I thought I was done talking about Christmas—I’ve written so many posts on the topic already. There was a time when I felt compelled to share everything I’d learned to everyone who said Merry Christmas. While I’m still probably not likely to let “Jesus is the reason for the season” slide (I have a thing about precision and blatantly false statements), I’ve reached a point in life where I understand three very important things:
About a year ago, I got into a very respectful debate about a specific doctrine. Eventually, I asked the other person to provide a Bible verse that supported their stance. Honestly, I would have found it acceptable to reference a scripture you couldn’t quote exactly or even remember the exact verse. I know I personally struggle with recalling information like this on the fly,[1] so I would have extended grace. However, the person’s response—I kid you not!—was that there are no Bible verse to support their claim.
Imagine being in a discussion with someone who identifies as a Christian. You say “it’s unforgivable to blaspheme the Holy Spirit” and they say, “no it’s not.” You would offer Matthew 12:31 as proof of your stance. When they don’t budge on their stance and you ask for a Bible verse or passage that refutes the one you have provided, they say “there are no Bible verses for that.” Yet, they are still adamant that they are correct. [Disclaimer, this wasn’t the topic, but its an easy illustration of the point!]
In that moment I realized we were working off an entirely different framework. The Word of God was not that person’s primary source for their belief. We would never see eye to eye because the basis from which we evaluate truth is different. Some people do not believe the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. Some people do not believe in the God of the Bible, but a god they have made up based on the God of the Bible. Some people do not believe in the Messiah of the Bible, but one they have molded to fit in to their own comfort zone. We will never agree.
Nonetheless, there are still people out there who do not fall in to the three categories I mentioned above. Some people are still searching for truth and are confused. Some people are posting that Christmas is a pagan holiday, others are posting that it’s not. Everyone is citing history and sources. It can be overwhelming and very confusing. That is the only reason I’m back with yet another post on this holiday.
I received one of the “Christmas is not a pagan holiday” posts from an agnostic friend inquiring about its validity only a few days ago. Now that the paganism has been exposed, Satan is working hard to keep people in the dark. I had seen a few like the one I was sent but was actively choosing to ignore them. When I received this one with the question of its accuracy, the Holy Spirit put it on my heart to write this post.
I understand that Christmas is hard to give up. I grew up celebrating this holiday and when I stopped, I was the only person in my family to do so. I’m not one of the women who was studying with her husband and the two of us made the decision collectively or a child who’s mom and dad brought the truth home one day for the entire family. I am a single person who studied the Word, the history, the arguments for and against, and decided to stop celebrating on my own. It did not go over well with my family. On top of literally angering people and being accused of becoming a Jehovah’s Witness (y’all they don’t have a patent or copyright claim on not celebrating pagan holidays), the creative in me struggled. Christmas is the perfect season for arts and crafts. My parents have countless ornaments I’ve made over the years, along with wreaths, nativity scenes, and more. Even from a journaling standpoint, if you search December themes, most are tied to Christmas—and a lot of them are cute. Then there’s the convenience of it; the company I work for gives us Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and the last week of December as company holidays. If ever there was a time to fly home and be with family, that’s the most convenient time. So, I get why people want to hold on to tradition. I get why it’s hard to accept. I get why people want to find a reason to stay in the status quo (or only cut out certain parts).
Unfortunately, though, the Bible does not promise you an easy life or easy decisions to make in life. Our Messiah said the following:
37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
With the above in mind, let’s talk about the arguments I’ve recently seen circulating from those trying to defend Christmas against the pagan label.[2]
I have a post on the history of the date of Christmas called Day 2: The Origin of December 25. In that post I talk about various ways the date may have come in to origin. Included in that post is the admission that there are one or two theories that it was calculated independent of pagan holidays like Sol Invictus, Yule, and Saturnalia.
<aside> ❓ Counter Attack
Sol Invictus wasn’t celebrated on December 25 until 354 AD. Saturnalia was from either from December 17-20 or from December 17-24. The Romans didn’t have a winter solstice festival and the ancients didn’t agree on whether the date was December 23, 25, 26.
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