Pagan Origins Of Christmas Traditions

Sermon preached at Gospel Light Christian Church, Singapore
by Pastor Dr Paul Choo
on 27 December 1998

Introduction: Many Christmas practices are pagan in origin, though with the passage of time many of their pagan connections have been lost and these practices are accepted by many Christians and given Christian symbolisms.

Pagan origins: According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the word "Cristes maesse" (i.e. Christ's mass) first appeared in AD 1038. Mass is a sacrificial offering of Christ's body repeatedly performed in Romanist churches. However, Jesus offered Himself once and for all because His one sacrifice at Calvary was all-sufficient for the sins of His people (Hebrews 9:28, 10:10, 12, 14). Because of this, some Christians prefer to use the term Holy Nativity (i.e. birth) when referring to December 25th, but even this term is unsatisfactory because the Bible does not tell us the date of Jesus' birth (because God knows man's tendency to worship the day rather than the Son), neither does the Bible ever teach us to commemorate His birth (though we are commanded to remember His death, 1 Corinthians 11:26). It is unlikely that Jesus was born in winter because "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night" (Luke 2:8) on the night that He was born.

Secondly, a tax-census (Luke 2:1-5) requiring the population to return to their birth-place would not normally be held in winter when travel was extremely difficult (Matthew 24:20). In the northern hemisphere, the length of sunlight in winter gradually shortens till December 24th, and then starts to increase from December 25th. In other words, the sun appears to die and then resurrects on December 25th. Pagan sun-worshippers therefore celebrated the birth of the Sun-God, the feast of Saturn on December 25th. When these pagans were enticed to convert to Christianity by Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century, they "Christianized" the festival that celebrated the birth of the Sun-God into that of Jesus' birth. The Catholic Encyclopedia says "…the Nativity of the Unconquered Sun celebrated on 25 December has a strong claim on the responsibility for our December date."

The traditions of the yule-log (and log-cakes) and Christmas tree derive from Babylonian worship. Pagans put the dead yule-log ("yule" is the Chaldee or Babylonian word for infant) in the fire on 24th December and "replaced" it with an evergreen tree on 25th December, to symbolized Nimrod (Genesis 10:9, 10) who died and "rose" again in his son Tammus. These evergreen trees were decked with red berries and balls which symbolized their sun-god. Therefore Christmas trees are decorated with colorful balls and bright lights. The star at the top of the tree "christianizes" this pagan practice. "Green trees" (i.e. evergreens) are mentioned in the Bible in connection with idolatry (e.g. 1 Kings 14:23, 2 Kings 16:4, Jeremiah 10:2-5).

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows on trees. Pagans considered mistletoe as a "divine branch" from heaven. Therefore when mistletoe grew on a tree it symbolized a reconciliation of heaven and earth and therefore the practice of kissing (which is symbolic of reconciliation) under the mistletoe.

The drunken revelry of the festival of Bacchus (the pagan god of wine) was celebrated in Babylon in the month of December. The tradition of a "Merry Christmas" derives from this drunken festival.

Saint Nicholas was a 4th Century bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor. He often gave treats to little children. After he died, mothers told their children that he might visit them again if they were good. A feast in his honour was celebrated on 6th December. His name gradually became anglicized to Santa Claus, his bishop's miter (i.e. hat) and robes became modified as the red robes of Santa Claus and the date of his celebration moved to coincide with Christmas. Today, little children are told that:

He sees you when you're sleeping!
He knows when you're awake!
He knows if you've been bad or good!
So be good for goodness' sake!

And businessmen love him for bringing in more business!

Conclusion: Romans 14:5-6 "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks." Let us use Christmas time for the glory of God and not be used by it.