Christmas is Pagan (Part 2)

Note:  This makes a lot more sense if you read Part 1 first, below.


We’ve already established that Christmas does have its roots in ancient solstice celebrations that were undoubtedly Pagan, mostly because most of the world outside of the nation of Israel was Pagan.    

Does it matter?

It’s often said about Christmas that Christians adopted Roman holidays, but I think it’s a little more complicated than that. 

From a theological and historical standpoint, Jesus, by calling himself the “Son of Man,” and talking about his kingdom and referring to God as his father, was making a statement about himself and about God.   The Romans worshiped their leader as a deity, the son of the gods.  In the Gospels, Jesus was opposing this, saying that there is only one God, the God of Israel, and his son is not on the throne of Rome, but with his people.  In the Gospels, Jesus is placing God’s framework over the Roman framework.  What Jesus is saying in the Gospels is:  “This—all that Caesar claims, all that the Romans have—rightly belongs to God.”  Jesus was setting up a different type of kingdom, the kingdom of God.  So, from the first, from Jesus himself, we have this idea of taking what the world has corrupted and bringing it into God’s framework.

When Constantine legalized Christianity in 313, Christianity quickly became the majority religion throughout the empire.  In 389, Theodosius I made Christianity the religion of the empire, and Paganism was outlawed in the ensuing years.  I don’t believe that Christianizing Roman holidays was so much a result of Christians giving in to and trying to placate Pagans as it was the same replacement with God’s framework that Jesus talked about—or so people thought.  As the empire Christianized, Pagan temples, sites, and holidays were turned into their Christian counterparts.  Roman Paganism didn’t taint Christianity; Christianity supplanted Paganism.

I think we need to consider that prior to the rise of monotheism throughout the world, most people were Pagans.  That’s why ancient Israel stood out, right?  They were different from the nations around them because they were not Pagan.  Because of that, a good many things in modern life have their origins in Paganism, Pagan practices, or Pagan people.

Having an indoor stove can be traced to primitive people's worship of fire and wanting to have the fire god in their houses (and as an added bonus, it's convenient and warm).  The first stoves were altars.  But, probably very few Christians are planning to part with their stoves for religious reasons. 

Cookies (small cakes) were used in ancient Nordic pagan worship.  Cookies as we know them originated in Persia and spread through Europe by Muslims.  That's right, that Chips Ahoy has its roots in Paganism, and/or Islam, another religion many Christians have issues with, yet there are cookies and pastries at the coffee hour after most church services in the US every Sunday.

Tacos and hot chocolate are foods invented by "Pagan" tribes in Mexico/Central-South America, and were consumed at "Pagan" feasts and rituals.  Many Christians consume these foods.  

Almost everything we do in modern life, most of our foods, most of our customs, even our languages, have their roots in antiquity, and in antiquity, people were what we would consider today to be "Pagan."  You can’t get away from our ancestry, and the reality is that many things, most things in fact, have Pagan roots.

Cultures blend when they come in contact with one another.  Christianity began under the Roman Empire.  The Roman Empire influenced most of western civilization.  It's been 2,000 years and Christians everywhere have settled into their own traditions, and have picked up traditions from areas where Christianity spread, as well.

The answer that Paul had, in his example about meat sacrificed to idols, was that because Christians belong to God, and everything is God’s, everything is permissible for Christians  (1 Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23), though we don’t want to cause another person to sin, lose faith, or get a bad impression of Christians (1 Corinthians 10:28), but everything should be done to the glory of God. 

With all its flaws, including commercialism and lack of spirituality (which, as I pointed out above in Part 1, the Romans also complained about with regard to Saturnalia, because getting carried away is human nature), there is no time when there is so much emphasis throughout the world on Christ than at Christmas.

Does Christmas have Pagan roots?  You bet it does, along with many things. 

Does it matter?  No.  We don’t know the exact date Jesus was born, but we have a day to celebrate it.  That we recognize it is the important thing.  It’s been superimposed over an ancient Roman feast day, but Christmas has been a Christian holiday for almost 2,000 years.  It’s no more Pagan than chocolate chip cookies are.

Christmas is Pagan (Part 1)

“Christmas is rooted in Pagan traditions and customs.”

You hear that a lot, this time of year.  I think, for Christians who are trying to do the right thing and honor Christ, there are two important issues that arise from the claim that Christmas has its roots in Paganism:

1.       Is it true?

2.       Does it matter?

Is it true?

