THE WINTER FESTIVAL by Mark Abbotoy
(taken partly from Babylon Mystery Religion, by Ralph Woodrow)
(used by permission)
CHRISTMAS-DECEMBER 25-this is the day designated on our
calendars and on our hearts as the day of Christ's birth. But is
this really the day upon which Christ was born? Are today's
customs during this season of Christian origin? Or is Christmas
a result of a mixture between paganism and Christianity? This is
a question that some will not even want to consider. Many have
heard the rumor, many have thought through the question and
justified the celebration of the holiday and many just plain
don't want to hear about it. But please, give these facts some
place in your mind so that you may know the truth and live
accordingly.
THE WRONG DATE
The word "Christmas" is not found anywhere in the scriptures
of course, and, as we shall see, December 25 is definitely not
the date on which Christ was born. It is evident that Jesus was
not born during the middle of winter, for at the time of his
birth, the shepherds were living out in the fields with their
flocks. As the bible says: "There were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by
night" (Luke 2:8). As is well known, the shepherds in Palestine
do not "abide in the fields" during the winter season because of
the extreme, cold temperatures. The shepherds always bring their
flocks in from the mountain slopes and fields no later than
October 15th!
Further proof of this conclusion may be seen from the fact
that at the time Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had gone to
Bethlehem to be taxed (Luke 2:1-5). There are no records of this
period whatsoever that would indicate that the middle of the
winter was the time of taxing. Even Jesus said, when talking of
the end times, "pray that your flight not be in the winter"
(Matt. 24:20). And so the harshness of the winter season in
Palestine, even though it is less harsh than what is experienced
in much of the United States, it is harsh enough to stop people
from traveling and certainly to stop the shepherds from tending
their flock at night. And so we see that Christ could not have
been born in the Winter. On the other hand, there is evidence
that taxes were paid in the fall season of the year. This was
the logical time for the taxes to be paid since this was at the
end of their harvest. There is also evidence that when Joseph
and Mary made this trip, it was the time of a great feast at
Jerusalem. This is the most logical reason why Mary went with
Joseph, to attend the feast, as they also did on later occasions
(see Luke 2:41), for there was no law that required a woman's
presence at a taxing. 1
We know that the time they went to pay taxes was also the
time of one of the great feasts at Jerusalem because of the
enormous crowd, so enormous in fact, "there was no room in the
inn" at Bethlehem (Luke 2:7). Jerusalem was normally a city of
only 120,000 inhabitants, but (according to the Jewish historian,
Josephus) during the feasts, sometimes as many as two million
Jews would gather there. With such vast throngs of people coming
to the feast, not only would Jerusalem be filled, but the
surrounding towns also, including Bethlehem, which was only five
miles to the south. Mere taxation would not cause a crowd this
big to be in Bethlehem, for each person returned to his own city
to be taxed. Even most scholars, among them A.T. Robertson, a
late professor of New Testament Greek at the Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, sets the time of
Christ's birth in the summer or early fall. And so, taking all
of these things into consideration, it seems evident that Joseph
and Mary made the journey, not only to pay their taxes, but also
to attend a great feast at Jerusalem. This was at the end of the
harvest season that they were taxed and this was also the time of
the Feast of Tabernacles. All of this, as well as the evidence
already given would mark the birth of Christ not in the winter
and therefore not December 25th!2
THE MERGING OF PAGANISM WITH "CHRISTIANITY"
Since Christ was not born on December 25th, then how did
this particular day come to be a part of the church calendar?
History has the answer. Instead of this day being the time of
Christ's birth, it was the very day and season on which the
pagans for centuries had celebrated the birth of the Sun-god! A
study into history shows how far apostate church leaders went in
their effort to merge Christianity and paganism into one apostate
religion, even to placing the birth of Christ on a date to
harmonize with the pagan birthday celebration of the sun-god!
There are four points in our calendar which are called
"Solstice" or "Equinox" points, two of each. The equinox occurs
when the sun crosses the equator of the earth and day and night
are everywhere of equal length. The sun does not actually cross
the equator but with the earth's natural tip on its natural axis
as it orbits around the sun it seems to. Then either one part of
earth gets the most sun or the other part does. But on these two
occasions, the days are equal in length everywhere and this
occurs about March 21st and September 23rd.
The Solstice is a little bit different. Earth orbits around
the sun in an ellipse. When the earth is farthest from the sun,
we have the two points that are known as Solstice. They occur
when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial
equator, about June 21st when the sun reaches its northernmost
point on the celestial sphere, and about December 22nd when it
reaches its southernmost point. The solstice in December is the
time when the days of the year, in our hemisphere, are the
shortest.
