Article: Is Christmas Christian?

Is Christmas...Christian?

By: Michael Schnieder

For the vast majority of people the question is really no question at all. Is Christmas Christian? "Of course it is! What could be more Christian than Christmas? Isn't it Jesus' birthday?" Others have become increasingly uncomfortable with the celebration of Christmas. When they look at the bacchanalia that takes place around December 25, there is an uneasy feeling that something is not quite right. And yet they keep telling themselves, "Isn't Christmas Jesus' birthday? The world has corrupted Christmas, but underneath it's still a wonderful holiday." And so they struggle year after year to put "Christ back into Christmas."

It may be a shocking though to some, but after wrestling with the question for several years now, searching the scriptures and church history, I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing Christian about Christmas; that in its present observance as well as in its origin, Christmas is basically and essentially pagan. If that thought is new and startling to you, I invite you to consider the possibility that for you Christmas is a blind spot that needs some re-examination.

I don't mean to say that I'm unimpressed with the sentimental appeal of the "holiday spirit." There's a certain charm about this season of the year-the thought of family gatherings, dreaming of a "white Christmas," chestnuts roasting on an open fire, city sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in a holiday style. No one with any sentimentality could escape a twinge of nostalgia when there's a feeling of Christmas in the air. Even the most hardened cynic can't stifle a softening childlike feeling of good that will last for a few days.

I've tried the approach that says, "let's put Christ back into Christmas." but I have become more and more convinced that Christ doesn't want to be "put back into" Christmas. If we speak against the "commercialization" of Christmas and emphasize the "real meaning of Christmas," most people would readily agree. People are very well aware of what they consider to be materialistic excesses of Christmas celebration, and they love sermons on the "true" meaning of Christmas. But I'm asking "What is the TRUE meaning of Christmas?" When you get right down to its essence... "WHAT IS CHRISTMAS?!"

Where did it come from?How did it originate?What does it stand for now?

The real question is the nature of the institution itself.

I think you will be shocked if you evaluate the institution of Christmas realistically. What I'm asking you to do is lay down your cultural prejudices and preferences and approach this question with an open mind. Granted, that's hard to do. We are so snowed under a century of tradition and nostalgia that it's almost impossible for some people to look at the issue objectively at all. I'm asking you to put aside your preconceived notions, at least temporarily, to look honestly at this institution we call Christmas. Frankly, this article is calculated to disturb you, to make you think, and to cause you to change your actions if they are not consistent with the truth of the gospel.

1. ITS INCEPTION

What is the origin of Christmas? How did it begin? Were its beginnings pagan or Christian? There is no indication in the New Testament that the early Christians observed Christmas at all. It can be demonstrated in church history that for probably the first 300 years after the birth pf Christ Christians knew nothing of Christmas celebration. It was only as the church began to drift away from apostolic doctrine and practice into corruption that Christmas began.

Where did it come from? Where did the drifting Church get the ideas and customs associated with Christmas today? The source of most of the basic forms of paganism in the ancient world can be traced back to the Babylonian "mysteries." All of the ancient cultures, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and even India and China, had beliefs, traditions, practices, gods, and goddesses that were related and find their "purest" form in Babylonia. In the Old Testament Babylon stands as the epitome of everything that is godless and perverse. The greatest indignation suffered by God's people for their sins is to be carried away into Babylonian captivity, into the heart of the heathen world.

In the New Testament "Babylon" becomes Rome. The Roman Empire embodies the pagan beliefs and practices of Ancient Babylon and is seen as the arch-enemy of God's people. In the book of Revelation Rome is called "the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication... a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomination and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." And John says that she was "drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Rev 17:1-6)

What was to be the attitude of God's people towards this "Babylon" of their day? "Come out of her, my people that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev 18:4) Of course they could not physically separate themselves from the Roman Empire where they lived. The call was to spiritual separation from its attitudes and practices. But, did God's people hear the warning and separate themselves from Babylon? No, they became the very opposite. They compromised and became contaminated with her corruption. In 313 A.D. the Roman Emperor Constantine supposedly adopted the Christian faith and declared it to be the official religion of his realm. His embracing the Christian Church proved to be detrimental to true Christianity. Constantine retained the traditional pagan titles, and his coins still bear the figures and names of the old Roman gods.

