santa Claus figure enter the picture? Here, too, many books are available to shed light on the origins of this popular character.
“Santa Claus” is an American corruption of the Dutch form Sinterklaas or Sint-Nicolaas, a figure brought to America by the early Dutch colonists (The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, Vol. 19, p. 649, “Nicholas, St.”). This is often said to refer to St. Nicholas, bishop of the city of Myra in southern Asia Minor, a Catholic saint honored on Dec. 6.
He was bishop of Myra in the time of the Roman emperor Diocletian, was persecuted, tortured for the Catholic faith and kept in prison until the more tolerant reign of Constantine (ibid.). Various stories claim a link from Christmas to St. Nicholas, all of them having to do with gift-giving on the eve of St. Nicholas, subsequently transferred to Christmas Day (ibid.). Yet the link is questionable, and other suggestions have been proposed.
In any case, we might wonder how a bishop from the sunny Mediterranean coast of Turkey came to be associated with a red-suited man who lives at the north pole and rides in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer.
Knowing what we’ve already learned about the ancient pre-Christian origins of Christmas, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that Santa Claus, too, is nothing but a figure recycled from ancient pagan beliefs.
The trappings associated with him—his fur-trimmed wardrobe, sleigh and reindeer—reveal his connection to the cold climates of the far North. Some sources trace him to the ancient Northern European gods Woden and Thor (Earl and Alice Count, pp. 56-64). Others trace him even farther back in time to the Roman god Saturn and the Greek god Silenus (William Walsh, The Story of Santa Klaus, pp. 70-71).
Was Jesus born in December?
Most Bible scholars who have written on the subject of Jesus’ birth conclude that, based on evidence in the Bible itself and knowledge of the climate of the Holy Land, there is no possible way Christ could have been born anywhere near Dec. 25.
Again we turn to Alexander Hislop: “There is not a word in the Scriptures about the precise day of [Jesus’] birth, or the time of the year when He was born. What is recorded there implies that at what time soever His birth took place, it could not have been on the 25th of December. At the time that the angel announced His birth to the shepherds of Bethlehem, they were feeding their flocks by night in the open fields . . . The climate of Palestine . . . from December to February, is very piercing, and it was not the custom for the shepherds of Judea to watch their flocks in the open fields later than about the end of October” (Hislop, p. 91, emphasis in original).
He goes on to explain that the autumn rains beginning in September or October in Judea would mean that the events surrounding Christ’s birth recorded in the Scriptures could not have taken place later than mid-October, so Jesus’ birth likely took place earlier in the fall (Hislop, p. 92).
Further evidence supporting Jesus’ birth in the autumn is that the Romans were intelligent enough not to set the time for taxation and travel in the winter. And it would have been quite hazardous for Joseph and his expectant wife Mary to have made the trip from Nazareth to his ancestral home of Bethlehem so late in the year. As recorded by Luke, Mary delivered Jesus in Bethlehem during the time of census and taxation—which, again, no rational official would have scheduled for winter.
What difference does it make?
The Bible gives us no reason—and certainly no instruction—to support the myths and fables of Christmas and Santa Claus. They are contrary to the ways of Christ and His holy truth. “Learn not the way of the heathen,” God tells us (Jeremiah 10:2, King James Version).
Professing Christians should examine the background of the Christmas holiday symbols and stop telling their children that Santa Claus and his elves, reindeer and Christmas gift-giving are connected with Jesus Christ. Emphatically they are not! God hates lying (Proverbs 6:16-19; 12:22).
Christ reveals that Satan the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). Parents should tell their children the truth about God and this world’s contrary and confusing ways. If we don’t, we only perpetuate the notion that it’s acceptable for parents to lie to their children.
God specifically commands His people not to do what early church leaders did when they incorporated idolatrous practices and relabeled them Christian. Before they entered the Promised Land, God gave the Israelites a stern warning to not worship Him with pagan practices: “Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them [the inhabitants of the land], . . . and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’
“You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods . . . Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:30-32).
Many centuries later the apostle Paul raised up churches in many gentile cities. To the members of the Church of God in Corinth, a Greek city steeped in idolatry, Paul wrote: “. . . What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial [or Wickedness personified, here in reference to Satan]? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?
“For you are the temple of the living God . . . Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ . . . Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17; 7:1).
