I had intended to produce a podcast for upload this past weekend on a topic that’s caused way too much animosity during the holiday season the last couple of years — the belief that Christmas is a pagan holiday.
My annual December cold led me to change plans and post this instead. Besides working with half my voice tied behind my back, the cold meds are holding my brain hostage in an as-yet unknown location, so rather than fumble through this topic I will summarize here in written form — where I can read through my words a few times before making them public.
My message comes down to a few bullet points. I’ll supplement them with links to some well-researched articles on the topic by people a lot smarter than me.
- Jesus was not born on December 25. I got that. (Best estimate I’ve seen is Dr. Michael Heiser’s presentation that suggests September 11, 3 B.C.)
- Plenty of Christmas traditions have nothing to do with Christ. This is unquestionably true.
- Early Christians settled on December 25 as the most likely date of Jesus’ birth for reasons that have nothing at all to do with pagan celebrations that may or may not have taken place at that time of year.
- What you do with Christmas is up to you and how you approach the day.
We’re told that Christians in the third or fourth century co-opted December 25 from pagans who worshiped Sol Invictus or some other false god. The problem with that theory is that none of the Christians alive at the time appear to have thought so. In fact, the earliest suggestion that Christmas might be linked to pagan worship dates to the 12th century, about 900 years after the first record of Christians celebrating the birth of Christ (Clement of Alexandria, circa 200 A.D.).
The Donatist sect in North Africa celebrated Jesus’ birth on December 25 in the early 4th century, prior to the reign of Constantine (so he can’t be blamed). And while it’s true that the veneration of Sol Invictus was instituted throughout the Roman Empire by Aurelian in 274, a collection of ancient inscriptions called Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae records the feast day during the reign of Licinius (308-324 A.D.) — the 18th of November. There is limited evidence that a feast for Sol Invictus was celebrated on December 25 before the middle of the 4th century.
Based on the evidence, then, we could just as easily conclude that pagans moved the feast of Sol Invictus to piggyback onto a tradition kept by those annoying Christians.
Claims that December 25 is linked to the veneration of Nimrod are based on bad scholarship. There is no scholarly evidence to support this idea.
For in-depth reading on the topic, I recommend:
- “How December 25 Became Christmas” by Andrew McGowan, Dean and President of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, Bible History Daily.
- “Calculating Christmas: The Story Behind December 25” by William J. Tighe, originally published in the December 2003 issue of Touchstone.
- “Was Jesus Just a Copycat Savior Myth?,” The Christian Think Tank.
- “Have Yourself a Very Pagan Christmas (Not)” by Dr. Glenn Peoples, Right Reason.
- “On Nimrod and Christmas Trees (Part 1),” posted at As Bereans Did.
- “The Plain Truth About December 25,” posted at As Bereans Did.
- “The Two Babylons” by Ralph Woodrow, his article for the Christian Research Institute explaining why he withdrew his book Babylon Mystery Religion, based on The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, from publication.
If the non-Christian traditions that have been attached to the holiday lead you to avoid Christmas, then by all means you are correct to do so. Similarly, if you are satisfied in your mind that Christmas is a time to reflect, remember, and give thanks to a loving God who willingly came to Earth as one of us, ultimately to sacrifice Himself for our sins, then by all means celebrate the day without a trace of guilt.
True, we are nowhere commanded in scripture to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Nor are we commanded to celebrate our own birthdays–or those of our husbands, wives, children, and grandchildren. Or wedding anniversaries, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, or Independence Day.
If God judges us on accidental paganism, we’re all doomed. The wedding ring is a tradition that started in ancient Egypt. The days of the week are named for pagan deities (in English, anyway). We once hosted this website with a company named for a Greek god!
Paul gets the last word:
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
(Romans 14:5-6 ESV)
Be convinced in your own mind. If you keep Christmas, or if you do not, do it for the Lord.
Merry Christmas, and may He richly bless you and your family.