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THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTMAS
by Herbert W. Armstrong
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Where did the world get Christmas? ... from the Bible, or paganism?
Here are the astonishing facts which may shock you! Test yourself. How
much do you know of the origin of the Christmas tree -- of "Santa
Claus" -- of the mistletoe -- of the holly wreath -- of the custom of
exchanging gifts?
WHEN
I was a very little boy, I was taught to hang up my stockings on
Christmas eve. When I awakened the next morning, they were filled with
small toys and sacks or little boxes of candy and nuts. And beside the
mantle, from which my stockings hung, a Christmas tree had suddenly
appeared, decorated with shiny tinsel. And on it hung presents. Other
presents for us children were piled on the floor underneath. I was told
Santa Claus had come down the chimney during the night and left all
these things.
But did I question what my parents had told me? Of course not. I accepted it -- took it all for granted. Didn't you?
Stop and think a moment! Very few have ever reflected on why they
believe what they do -- why they follow the customs they do, or from
where those customs came. We were born into a world filled with
customs. We grew up accepting them without question.
Why? Sheep instinct? Well, not exactly.
But by nature we do tend to follow the crowd, whether right or wrong.
Sheep follow others to the slaughter. Humans ought to check up where
they are going.
How -- when did Christmas originate?
Does Christmas really celebrate the birthday of Christ? Was Jesus born on December 25th?
Did the original apostles, who knew Jesus personally and were taught by
Him, celebrate His birthday on December 25th? Did they celebrate it at
all?
If Christmas is the chief of the Christian holidays, why do so many non-Christians observe it? Do you know?
Why do people exchange presents with family members, friends,
relatives, at Christmas time? Was it because the wise men presented
gifts to the Christ-child? The answer may surprise you.
Most people have "supposed" a lot of things about Christmas that are not true. But let's quit "supposing" and get the facts!
What Encyclopedias Say
The
word "Christmas" means "Mass of Christ," or, as it came to be
shortened, "Christ-Mass." It came to non-Christians and Protestants
from the Roman Catholic Church. And where did they get it? NOT from the
New Testament -- NOT from the Bible -- NOT from the original apostles
who were personally instructed by Christ -- but it gravitated in the
fourth century into the Roman Church from paganism.
Since the
celebration of Christmas has come to the world from the Roman Catholic
Church, and has no authority but that of the Roman Catholic Church, let
us examine the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, published by that
church. Under the heading "Christmas," you will find:
"Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church ... the
first evidence of the feast is from Egypt." "Pagan customs centering
around the January calends gravitated to Christmas."
And in
the same encyclopedia, under the heading "Natal Day," we find that the
early Catholic father, Origen, acknowledged this truth: "... 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 in which they were born into
this world" (emphasis ours).
Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946
edition, has this: "Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ) .... Christmas
was not among the earliest festivals of the church ...."It was not
instituted by Christ or the apostles, or by Bible authority. It was
picked up afterward from paganism. The Encyclopedia Americana, 1944
edition, says: "Christmas .... It was, according to many authorities,
not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church, as the
Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable
persons rather than their birth ...." (The "Communion," which is
instituted by New Testament Bible authority, is a memorial of the death
of Christ.) "... 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."
Now notice! These recognized
historical authorities show Christmas was not observed by Christians
for the first two or three hundred years -- a period longer than the
entire history of the United States as a nation! It got into the
Western, or Roman, Church, by the fourth century A.D. It was not until
the fifth century that the Roman Church ordered it to be celebrated as
an official Christian festival!
Jesus Not Born December 25th
Jesus
was not even born in the winter season! When the Christ- child was born
"there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flock by night" (Luke 2:8). This never could have
occurred in Judaea in the month of December. The shepherds always
brought their flocks from the mountainsides and fields and corralled
them not later than October 15, to protect them from the cold, rainy
season that followed that date. Notice that the Bible itself proves, in
Song of Solomon 2:11 and Ezra 10:9, 13, that winter was a rainy season
not permitting shepherds to abide in open fields at night.