Instead of approving of any notion of church members renaming and celebrating customs associated with false gods as now Christian, Paul’s instructions were clear: They were to have nothing to do with such practices. He similarly told Athenians who were steeped in idolatry, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
God alone has the right to decide the special days on which we are to worship Him. Jesus Christ plainly tells us that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). We cannot honor God in truth with false practices adopted from the worship of false gods.
Jesus said: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). Even if Christians mean well when they observe Christmas, that does not make it okay. God is not amused or pleased!
The knowledge of how to truly honor God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ has been made available to you. Will you live by the revealed truth of God or follow the wayward traditions of mankind?” From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-magazine/christmas-before-christ-the-surprising-story
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Christmas: Is It “What You Make It”?
“What do Santa and the Bible have in common? Nothing, actually. Christ said that those who worship Him must worship Him “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). The source of truth is the Bible—not the traditions of ancient pagan religions or humanly devised myths about Christ’s birth.
Some say that Christmas is what you make it. Yet, since it’s supposedly the birthday of Jesus Christ, shouldn’t we ask what His opinion of Christmas is?
“Christmas is what you make it.”
To me, the words coming from the radio were shocking. By themselves, they might have just been an attempt to create the “holiday spirit.” Yet, in the context of the commercial that was playing, those words took on a whole new meaning.
The commercial had discussed the origins of Christmas. It mentioned the fact that Christmas has its roots in paganism (that is, cultures that worshipped gods—often elements of nature—other than the true God), mostly in the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia (named after the chief Roman god Saturn). The commercial brought up the fact that the Puritans in New England had banned the celebration of the holiday.
With a background like this, how can Christmas just be “what you make it”?
Origins of Christmas
When you look at the origins of Christmas, you quickly realize that the commercial was correct. Christ had nothing to do with the origins of this holiday—the Catholic Church simply attached His name to the holiday in the third century.
Here are a few elements of Christmas and their pagan origins:
- The date of Dec. 25: This date is not derived from the Bible. In fact, a strictly biblical examination of Christ’s birth strongly rules out December since the census mentioned in Luke 2 would have been unlikely in the rainy winter months and shepherds wouldn’t have kept their flocks out at night during the winter season.
Instead, the date comes from a number of pagan festivals in the ancient world that were based around the winter solstice. Examples of pagan festivals that were held around this time were Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (birth of the invincible sun god), Saturnalia and the birthday celebration of Mithra.
- Exchange of gifts: Ever wonder why Christ is the only One who doesn’t receive gifts on what’s supposed to be His birthday? The answer lies in a study of the Roman festival of Saturnalia. During this weeklong festival, the often drunk and unruly festivalgoers would exchange gifts. We encourage you to learn more about the customs of Saturnalia.
- Santa Claus: What does an obese, old man in a bright red suit have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ? Nothing! The modern image of Santa Claus was derived from a figure called Saint Nicholas who lived in Turkey during the third century. Other sources make a link between the name Nicholas and the ungodly Nicolaitans mentioned in Revelation 2:6.
- The Christmas tree: The evergreen tree was seen as special in pagan religions because it lived (remained green) during the winter months. Interestingly, the Bible even mentions “green trees” in the negative context of pagan worship (Deuteronomy 12:2; 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 16:4; 17:10). Many historical sources trace the tradition of decorating a tree to Germanic paganism, but the Bible shows that a form of this tradition went all the way back to the sixth century B.C. (Jeremiah 10:1-5).
Many of these facts are widely known. In fact, we at Life, Hope & Truth encourage you to research the origins of Christmas further. There are various historical reference books that provide a detailed history of the origin of its pagan customs.
What does Christ think of Christmas?
Since Dec. 25 is celebrated as His birthday, it makes sense to pose the question: What does Jesus Christ make of Christmas?
To answer that question, we have to go to the Bible. When we try to discover what it says about the origins of Christmas, we find that it has no basis in Scripture.
In Deuteronomy 12:29-32 God instructed ancient Israel that they should not incorporate pagan practices and teachings into their worship of Him. Jeremiah 10:1-5 describes an idolatrous custom of using a tree decorated in gold and silver for worship. The description in some English translations seems remarkably similar to modern-day Christmas tree customs. In this passage God specifically says, “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles” (heathens) (verse 2).
