Is Christmas pagan?

Many people celebrate Christmas but there is a few who believe and teach that it is pagan in origin and Christians should not celebrate it but  is this true? are there historical arguments correct? or flaw? well this is what Mine first post is about.




Sol Invictus, the Winter Solstice and the Origins of Christmas, we read: ‘…December 25 was neither a longstanding nor an especially important feast day of Sol… the suggestion that it was established by Aurelian cannot be proven. In fact, there is no firm evidence that this feast of Sol on December 25 antedates the feast of Christmas at all.’ He continues: ‘The traditional feast days of Sol… were August 8, August 9, August 28, and December 11. Of these, only August 28 is still mentioned in the Calendar of 354, along with October 19 and October 22, the latter being the most important, judging by the 36 chariot races with which it was celebrated.’

We now can say that one of their strongest arguments had been proven Historical flaw and not true.



What about Mithra? well here is what a expect in that field of religion says...

Mithraic scholar, Dr Richard Gordon Knows not one single inscription of Mithra that falls in the winter and December it self. The problem is there is no manuscripts at all about what the cult believe and everything they practice so if anyone does have any so called proof for in inscription for Mithra  being on December 25, The scholars really want to know!

What about The feast of Saturnalia with merry making and gift giving, riot making etc.... well First there argument fails on gift giving due it was not a high practice back then at all and there not too many recording of ancient documents that show gift giving. The other thing is merry making and riot making acting crazy well The Christians back then found the practice of the saturnalia very disturbing and offensive so it highly unlikely that they would copy from something they hated.

I would to get back to gift giving for a second where the anit-christmas arguments logic does not hold up.  The feast of lights origins did not include gift giving as each child would get a gift on each of the eight days nope! this practice did not come until after Christmas was invented which the festival of lights was under pressure by Christmas! so by there own permission the holiday of feastivals of lights is  now not pure and has a pagan custom if you go by their argument.

A Note how Christians view the feast of saturnalia

The evidence suggests that Christian festivals in the fourth century were accompanied by worship and fasting, not dissipation, cf. p. 203. As Kelly notes: ‘early Christian leaders found the Saturnalian practices offensive’, p. 69. Alexander observes (p. 9ff) that the 380 Saragossa synod obliged daily church worship for 17 December-6 January. All the indications are that fasting, rather than secular ‘feasting’ was prescribed, as demonstrated by the writings of Bishop Filastrius of Brescia (d. 397), pp. 14-15.

Bishop of Constantinople c. 379, in his sermon On the Theophany indicates that proper practice for celebrating the Nativity differed from pagan Saturnalia practices – not least riotous conduct: ‘…let us not strive to outdo each other in intemperance… Let us leave all these to … the …festivals of the Greeks… But we, the Object of whose adoration is the Word… seek it [‘luxury’]…in the Divine Law …’ There are no patristic references to a conscious decision to copy or usurp the Saturnalia.

As we see The saturnalia Plays No part whatsoever and another Thing is  it did not even reach December 25 but ended on 23 and a different holiday begun called  Larentalia, which is a feast of the dead.

On More about sol the sun god anit-christmas people need to understand as christians we can deal with the astronomical event without dealing with the deity sol, hence that why we can call Christ The sun of Righteous and more about to make it more clear I will post this...

He also emphasises that we must distinguish between the Sun-god - the cult of Sol - and the Sun - i.e. the astronomical body. Hijmans states that the failure to differentiate ‘between astronomy and cult’ touches upon the ‘fatal flaw in the contention that Christmas was instituted on December 25 to counteract a pagan feast.’ The winter solstice in December was an astronomical event: the major feast of Sol, the sun-god, was October 22. Christians could deal with the astronomical symbolism of the sun, without engaging the deity Sol. Thus Natalis Solis Invicti i.e. the winter solstice, observed on December 25, was recognised as the ‘birthday’ of the astronomical entity, not necessarily the solar deity! This allowed the Christians to utilise the imagery of Malachi 4:2 - that Christ was the ‘Sun of Righteousness’.

What about the nativity? some say Constantine invented it but the first recorded date for it dates 336 in city Constantine built  but left in 326 ad.

I will cover one more thing,  what about The Christmas tree and Jeremiah 10? does it really point out the Christmas tree? well lets look at the context of scripture.       

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.  ⁴They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
 ⁵They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.


The context describes pagans cutting down a tree and shaping and into their idols and decoration it, does that sound like a Christmas tree at all?   Do you see any pagans idols in any Christians homes with them kneeling to them and worshiping them? I hope not!

I will stop here but the information  I gather comes with this link which covers more.



http://www.answering-islam.org/pagan/christmas.html


The anti-christmas people say we are deceive for keep christmas but answer me this who has The Historical evidence on their side?


I forgot something that should be mention and that is nimrod. a lot of people tie him with molech  different sun gods or even the Christmas tree it self but I should give you the information of what anti-Christmas used for this usually and its  Alexander hislop The two babylons. First No one should even use his material duo to the fact he made up his own mythology and that what people use for nimrod for a example, lets see what the scholars say about his work.