"It was an ancient custom among Jews of those days to send out their
sheep to the fields and deserts about the Passover (early spring), and
bring them home at commencement of the first rain," says the Adam
Clarke Commentary (Vol. 5, page 370, New York ed.)
Continuing, this authority states: "During the time they were out, the
shepherds watched them night and day. As ... the first rain began early
in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our October and
November [begins sometime in October], we find that the sheep were kept
out in the open country during the whole summer. And, as these
shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, 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."
Any encyclopedia, or any other
authority, will tell you that Christ was not born on December 25. The
Catholic Encyclopedia frankly states this fact.
The exact
date of Jesus' birth is entirely unknown, as all authorities
acknowledge -- though if I had space in this booklet I could show you
scriptures which at least strongly indicate it was in the early fall --
probably September approximately six months after Passover.
If God had wished us to observe and celebrate Christ's birthday, He would not have so completely hidden the exact date.
How This Pagan Custom Got into the Church
Then how did this pagan custom creep into the Western Christian world?
The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains it
clearly, in its article on "Christmas": "How much the date of the
festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (Dec. 25) following the
Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day of the year
and the 'new sun' ... cannot be accurately determined. The pagan
Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to
be set aside by Christian influence .... 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."
Remember, the Roman world had been pagan.
Prior to the fourth century, Christians were few in number, though
increasing, and were persecuted by the government and by pagans. But,
with the advent of Constantine as emperor, who made his profession of
Christianity in the fourth century, placing Christianity on an equal
footing with paganism, people of the Roman world began to accept this
now-popular Christianity by the hundreds of thousands.
But
remember, these people had grown up in pagan customs, chief of which
was this idolatrous festival of December 25th. It was a festival of
merrymaking, with its special spirit. They enjoyed it! They didn't want
to give it up! Now this same article in the New Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains how the recognition by
Constantine of Sunday, which had been the day of pagan sun worship, and
how the influence of the pagan Manichaeism, which identified the SON of
God with the physical SUN, gave these pagans of the fourth century, now
turning over wholesale to "Christianity," their excuse for calling
their pagan-festival date of December 25th (birthday of the SUN-god),
the birthday of the SON of God.
And that is how "Christmas"
became fastened on our Western world! We may call it by another name,
but it's the same old pagan sun-worshipping festival still! The only
change is in what we call it! You can call a rabbit a "lion," but it's
still a rabbit, just the same.
Again from the Encyclopaedia
Britannica: "Certain Latins, as early as 354, may have transferred the
birthday from January 6th to December 25, which was then a Mithraic
feast ... or birthday of the unconquered SUN ... The Syrians and
Armenians, who clung to January 6th, accused the Romans of sun worship
and idolatry, contending ... that the feast of December 25th, had been
invented by disciples of Cerinthus ...."
The Real Origin of Christmas
But
if we got Christmas from the Roman Catholics, and they got it from
paganism, where did the pagans get it? Where, when, and what was its
real origin?
It is a chief custom of the corrupt system
denounced all through Bible prophecies and teachings under the name of
Babylon. And it started and originated in the original Babylon of
ancient Nimrod! Yes, it stems from roots whose beginning was shortly
this side of the Flood!
Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah,
was the real founder of the Babylonish system that has gripped the
world ever since -- the system of organized competition -- of man --
ruled governments and empires, based upon the competitive and
profit-making economic system. Nimrod built the tower of Babel, the
original Babylon, ancient Nineveh, and many other cities. He organized
this world's first kingdom. The name Nimrod, in Hebrew, is derived from
"Marad," meaning "he rebelled."
From many ancient writings,
considerable is learned of this man, who started the great organized
worldly apostasy from God that has dominated this world until now.
Nimrod was so evil, it is said he married his own mother, whose name
was Semiramis. After Nimrod's untimely death, his so-called
mother-wife, Semiramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of
Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree
sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing
forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his
birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave
gifts upon it. December 25th was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the
real origin of the Christmas tree.
