Is Christmas a Pagan festival?

[OakWood]

 

[OneLight]

Interesting fact about the Roman celebration.  No matter who celebrated what, we need to keep Christ in Christmas!

[Guest]

So far I have lived half my life (roughly) as an unbeliever, and half as a believer.

 

This question comes up every year, and the same dialogue takes place.

 

When I was an atheist, Christmas was a secular holiday, not sure it was pagan. I certainly was not into worshiping pagan deities.

 

Do Christmas trees have a pagan root (no pun intended)? Maybe, but as an atheist, a tree to me was a fact of evolution, an offshoot of a huge cosmic anomaly. As a beleiver, I know that trees are part of Gods creation, and predate the existence of any pagan ritual. As a believer, a tree was never part of anything spiritual for me.

 

The days of the week, are named after celestial bodies, which are named after pagan deities. Oddly enough, I feel free to say Saturday, without wondering if someone thinks I am yielding to paganism.

 

If a person feels conviction about concerns over Christmas as a pagan holiday, then by all means, they should not practice what they think God would forbid them to do. At the same time, I think they should allow those whose faith allows them to celebrate Christmas, the freedom in Christ to do so, without passing judgement.

 

Though the holiday is for some, about the greed of selling merchandise, or the greed of getting gifts, for others, even secular people, it can me about generosity, and feeling festive, a time to get together with friends and family, or watch corny old movies on TV.

 

I like that no matter what our views are, we see the name Christ and are reminded of His birth, no harm in that.

 

I think it comes down to this: no matter what one thinks the origin of the holiday is, or what it has become, what matters is: "Where are you in your heart, where God sees?" If you are involved in paganism, you have your reward, but if it is a time to reflect on Jesus, and what He was born to do for us, a time to exert extra love and generosity beyond what you normally do, I don't see the harm in that and could care less where the various traditions came from.

 

Christmas is as pagan, as secular, as religious or even as Christian, as each individual chooses to make it.

[Guest shiloh357]

It is true that there are pagan origins to some of our Christmas traditions and even the date of December 25th was date of Saturnalia.  However, I was talking to missionary to Japan and he had an interesting take on this.

 

He said that in Japan, they have their own pagan holidays and the missionaries and pastors in Japan often have religious holidays that coincide on the dates of Japanese holidays that coincide with pagan Japanese holidays because those who have converted to Christianity may end up going back to their old religion via those old celebrations of their holidays. He said that they needed Christian holidays that the new converts could celebrate as a substitute for the pagan days and it only made sense to have the Christian holidays on the same calendar dates.

 

That may have been the rationale of early Christians who needed a way to impede new converts from reverting back to their old paganism.  This would involve borrowing some of the symbols that the pagans used so that the Christian holidays would still have something familiar to the converts.  They took the things that were used to worship other gods and made them into Christian symbols.

[Guest]

Christians know the "reason for the season". Most will minimize it in favor of the secular aspects, but "it's in the knowing," as they say.

[Guest]

It is true that there are pagan origins to some of our Christmas traditions and even the date of December 25th was date of Saturnalia.  However, I was talking to missionary to Japan and he had an interesting take on this.

 

He said that in Japan, they have their own pagan holidays and the missionaries and pastors in Japan often have religious holidays that coincide on the dates of Japanese holidays that coincide with pagan Japanese holidays because those who have converted to Christianity may end up going back to their old religion via those old celebrations of their holidays. He said that they needed Christian holidays that the new converts could celebrate as a substitute for the pagan days and it only made sense to have the Christian holidays on the same calendar dates.

 

That may have been the rationale of early Christians who needed a way to impede new converts from reverting back to their old paganism.  This would involve borrowing some of the symbols that the pagans used so that the Christian holidays would still have something familiar to the converts.  They took the things that were used to worship other gods and made them into Christian symbols.

 

Yes Shiloh, as I have often put that, they not only converted the Pagans, the converted their holidays. To be fair, that is what many Christians are complaining about, the conversion of Christian holidays, to other than. It is understandable, I can see why people would be envious of some of the traditions that Christmas envolves, it is not like the children of atheists would not want to get presents like those Christian kids do, so I can see why secularization is appealing to some, and of course the commercialization of it is big business?

 

I wonder, how many Christians complain about Christ being left out of Christmas, and then go to toys r us to spend money with someone capitalizing on Christmas, or watch Hallmark specials, or maybe "It's a good life" where we learn the great theological truth about how angels get their wings! No one makes us participate in these things. We choose to do what we like, and what we are comfortable with.

[Guest]

 

I wonder, how many Christians complain about Christ being left out of Christmas, and then go to toys r us to spend money with someone capitalizing on Christmas, or watch Hallmark specials, or maybe "It's a good life" where we learn the great theological truth about how angels get their wings! No one makes us participate in these things. We choose to do what we like, and what we are comfortable with.

Exactly.

[Tinky]

Is Christmas celebrated by Christians as a pagan holiday?

 

 

 

Nope.

 

 

 

Case closed.

[OakWood]

It is true that there are pagan origins to some of our Christmas traditions and even the date of December 25th was date of Saturnalia.  However, I was talking to missionary to Japan and he had an interesting take on this.

 

He said that in Japan, they have their own pagan holidays and the missionaries and pastors in Japan often have religious holidays that coincide on the dates of Japanese holidays that coincide with pagan Japanese holidays because those who have converted to Christianity may end up going back to their old religion via those old celebrations of their holidays. He said that they needed Christian holidays that the new converts could celebrate as a substitute for the pagan days and it only made sense to have the Christian holidays on the same calendar dates.

 

That may have been the rationale of early Christians who needed a way to impede new converts from reverting back to their old paganism.  This would involve borrowing some of the symbols that the pagans used so that the Christian holidays would still have something familiar to the converts.  They took the things that were used to worship other gods and made them into Christian symbols.

 

Indeed. If Satan copies God and steals from him then why shouldn't Christians take everything back from Satan? All Pagan festivals were originally stolen from God.

[Guest Judas Machabeus]

It is true that there are pagan origins to some of our Christmas traditions and even the date of December 25th was date of Saturnalia. However, I was talking to missionary to Japan and he had an interesting take on this.

He said that in Japan, they have their own pagan holidays and the missionaries and pastors in Japan often have religious holidays that coincide on the dates of Japanese holidays that coincide with pagan Japanese holidays because those who have converted to Christianity may end up going back to their old religion via those old celebrations of their holidays. He said that they needed Christian holidays that the new converts could celebrate as a substitute for the pagan days and it only made sense to have the Christian holidays on the same calendar dates.

That may have been the rationale of early Christians who needed a way to impede new converts from reverting back to their old paganism. This would involve borrowing some of the symbols that the pagans used so that the Christian holidays would still have something familiar to the converts. They took the things that were used to worship other gods and made them into Christian symbols.

Indeed. If Satan copies God and steals from him then why shouldn't Christians take everything back from Satan? All Pagan festivals were originally stolen from God.

That's a bit of a odd statement. I've nerver heard that "all pagan festivals were originally stolen from God"

Now in the spirit of full disclosure I am no expert in pagan festivals. But to say all were originally festivals for God, can you give some examples?? I'm curious to know.

Cheers