For years I have heard cynics and skeptics talk about the traditions of Christmas being nothing more than borrowed or stolen customs of pagan religions.  People will claim that most traditions surrounding Christmas come from ancient pagan feasts. This is a popular myth that has been put forth for the last 20 years or so in an effort to discount Christmas. Many traditions of Christmas may have components similar to pagan feasts and even a few are adaptions from pagan events, the specific application to Christmas is Christian in origin.
A popular argument is the date Christmas is celebrated. Some cynics will point to this simply as Christianity choosing a date to appease the pagan’s celebration of the winter solstice. Even worse some will connect it to the Egyption god Horus (when actually it should be Osiris, the father of Horus – but more on that in a minute) in an effort to cast dispersion on the person of Christ by pointing out supposed parallels between the life of Christ and the “life” of Horus.
Certainly people were celebrating the winter solstice prior to Christmas and the Christian Christmas does take place at the time of the winter solstice. Christmas is not a celebration of the winter solstice. Again, reference the name which means the Mass of Christ, which could be translated as the worship of Christ. The winter solstice is not a celebration. It is the day of the year when the night is the longest and the daytime is the shortest. It occurs on or about Dec. 21st. It is neither pagan or Christian either one. It is simply a measurement. People’s of all cultures and religions have long celebrated natural events in various ways. The pagans do not own a monopoly on this. The earlier church certainly recognized and possibly even celebrated the winter solstice as well. Additionally, the idea that the selection of Dec. 25th was some strategic decision by the church to get members is both ludicrous and not backed up by any facts.
Was Jesus actually born on Dec. 25? No one knows the date of Jesus birth. It was not celebrated by the early church as the celebration of one’s birth was a particularly pagan custom in that day that the church wanted to avoid. The date is not significant. The celebration of the birth of Christ at one time or another occurred on various days by various groups and through the typical development of traditions over time became most popularly celebrated on Dec. 25th.
Those who try and connect it to the story of the Egyptian god Horus, claim he too (at least by the story) was born on the 25th of Dec…..5000 years ago. There are some historical problems with this at the very least. Horus was not born on Dec. 25th 5000 years ago. There was no Dec. 25th 5000 years ago. Actually they should be referring to Osiris, the father of Horus, who is claimed to have been born on Dec. 25th. Similar to how Christianity selected the date to celebrate the birth of Christ, the Romans, thousands of years later, assigned this date to the birth of the Egyption god Osiris.
When talking of this with one individual they told me that Horus was born on the 10th day of Mechir on the ancient Egyptian calendar of 5000 years ago, which is the same as Dec. 25th on our calendar. This is laugahable as we do not have the ability to compare dates from the ancient Egyptian ‘calendar’ to the Roman calendar and to our Gregorian calendar accurately.
Isn’t it odd that no one worships Horus, yet hundreds of millions worship Jesus some 2000 years after His arrival? I’ve always been told you can judge the value of something in part by how it stands the test of time.
How about our beloved Christmas tree? Did they really have a decorated pine tree (or any kind of evergreen) in that manger in Bethlehem? For that matter, do pine trees grow in that part of the world?
Yes, they grow in that part of the world.
Most traditions for holidays and celebrations are developed over time and are meant to be symbolic. Did they really light off firecrackers and over eat grilled hamburgers and hot dogs after they signed the declaration of independence? The Christmas tree, like many other Christmas traditions is symbolic. Yes, it is probably incorporated from other cultures’ celebrations. The modern popularity of the Christmas tree started with Martin Luther (one of those religious scholars) who brought it back to his home and chose to let it symbolize the everlasting life given by Christ.
What about Santa Clause? Some will point the finger and say this is basically an idol (false god) that we teach our children to love and adore (worship)?
Santa is an english derivitive of Saint. He is also known as Saint Nicholas and has a long and storied tradition that certainly has morphed over the years but definitely has its origins in Christianity. We hear so mush abot Christianity borrowing from other beliefs in its traditions, but ironically enough, this is a great example of the unbelievers borrowing a Christian tradition for their own use.
An idol or false god? I don’t know of anyone in the church who believes Santa Claus is a god. Maybe those who are of the world rather than of the church believe this, but the church does not. Certainly you can love and adore someone without worshipping them. I love and adore my wife but I do not believe she is God and do not worship her as such.
The history channel recently promoted the idea that most religious scholars agree that Christianity took parts of pagan beliefs and rituals and incorporated them in to Christmas in order to make it easier for the pagans to join the Christian faith and abandon their false gods.
That is a bold and inaccurate statement. Certainly there are religious scholars who believe this but the statement, “Most religious sholars…” is not accurate. None of my colleagues teach this. As I have stated, Christianity certainly did adapt certain customs and teachings into its traditions, but they did not do so in any secretive or seductive manner. They did so openly and adapted them to symbolize things that were meaningful in the Christian belief.
The on-going effort to belittle Christianity and to minimize its significance by casting it as just one more religion that has borrowed and pilfered from other cultures, specifically paganism rings hollow. Christmas trees, Santa Clauss, the date of Dec. 25th – these things are all traditions, not theologies. They do not define Christianity, but rather help us reflect on that which does define us.