Through her scheming and
designing, Semiramis became the Babylonian "Queen of Heaven," and
Nimrod, under various names, became the "divine son of heaven." Through
the generations, in this idolatrous worship, Nimrod also became the
false Messiah, son of Baal the Sun-god. In this false Babylonish
system, the "Mother and Child" (Semiramis and Nimrod reborn) became
chief objects of worship. This worship of "Mother and Child" spread
over the world. The names varied in different countries and languages.
In Egypt it was Isis and Osiris. In Asia, Cybele and Deoius. In pagan
Rome, Fortuna and Jupiterpuer. Even in Greece, China, Japan, Tibet is
to be found the counterpart of the Madonna, long before the birth of
Christ!
Thus, during the fourth and fifth centuries, when the
pagans of the Roman world were "accepting" the new popular
"Christianity" by the hundreds of thousands, carrying their old pagan
customs and beliefs along with them, merely cloaking them with
Christian-sounding names, the Madonna and "Mother and Child" idea also
became popularized, especially at Christmas time. Every Christmas
season you'll hear sung and chanted dozens of times the hymn "Silent
Night, Holy Night," with its familiar "Mother and Child" theme. We, who
have been born in such a babylonish world, reared and steeped in these
things all our lives, have been taught to revere these things as holy
and sacred. We never questioned to see where they came from -- whether
they came from the Bible, or from pagan idolatry!
We are
shocked to learn the truth -- some, unfortunately, take offense at the
plain truth! But God commands His faithful ministers, "Cry aloud, spare
not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their
transgression!" Shocking as these facts are, they are the plain facts
of history and the Bible!
The real origin of Christmas goes
back to ancient Babylon. It is bound up in the organized apostasy which
has gripped a deceived world these many centuries! In Egypt, it was
always believed that the son of Isis (Egyptian name for "Queen of
Heaven") was born December 25th. Paganism celebrated this famous
birthday over most of the known world for centuries before the birth of
Christ.
December 25th is not the birthday of Jesus the true
Christ! The apostles and early true Church never celebrated Christ's
birthday at any time. There is no command or instruction to celebrate
it in the Bible -- rather, the celebrating of birthdays is a pagan, not
a Christian custom, believe it or not!
Thus the ancient
idolatrous "Chaldean Mysteries," founded by this wife of Nimrod, have
been handed down through the pagan religions under new
Christian-sounding names.
Origin of Holly Wreath, Mistletoe, Yule Log
Now
where did we get this mistletoe custom? Among the ancient pagans the
mistletoe was used at this festival of the winter solstice because it
was considered sacred to the sun, because of its supposed miraculous
healing power. The pagan custom of kissing under the mistletoe was an
early step in the night of revelry and drunken debauchery --
celebrating the death of the "old sun" and the birth of the new at the
winter solstice. Mistletoe, sacred in pagan festivals, is a parasite!
Holly berries were also considered sacred to the sun-god. The yule log
is in reality the "sun log." "Yule" means "wheel," a pagan symbol of
the sun. Yet today professing Christians speak of the "sacred yule-tide
season"!
Even the lighting of fires and candles as a
Christian ceremony is merely a continuation of the pagan custom,
encouraging the waning sun-god as he reached the lowest place in the
southern skies!
The Encyclopedia Americana says: "The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log ... are relics of pre-Christian times." Of paganism!
The book "Answers to Questions", compiled by Frederick J. Haskins,
found in public libraries, says: "The use of Christmas wreaths is
believed by authorities to be traceable to the pagan customs of
decorating buildings and places of worship at the feast which took
place at the same time as Christmas. The Christmas tree is from Egypt,
and its origin dates from a period long anterior to the Christian Era."
Yes, and Even Santa Claus!
But
surely dear old Santa Claus is not a creature of pagan birth? But he
is, and his real character is not so benevolent and holy as many
suppose!
The name "Santa Claus" is a corruption of the name
"St. Nicholas," a Roman Catholic bishop who lived in the 5th century.
Look in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, volume 19, pages 648-649, 11th
edition, where you'll read: "St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, a saint
honored by the Greeks and Latins on the 6th of December .... A legend
of his surreptitious bestowal of dowries on the three daughters of an
impoverished citizen ... is said to have originated the old custom of
giving presents in secret on the Eve of St. Nicholas [Dec. 6],
subsequently transferred to Christmas day. Hence the association of
Christmas with Santa Claus ...."
