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- This study is downloadable for free at:
www.ChristmasTruth.info
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- "Christmas /'krismes/ n. (also Christmas Day) annual festival of
Christ's birth, celebrated on 25 Dec.
[Old English: related to Christ, Mass] "
- Christmas, The Oxford Dictionary of Current English
- "An annual church festival (December 25) and in some States a legal
holiday, in memory of the birth of Christ, often celebrated by a
particular church service, and also by special gifts, greetings, and
hospitality."
- - Christmas, Webster Dictionary
- (http://www.webster-dictionary.net/definition/Christmas)
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- You would have to be living under a rock to have not heard of
Christmas. It is celebrated
across the globe by Christians and non-Christians alike.
- Traditions and celebrations vary and are influenced greatly by a
person's nationality, culture and religious background.
- However, a few things I've noticed are fairly common during this winter
festival:
- Celebrating the Birth of Jesus
- Putting up and decorating a Christmas Tree
- Decorating Homes, Churches, Schools, Workplaces, etc..
- Exchanging gifts, going to parties, spending money, etc..
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- "Aren't we forgetting the true meaning of Christmas? You know… the
birth of Santa." - Bart Simpson
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- I'm certain most people don't believe in Santa Claus (at least not
anymore), and some don't include him in their Christmas celebrations.
- However, even casual research confirms that there's a few things that
have come to be associated with Christmas that really have nothing to do
with the birth of Jesus.
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“Let's put Christ back in Christmas”
- and
- “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”
- are just some of the slogans Christians have come up with over the
years to combat the secularization and commercialization of
Christianity's biggest holiday.
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- The following quote shows the frustration some Christians feel:
- "As a devout Christian, I am alarmed at the way a few people are
trying to take Christ out of Christmas and I’m calling on all fellow
Christians to take a stand.“
- - Yes, let's DO put Christ back into Christmas!,
by Russell King, Dec 16, 2009
- (http://www.streetprophets.com/story/2009/12/15/223334/86 )
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- The primary goal of this whole Christmas celebration (at least from a
Christian point of view) is to bring honour and glory to Jesus for what
He came to earth to accomplish.
- If this is really the case, then we should at least take a step back
every once in a while to see if we are, in fact, doing what Jesus wants
us to do.
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- You don't need a Ph.D. to figure out that lying to your children year
after year about Santa Claus isn't exactly something Jesus would
promote. On the contrary, it is
clearly taught in the Bible that lying is wrong. It's even one of the 10 commandments
(Exodus 20:16).
- The point of this presentation is to figure out exactly how much of this
celebration of Christ's birth that we call Christmas actually falls in
the category of acceptable worship to God and to Jesus Himself.
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- Let us start off with the origin of the word Christmas:
- "The word for Christmas in late Old English is
Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found
in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131"
- - Christmas, Catholic Encyclopedia
- (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm)
- The word "Christmas" is just a contraction of "Christ's
Mass" or "Mass of Christ", which was a special Catholic
Mass to celebrate Christ's birth.
- I wonder if Christmas Eve communion services in protestant churches
today also stem from this practice?
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- "The Catholic practice of celebrating Christ’s birth through a
special Mass on “Christmas’ Eve,” technically speaking is a
contradiction, since the Mass for Catholics is a re-enactment of
Christ’s sacrifice. Honoring Christ’s birth, by re-enacting His atoning
sacrifice, obscures the significance of His birth."
- - The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.2
- Ok, so they didn't pick the best name for the holiday. It's not that big of a deal for most
people. Christmas has the word "Christ" in it and that's
what’s important, right?
- Let's continue...
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- "While most countries celebrate Christmas on December 25 each
year, some Eastern Orthodox national churches... celebrate the Great Feast of the
Nativity on January 7... On the other hand Armenian Apostolic Church
celebrates Christmas on January 6."
- - Christmas (subheading: Orthodox churches), Wikipedia
- (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas)
- "by the end of the third century Christmas in Rome was held on
December 25, which coincided with a major pagan feast, while in the
Eastern churches it was observed on January 6. The Armenian Church has
maintained that ancient tradition to this day, whereas the
Greek-speaking Christian world switched to the Latin tradition at the
end of the fourth century."
- - Christmas, The Armenian Church
- (http://www.armenianchurch.net/worship/christmas/index.html)
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- Right off the bat, we see that there's already some sort of discrepancy
regarding the dates that are observed.
- Most of the world celebrates Christmas on December 25th on our standard
Gregorian calendar.
- The Eastern Orthodox churches also celebrate it on December 25th, but on
the traditional Julian Calendar, which falls on January 7th on our
standard Gregorian calendar.
- Then there's the Armenian Church that still celebrates Christmas on
January 6th, claiming that the date was changed to December 25th in the
late 4th century.
- Let's try to find out which date is actually the correct one.
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- "Christmas is an annual Christian holiday commemorating the birth
of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated
on December 25, but this date is not known to be Jesus' actual
birthday"
- - Christmas, Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas)
- "There was no consensus among third and fourth century scholars as
to the birthday of Jesus. Different scholars gave many different
dates. It seems that January 6th
was one of the more popular choices during that time period."
- - Christmas, by Richard Rives, author of the book “Too Long in the Sun”
- (http://www.toolong.com/pages/christmas.htm)
- “Inexplicable though it seems, the date of the [Messiah’s] birth is not
known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month,”
- The New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3, p. 656.
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- "The month and day of Jesus' birthday is also unknown. However, we
can be fairly certain that it was not DEC-25"
- - When was Jesus born?, by B.A.
Robinson
- (http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_date.htm)
- "The Bible itself therefore hints strongly at the falsehood of
Yeshua's birth occurring on, or even near December 25 as this would be
during Kislev/Tebeth, the dead of winter. "
- - The Messiah's True birth date, by Hilke Dokter
- (http://www.members.shaw.ca/hdokter/birth.htm)
- "it is important to note that the date of December 25 is totally
devoid of Biblical meaning and is grossly inaccurate as far as the
actual time of Christ’s birth."
- - The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.15
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- "Based on the biblical passages that record the nativity story and
related events, many scholars reject December 25 as the date when Jesus
Christ was born. The Bible appears to indicate that Jesus was most
likely born in late September; however, December 25 has become so
entrenched as Christmas Day that it will likely never change."
- - Date of the Birth of Jesus Christ, by Ronald G Falconberry,
- (http://biblestudies.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_birth_of_jesus)
- “And, as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks [when
Christ was born in Bethlehem], it is a presumptive argument that October
had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on
the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could
He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the
fields by night. On this very ground the nativity in December should be
given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a
chronological fact . . . See the quotations from the Talmudists in
Lightfoot.”
- Adam Clarke, Commentary,
Vol. 5, p. 370.
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- "There is no contemporary evidence of the exact date of Jesus'
birth."
- - Jesus, Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus)
- Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any evidence that either
December 25th or January 6th was actually the day that Jesus was born
on.
- The biblical account of the nativity is silent regarding the date and
most scholars agree that the exact date of Jesus' birth is not known.
- Furthermore, the probability of Jesus being born on either December 25th
or January 6th is slim to none, making us wonder how they came up with
those dates in the first place.
- Let's try to find out when the celebration of Jesus' birth first began.
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- “The fathers of the first three centuries do not speak of any special
observance of the nativity. No corresponding festival was presented by
the Old Testament ... the day and month of the birth of [the Messiah]
are nowhere stated in the Gospel history, and cannot be certainly
determined,”
- Christmas, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and
Ecclesiastical Literature, by Rev. John McClintock and James Strong, p.