Pagan man saw this and feared that the days would get
shorter and shorter and finally cease to exist. When the day
came for the sun to overcome the darkness, and for the sun to
cause the days to be longer it meant that there was not going to
be eternal night. The sun had won another fight and so pagan
culture had festivals and feasts on this day. It was celebrated
in China, in India, in South America, in Mexico, in Africa and in
many other cultures. There were presents exchanged, green trees
decorated in honor of the sun-god and great celebrating.
When Christianity gained influence in the fifth century they
outlawed the pagan holiday with little success. Finally they
adopted the holiday into the church and changed the words and
meanings of the festivities to fit with "christianity". It took
many years to effect this. It took much propaganda and it took
many penalties and reprisals against those who continued with the
old festival but eventually the "christian" community won the
day. Then there was a change from the Gregorian calendar to the
present day calendar, and with that change Christmas or the
Solstice shifted a few days so that December 25th became
officially recognized as a Christian day.
It was in the fifth century that the Roman Catholic Church
commanded that the birth of Christ be observed forever on
December 25th, the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of
Sol, one of the names of the sun-god!3
In pagan days, this birth of the sun-god was especially
popular among the branch of the "mysteries" known as Mithraism.
Concerning this we read: "The largest pagan religious cult which
fostered the celebration of December 25th as a holiday throughout
the Roman and Greek worlds was the pagan sun worship, Mithraism.
Their winter festival was called 'the Nativity', the "nativity of
the SUN".4 And not only was Mithra, the sun-god of Mithraism,
said to be born at this time of the year, but Osiris, Horus,
Hercules, Bacchus, Adonis, Jupiter, Tammuz, and other sun-gods
were also supposedly born at what is today called the "Christmas"
season, the winter solstice!5
Says a noted write: the "winter solstice (was) the time at
which all the sun-gods from Osiris to Jupiter and Mithra had
celebrated their (birthdays), the celebration being adorned with
the pine tree of Adonis, the holly of Saturn, and the mistletoe..
..tapers represented the kindling of the newborn sun- god's
fire..."6
Now the fact that the various sun-gods that were worshipped
in different countries were all born at the same season (in old
fables), indicates that they were but different forms (under
different names) of the original son of the sun-god, Tammuz, of
Babylon, the land from which sun-worship originally spread.7
In Babylon, the birthday of Tammuz was celebrated at the
time of the winter solstice with great feasts, revelry, and
drunkenness, the same way most people celebrate it today! The
ancient celebration spread and became so much an established
custom that "in pagan Rome and Greece, in the days of the
Teutonic barbarians, in the remote times of ancient Egyptian
civilization, in the infancy of the race East and West and North
and South, the period of the winter solstice was a period of
great rejoicing and festivity."8
When this mid-winter festival came to Rome, it was known as
the Saturnalia, Saturn being but another name for Nimrod or
Tammuz as "the hidden god". This feast was the most vile,
immoral feast that ever disgraced pagan Rome. It was a season of
license, drunkenness, and debauchery when all restraints of law
were laid aside. And it was from this very feast at Rome that
the merry-making of this season passed into the Roman Catholic
Church and on down to our present civilization! "It is a matter
of common knowledge", says one writer, "that much of our
association with the Christmas season, the holidays, the giving
of presents and the general feeling of geniality, is but the
inheritance from the Roman winter festival of the Saturnalia-
survivals of paganism."9
Tertullian, one of the early church fathers, mentions that
the practice of exchanging gifts at this season was a part of the
pagan Roman Saturnalia. When this mid-winter festival was
adopted into the Roman church, this custom was also adopted. As
usual, however, apostate leaders tried to find some point of
similarity between paganism and Christianity - to make the merger
seem less obvious. In this case, reference was made to the fact
that the wise men, when they came to see the Christ-child,
presented to him gifts. Some suppose that this is where the
custom of exchanging gifts at Christmas time came. But not so!
The wisemen did not exchange gifts among themselves. They
presented their gifts to JESUS who was born king of the Jews.
(It was an Eastern custom to present gifts when coming into the
presence of the King). But these gifts were not birthday gifts.
When the wisemen arrived, it was some time after the day on which
Jesus was born. By this time, he was no longer in a stable, but
in a HOUSE (Matt. 2:9-11). Obviously, the gifts of the wisemen
were not Christmas gifts.