The Church became "The Roman Catholic Church" and its method became compromise with paganism. Ever since, the Roman Catholic way of converting pagans to its style of worship has been to absorb them gradually, along with their idolatrous observances. The church was content to swell the number of nominal adherents by meeting paganism halfway. There were some valiant voices of protest who bitterly lamented the inconsistency of this approach, but their voices were raised in vain.

The Roman Church has continued the same approach until this day. It can be seen particularly in Central and South America, where idols have simply been replaced with the statues of the saints. Some of their names and tradition have even been combined. Roman Catholic Churches in these countries are often opened to the Indians for the worship of their animistic gods.

How then did we receive out "holidays" (holy days) with their customs and traditions, Christmas as well as Easter, Halloween, and Mardi-Gras? Each of them has come to us through ancient Babylon, through Rome, through the Roman Catholic Church.

It was for this very reason that is Calvin's Geneva you could have been fined of imprisoned for celebrating Christmas. It was the request of the Westminster Assembly that the English Parliament in 1644 passed an act forbidding the observance of Christmas, calling it a heathen holiday. In an appendix to their "Directory for the Public Worship of God" the Westminster divines said: "There is no day commanded in Scripture to be kept holy under the gospel but the Lord's day, which is the Christian Sabbath. Festival-days vulgarly called 'holy days', having no warrant in the word of God, are not to be continued"

When the Puritans came to America they passed similar laws. The early New Englanders worked steadily through December 25, 1620, in "studied neglect" of the day. About 40 years later the General Court of Massachusetts decreed punishment for those who kept the season:"…anyone who is found observing, by abstinence from labor, feasting, or any other way, any such days as Christmas Day, shall pay for every such offense five shillings."

It was not until the 19th Century that Christmas had any religious significance in Protestant churches.

What then is the History of Christmas? It came into the Church centuries after the New Testament, was discarded at the Reformation, and has only in this century crept back into the Protestant Church. What I'm saying, then, is that the "real" Christmas has always been pagan, and to make it a Christian celebration is to try to add Christ or Biblical elements to an essentially pagan holiday.

2. ITS INSTITUTIONS

Let's look, then, at some of the familiar customs of Christmas and examine their significance. I'm taking only a small selection of the many familiar traditions, but I assure you that what I say about these is true of all the Christmas customs, and I encourage you to check them all out in any secular encyclopedia.

Take, for instance, the very date of Christmas, December 25. As you are probably aware, no one really knows the time of Christ's birth and December 25 is a highly unlikely time. Why then December 25? Well, at the time of year when the days began to lengthen again, the Babylonians celebrated the victory of their sun god. The Roman copy of this Babylonian custom was called Saturnalia, the feast of the birth of Sol. It was for centuries an abomination to Christians. The celebration was an orgy of pagan revelry. But the Church, instead of standing firm against paganism, began to compromise. It wanted to help "weak" young Christians who didn't want to give up the fun and merry making surrounding this winter solstice. So the Church said, "Go on with your fun and celebration. Only now we'll call it a celebration on the birth of the Son of God. Instead of losing people to paganism, we'll combine the two and gradually even win some of the pagans of our day to profess Christianity. Let's not force men to choose between the two."

Then think about the name "Christmas" itself. What does it mean? Many people do not even know that it is a combination of Christ and mass. Christmas is the Roman Catholic celebration of a particular mass in honor of the Birth of Christ. Perhaps it would impress on our minds the "real" meaning of Christmas if we refer to it as "Christmass." What is the significance of the mass? At its heart the Roman Catholic mass is a denial of the sufficiency of Christ's atonement. It professes to be a reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ for sin. It is a denial of the Gospel (Heb 9:12,24-26;10:10,12,14). The Roman Catholic Church has many other masses, such as "Michaelmass," but it is their "Christmass" that Protestants have singled out for observance.