276.
- "In the first two centuries of the Church, Christmas was not a
feast day. None of the lists of
feast days compiled during that time include Christmas"
- Why is That in
Tradition?, by Patrick
Madrid. p. 176
- "Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church.
Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts"
- - Christmas, Catholic Encyclopedia, (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm)
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- "There is no historical evidence that our [Savior's] birthday was
celebrated during the apostolic or early post-apostolic times,"
- The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,
"Christmas," p. 47.
- "There is no record of a December 25th celebration of the birth of
Christ in Rome earlier than 336.
In Constantinople, no record of a celebration before 378. In Alexandria, not before 400; and in
Jerusalem, not before 425. "
- - Christmas, by Richard Rives, author of the book “Too Long in the Sun”
- (http://www.toolong.com/pages/christmas.htm)
- "There are no indications that during the first two centuries the
early church ever celebrated Christ’s birth. The event that was widely
celebrated was the death and resurrection of Jesus at the annual
Passover."
- - The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.7
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- "Indeed, 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 until the third century, and that not till the fourth century
was far advanced did it gain much observance."
- - The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, p. 92-93
- "So again Origen had evidently some similar thought before him
when he insists that "of all the holy people in the Scriptures, no
one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his
birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great
rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world
below" (Origen, in Levit., Hom. VIII, in Migne P.G., XII,
495)."
- - Natal Day, Catholic Encyclopedia,
(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10709a.htm)
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- "The day [Christmas] was not one of the early feasts of the
Christian church. In fact the observance of birthdays was condemned as a
heathen custom repugnant to Christians"
- The American Book of Days, George W. Douglas, p. 658.
- Once again, there is no record of Jesus, the apostles or even the early
Christian church ever celebrating such an event.
- What is even more interesting is that the mere observance of birthdays
in general was considered a heathen custom.
- So that begs the question, when did people start celebrating the birth
of Jesus and how did they come up with the dates that we have (Dec 25
and Jan 6)?
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- "The December 25th birthdate is that of the sun, not a “real
person,” revealing its unoriginality within Christianity and the true
nature of the Christian godman. “Christmas” was not incorporated into
Christianity until 354 AD/CE. In reality, there is no evidence, no
primary sources which show that “Jesus is the reason for the
season.”"
- -The Christmas Hoax: Jesus is NOT the "Reason for the
Season", by Acharya S. and D.M. Murdock
- (http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/christmas.html)
- "The adoption of the 25th of December for the celebration of
Christmas is perhaps the most explicit example of Sun-worship’s
influence on the Christian liturgical calendar. It is a known fact that
the pagan feast of the dies natalis Solis Invicti—the birthday of the
Invincible Sun, was held on that date."
- - The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.23
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- "A feast was established in memory of this event [Christ's birth]
in the fourth century. In the fifth century the Western Church ordered
it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the
birth of Sol, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth
existed."
- - Christmas, Encyclopedia Americana (1944 edition),
- "in [C.E.] 354, Bishop Liberius of Rome ordered the people to
celebrate on December 25. He probably chose this date because the people
of Rome already observed it as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the
birthday of the sun. Christians honored Christ in-stead of Saturn, as
the Light of the world,"
- Christmas, The World
Book Encyclopedia (1962), p. 416.
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- "Prior to the celebration of Christmas, December 25 in the Roman
world was the Natalis Solis Invicti, the Birthday of the Unconquerable
Sun. This feast, which took place just after the winter solstice of the
Julian calendar, was in honor of the Sun God, Mithras."
- Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays
by Robert J. Myers
- "In the Roman Empire, Mithra became associated with the sun, and
was referred to as the Sol Invictus, or unconquerable sun. The first day of the week -- Sunday --
was devoted to prayer to him.
Mithraism became the official religion of Rome for some 300
years. The early Christian church
later adopted Sunday as their holy day, and December 25 as the birthday
of Jesus."
- - The Philosophies and Religions of the Roman Empire, by Dr. C. George
Boeree, (http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/romanempire.html)
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- "... that date of the pagan festival for the birthday of Helios,
December 25, was taken over by Christians for the birthday of the
Christ."
- The Harvest of Hellenism, by F.E. Peters (New York, 1970) p.443
- "Why, we may ask, did the Church choose December 25 for the
celebration of her Founder's Birth? No one now imagines that the date is
supported by a reliable tradition; it is only one of various guesses of
early Christian writers. As a learned eighteenth-century Jesuit has
pointed out, there is not a single month in the year to which the
Nativity has not been assigned by some writer or other. The real reason
for the choice of the day most probably was, that upon it fell the pagan
festival just mentioned [the birthday of the unconquered Sun]."
- - Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan,
by Clement A. Miles, p.22
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- "Moreover, hundreds of millions continue to celebrate the 25th of
December as the birth of Jesus Christ, completely oblivious to the
notion that this date does not represent the 'real' birthday of the
Jewish son of God. Lest 'Christmas' eventually end up being acknowledged
widely as the birthday not of the Jewish messiah but of the sun, it
needs to be immortalized that for hundreds of years that day was
celebrated as the birthday of Jesus Christ."
- - Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D. M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.80
- "The bottom line is that there are no reliable historical
documents that would place the birth of Jesus on December 25th. On the other hand, there is
overwhelming documentation that the birthday of many of the sun gods of
antiquity was recognized as December 25th."
- - Christmas, by Richard Rives, (http://www.toolong.com/pages/christmas.htm)
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- "Before Christmas was ever invented, December 25th was known as
"the birthday of the unconquered sun" and it was celebrated as
the birthday of pagan gods such as Mithras, Attis, Sol, Dionysus and
others."
- Pagans Celebrated Dec. 25th BEFORE Christmas Was Invented, News
Article from Tuesday, December 16, 2008, (http://themoralcollapseofamerica.blogspot.com/2008/12/pagans-celebrated-dec-25th-before.html)
- Wow! Apparently, the Christian
Church in the fourth century decided that they are going to start
celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25th, which happened to be
the same date that the pagans were celebrating as the birth of numerous
sun gods.
- Why in the world would they do such a thing?
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- "Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era
itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise
time of the year, in honor of the birth of the son of the Babylonian
queen of heaven. It may fairly be presumed that, in order to conciliate
the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of
Christianity, the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ
adopted the same festival. This tendency on the part of Christians to
meet Paganism halfway was very early developed; and we find Tertullian,
even in his day, about the year 230, bitterly lamenting the
inconsistency of the disciples of Christ in this respect, and
contrasting it with the strict fidelity of the Pagans to their own
superstition"
- - Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, p. 93
- “December 25 was the date of the Roman pagan festival inaugurated in
274 as the birthday of the unconquered sun which at the winter solstice
begins again to show an increase in light. Sometime before 336 the
Church in Rome, unable to stamp out this pagan festival, spiritualized
it as the Feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness.”
- - New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 223
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- "After the peace the Church of Rome, to facilitate the acceptance
of the faith by the pagan masses, found it convenient to institute the
25th of December as the feast of the temporal birth of Christ, to divert
them from the pagan feast, celebrated on the same day in honor of the
“Invincible Sun” Mithras, the conqueror of darkness."
- - Manuale di Storia Liturgica, by Mario Righetti, 1955, II, p. 67.
- "Historians agree that through the subsequent centuries,
traditions from ancient pagan (non-Christian) religions became
intertwined with those of Christianity, and depending upon one's point
of view, either paganism became Christianized, or Christianity became
paganized."