Other pagan practices that are included in the holiday of
Christmas are the use of the round wreath, the mistletoe, the use
of the Yule log, the wassail bowl, holly, red berries, Santa
Claus, the undue commercialism of the season, the use of candles
during the holiday, etc. The wassailing bowl of Christmas had
its precise counterpart in the "Drunken festival" of Babylon.
The candles, in some parts of England, lighted on Christmas-eve,
and used as long as the festive season lasts, were equally
lighted by the Pagans on the eve of the festival of the
Babylonian god, to do honor to him; for it was one of the
distinguishing peculiarities of his worship to have lighted wax
candles on his altars. For complete documentation on these and
other pagan carry-overs see The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop.
THE TREE
Finally, in connection with the customs of the "Christmas"
season, we will mention the Christmas tree. An old Babylonish
fable went like this: Semiramis, the mother of Tammuz, claimed
that overnight an evergreen tree sprang up from a dead tree
stump. The dead stump supposedly symbolized her dead husband
Nimrod; the new evergreen tree was the symbol that Nimrod had
come to life again in the person of Tammuz!
This idea spread and developed to such a degree that the
various nations all have had their legends about sacred trees!
Among the Druids, the oak was sacred; among the Egyptians, it was
the palm; and in Rome, it was the fir, which was decorated with
red berries during the Saturnalia!10 Among the Scandinavians,
the fir tree was sacred to their god Odin. "The Scandinavian god
Woden or Odin was believed to bestow special gifts at Yuletide to
those who honored him by approaching his sacred FIR TREE."11 And
even as other rites of the Yuletide season were absorbed into
"Christianity", so also is the wide-spread use of the tree at
this season a carry over of an ancient practice! "The Christmas
tree recapitulates the idea of tree worship, with the gilded nuts
and balls symbolizing the sun. The festivities of the pagan
winter solstice have been absorbed into the celebration of
Christmas. The use of holly and mistletoe come from the pagan,
Druidic ceremonies, the use of the Christmas tree from the
worship paid to Odin's sacred fir."12
In at least ten Biblical references, the "green" tree is
associated with idolatry and false worship.13 The "green" tree
refers to trees that are green all year round, since, of course,
all trees are green at one time or another. So the "green" trees
that the scriptures are talking about are the evergreen trees or
trees within that family!
Taking all of this into consideration, it is interesting to
notice the reading of Jeremiah 10:1-5 and compare it with today's
custom of decorating a tree :
"The customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out
of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with
the axe." "They fasten it with nails and hammers. They
deck it with silver and with gold."
Now of course the people in the days of Jeremiah, as the context
goes on to show, were actually making an idol out of the tree.
We are not inferring that people today who put trees in their
homes during the Christmas season are worshipping the tree, but
that the use of the tree is plainly and totally a carry over from
paganism. Whatever the difference may be between the ancient use
of the tree as compared with present day customs, no one can deny
that these things of which we have been speaking are customs of
men. And God says: "The customs of the people are vain"(Jeremiah
10:3)-and "the temple of idols have nothing in common with the
temple of God."(II Corinthians 6:16)
ONE ERROR LEADS TO ANOTHER
The Christmas celebration was adopted into the Roman church
during the fifth century. In the sixth century, missionaries
were sent through the northern part of Europe to gather pagans
into the Roman fold. They found that the 24th of June was a very
popular day among these people. In order to induce them into the
"church", as was the usual custom after the falling away,
apostate church leaders would allow them to continue celebrating
their pagan holiday, only they would attempt to associate it with
some Christian event. But what event could they associate with
June 24th? They had already adopted a day to celebrate the birth
of Christ-December 25th. And this error led to another error.
They noticed that June 24th was approximately six months before
Jesus, why not set June 24th as the day to celebrate John's
birthday? And this is what they did. To this day, June 24 is
known on the papal calendar as St. John's Day or the Nativity of
St. John! But obviously, such an idea is built on a false
foundation, for John was not born on June 24; and mixing his name
with this day was but a cover up, so the old pagan holiday could
be continued-now within the "church".
In ancient times, this day was set aside for Baal worship.