Through the year, parents
punish their children for telling falsehoods. Then, at Christmas time,
they themselves tell their little children this "Santa Claus" lie! Is
it any wonder many of them, when they grow up and learn the truth,
begin to believe God is a myth, too?
One little fellow, sadly
disillusioned about "Santa Claus," said to a playmate, "Yes, and I'm
going to look into this 'Jesus Christ' business, too!" Is it Christian
to teach children myths and falsehoods? God says, "Thou shalt not bear
false witness!" It may seem right, and be justified by human reason,
but God says, "There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death!" "Old Nick" also is a term for the
devil! Is there a connection? Satan appears as an "angel of light," to
deceive! (II Cor. 11:14; Rev. 12:9.)
And so when we examine
the facts, we are astonished to learn that the practice of observing
Christmas is not, after all, a true Christian practice, but a pagan
custom -- one of the ways of Babylon our people have fallen into!
What the Bible Says About the Christmas Tree
But
if the Bible is silent about telling us to observe Christmas, or
recording any such observance by the apostles or early true Church, it
does have something to say about the Christmas tree!
This will come as a real surprise to many. But here it is:
Jeremiah 10:2-6: "Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen
.... 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."
There is a perfect description of
the Christmas tree, termed by the Eternal as "the way of the heathen --
the customs of the people." We are commanded not to learn that way or
follow it! It is also viewed in this passage as idolatry. The fifth
verse shows that these trees cannot speak -- cannot walk -- must be
carried. "Be not afraid of them; for they [the trees] cannot do evil,
neither also is it in them to do good." They are not gods to be feared.
Some people misread this to make it say there is no harm in having a
Christmas tree, but that is not what it says.
Isn't Exchanging Gifts Scriptural?
But
when it comes to the most important part of all in this Christmas
observance -- the Christmas shopping season -- the buying and
exchanging of gifts -- many will exclaim triumphantly, "Well, at least
the Bible tells us to do that! Didn't the wise men give gifts when
Christ was born?"
Again, we are due for some surprises, when
we learn the plain truth. First, let's look at the historic origin of
trading gifts back and forth, then see exactly what the Bible does say
about it.
From the Bibliotheca Sacra, volume 12, pages
153-155, we quote: "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 fact is, this custom fastened
upon people of exchanging gifts with friends and relatives at the
Christmas season has not a single trace of Christianity about it,
strange though that may seem! This does not celebrate Christ's birthday
nor honor it or Him! Suppose someone you love has a birthday. You want
to honor that person on his or her birthday. Would you lavishly buy
gifts for everyone else, trading gifts back and forth with all your
other friends and loved ones, but ignore completely any gift for the
one whose birthday you are honoring? Rather absurd, when viewed in that
light, isn't it?
Yet this is exactly what people the world
over are doing! They honor a day that is not Christ's birthday by
spending every dime they can scrape together in buying presents to
trade back and forth among friends and relatives. But I can say by
years of experience, as I believe most pastors and ministers can say,
that when the month of December rolls around, nearly all professing
Christians forget to give gifts to Christ and His cause almost
altogether! December often is the most difficult month to keep Christ's
work from dying! People are too busy trading gifts back and forth among
themselves to think of Him and His Work, it seems. Then, in January and
even into February it seems they have to catch up from what they spent
for Christmas, so they seldom get back to normal in supporting Christ
and His Work before March!
Now consider what the Bible says
about the wise men giving gifts when Christ was born. It is in Matthew
2:1-11. "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of
Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? ... And when they
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."
Why Gifts Presented to Christ
Notice,
they inquired for the child Jesus, who was born KING of the Jews! Now
why did they present gifts to Him? Because it was His birthday? Not at
all, because they came several days or weeks after the date of His
birth! Was it to set an example for us, today, to trade gifts back and
forth among ourselves? No, notice carefully! They did not exchange
gifts among themselves, but "they presented unto HIM gifts." They gave
their gifts to Christ, not to their friends, relatives, or one another!