- - Christmas in America becomes battleground, by Joe Kovacs, (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=16242)
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- “The pagan Saturnalia [an eight-day December 17-24 festival] and
Brumalia [The December 25 celebration] were too deeply entrenched in
popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence,”
- Christmas, New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious
Knowledge, p. 48.
- "But let your works shine, says He; Matthew 5:16 but now all our
shops and gates shine! You will now-a-days find more doors of heathens
without lamps and laurel-wreaths than of Christians."
- - On Idolatry, by Tertullian (2nd-3rd century Christian writer),
Chapter 15
- (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0302.htm)
- "The conflict is keen at first; the Church authorities fight tooth
and nail against these relics of heathenism, these devilish rites; but
mankind's instinctive paganism is insuppressible, the practices continue
as ritual, though losing much of their meaning, and the Church, weary of
denouncing, comes to wink at them, while the pagan joy in earthly life
begins to colour her own festival."
- - Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan,
by Clement A. Miles,
p.25
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- "Certain popular holidays, such as Yule, and customs such as
lighting candles and offering small sacrifices under certain holy trees
could not be easily suppressed, so they were given new meanings. Yuletide rituals were incorporated
into Christmas. The candles were lit to remember Christ as light of the
world. The holy offerings came to
symbolize the gifts the wise men brought."
- - The Solstice Evergreen: The
History, Folklore and Origins of the Christmas Tree, by Sheryl Ann Karas
(Fairfield: Aslan Publishing, 1998).
p. 91
- "1st century believers, taught personally by Christ, did not
celebrate His birthday. 2nd century theologians condemned the thought.
Only after severe persecution, destruction and inaccessibility of
biblical scripture and the blending of pagan doctrine with the worship
of God was the Mithraic celebration of December 25th proclaimed to be
"Christian" in nature."
- - Christmas, by Richard Rives, (http://www.toolong.com/pages/christmas.htm)
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- "It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25
December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token
of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also
took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the
Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and
resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnised on that
day."
- Syriac bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi, cited in Christianity and
Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries, Ramsay MacMullen. Yale:
1997, p. 155
- "In 375 A.D., the Church announced that the birth date of Christ
had been discovered to be December 25, and allowed some of the
light-hearted customs of the older celebration, such as feasting,
dancing and the exchange of gifts, to be incorporated into the reverent
observance of Christmas. The use of greenery, however, popularly used to
decorate homes and holy places during Saturnalia, was still prohibited
as pagan idolatry."
- - The Solstice Evergreen: The
History, Folklore and Origins of the Christmas Tree, by Sheryl Ann Karas
(Fairfield: Aslan Publishing, 1998).
p. 88
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- "The Baal-fire feast, or meeting, was a great festival in Ireland,
on the 25th of December, and midsummer eve. Baal, or Bel, was a name of
the sun all over the east."
- The Christian mythology unveiled, lectures by Logan Mitchell,
p.80
- "The Irish have ever been worshippers of Fire and of Baal, and are
so to this day. This is owing to the Roman Catholics, who have artfully
yielded to the superstitions of the natives, in order to gain and keep
up an establishment, grafting Christianity upon Pagan rites."
- - Rev. Donald M'Queen, of Kilmuir, in the Isle of Skye,
on ancient customs preserved in that Island in
The Gentleman's Magazine for February 1795:--
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- "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."
- Christmas, New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious
Knowledge, p. 48.
- "The Mithraic Christians actually continued to celebrate Christmas
Day as the birthday of the sun, despite the censures of the Pope; and
their Sunday had been adopted by the supplanting faith."
- - Pagan Christs, by John M. Robertson
p.332
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- It's almost unbelievable that the Christian church would allow this to
take place. Why was this time of
year so sacred to the sun worshipping pagans anyways?
- "The ancient winter solstice, December 25, signifies the rebirth
of the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus).
At this point in the year the days grow longer and light
re-enters the world. As we noted
in the last chapter, this festival of the Reborn Sun was initially
associated with the solar divinity Mithras and like, so many other
ancient religious customs and celebrations, was taken over by the early
Christians to maintain a sense of continuity between the old and the
new."
- Jesus Christ, sun of God: ancient cosmology and early Christian
symbolism, by David R.
Fideler, p.159
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- "The largest pagan religious cult which fostered the celebration
of December 25 as a holiday throughout the Roman and Greek worlds was
the pagan sun worship -- Mithraism...
This winter festival was called 'the Nativity' -- the 'nativity
of the sun' "
- The Golden Bough, by James George Frazer, p. 471
- "the time at which we fix the birth of Jesus Christ, the 25th of
December, when the sun has risen one degree above the solstitial point:
which answers to a moment to the births of the Egyptian Osiris, the
Grecian Bacchus, and the Mithra of the Persians. These mystic births are
manifestly identical, being metaphorical of the Sun's annual birth at
the winter solstice, after which he gradually becomes, not only
figuratively, but positively, the Savior of the world."
- The Christian mythology
unveiled, lectures
by Logan Mitchell, p.86
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- "...another birthday celebrated on the same date by the Romans of
the Empire, that of the unconquered Sun, who on December 25, the winter
solstice according to the Julian calendar, began to rise to new vigour
after his autumnal decline.
...The 'Dies Natalis Invicti' was probably first celebrated in
Rome by order of the Emperor Aurelian, an ardent worshipper of the
Syrian sun-god Baal."
- Christmas in Ritaul and Tradition, Christian and Pagan, by
Clement A. Miles, p.23
- "In the calendar of Canopus, 239 C.E., the notation 'Birthday of
the Sun. Light will increase' appears at the date of the solstice,
indicating some notion of the sun dying and being reborn as a
child."
- - Toward the origins of Christmas, by Susan K. Roll, p. 33
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- "And not only was Mithra, the sun-god of Mithraism, said to be
born at this time of the year, but Osiris, Horus, Hercules, Bacchus,
Adonis, Jupiter, Tammuz, and other sun-gods were also supposedly born at
what is today called the "Christmas" season, the winter
solstice!"
- - Babylon mystery religion, by Ralph Woodrow
- "Many people celebrate Semiramis (using the name 'Ishtar', among
others) on the 1st day of spring, which is either March 20th or
21st. If we count from 'Ishtar's
Day' (say, March 20th) for the length of the average pregnancy (40
weeks), we come to December 25th, the day celebrated as Tammuz's (the
sun god's) birthday!"
- Babylon Religion, by David Daniels, p. 67
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- "The birthday of Adonis (Tammuz) was celebrated on December 25,
and this celebration is mentioned by Tertullian, Jerome, and other early
Fathers of the Church, who agree that the ceremonies took place in a
cave"
- - Secret of Regeneration, by Hilton Hotema, p.131
- "The Madonna and child theme, which is universal or evident in
hundreds of religions down through the centuries, had its origin in
Babylon. Nimrod’s wife was Semiramis, the first deified queen of
Babylon. She is also known variously as Diana, Aphrodite, Astarte, Rhea,
and Venus. Her son was Tammuz, also called Bacchus, Adonis, and Osiris.
He was the supposed reincarnated Nimrod. He came back to life when the
dead yule log was cast into the fire and the evergreen tree appeared as
the slain king-deity reborn at the winter solstice"
- -The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, p. 98
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- "In Epiphanius's writings appear important details about the
Alexandrian festival celebrating the winter solstice, when the days and
sun's light begin to increase, and culminating with an image being
carried forth of a child with a golden cross who was born at that time
of a virgin! Nowhere does Epiphanius apparently attempt to claim that
this widely celebrated non-Christian virgin birth at 'Christmas' had
been copied from Christianity, leaving us to conclude that any borrowing
occurred in the opposite direction"
- - Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D. M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.87-88
- "Vishnu, being moved to relieve the earth of her load of misery
and sin, came down from heaven, and was born [as Krishna] of the virgin
Devaki, on the twenty-fifth of December."