In Britain, before the entrance of Christianity there, the 24th
of June was celebrated by the Druids with blazing FIRES in honor
of Baal (the sun-god, Nimrod in deified form). The writings of
such noted historians as Herodotus, Wilkinson, Layard, and others
tell of these ceremonial fires in different countries. When June
24th was adopted into the "church" and renamed as St. John's day,
so also were the sacred fires adopted and renamed as "St. John's
Fires"! "I have seen the people running and leaping through the
St.John's fires in Ireland..", says one writer of the past
century, "proud of passing through unsinged, thinking themselves
in a special manner blessed by the ceremony."14 In reading of
such rites, we are reminded of similar practices into which the
backslidden children of Israel fell when they would "pass through
the fire to Molech"(Jer. 32:35; Ezek. 20:31). Obviously, none of
these practices had any connection with John the Baptist.
THE MIXTURE
The mixture of Christianity and paganism is seen in the word
"Christ-mass" itself. Though it includes the name of Christ, it
also mentions the "mass". Now the mass, with its rituals,
elaborate ceremony, pagan prayers for the dead,
transubstantiation rites, etc. is most assuredly a continuation
of paganism.15 Considering then that the name of these pagan
rites, the Mass, is connected with the name of Christ in the word
"Christ-mass", we immediately see an attempt to merge two
conflicting systems together! Actually, to attach the name of
Christ with the word "Mass", a pagan and hedonistic ritual (for
conclusive proof of the pagan origin of the Mass see The Two
Babylons)16 is but to pollute the Holy name of our God! And God
says: "Pollute ye my holy name no more"! (Ezekiel(20:39)
CONCLUSION
The days and times we have mentioned were all adopted into
the calendar of the Roman church from paganism. We wonder if the
apostle Paul were to be raised up to preach to this generation,
if he would not say to the professing church today, as he did the
Galatians long ago: "You observe days, and months, and times, and
years, I am afraid of you, lest I have labored in vain"(Gal. 4:9-
11). To what days did Paul give reference? The context shows
that the Galatians had been converted from the pagan worship of
the "gods"(Gal.4:8), and so it is evident that when some of them
went back to their former worship, the days and times they were
observing were those days and times that were set aside to honor
these pagan gods! And yet, it was these very days that the
fallen church merged into her worship, changing them slightly,
disguising them with Christian sounding names, and their
observance has continued to this day!
1. Mede's Works, 1679. Discourse xlvii
2. Ibid.
3. Encyclopedia Americana, Vol.6, p.623.
4. The Golden Bough, p.471.
5. Doane, p.474; Hislop, p.93.
6. Man and His Gods, p.201.
7. The Two Babylons, pg. 96-97.
8. Curiosities of Popular Customs, p.242.
9. The Legacy of Rome, p.242.
10. Curiosities of Popular Customs, p.242.
11. Festivals, Holy Days, and Saints' Days, p.222.
12. Ibid, p.238.
13. Dt.12:2; I Kings 14:23; II Kings 16:4,17:10; Ez. 6:13.
14. Toland's Druids, p.107.
15. The Two Babylons
16. Ibid.
FURTHER DOCUMENTATION IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
COMMENTS AND REMARKS by Mark Abbotoy
The most common objections to separating oneself from the
Christmas festival will now be answered. The objections that
will be answered are:
1. Shouldn't we convey the "true" meaning of Christmas
during this time of the year?
2. If our heart-attitude is right then what does the origin
of Christmas matter?
3. Did not Paul say not to judge one another in regards to
holy days and religious festivals?
4. If we stubbornly abstain from the festivities of
Christmas, how shall we ever win our families and
friends to Jesus (for they will surely call us
fanatics)?
5. The Kingdom of God is not a matter of such trivial
things so why waste our time in our concern over it?
6. I know that Christmas is pagan, but where do I draw
the line in regards to abstinence from certain things?
I. Shouldn't we convey the true meaning of Christmas to
everyone?
The above discussion establishes the true meaning of
Christmas. Any meaning other than this meaning could
not be called Christmas. Furthermore, to give any other
meaning to the origin and meaning of Christmas other
than the historical one would be deception. Also worth
noting is that the early church had no record of celebrating
the birth of Christ and there is no authority in scripture
given to believers which allows them to celebrate His birth
in this manner.
II. If our heart attitude is right, what does it matter if the
origin is bad?
The scriptures such as II Corinthians 6:14-7:1 and
I Corinthians 10:18-22 give evidence that we should not
be involved in a mixture of anything that involves the
mixture of truth with error. We are so quick to judge
the cults for mixing truth with error, yet we
allow ourselves to do the same thing. II Corinthians 6
exhorts us to keep away from that which is unclean
and to separate ourselves from all forms of idolatry.