Christ said that those who worship Him must worship Him “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). That means that our worship of Him must be based entirely on truth. The source of truth is the Bible (John 17:17)—not the traditions of ancient pagan religions or humanly devised myths about Christ’s birth.
What will you decide?
Now that you know the origins of Christmas and what the Bible reveals—what will you make of Christmas? Will you just gloss over the history of the day and convince yourself that its popular meaning—giving to the poor, peace and goodwill toward all men—overshadows the pagan, unbiblical origins of the day?
Or will you commit yourself to heeding Christ’s admonition to worship Him in “spirit and truth” (John 4:24)?
In Leviticus 23 God reveals an entirely different set of religious observances—His Holy Days. These days are taught in the Bible and have deep meaning for Christians today.
The question remains: What do you make of Christmas?
To learn more about the origins of popular holidays as well as the true festivals God commands, download our free booklet From Holidays to Holy Days: God’s Plan for You. From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/change/blog/christmas-is-it-what-you-make-it/
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Diet and Lifestyle for Cancer Prevention and Survival
Transcript of YouTube: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/diet-and-lifestyle-for-cancer-prevention-and-survival/?
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
“Cancer prevalence is predicted to continue to increase, but the good news is that between 30 and 50 percent of the most common cancers might be preventable through diet and lifestyle changes. Take breast cancer, for example, the most common female internal cancer diagnosis in the United States, and the second leading cause of female cancer death after lung cancer. But “there is a growing body of evidence that breast cancer incidence can be reduced with an overall healthy lifestyle, which includes a high-quality diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes”––like beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils.
Greater adherence to a more Mediterranean-style diet was associated with a lower risk of cancer mortality, including less breast cancer. An analysis of the individual components of the Mediterranean diet revealed that the protective effects appear to be most attributable to eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, contributing to mounting evidence that a plant-based diet is the most beneficial dietary pattern for breast cancer survivors.
Wait; the same diet that can help you prevent cancer can also help you survive cancer? That’s one of the 10 recommendations from the prestigious American Institute for Cancer Research. After a cancer diagnosis, follow the same recommendations to maintain a healthy weight; exercise; eat a diet rich in four things: whole grains, vegetables, fruit, and beans. But limit fast food and processed junk. And limit consumption of meats, soda, and alcohol.
Okay, but does adherence to these guidelines actually translate into less cancer? Yes, it substantially reduced the risk of total cancer, providing robust evidence that the guidelines for cancer prevention should be widely disseminated in society. About half the folks were failing the healthy weight and physical activity departments, but more than 90 percent were failing on eating enough plant foods, or limiting enough meat and processed junk. But I guess the glass 10 percent full interpretation is that given that many people do not meet the recommendations, there is a great potential for cancer prevention.
Specific to breast cancer risk, women who met most of those recommendations only had half the breast cancer risk, compared to women who only nailed a couple. If you could only do one of those recommendations, limiting animal foods seemed most protective.
Adherence to the recommendations was also associated with higher survival in cancer patients who already have cancer. This was also true for older female cancer survivors, most of whom were suffering from breast cancer.
A good proxy for whole plant food intake is dietary fiber, since it’s not found in animal foods, and is depleted or completely absent in processed foods. And higher dietary fiber consumption was associated with a 37 percent lower risk of dying from all causes put together, and 28 percent lower risk of dying specifically from breast cancer among breast cancer survivors. And it didn’t take much. There was like a 10 percent drop in death risk for every five grams a day increment in dietary fiber intake. That’s just like a cup of oatmeal or broccoli, or a third of a cup of beans. A cancer diagnosis may provide a “teachable moment” for cancer survivors to make positive changes in their health behaviors.
Even more importantly, higher fiber intake may help prevent breast cancer in the first place. Yes, fiber could help directly by feeding your good gut flora, which then produce anti-inflammatory compounds, or it could just be an indicator of total whole plant-food intake.
Adherence to the cancer prevention recommendations isn’t just associated with higher survival in cancer patients and lower risk of dying from cancer, but lower risk of dying overall. That’s the beauty of eating a more plant-based diet. The same diet that’s anti-cancer is also anti-heart disease, and even, apparently, anti-lung disease. Conclusion: Results of this study suggest that following the cancer prevention diet and lifestyle recommendations could significantly increase longevity.” From: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/diet-and-lifestyle-for-cancer-prevention-and-survival/?
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