- - Aryan Sun Myths, by Sarah Elizabeth Titcomb, p.37
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- "Apollo and Dionysus were considered by ancient writers such as
Pindar, Aeschylus, Euripides and Plutarch to be 'different forms of the
same god.' Like Dionysus, Apollo also had his birthday at the winter
solstice or December 25th. From Macrobius it is clear that the Egyptians
brought out an image of a baby god, lying in a shrine or 'manger,' on
the 'shortest day,' around December 25th."
- - Suns of God, by Acharya S., p.112
- "It is obvious that Horus, as the morning sun born every day, was
also born on 'December 25th' or the winter solstice".
- - Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D.M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.92
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- "... the winter solstice in Egypt was not only widely recognized
but also viewed as the birthday of the new sun, which in turn was 'Horus
the Child' or Harpocrates, the very popular god during the Greco-Roman
period whose birth was well known".
- Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D.M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.95
- "...at the winter solstice the sun would seem to be a little
child, like that which the Egyptians bring forth from a shrine on an
appointed day, since the day is then at its shortest and the god is
accordingly shown as a tiny infant"
- - Saturnalia, 1:18,19; Percival Vaughan Davis, ed. Macrobius: the
Saturnalia (New York, 1969): 129, cited in TALLEY, Origins, 107 note 37.
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- Ok, I think we've got enough
information about the December 25th date. What about the January 6th date?
- "After the triumph of Constantine, the church at Rome assigned
December 25 as the date for the celebration of the feast, possibly about
A.D. 320 or 353. By the end of the fourth century the whole Christian
world was celebrating Christmas on that day, with the exception of the
Eastern churches, where it was celebrated on January 6. The choice of
December 25 was probably influenced by the fact that on this day the
Romans celebrated the Mithraic feast of the Sun-god (natalis solis
invicti), and that the Saturnalia also came at this time." - Colliers Encyclopedia
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- "Certain Latins, as early as [A.D.] 354, may have transferred the
birth day from January 6th to December 25, which was then a Mithraic
feast . . . or birthday of the unconquered sun . . . The Syrians and
Armenians accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry."
- Encyclopedia
Britannica, (1946 ed)
- "the date of Christ’s birth did not become an issue until sometime
in the fourth century. At that time the dispute centered primarily over
two dates for Christ’s birth: December 25 promoted by the Church of Rome
and January 6, known as the Epiphany, observed by the Eastern churches.
“Both these days,” as Oscar Cullmann points out, “were pagan festivals
whose meaning provided a starting point for the specifically Christian
conception of Christmas."
- - The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas, by Dr. Samuele
Bacchiocchi, p.14 (quoting from
The Early Church, by Oscar Cullmann, 1956, p.35.)
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- "January 1, the main festival of the Roman divinity Janus, also
represents the rebirth of the cyclical year and the renewal of
time. Before the adoption of
December 25 as the birthday of Jesus the Spiritual Sun, the Nativity was
celebrated on January 6, the day of 'Epiphany' or 'manifestation of the
Lord'".
- Jesus Christ, sun of God: ancient cosmology and early Christian
symbolism, by David R. Fideler
p.159
- “In the Orient, however, the birth and the baptism of Jesus were
celebrated respectively on January 5 and 6. B. Botte, a Belgian
Benedictine scholar, in a significant study concludes that this date
also evolved from an originally pagan feast, namely Epiphany, which
commemorated the birth and growth of light.”
- - The Meaning, Celebration and Date of Christmas,
by Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, p.24
(quoting from B. Botte,
“Les Denominations du dimanche dans la tradition chrétienne,” Le
Dimanche, Lex Orandi 39, 1965, pp. 14ff.)
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- "Significantly, January 6 was a major pre-Christian holy day in
the ancient world. In Alexandrian
Egypt it was the birthday of "Aeon" - the personification of
Infinite Time. According to the
church father Epiphanius, the birth was celebrated in Alexandria at the
Korion, a pagan temple of the divine maiden or Virgin. After ritually processing with an
effigy of the divine child, which bore the image of a golden cross, the
celebrants exclaimed at dawn: "Today, at this hour, the Kore, that
is to say the Virgin, has given
birth to the Aeon".
- - Jesus Christ, sun of God: ancient cosmology and early Christian
symbolism, by David R. Fideler
p.159-160
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- "The feast of Aion is attested most clearly in Egypt where it
seems to have been a local festival with deep roots in the Hellenistic
city of Alexandria, of which Aion was the mythical founder and patron
deity. The most detailed account concerning the ritual which took place
in the night of 5-6 January comes from Epiphanius, whose description
explains how a small wooden statue of the baby god of time was carried
in procession at the hour on which he had been born of the virgin
Kore."
- Toward the origins of Christmas, by Susan K. Roll, p. 34
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- Great! More of the same on January the 6th as well. What about some of the other things
that are associated with Christmas?
Where did they come from?
- “The authors whom we consulted on this point are unanimous in
admitting the influence of the pagan celebration held in honor of Deus
Sol Invictus on the 25th of December, the Natalis Invicti, on the
Christian celebration of Christmas.
This influence is held to be responsible for the shifting to the
25th of December of the birth of Christ, which had until then been held
on the day of the Epiphany, the 6th of January. The celebration of the
birth of the Sun god, which was accompanied by a profusion of light and
torches and the decoration of branches and small trees, had captivated
the followers of the cult to such a degree that even after they had been
converted to Christianity they continued to celebrate the feast of the
birth of the Sun god.”
- - The Cult of Sol Invictus, by Gaston H. Halsberghe, 1972, p. 174.
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- "The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in
Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm-tree; in
Rome it was the fir; the palm tree denoting the Pagan messiah, as
Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as Baal-Berith. The mother of
Adonis, the sun-god and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said
to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought
forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been
recognized as the 'Man the branch.' And this entirely accounts for the
putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas Eve, and the
appearance of the Christmas tree the next morning"
- - The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, p. 97
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- “...tree worship is well attested for all the great European families
of the Aryan stock. Amongst the Celts the oak-worship of the Druids is
familiar to everyone. Sacred groves were common among the ancient
Germans, and tree-worship is hardly extinct among their descendants at
the present day”
- The Golden Bough, by James George Frazer, p. 58
- “Therefore, the 25th of December, the day that was observed at Rome as
the day when the victorious god reappeared on earth, was held at the
Natalis invicti solis, 'The birthday of the unconquered Sun.' Now the
Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun-god, but cut
down by his enemies; the Christmas-tree is Nimrod redivivus -- the slain
god come to life again”
- - The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, p. 98
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- "Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that
remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter.
Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with
pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over
their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that
evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness...
Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in
honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the
solstice meant that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful.
To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with
evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests
of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs
as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia
thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god,
Balder."
- - Evergreen Traditions, History.com, (http://www.history.com/content/christmas/christmas-trees/evergreen-traditions)
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- "Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The
first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German
settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many
German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had
community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas
trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most
Americans... In 1846, the popular
royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, were sketched in
the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a
Christmas tree. Unlike the previous royal family, Victoria was very
popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became
fashionable—not only in Britain, but with fashion-conscious East Coast
American Society. The Christmas tree had arrived."
- Evergreen Traditions,
History.com, (http://www.history.com/content/christmas/christmas-trees/evergreen-traditions)
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-
"The interchange of presents between friends is alike
characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been
adopted by Christians from the Pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian
plainly shows."