The word of God demands purity in both our attitudes and
actions, to walk in Spirit and in TRUTH. So you see that
our heart attitude has got to be based upon truth or else it
is the wrong attitude no matter how 'innocent' or 'good' it
may feel to us.
III. Didn't the apostle Paul say not to judge one another in
regards to holy days and religious festivals?
Yes, Paul did say this in the 2nd chapter of Colossians. In
the context of this chapter, however, Paul was dealing with
Jewish holidays and festivals, not pagan or idolatrous
festivals. We have seen that Paul has much to say about
idolatry and the believer's abstinence from it in all forms;
therefore, in this context we see that this passage of
scripture does not apply to our discussion. Paul does, of
course, talk about eating meat sacrificed to idols and says
that an idol is nothing and that we should not raise
questions of conscience about the eating of such meat. The
logic of comparing 'meat sacrificed to idols' to 'Christmas
festivities' is faulty and cannot be done honestly. In
I Corinthians chapter 10, starting at verse 20 Paul writes:
"No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to
demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be
participants with demons. You cannot drink the
cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you
cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the
table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's
jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
So you see, that the sacrifices that unbelievers make
during the Christmas season are offered to demons, not
to God. Paul exhorts us to not partake in such things.
IV. If we stubbornly abstain from the festivities of Christmas,
how shall we ever win our families and friends to Jesus
(they will call us fanatics)?
Whatever people may call us, fanatics, Jehovah Witnesses,
etc. you will be known as Christians, and in the secret
consciences of men you will be acknowledged as such. How
was it with the early Christians? They lived so separate
from the world and it made such an impression that even
pagan writers say of them, "These men win the hearts of the
mass of people, because they give themselves up to deeds
of charity, and pour contempt on the world." If Christians
would live like this today, the world would quickly be
converted. To put the feelings of unbelieving relatives
(they may be offended if we don't celebrate Christmas)
before obedience and sincerity before God is putting them
in a higher place of importance than God. And Jesus has
said, "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me..." (Matt.10:37).
V. The kingdom of God is not a matter of such trivial things
as these, so why waste our time discussing them?
A Christian who fears the Lord will pursue the subject until
he is either cut off from conforming to the world or cut off
from the church. It is not only Christmas, as such, but it
is conformity to the world in general that is the great
stumbling block in the way of sinners. How can the world be
converted, while professing Christians are conformed to the
world? The unbelievers may just as well ask, "What profit
will it be to become Christians, when those who are
Christians are pursuing the world with all the vigor that
we are?" "Born again" Christians are the laughing stock
of many cults and secularists because of their ignorance in
matters such as these. Separation from the world is not a
trivial matter. It is essential for engaging in
powerful prayer, which will bring forth the power
and blessing of the Holy Spirit to convert the world.
So you see, this subject is not trivial.
VI. I know that Christmas is pagan, but where does one draw the
line regarding abstinence from certain things?
This final objection is the hardest one to answer, but here
some general guidelines that should be followed:
The spirit of Christmas is a counterfeit spirit. It is a
spirit of 'false' love and 'false' joy that the world enjoys
during Christmas. This spirit is not the HOLY Spirit of
God! For it does not lead the world to conviction of sin
and repentance and it does not confess Jesus as Lord.
It is a false spirit, a spirit that leads many to
commit suicide during this season. Statistics show that the
suicide rate is higher during the Christmas season than at
any other time of the year. This is the spirit of the
world, the spirit of the antichrist, who wishes death upon
all men. The scripture refers to the devil as an angel of
light and as the deceiver and counterfeiter. This spirit is
prevalent in most evangelical churches during the Christmas
season. It takes the form of Christmas parties, candlelight
services, Christmas cantatas and the like. To be separate
from this spirit is important.
FINAL COMMENTS
The facts that have been discussed should cause every true
believer to doubt the godliness of the Christmas celebration.
The scripture says: 'everything that is done with a doubting
conscience is sin' (Romans 14:23).
Many things associated with Christmas require abstinence
but the Spirit of God will lead as one asks for His guidance and
His light. Why not try to help those who are being led
into suicide by lying spirits during this season, to trust
the Holy Spirit to lead you to such hurting people as these
and to others who may be ripe for harvest. He will guide
as one walks in the truth on this matter. Before ignoring
this call of God to be separate from the world, heed His
word to us...
"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with
the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be
a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you
think that the Scripture says without reason that the
Spirit He caused to live in us tends toward envy?"
(James 4:4-5)
../