I think most people recognize that Jesus probably wasn’t born on December 25.  The day was chosen because December 25 is around the time of the winter solstice, which many people in many cultures, since antiquity, have marked.  The winter solstice is the longest night of the year, and it follows a period of nights getting progressively longer and days getting progressively shorter.  In very old, agrarian civilizations, it also would have marked a long period of living off of stored foods in cold climates.  In short, it’s pretty much a universal human response to depressing darkness, cold, and possibly icky food to say, “Let’s cheer ourselves up with a party!”


The Romans did this with Saturnalia, a celebration of their god, Saturn, which lasted from around mid-December to around the time we now celebrate Christmas.  Saturnalia was a lot of fun.  People treated others more nicely, they held banquets and parties, they dressed in festive clothing, they took days off from normal daily activities, and they gave gifts to each other.  They decorated with evergreens at the winter solstice.  By the way, there are writings from ancient Rome in which people are complaining that the Saturnalia celebrations are too festive and not religious enough, and these sound very similar to what people say about Christmas now.

So, obviously, it’s true that some of our customs surrounding Christmas have their origins in the Roman celebration of Saturnalia.

What’s also interesting, though, is that the Babylonian Talmud also contains a story about Adam deciding to celebrate around the time of the solstice.  The story says Adam noticed the days growing shorter and thought he might have sinned and was being punished, but he then noticed the days growing longer and realized it was just the way things worked.  So, he decided to have eight days of festivity—four before the solstice and four after.

Another thing we have to remember is that the solstice is a celestial event.  It’s part of what happens as our planet moves around the sun.  The solstice, in and of itself, is not an evil thing; it is part of God’s good creation.  People all over the earth experience the winter solstice, and each culture on earth has some way of dealing with the solstice.

On to Christianity and the connection there.  Jesus was born a Jew, into Roman culture in Roman-occupied Judea, and his followers were from that culture, as well.  Paul, who was responsible for much of the spread of Christianity, was an urbanized Jew from Tarsis, and a Roman citizen who was well-immersed in Roman culture.  The early church was based largely in Rome.  So, it’s reasonable to say that Roman culture is the source of the Christian holiday, Christmas.

A note on the language here, and on authenticity and trust.

I have been a Christian since childhood.  I've been in lots of different Christian churches and socialized in lots of different Christian groups.  As a result, I'm very well aware that how people talk is usually full of cultural cues (well, that's true anywhere, but I'm talking about within Christian groups), and that these cues are often used to gauge whether or not another person is a "real Christian."

I respect the fact that the Bible says to "test the spirits."  I think many Christians have got to the point that they have passed from spirit-testing into out-and-out judgment.  I've observed people getting very suspicious of other people, blowing up minor doctrinal differences into condemnation of other Christians, and deciding people should be shunned or disregarded because they don't pass some test that has more to do with Christian popular culture, or even popular culture within a denomination or congregation, than it does with the Bible.

Here is the passage, from my favorite apostle, John:

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
 ²By this you know the Spirit of God:  every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
 ³and every spirit that  does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the  antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.  (1 John 4:1-3)

What this passage says is that if someone believes that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh from God, that comes from the Spirit of God.  Paul also tells us that no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus himself says that the standard is belief.  So, I hope that Christians reading this blog who may come from different traditions than my own will look past the cultural stuff, and realize that I do profess Jesus as our Lord and Redeemer, and as God in the flesh.  I hope people give a serious look to the topics here, rather than dismissing them, and me, as "not Christian" because I don't attend the right church or use the right "Christian" catch phrases.  I hope anyone else will appreciate the lack of jargon.  If anyone ever reads here, at all--I'm not expecting a huge audience.

Why is this blog called, "The Rib Shack?"

If you don't see any barbecue around, don't worry.  You're still in the right place.  The Rib Shack is a place for the discussion of theology, religion, spirituality, and religious cultural issues.  I created it as a secondary blog to keep religious posts off my primary blog, which is mainly about more mundane things, like my daily non- and misadventures.  I didn't think everyone who might want to get to the theological, spiritual posts would want to wander through the mire of my daily musings on things like autoimmune disease, cats, and knitting, and I thought people who want to read about those things might not really care what I think about various Bible versions or Christian customs and practice.  I'm sure there will be people who don't care about either, but the cure for that is a simple one.

So.  Being a woman, I'm one of those rib-people, as the opening passages of Genesis tell us.  I hope on this blog a lot of ideas and issues get thoughtfully marinated, and a lot of things that have been cooking slowly for a long time get shared.  I may get basted and barbecued along the way over some of my opinions.  But, I'm a Rib, and this is my cyber shack.