- The Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 12, pages 153-155
- Wait a second, I thought giving gifts at Christmas time came from the
story of the three kings that brought gifts to newborn baby Jesus in the
manger, right?
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- Wrong! First of all, that story
is highly inaccurate biblically to begin with. Let's clear up a few details.
- "And when they [the Magi] were come into the house, they saw the
young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and
when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts;
gold, and frankincense and myrrh"
- - Matthew 2:11 (KJV)
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- The 2nd chapter of Matthew tells us of an unspecified number (not
necessarily three) of Magi (also translated as Wise men), who came to
worship the young child (not newborn baby) Jesus in a house (not the
manger).
- That's why when King Herod found out the Magi didn't report back to him,
he didn't just have all the male newborns killed, he had all the male
children under the age of two killed.
- The Bible also never mentions that the wise men were kings of any sort,
this was an assumption made in later
Christian writings.
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- "The Gospel of Matthew, the only one of the four Gospels to
mention the Magi, states that they came "from the east" to
worship the Christ, "born King of the Jews". Although the
account does not tell how many they were, the three gifts led to a
widespread assumption that they were three as well. Their identification
as kings in later Christian writings is linked to Old Testament
prophesies such as that in Isaiah 60:3, which describe the Messiah being
worshipped by kings. This interpretation was challenged by the
Protestant Reformation."
- - Biblical Magi, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi)
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- So, why did the Magi give Jesus gifts if not for His birthday or as
Christmas presents?
- "Verse 11. (They presented unto Him gifts). The people of the east
never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a
present in their hands. The custom is often noticed in the Old
Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly
discovered South Sea Islands."
- - Adam Clarke Commentary, Vol. 5, p.46
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- Clearly it was the custom at that time (and even now in some cultures)
to give gifts when you were to meet with someone of great importance.
Also, they only gave gifts to Jesus, not to each other or anyone else.
- The Magi giving Jesus gifts when they came to worship Him had nothing to
do with the exchanging of gifts during the Roman pagan festival of
Saturnalia during the winter solstice.
- The gift giving that was done during Saturnalia is where our modern
Christmas gift giving originates.
- "The festival was celebrated with similar customs (gift giving,
feasting) that are done to celebrate Christmas today."
- - Saturnalia, (subheading: Saturnalia's relation to Christmas),
Wikipedia,
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia)
- Some might be thinking... But
wait a second...
- Are you saying it is wrong to give gifts to people to show them that you
love and care about them?
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- Nope! That's not what I am
saying.
- There is nothing wrong with giving the ones you love gifts to show them
that you care about them.
- Or even to complete strangers as an act of kindness.
- However, exchanging gifts every year during the winter solstice is a
pagan practice in worship to the sun god.
- Also, giving gifts should be done unexpectedly and without obligation to
reciprocate (a la Luke 14:12-14).
- Keep in mind that a gift exchange dictated by a calendar is not a
message of love but a ritual of obligation.
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- I have personally been a witness to seeing a grown woman in her
mid-to-late 20s cry hysterically on Christmas Day after opening all her
presents (worth well over $500 combined) and realizing that she didn't
get what see wanted.
- So many people (kids, teens, and adults alike) are disappointed on
Christmas for not getting what they had hoped for. Who set their
expectations so high? How is it
that we can come to expect others to buy us whatever we want at certain
times of the year?
- Similarly with couples during Valentines Day on February 14th?
- Valentine's Day is connected to "a pagan Roman festival,
Lupercalia... This festival came under the patronage of Juno, the
goddess of marriage... St.Valentine replaced the pagan goddess Juno as a
patron of love"
- - Catholic Customs and Traditions: A Popular Guide,
by Greg Dues (pg. 139f).
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- I believe that it is because we are just following pagan traditions.
- Giving someone you love a gift (or anyone for that matter) should not be
dictated by any calendar or pagan traditions.
- It should come from the heart, be sincere and be given without expecting
anything in return.
- Plus, the best time to give someone a gift is when they least expect it,
that's when they'll appreciate it the most.
- Concerning Santa Claus: "The origin of this tradition is a
fascinating and deliberate mixture of a bishop-saint, Father Christmas,
Christmas Man, and the Norse mythological god Thor." Thor is
described as "elderly, jolly (though a god of war), with white hair
and beard, friend of the common people, living in the north land,
traveling in the sky in a chariot pulled by goats, and as god of fire,
partial to chimneys and fireplaces"
- - Catholic Customs and Traditions: A Popular Guide,
by Greg Dues (pg. 60-62).
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- If all this comes from ancient pagan sun-god worship, then shouldn't
there still be people today that celebrate the winter solstice at the
same time of year without trying to incorporate the birth of Jesus into
it or call it Christmas?
- "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. In Egypt, the son of Isis, the Egyptian
title for the queen of heaven, was born at this very time, 'about the
time of the winter solstice.' The very name by which Christmas is
popularly known among us -- Yule-day -- proves at once its pagan and
Babylonian origin. 'Yule' is the Chaldee name for an 'infant' or 'little
child'; and as the 25th of December was called by our Pagan Anglo-Saxon
ancestors, 'Yule-day,' or the 'Child's-day,' and the night that preceded
it, 'Mother-night,' long before they came in contact with Christianity,
that sufficiently proves its real character. Far and wide, in the realms
of Paganism, was this birthday observed"
- - The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, P.93-94
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- Anyone recognize this popular "Christmas" Carol?
- Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa-la-la-la-la, Fa-la-la-la.
- 'Tis the season to be jolly, Fa-la-la-la-la, Fa-la-la-la.
- Don we now our gay apparel, Fa-la-la, Fa-la-la, Fa-la-la.
- Troll the ancient Yuletide carol, Fa-la-la-la-la, Fa-la-la-la.
- "Yule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially
celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a pagan religious
festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the
Christian festival of Christmas."
- Yule, Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule)
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- "In Wicca, a form of the holiday is observed as one of the eight
solar holidays, or Sabbat. In most Wiccan sects, this holiday is
celebrated as the rebirth of the Great God, who is viewed as the newborn
solstice sun."
- Winter solstice -> Yule (Wiccan), Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice)
- "I'm not so much celebrating Christmas as acknowledging Yule – the
old Germanic and Norse mid-winter festival supplanted over a millennium
ago by early Christian missionaries and to which we owe most of the
seasonal fun, including the Christmas tree, the lights, holly, mistletoe
and the ham."
- - Ancient Yule festivals lie behind much of our British Christmas,
by Ian Vince, 15 Dec 2008,
Telegraph.co.uk
- (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/3776077/Ancient-Yule-festivals-lie-behind-much-of-our-British-Christmas.html)
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- "Yule, the winter solstice, is a festival of peace and a
celebration of waxing solar light. I honor the new sun child by burning
a[n] oaken yule log in a sacred fire. I honor the great goddess in her
many great mother aspects, and the father god as Santa in his old sky
god, father time, and holly king forms. I decorate my home with lights
and with holly, ivy, mistletoe, evergreens and other herbs sacred to
this season. I ring in the new solar year with bells."
- Wiccan high priestess Selena Fox, (http://www.circlesanctuary.org)
- "Yule has the longest night and the shortest day of the year. It
is the time when the Goddess gives birth to a son, the God. Witches and
Wiccans celebrate the Festival of the God’s Rebirth. It is a time to
honor the Holly King. Accomplishes of the past, love, togetherness, and
love are also celebrated. These things are celebrated by burning the
Yule Log in a bonfire. Other
Names: Winter Solstice, Christmas, Alban Arthan, Finn’s Day, Festival of
Sol, Yuletide, Great Day of the Cauldron, and the Festival of
Growth."