Why? Let me quote from the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5,
page 46: "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."
There it is! They were not
instituting a new Christian custom of exchanging gifts with friends to
honor Christ's birthday. They were following an old and ancient eastern
custom of presenting gifts to a king when they came into his presence.
They were approaching Him, born KING of the Jews, in person. Therefore
custom required they present gifts even as the Queen of Sheba brought
gifts to Solomon -- even as many people today take a gift along when
they visit the White House for an appointment with the President.
No, the custom of trading gifts back and forth does not stem from this
scriptural incident at all, but rather, as quoted from history above,
it is the continuance of an ancient pagan custom. Instead of honoring
Christ, it invariably retards His Work, often sets it back, at the
Christmas season every year.
Does It Really Honor Christ?
Now come two arguments often used to justify Christmas observance.
1) Many will reason this way: "But, even though the exact date of
Jesus' birth is unknown, should we not select some date to celebrate as
His birthday?" The answer is positively no! Did you not notice the
statement quoted from the Catholic Encyclopedia: "Sinners alone, not
saints, celebrate their birthdays." The celebration of birthdays is not
a Christian, but a pagan custom, observed by sinners!
2) But,
many still reason, "Even so -- even though Christmas was a pagan
custom, honoring the false sun-god, we don't observe it to honor the
false god, we observe it to honor Christ."
But how does GOD
answer in His Word? "Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by
following them [the pagans in their customs] ... that thou enquire not
after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even
so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for
every abomination to the Eternal, which he hateth, have they done unto
their gods" (Deut. 12:30-31).
God says plainly in His
Instruction Book to us, that He will not accept that kind of worship,
even though intended in His honor. To Him, He says, it is offering what
is abominable to Him, and therefore it honors, not Him, but false pagan
gods. GOD says we must not worship Him according to the "dictates of
our own conscience" -- a term we often hear. But Jesus said plainly,
"God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth" (John 4:24). And what is truth? God's Word -- the Holy
Bible -- said Jesus, is truth (John 17:17); and the Bible says God will
not accept worship when people take a pagan custom or manner of worship
and try to honor Christ with it.
Again, Jesus said: "In vain
they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men"
(Matt. 15:9). Christmas observance is a tradition of men, and the
commandments of God, as quoted, forbid it. Jesus said, further, "full
well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own
tradition."
That is precisely what the millions are doing
today. They ignore the commandment of God. He commands, regarding
taking the customs of the pagans and using them to honor or worship
God: "Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God." Still, most people
today take that command of God lightly, or as having no validity
whatsoever, and follow the tradition of men in observing Christmas.
Make no mistake! God will allow you to defy and disobey Him. He will
allow you to follow the crowd and the traditions of men. He will allow
you to sin. But He also says there is a day of reckoning coming. As you
sow, so shall you reap! Jesus was the living Word of God in Person, and
the Bible is the written Word of God. And we shall be judged, for
eternity, by these words! They should not be taken lightly or ignored.
We're in Babylon, and Haven't Known It
Christmas
has become a commercial season. It's sponsored, kept alive, by the
heaviest retail advertising campaigns of the year. You see a
masqueraded "Santa Claus" in many stores. Ads keep us deluded and
deceived about the "beautiful Christmas spirit." The newspapers, who
sell the ads, print flowery editorials exalting and eulogizing the
pagan season, and its "spirit." A gullible people has become so
inoculated, many take offense when told the truth. But the "Christmas
spirit" is created each year, not to honor Christ, but to sell
merchandise! Like all Satan's delusions, it appears as an "angel of
light," is made to appear good. Billions of dollars are spent in this
merchandising spree every year, while the cause of Christ must suffer!
It's part of the economic system of Babylon!
We have
professed to be Christian nations, but we're in Babylon, as Bible
prophecy foretold, and we don't know it! "Come out of her, my people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues" -- now soon to fall -- is the warning of Revelation 18:4.
This year, instead of gift trading, why not put that money into God's Work? .