What could be more harmless that the beautiful Christmas trees that light up our homes during the Christmas season? But do you know why we have trees in our homes? From ancient times tress have played an important role in pagan religion and were even worshipped. Norsemen, Celts and Saxons used trees to ward off witches, evil spirits, and ghosts. In Egypt the palm tree was prominent; in Rome it was the fir. Because of this association, idols were often carefully carved from trees. Jeremiah warned the Old Testament people of God: "Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the Heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are in vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of workmen, with the axe. The deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers, that it move not" (Jer 10:2-4)

Even the nativity scene, which some regard as the most "Christian" symbol of Christmas, is tainted with pagan influence. Nearly every recorded form of pagan worship which has descended from Babylonian "mysteries" focuses the attention of the worshipper on a mother goddess and the birth of her child. Different cultures used different names, but the concept is uniformly the same. In Babylon it was the worship of the queen of heaven and her son Tammuz, the sun god who was thought to be the incarnation of the sun. The birth of the sun god took place at the winter solstice. "Yule" was the Babylonian name for child or infant, and "Yule Day" was celebrated on December 25, long before Christ's birth. The next time you see a manger scene on a Christmas card, and Mary and Jesus have a halo around their heads, remember that this Roman Catholic concept is borrowed from the Babylonian "mysteries." And remember that the believer is forbidden to make for himself "any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" (Exo 20:4). Do we take these commands of God seriously, or have we long since outgrown them and explained them away.

Or that about "Santa Clause?" Can anyone seriously deny that he represents the "real" meaning of Christmas for the vast majority of Americans? I won't go into the familiar stories of his origin as a Roman Catholic saint, but what does he stand for today? Is he a harmless, jolly, fat elf, or has he become an anti-Christian symbol of greed, materialism, selfishness-an expression of "something for nothing?" "What's in it for me?"

Parents who tell their children that Santa Claus myth are endangering their credibility with their children. When they ask you, "Can Santa really see me through these walls?" – What do you reply? Our children ought to be able to know that they can trust everything we tell them without question. How else can we expect them to believe us when we tell them. . .
"The old, old story of unseen things above,of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love?"

Everything the modern American pagan believes about God is capsuled in Santa Claus. He is busily engaged in a nice - though rather meaningless activities most of the year. He exists somewhere up north as a friendly old man with a long white beard. He visits his people only once a year, spending the 364 days in obscurity. A child may write him at the north pole, but the communication is strictly one way; Santa is not involved with daily living. The way for a child to be acceptable in Santa's sight is to be "good." Santa warns about the consequences of being "bad," but his word can't really be trusted. The child knows that he has now been perfect, and even though he may feel some anxiety, he remembers last year and knows that no matter what Santa says, or what the child does, in the end Santa will reward him. Santa represents a god who threatens man with hell and judgment only to keep him in line in this life, but who will accept all men in one way or the other in the end. If you teach your children the Santa Claus myth, you are unknowingly giving them material to build an un-biblical concept of the Transcendent.

Isn't it interesting that the Japanese have raised Santa Claus to the rank of a deity and given him an equal place among the seven popular gods of good luck? No wonder that a liberal Protestant churchman recently suggested that St. Nicholas could very well be the first ecumenical saint. He said that the average pagan and the ordinary Roman Catholic, as well as the Protestant, would applaud the move: "Even the Buddhists and Moslems who revere the old fellow, might take a long stride along the ecumenical way with us… He has done more to spread the teaching that 'It's better to give than to receive,' than any churchman of the past thousand years." That says it all!

But isn't the giving of gifts a lovely way to remember the birth of our Lord? Surely there is nothing un-Christian about giving to one another. But has any other aspect of Christmas become more perverted than this? "We spend money we don't have to buy gifts they don't need to impress people we don't like." What a mockery and a madness the shopping whirl has become. Could anyone seriously suggest that what does on in America around December 25th is honoring to Jesus Christ, the One who lived a life of simplicity, humility and self-denial, who taught us that "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 15:15)? Yet people who claim to be Christians spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on their Christmasses and at the same time give little for the work of the gospel in our land or in the needy mission field. Isn't true Christian giving something that should take place year round, out of a true heart of love, and not from compulsion and with an expectation to receive in return.