- - A Beginner's Guide To The 8 Wiccan Holidays, by Silver Wolf, Oct.
28th, 2007 (http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usor&c=holidays&id=11776)
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- "Adorn the home with sacred herbs and colors. Decorate your home
in Druidic holiday colors red, green, and white. Place holly, ivy,
evergreen boughs, and pine cones around your home, especially in areas
where socializing takes place. Hang a sprig of mistletoe above a major
threshold and leave it there until next Yule as a charm for good luck
throughout the year. Have family/household members join together to make
or purchase an evergreen wreath. Include holiday herbs in it and then
place it on your front door to symbolize the continuity of life and the
wheel of the year. If you choose to have a living or a harvested
evergreen tree as part of your holiday decorations, call it a Solstice
tree and decorate it with Pagan symbols."
- Celebrating Winter
Solstice, by Wiccan high priestess Selena Fox, (http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/SolsticeArticle.html)
- "However, the enduring imagery of the festival is forever pagan,
from the top of the Christmas tree to the presents at its base, the
Druids' mistletoe and the Romans' holly over the fireplace, with a Yule
log burning in the grate."
- Seasons of the Witch:
The Winter Sabbat , by L.P. Ruickbie, p. 7
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- “But of course, now it’s time for the big one – Yule. You know,
celebrating with Yule logs, and holly, and mistletoe (not to mention the
stolen kisses!) . Singing those old Yule time carols. Putting up the
evergreen Yule tree and decorating it. Drinking a lot of mead - or these
days, spiced cider or spiked eggnog. Giving presents. Lots of presents.
The Sun [pause] of God being born with the New Year. Gathering together
and celebrating with family and friends…did I mention drinking a lot?
Yule’s a GREAT Pagan holiday! Yes, my friends, the Puritans were right –
Yule (by any other name smelling as sweet) is definitely NOT a Christian
holiday.”
- - We Want them Back! (A Pagan
View of the Holidays), by Bluehawk, (http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usga&c=holidays&id=10378)
- What about the Puritans? What did
they think about Christmas?
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- "It was only in the fourth century that the Church officially
decided to observe Christmas on Dec. 25. And this date was not chosen
for religious reasons but simply because it happened to mark the
approximate arrival of the winter solstice, an event that was celebrated
long before the advent of Christianity. The Puritans were correct when
they pointed out – and they pointed it out often – that Christmas was
nothing but a pagan festival covered with a Christian veneer."
- In the Pulitzer Prize finalist, "The Battle for
Christmas”, by University of Massachusetts historian Stephen Nissenbaum
- "Few Americans are aware that large groups of colonists objected
to Christmas during the 17th and 18th centuries. Many loathed it as an
'abomination' even though others observed the occasion as a religious
feast."
- - The American Christmas: a study in national culture By James Harwood
Barnett, p.2
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- "In New England, for the first two centuries of white settlement,
most people did not celebrate Christmas. In fact, the holiday was
systematically suppressed by Puritans during the colonial period and
largely ignored by their descendants. It was actually illegal to
celebrate Christmas in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681 (the fine was
five shillings). Only in the middle of the nineteenth century did
Christmas gain legal recognition as an official public holiday in New
England."
- In the Pulitzer Prize
finalist, "The Battle for Christmas”, by University of
Massachusetts historian Stephen Nissenbaum
- "A decree issued in 1659 formally banned the observance of
Christmas -and all other like holidays- with a penalty of five shillings
to be levied against any lawbreaker. "
- Christmas in Colonial and Early America,
by World Book Encyclopedia, p.11-12
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- "Opposition of the English Puritans to festivals culminated in an
act of Parliament in 1647 which abolished the observance of Christmas,
Easter, and Whitsuntide. This was echoed in 1659 when Puritans of the
American colonies enacted a law in the General Court of Massachusetts to
punish those who 'kept Christmas'."
- - The American Christmas: a study in national culture,
by James Harwood Barnett, p.3
- "In general, Puritans, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Quakers
strongly opposed the religious observance of Christmas, but members of
the Church of England, the Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic
churches, as well as the German sects, carefully followed their
traditional celebrations."
- - The American Christmas: a study in national culture,
by James Harwood Barnett, p.2
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- “On Dec. 25, 1789, the first Christmas under the brand-new
Constitution, the United States Congress was actually in session, with
no day off for any holiday. In fact, the U.S. did not even make
Christmas a federal holiday until 1870.”
- - Christmas banned in America ... by Christians!
by WorldNetDaily, November 21, 2008. (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=81144)
- “In England, for example, the Puritans could not tolerate this
celebrating for which there was no biblical sanction. Consequently, the
Roundhead Parliament of 1643 outlawed the feasts of Christmas, Easter,
Whit-suntide, along with the saints’ days,”
- Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays by Robert
J. Myers, p. 312.
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- "The year 1681 saw the law against the celebration of Christmas
repealed, but many of the Puritans were not reconciled to this
action."
- - The American Christmas: a study in national culture By James Harwood
Barnett, p.3
- Henry Ward Beecher, clergyman and lecturer, wrote in 1874 of his
boyhood in New England, “To me Christmas is a foreign day, and I shall
die so. When I was a boy I wondered what Christmas was. I knew there was
such a time, because we had an Episcopal church in our town, and I saw
them dressing it with evergreens, and wondered what they were taking the
woods in church for; but I got no satisfactory explanation. A little
later I understood it was a Romish institution, kept up by the Romish
Church.” Eventually the major Protestant denominations accepted
Christmas, “although they reacted violently against the corruption of
the Christkindl, the Christ Child, into ‘Kriss Kringle,’ ”
- - Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays
by Robert J. Myers, pp. 315-316.
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- "The churches of the Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists were
not open on December 25 except where some mission schools had a
celebration. They do not accept the day as a holy one, but the
Episcopalian, Catholic, and German churches were all open. Inside they
were decked with evergreens."
- - Article in the December 26, 1855 edition of The New York Daily Times
- "By about 1870, Christmas was an accepted lesson topic in the
publications of the Sunday School Union. This demonstrates a widespread
change in the attitude of the most denominations toward Christmas
between 1830 and 1870. An
interesting confirmation of this is found in the fact that many of the
popular Christmas songs of a religious character were composed between
the years 1850 and 1868."
- - The American Christmas: a study in national culture,
by James Harwood Barnett, p.7
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-
"Although it took a long time for 'Christmas' to catch on,
it was not particularly long before the real significance of the date
-i.e., the winter solstice- had been completely severed to the point
where very few people were aware of its existence.“
- - Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D. M. Murdock & Acharya S., p.80
- Alright, we've got quite some
information regarding Christmas so far.
Let's summarize what we’ve learned.
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- The bible does not mention any sort of celebration for Christ's birth.
- Jesus, the apostles and the early church did not celebrate His birth
either.
- After the 3rd century, Christians started taking part in blatant pagan
sun worship celebrations.
- The Church leaders tried as hard as they could, but they could not stop
the influence and the spread of
these pagan celebrations within Christianity
- Getting tired of constantly fighting against them, they decided to
"Christianize" these pagan celebrations and allow them to
continue as “Christian” celebrations
- In the 4th century, the Church at Rome declared December 25th (a well
established pagan holiday) as the official birthday of Christ.
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- The Eastern churches continued to celebrate it on January 6th (which was also a pagan holiday)
- In the 17th century, Christmas was banned for a time in England and in
early America.
