The Truth About Christmas

December, 2004

by: Jeff Jones

This short article is not meant to burst anyone’s bubble about Christmas (like finding out Santa Clause isn’t real), but meant to help inform about this particular holiday, which, sadly, many Christians are naive to.

Fact #1: The Bible does not command us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Certainly, the coming of Jesus into the world is worth celebrating, and indeed it was celebrated by shepherds and angels, but nowhere do we find the Bible telling us to celebrate, nor do we find the early church celebrating Jesus’ birth. It was his resurrection that the first Christians celebrated routinely!

Fact #2: Jesus was not born on December 25th. The actual date of Jesus’ birth is unknown, but modern scholars think it to be in the springtime. When Constantine became emperor of Rome in A. D. 312, Christianity was established as the national religion. Around December 25th, the Romans celebrated what they called “the Natal Day of the Unconquerable Sun.” This, according to the Roman calendar, was when the sun was at its lowest ebb and was now ready to increase its strength, giving life to the growing things of the world (this celebration was significant for agriculturally minded societies). As Constantine sought to convert pagans, he gave this holiday new significance. Instead of celebrating the renewal of life and the return of light into the world, Christians could celebrate the coming of “the true Light” into the world. Eventually, during the 4th century, December 25th was officially set apart as the day to celebrate Christ’s birth.

Fact #3: Many Christmas symbols, like greenery and lights, have their roots in pagan traditions and myths. For certain pagan traditions evergreens symbolized the life–giving power of the sun, enabling certain things to stay green year round. The Romans, during their festival called Saturnalia (lasting from Dec 17–24), decorated their homes with greenery and lighted candles, as they looked forward to the return of the sun and the coming of Spring. They also believed that the evergreens would ward off spirits of darkness, and sometimes greenery was given to other for good luck. Northern European countries, celebrating Yule (which lasted from November to January), also brought greenery into their homes. Some believed, as the Romans, that greenery symbolized life, shielded them from evil spirits, and brought luck. It is not actually known precisely how the Christmas tree tradition originated, but it likely had to do with symbolizing life and fertility. Christians, thus, borrowed some of these ideas, where the evergreen became the symbol of eternal life provided by the Son.

Well, there is much more that could be said about Christmas (e.g., Santa, bells, feasting, etc.), but we’ll have to stop there. Even though it is fair to say that our Christian traditions were borrowed from paganism, we can certainly be confident that the first Christmas was not pagan. Whether or not the various Christmas symbols have value, we can certainly be thankful that Jesus did come into the world, knowing that He brings the true light and life to each of us, even to the entire world.