Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

BreakPoint Daily Commentary

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By John Stonestreet and Shane Morris, Crosswalk.com

Is Christmas really a pagan holiday? Tis the season for memes, skeptics, and even some Christians who claim that Christ is not the origin of Christmas, and that the trappings of trees, presents, and celebrations are incompatible with Christianity.

A very helpful video in the What Would You Say? series tackles this question from a theological and historical perspective. Here is a clip from “Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?”

Number 1: Christmas is rooted in Scripture, and it’s always been about Christ.

The accounts of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke were written in the first century. There is no serious historian who believes the Jewish disciples were copying some pagan tradition when they told this story. Before a date was settled or the word “Christmas” invented, the reason for the season was there in the Gospels. When we remember the birth of Christ by reading these accounts, by singing about them, and by thanking God for giving us His Son, we are doing what the very earliest Christians would have done. In fact, a song that would become the first Advent hymn, Mary’s “Magnificat,” is recorded in Luke chapter 1.

Number 2: The date of Christmas probably has nothing to do with pagan festivals.

No one is exactly sure when Jesus was born. For a long time, people claimed December 25 was chosen as the date of His birth because it coincided with a Roman feast day. But this theory has fallen out of favor. According to the Biblical Archaeology Society, “…we don’t have evidence of Christians adopting pagan festivals in the third century, at which point dates for Christmas were established. Thus, it seems unlikely that the date was simply selected to correspond with pagan solar festivals.”

A more convincing theory is that the early church calculated December 25 as Jesus’ birthday by counting nine months from the day of His conception and death, which they believed to be March 25. For instance, Saint Augustine wrote: “For [Jesus] is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day he also suffered… But he was born, according to tradition, upon December the 25th.”

In fact, it wasn’t until the twelfth century that any writer even suggested the date for Christmas was influenced by a pagan festival.

Number 3: It’s okay to adopt and redeem some pagan traditions.

The origins of decorated trees, yule logs, mistletoe and other seasonal trappings aren’t clear. Historians think they were traditional in parts of Europe before Christianity arrived. But just because a tradition has pagan roots doesn’t mean Christians can’t enjoy it. The cross on our church steeples and around many of our necks is a Roman tool of torture, transformed into a symbol of eternal life by Christ. Several months of our year are named after Roman deities, and the very days of the week, like Woden’s Day (Wednesday) and Thor’s Day (Thursday) are named after Norse gods. Yet Christians use calendars.

Christ is Lord of all. He’s not afraid of pine trees. He made them. Even Santa Claus is based on a Christian saint. As long as these traditions don’t become distractions from the true meaning of Christmas, there’s nothing wrong with Christians using them to celebrate Jesus’ birth.

That was a segment from a video in the What Would You Say? Series. For the full answer to the question “Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?” visit the What Would You Say? YouTube channel or whatwouldyousay.org.

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John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.