- In the 19th century, most Christian churches gradually adopted some form
of Christmas celebrations
- That's where we stand today.
Most Christian churches celebrate the birth of Jesus on December
25th (whether on the Gregorian or Julian Calendar) and a few, namely the
Armenian church, on January 6th.
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- So now that we know exactly where these celebrations come from and what
they represent, we can look to the Bible to see if this type of worship
is acceptable to God.
- Sun worship is clearly forbidden in the Bible, no one will argue that.
- What about worship that used to be clearly blatant sun worship, but that
is now white-washed, candy-coated, happily Christianized, focused on the
birth of Jesus and approved by most Christian churches?
- Does God disapprove of it as well?
- Let's find out.
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- “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it,
that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command
you.”
- - Deuteronomy 4:2 (NKJV)
- “Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has
commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the
left. You shall walk in all the
ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and
that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the
land which you shall possess.”
- - Deuteronomy 5:32-33 (NKJV)
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- Even the New Testament states:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
- John 14:15 (ESV)
- First off, we see that God makes
the rules.
- He expects us to stick to them.
- He does not want us to start changing His commands in any way or
modifying them little by little to suit our own traditions.
- If we love Him, we will keep His commandments.
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- “The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to
invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in
their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful
not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do
these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." You must not worship the LORD your God
in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of
detestable things the LORD hates.”
- - Deuteronomy 12:29-31 (NIV)
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- “The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
'I am the LORD your God. You must
not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do
as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow
their practices. You must obey my
laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God.”
- - Leviticus 18:1-4 (NIV)
- Secondly, we see that God does NOT want to be worshipped in a fashion
similar to how the pagan nations worshipped their gods.
- God clearly states throughout the Bible that we should NOT follow pagan
practices in regards to worshipping Him.
- Note: So not only is worshipping
pagan gods wrong, but worshipping the True God with practices adopted
from pagan forms of worship is also wrong.
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- The 1st of the 10 Commandments:
- “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” - Exodus 20:3 (KJV)
- “Do not worship any god except me.” - Exodus 20:3 (CEV)
- “You must not have any other god but me.” - Exodus 20:3 (NLT)
- “And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all
the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them.”
- - Deuteronomy 4:19 (NLT)
- God already knew that people would start worshipping other gods,
including the sun, moon, stars, etc...
- So He clearly told us to be careful and to NOT get seduced into
worshipping them.
- Did most people back then listen?
Let’s find out.
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- “And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a
graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your
gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" When
Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation
and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." And they
rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace
offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to
play.”
- - Exodus 32:4-6 (ESV)
- Here is a clear example of using pagan practices to worship. Just in case people at the time might
have thought this was idolatry (which it clearly was), Aaron tries to
smooth things over by declaring that they were doing all this as a feast
to the True God.
- By claiming that they were worshipping God, Aaron was attempting to
"christianize" a pagan practice of worship.
- But did God accept this form of worship?
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- “The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom
you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from
the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a
calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying,
‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt.’” Then the Lord said, “I
have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger
can blaze against them, and I will destroy them.”
- - Exodus 32:7-10 (NLT)
- Not only did God disapprove of this kind of worship, He was so angry
that He wanted to destroy them all.
- Shouldn't this serve as some sort of warning for us?
- Maybe we should learn from this story and be very careful to not worship
God in ways He does not approve of.
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- “The subtle danger of syncretistic worship lies in its claim to be
worshipping the true God, Yahweh. When the Israelites brought idols and
idolatrous practices into the Temple, they did not think of their
actions as an abandonment of Yahweh. They thought of it as just
supplementing their worship with customs borrowed from heathen idol
worship. Even the golden calf at Mount Sinai was not regarded as a
substitute god to replace Yahweh; rather, it was regarded as a symbolic
representation of Yahweh. This can be seen in Aaron's reference to the
golden calf as the God "which brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt" and his proclamation
that the worship of the golden calf would be "a feast unto Yahweh"
- not a feast to some Egyptian god (Ex. 32:4f).”
- - SYNCRETISM: A Blending of Paganism & Truth,
by Dr. Daniel Botkin, (Gates of Eden, July-August 2005) p.8
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- Even though Aaron claimed that they were having a feast to the LORD, it
was clearly blatant pagan idol worship that they learned from Egypt.
- Therefore, this can't be considered as trying to worship the True God,
as it is so far from true worship.
- But what if you truly, sincerely want to worship the True God and
unknowingly use pagan practices to do so, is that wrong?
- Will God hold you accountable for something like that?
- Let's see what the Bible says...
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- “Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and
added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD,
contrary to his command. So fire
came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died
before the LORD.”
- - Leviticus 10:1-2 (NIV)
- Nadab and Abihu merely took fire that wasn't from the brazen alter of
the tabernacle (the altar where the sacrifices were performed).
- They were killed for this oversight.
This is another example of how particular God is in regards to
worship.
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- “When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as
a gift to the Lord. Abel also
brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord
accepted Abel and his gift, but
he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he
looked dejected. “Why are you so
angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is
right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is
crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and
be its master.”
- - Genesis 4:3-7 (NLT)
- Clearly Cain was trying to worship the True God. The only problem was that he tried to
do it his own way, not the way God prescribed.
- Cain was even upset that God did not accept his form of worship.
- God told Cain exactly why He did not accept it, because it was not the
correct method of worship.
- Instead of admitting he was wrong and repenting, we all know what
happened.
- Cain went out and murdered his brother Abel.
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- Another example is when Saul clearly disobeyed God by sparing the
Amalekite animals in 1 Samuel 15.
- After being confronted by Samuel, listen to the excuse Saul gives for
disobeying God's command.
- "The soldiers took the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the
Lord your God at Gilgal."
But Samuel answered,
"What pleases the Lord more:
burnt offerings and sacrifices or obedience to his voice? It is better to obey than to
sacrifice. It is better to listen
to God than to offer the fat of sheep.
Disobedience is as bad as the sin of sorcery. Pride is as bad as the sin of
worshiping idols. You have
rejected the Lord's command. Now
he rejects you as king."
- - 1 Samuel 15:21-23 (NCV)
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- Saul tried to use the excuse that he was going to use the animals he
spared as sacrifices to God.
- Saul reasoned that surely God wouldn't mind this, as he was doing it for
Him. Was God flattered?
- Absolutely not! This led to
Samuel's famous phrase "to obey is better than sacrifice".
- We need to ask ourselves this same question: "Is it better to obey than to
sacrifice?" Samuel clearly
thought so.
- How about if we rephrase the question a bit: "Is celebrating Christmas (with
its pagan-derived practices) with the sincere goal of worshipping the
True God actually better than obeying God's clear commands to refrain
from any sort of worship that involves pagan practices to begin with?“
- What do you think?
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- Are there any other examples in the Bible regarding ways of worship that
were not acceptable to God?
- Yes! There are numerous examples.
The Bible is full of them.
Here are a few more:
- Blatant sun worship in the house
of the LORD by God's own people.
God calls these Abominations.
(Ezekiel 8:5-18)
- To protect his kingdom and his life, Jeroboam thought it would be a good
idea to set up his own feast in the eighth month (as opposed to the
seventh month as commanded by God) with two golden calves no less and
other aspects of pagan worship (1 Kings 12:26-33). Not exactly a good idea!
God was definitely not pleased (1 Kings 14:14-16).
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- Elijah's showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings
18:20-40).
- Things got so bad, to the point where God's people weren't even sure
which method of worship was the true one.