It has been recognized by scholars as discredited and has been called a "tribute to historical inaccuracy and know-nothing religious bigotry" with "shoddy scholarship, blatant dishonesty" and a "nonsensical thesis".^[3][4] Although scholarship has shown the picture presented by Hislop to be absurd and based on an exceedingly poor understanding of historical Babylon and its religion, his book remains popular among some fundamentalist protestant Christians.^[1]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Babylons

now lets see what someone who was once a support of such views but now rejects hislop claims

he evangelical minister Ralph Woodrow, drawing heavily on Hislop's book, made the case, which he no longer holds, in his book Babylon Mystery Religion that Catholicism was a syncretic religion that had evolved from pagan Babylon. Mr. Woodrow, after realizing how flawed Hislop's book was, recanted the error of his own book (Babylon Mystery Religion) and decried its and Hislop's errors and false connections.^[8] Hislop's work has been described by Bill Ellis as "sketchy knowledge of Middle Eastern antiquity with a vivid imagination."^[9]
A history teacher challenged Woodrow, and called the integrity of Hislop's research into question. Mr. Woodrow began to diligently research the subject, and as he explored the theories of Hislop, began to discover that those ideas were either fraudulent, mis-interpretations, or had created false relationships where none actually existed. Eventually, Ralph Woodrow felt compelled to remove his own book from print, and later wrote a second book "The Babylon Connection?" to further explain and refute Hislop's (and his own) mistaken ideas.^[8] Woodrow had now become a critic of Hislop's 'pagan' theories.

My original book had some valuable information in it. But it also contained certain teachings that were made popular in a book many years ago, THE TWO BABYLONS, by Alexander Hislop. This book claims that the very religion of ancient Babylon, under the leadership of Nimrod and his wife, was later disguised with Christian-sounding names, becoming the Catholic Church. Thus, two “Babylons”—one ancient and one modern. Proof for this is sought by citing numerous similarities in paganism. The problem with this method is this: in many cases there is no connection.

Mr. Woodrow went to the original source documents and found that the analogies, links, and suppositions that Hislop had made were strained and unfounded.

Because Hislop wrote in the mid-1800s the books he refers to or quotes are now quite old. I made considerable effort to find these old books and to check Hislop's references; books such as Layard's Nineveh and Its Remains, Kitto's Cyclopeidia of Biblical Literature, Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, as well as old editions of Pausanias, Pliny, Tacitus, Herodotus and many more. When I checked his footnote references, in numerous cases I discovered they do not support his claims.

As I did this [research], it became clear-Hislop's "history" was often only mythology... an arbitrary piecing together of ancient myths can not provide a sound basis for history. Take enough tribes, enough tales, enough time, jump from one time to another, from one country to another, pick and choose similarities-why anything could be "proved"!

Woodrow also shows how Hislop's creative numerology (which he describes as no more than mere superstition) could be used to make almost any name 'add up' to the mark of the beast, including the name "The Rev Alexander Hislop." Woodrow reclaims (from supposed pagan origins) candles and lamps (which are used by Jews in the Old Testament), he also defends the practice of anointing with oil "...anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." (James 5:14, 15 & Mat 6:13). Woodrow demonstrates the faulty logic that claims a Church steeple is a phallic symbol and the tower of Babel. According to Herodotus 425 BC. Babel was a ziggurat shape, looking nothing like a steeple. (pg 28)
While seeking to condemn the paganism of Catholicism, Hislop produced his own myths. Hislop theorized that Nimrod, Adonis, Apollo, Attes, Ball-zebub, Bacchus, Cupid, Dagon, Hercules, Janus, Linus, Lucifer, Mars, Merodach, Mithra, Moloch, Narcissus, Oannes, Oden, Orion, Osiris, Pluto, Saturn, Teitan, Typhon, Vulcan, Wotan, and Zoroaster were all one and the same. By mixing myths, Hislop supposed that Semiramis was the wife of Nimrod and was the same as Aphrodite, Artemis, Astarte, Aurora, Bellona, Ceres, Diana, Easter, Irene, Iris, Juno, Mylitta, Proserpine, Rhea, Venus, and Vesta.

Hislop taught that Tammuz (whom he says was Nimrod) was born on December 25, and that this is the origin of the date on which Christmas is observed. Yet his supposed proof for this is taken out of context. Having taught that Isis and her infant son Horus were the Egyptian version of Semiramis and her son Tammuz he cites a reference that the son of Isis was born "about the time of the winter solstice." When we actually look up the reference he gives for this (Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, vol. 4, 405), the son of Isis who was born "about the time of the winter solstice was not Horus, her older son, but Harpocrates. The reference also explains this was a premature birth, causing him to be lame, and that the Egyptians celebrated the feast of his mother’s delivery in spring. Taken in context, this has nothing to do with a December celebration or with Christmas as it is known today.

The subtitle for Hislop’s book is “The Papal Worship Proved to Be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife.” Yet when I went to reference works such as the Encyclopedia Britannica, The Americana, The Jewish Encyclopedia, The Catholic Encyclopedia, The Worldbook Encyclopedia – carefully reading their articles on “Nimrod” and “Semiramis” — not one said anything about Nimrod and Semiramis being husband and wife. They did not even live in the same century. Nor is there any basis for Semiramis being the mother of Tammuz. I realized these ideas were all Hislop’s inventions.

  So If you ever wonder How anti-christmas draw the conclusion that pretty much ever pagan god is born dec 25 is drawn by hislop  own made up myths. taking different deities and trying to say there are one and the same and was born dec 25