What about the parties and revelry and debauchery that takes place at this time of year, supposedly in connection with the birth of Jesus Christ. Why is it what liquor flows more freely at this time of year than any other? Why is it that more automobile accidents during the "holiday season" than at any other time? We may quibble about the origins of Christmas tree and the manger scene, but one thing is certain: If you use the Incarnation of our Lord as an excuse for revelry and debauchery, you can be sure that you will reap the judgment of God. Now, the question is this: is all of this travesty surrounding the Christmas season inconsistent with "true" meaning of Christmas derived from its origin and history?

But aren't the traditions surrounding Christmas really harmless? Aren't they innocent enough? Well, are they? How does Satan most effectively tempt us? Does he set before us horrible, grotesque-looking things that repulse us? Does he jump out of a dark alley in a red suit with a tail, and wave a pitch-fork and say, "I'm the devil. I've come to deceive you, and to bring you down to hell?" Of course not. The devices of Satan are subtle: "for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" (2 Cor 11:14). He sets before us things that seem "harmless," :innocent," "fun"-things that "everyone else is doing." Sincere Christians are often unwittingly led into idolatry through man's traditions.

3. ITS IMPLICATIONS

From this mass of material (and we've only scratched the surface), let's draw some conclusions. How is the Christian to react to the Christ-mass and all its traditions? As I see it, we have only three alternatives:

1.)We can keep trying our best to "Put Christ back in Christmas," keep on fighting the losing battle to salvage something even remotely Christian from this thoroughly pagan holiday. But then we must ask ourselves, "Am I 'putting Christ' in a pagan celebration?" We must deal with the basic question, What is "Christmas?" What is it really? Where did it start and what has it historically been?

2.)We can try to separate Christmas entirely from Christ. We can observe it as kind of a cultural folk festival, reasoning that the pagan elements are so far removed historically that the traditions have been somehow purged from their idolatry. That would be more consistent, but there is a problem: Your non-Christian friends and society still vaguely associate Christmas with the birth of Christ and assume that since you're a Christian you are joining in this celebration of Jesus' birth. Christians in primitive cultures have had this problem for years. They are urged to participate in pagan rites as a kind of cultural heritage, disassociating themselves from their idolatrous origins. But can they do that and still maintain a consistent Christian witness?

3.)The only other alternative is to forsake Christmas entirely. I'm convinced that for myself, this is the only consistent course to take. I know well the objections. I've heard them many times. "No one is completely consistent." No, of course no one is completely consistent. But that fact doesn't relieve us of the obligation to be as consistent as we can be; to obey every scriptural command that we understand. "But is that a drastic step?" Yes, it's a very drastic step; but if we are going to stem the tide of paganism in our day-or even challenge it-drastic measures are going to be necessary. "Isn't that a radical proposal?" Yes, but then again… true Christianity is a radical faith.

"But wouldn't I be considered fanatical if I took such a drastic measure?" Probably. That would be a new experience, wouldn't it? No one enjoys being considered a fanatic-if they do there's something wrong. No one enjoys persecution. But think how little persecution we face as Christians. Isn't it because we are inconsistent? Isn't there something wrong with our beliefs and practice don't disturb the world any more than they do? If we compromise at this point, why wouldn't we compromise at another, and another, and another? We Christians often wonder why we are not persecuted today. The conclusion we often reach is that we would be persecuted if we were faithful. Why doesn't the world hate us? Isn't it because we are not challenging the world's thinking at the most crucial point-the world's concept of what Christianity is? The world has substituted a folk religion for the gospel.

Martin Luther said: "If I profess with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not professing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battle field besides, is a mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."

"Wouldn't that be a very hard thing to do?" Yes, it would. No question about it, The Christmas tradition is so firmly entrenched in our society-and even in our own heart-that it would be most difficult to swim against the stream. But the question is not really, "Is it hard?" but "Is it right?" The right thing is not always easy. Christ has never promised us that following him would be easy. When our Christian lives are as easy as ours are, there is bound to be something wrong somewhere.

What then are the positive reasons we should consider scrapping Christmas altogether? The first is the reason our Protestant forefathers so carefully avoided Christmas; It was because they held the scriptures to the word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. One confession says, "The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deducted from scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men" (Westminster Confession, I.6). "The acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or under the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation or in any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture" (XXIII.1). Jesus said to the Pharisees, "For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men,… Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition…" (Mark 7:8,13). Paul wrote to the Galatians in dismay, "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain" (4:10,11). He wasn't condemning them for observing those institutions commanded by God, but for observing those of man's making, contrary to God's Law.