- They were mixing worship of the True God with the worship of pagan gods,
but they didn't think anything of it.
- They didn't answer Elijah's question when he asked "How much longer
will you try to have things both ways? If the LORD is God, worship him!
But if Baal is God, worship him!" (1 Kings 18:21 CEV), they didn't
even say a word.
- Surely, they could not think that elements of Baal worship were
acceptable to God? But it wasn't
until God sent down fire from heaven that burned up the whole altar that
God's own people proclaimed "the LORD, he is the God" (vs.
39).
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- “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.”
-
- Jeremiah 10:1-4 (KJV)
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- Learn not the way of the heathen
- Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven
- 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.
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- A lot of Bible commentaries claim this passage in Jeremiah has nothing
to do with celebrating Christmas.
- They say that it is simply referring to making idols
- I admit that it could also be referring to making idols
- And I agree that it is not referring to Christmas, because Christmas
wasn’t around at that time.
- However, it is definitely referring to the pagan practices around the
winter solstice, which is where we get most of our Christmas customs and
traditions from.
- Let’s look at this passage in more detail...
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- Learn not the way of the heathen
- Clearly we are to NOT do these things...
- Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven
- The heathen are dismayed at them
- And why are the heathens scared of them?
- The signs in the heaven are the changing of the seasons, particularly,
the winter season when everything seems to die.
- Just before the winter solstice, the days are at their shortest, so the sun seems to be dying too. The pagans were scared that the sun
wouldn’t come back and that they would die too.
- As believers, we don’t need to worry about such silliness
- We know that God will take care of all our needs
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- So then why do we continue their pagan practices today?
- “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”
- Cutting down a tree and bringing it into your house is a vain custom
anyway you slice it.
- Whether it’s in a shape of an idol or just as a decorated tree, it
doesn’t matter. It’s a pagan form
of worship.
- God clearly tells us to not learn or practice these things.
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- "The Lord then commands the people not to engage in the customs of
the heathen [Jeremiah 10]. The Lord specifically points to the pagan
festival of Saturnalia, which is the birthday of Tammuz, the son God of
ancient Babylon... The heathen
have celebrated this pagan holiday for over 3,000 years. This is the
modern holiday of Christmas. The reference even describes the tradition
of cutting down and decorating trees for the feast of Tammuz on December
25th."
- - The Day of the LORD is at Hand, Second Edition, Isaiah 13:6 By
Benjamin Baruch, p.109
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- “During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, ‘Have you seen
what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel
has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree.’ ”
- - Jeremiah 3:6 (NLT)
- “Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will
be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for
they are set apart for destruction.”
- - Deuteronomy 7:26 (NLT)
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- Pagan sun worship is not what Christmas means to me!
- And besides.... everybody is doing it:
my family, my church, my pastor, my friends, etc...
- Clearly it can't be that bad, can it?
- God cares greatly about the way in which we worship Him.
- It really doesn’t matter what it means to you.
- Or what it means to your family and friends.
- The only person who’s opinion matters when it comes to the way we
worship God is God Himself.
That’s because He decides how He wants us to worship Him.
- Not the other way around.
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- “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he
who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who
does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who
finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will
find it.”
- Matthew 10:37-39 (KJV)
- “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.” - Exodus 23:2 (NIV)
- “And He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men,
but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an
abomination in the sight of God.’ ”
- Luke 16:15 (NKJV)
- “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to
you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed”
- Galatians 1:8 (NKJV)
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- “But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ
will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the
serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they
preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of
Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the
one you believed.”
- - 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (NLT)
- Just because everyone else is doing it or because your church tells you
it's ok, that still doesn't make it right.
- God is the only one that makes the rules about worship.
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- Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied
about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but
their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach
man-made ideas as commands from God.’[Isa 29:13] For you ignore God’s law and
substitute your own tradition.”
- Mark 7:6-8 (NLT)
- This was the same problem Jesus had with the Pharisees. Instead of keeping God's commandments,
they made up their own rules on how to worship.
- Jesus clearly tells them that their worship is worthless.
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- “ 'Christmas' -or the winter solstice- represents the birth of the sun
god dating back thousands of years. In other words, as Christian
apologists who claim Christ was not born on December 25th must agree, Jesus
is NOT the 'reason for the season.’ ”
- - Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection,
by D. M. Murdock and Acharya S., p.80
- There's no evidence whatsoever that Jesus was born on December
25th. Yet most of Christianity
somehow got seduced into this pagan-derived sun worship celebration that
we have supposedly blessed, Christianized and somehow now blindly accept
as Christ's birthday.
- The whole Christmas celebration on December 25th is based on a big fat
lie, whether you want to admit it or not.
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- “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right;
and I hate every false way.” -
Psalm 119:128 (KJV)
“for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we
hid ourselves.” - Isaiah 28:15
(KJV)
- “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
- - 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (KJV)
- “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with
its practices.” - Colossians 3:9
(NIV)
- “We are part of the same body. Stop lying and start telling each other
the truth.” - Ephesians 4:25
(CEV)
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- “O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of
affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the
earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity,
and things wherein there is no profit.”
- - Jeremiah 16:19 (KJV)
- The Bible clearly teaches against lying.
- We need to give up all the lies we've inherited from our ancestors. We need to search out and promote the
truth instead of continuing a lie.
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- “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
- - 1 John 2:15 (NKJV)
- “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our
common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to
contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the
saints.”
- - Jude 1:3 (NKJV)
- “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken,
let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear.”
- Hebrews 12:28 (NKJV)
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- “But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true
worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according
to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to
worship him according to the truth”
- - John 4:23-24 (CEV)
- We need to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. We can't do that if we are celebrating
a lie every year at December 25.
We need to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered
to the saints.
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- “Samaritanism and Roman Catholicism are not the only systems of worship
guilty of syncretism. Syncretism exists in Protestantism, too. It can
even be found in Judaism. "But the hour cometh, and now is, when
the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such
to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth" (Jn. 4:23f).
Let's worship in spirit and in truth, not in a blend of paganism
and truth.”
- SYNCRETISM: A Blending of Paganism & Truth,
by Dr. Daniel Botkin, (Gates of Eden, July-August 2005) p.8
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- “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the
Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces
only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases
the Lord. Take no part in the
worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.” - Ephesians 5:8-11 (NLT)
- “At one time you didn't know God. You were slaves to gods that are
really not gods at all. But now you know God. Even better, God knows
you. So why are you turning back to those weak and worthless beliefs? Do
you want to be slaves to them all over again? You are observing special days and
months and seasons and years! I
am afraid for you. I am afraid that somehow I have wasted my efforts on
you.”
- - Galatians 4:8-11 (NIRV)
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- "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what
fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has
light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? 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. As
God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be
their God, And they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out
from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is
unclean, And I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty."
- - 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (NKJV)
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- “After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having
great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he
cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen,
is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every
foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the
nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the
kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her
luxury.” And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her,
my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her
plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her
iniquities.”
- - Revelation 18:1-5 (NKJV)
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- It doesn’t matter how much you try to justify to yourself that
celebrating Christmas is acceptable to God.
- It never has been and it never will be acceptable.
- Our minds like to make up excuses to justify continuing in our old ways
without having to change.
- "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts."
- - Isaiah 55:8-9 (KJV)
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-
“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is
God, follow Him”
- 1 Kings 18:21 (NKJV)
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- “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves
this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served
that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will
serve the LORD.”
- Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)
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- Thank you for your time!
- Any Questions?
- Compiled by: FLO BORS (February 2010)
- email: floski@hotmail.com
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