Do you think I enjoy saying these things? No one enjoys being an Ebeneezer Scrooge or the Grinch who stole Christmas. But the only real question is this: Is what I've been saying Biblical? Is it consistent with God's Word? If it's not, then you ought to disregard it. But if it is, then you ought to consider it carefully and heed it. You may course disagree with my interpretation of Scripture at this point; you may disagree with my assessment of the historical background and the present situation. I could be wrong, I am very often am. But what must you do with a message like this is what the Berean Christians did with Paul's preaching: "And searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). You must openly, honestly, and realistically evaluate the evidence for yourself and come to your own conclusions. You are not responsible to the preacher-but to God.

The Scriptures point out what is to be a stark contrast between the Christian and the world. That contrast has been largely glossed over in our day. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (I John 2:25). "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate" (II Cor 6:17). "An be ye not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom 12:2). Or as it could be translated: "Do not live according to the fashions of the times; you must not adopt the customs of this world; do not imitate the way the this world lives; don't let the world around you squeeze into it's own mold." The idea, is don't let the world write the agenda, don't let the world call the shots or set the standard. The Christian is in the world, but he must not be of the world. He is a citizen of another country, a stranger and a pilgrim here. He isn't keeping pace with his companions because he hears a different drummer.

What I am really questioning is whether you can have a "Christian" Christmas. The "religious" aspects are the worst part of Christmas. There is no more pointed illustration of Christmas that the contrast between cultural religion and Biblical faith. Christmas promotes an "imitation gospel" that actually keeps the world from understanding the true gospel. Christmas prevents a substitute gospel that the world can easily live with. To the world, the Christian message is simply "Love, peace, the spirit of giving, the feeling of good will." That stripped down "gospel" gives men just enough inoculation to keep them from understanding the true Gospel.

The world loves Christmas because it supports a sentimental picture of a baby in manger. Christmas keeps Jesus a baby. Jesus is misrepresented by Christmas. The Gospel is misrepresented by Christmas. Christmas is the one time an ungodly person can be religious safely. Most people like to do something religious every once in awhile to ease their conscience and convince themselves that they are really a pretty good person after all; and Christmas gives them the perfect opportunity to do that. It's perfectly safe for the most pagan person to join in on the Christmas spirit. You can have the Christmas spirit without having the Holy Spirit, without having the mind of Christ.

The very popularity of Christmas should cause the Christian to question it. Anyone and everyone can celebrate Christmas without question! Outright pagans, nominal Christians, even Buddhists can join the celebration. If in reality December 25 was a date set by God to remember the birth of Jesus, you can be very sure that the world would have nothing to do with it. After all, God has commanded the observance of one day in seven, a day when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ, the first day of the week, the Lord's day-but does the world observe it? Of course not. The world totally disregards it. Shouldn't the Christian be suspicious of a celebration in which the whole sinful world can join without qualms? There are multitudes of people who continually desecrate the Lord's Day, but somehow have a great zeal about being in Church at Christmas.

The crucial question for the believer is the Lordship of Christ: "Ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price" (I Cor 6:19,20). Are you sincerely willing to think whatever God would have you think about the whole matter? Are you willing to do whatever God would have you to do even if it meant a drastic change in your thinking or practice? It's at this point that the conflict really comes. I have heard many people say about this subject, "No, I don't want to read a book about it. No, I don't want to think about it. I am going to have my Christmas no matter what. I enjoy it, and no one is going to take it away from me" (The implication being, not even God). It's then that Christmas becomes an idol. An idol is anything that comes between you and God. Anything you refuse to give up, even at his command. General exhortations to "surrender all" don't affect us greatly; but discipleship really counts when it affects some concrete area we really care about. The real question is, can you sincerely say to God about this issue,

"Have thine own way, Lord; have thine own way.Thou art the potter, I am the clay.Mold me and make me after Thy will,While I am waiting, yielded and still"?