Is December 25 a pagan holiday?

Though December 25 is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the date itself and several of the customs we've come to associate with Christmas actually evolved from pagan traditions celebrating the winter solstice.

What pagan god is celebrated on December 25th?

Every winter, Romans honored the pagan god Saturn, the god of agriculture, with Saturnalia, a festival that began on December 17 and usually ended on or around December 25 with a winter-solstice celebration in honor of the beginning of the new solar cycle.

Why is Christmas December 25th pagan?

The church in Rome began formally celebrating Christmas on December 25 in 336, during the reign of the emperor Constantine. As Constantine had made Christianity the effective religion of the empire, some have speculated that choosing this date had the political motive of weakening the established pagan celebrations.

What is the pagan holiday for Christmas?

Saturnalia, held in mid-December, is an ancient Roman pagan festival honoring the agricultural god Saturn. Saturnalia celebrations are the source of many of the traditions we now associate with Christmas.

What is the true meaning of December 25?

The religion's most significant holidays were Epiphany on January 6, which commemorated the arrival of the Magi after Jesus' birth, and Easter, which celebrated Jesus' resurrection. The first official mention of December 25 as a holiday honoring Jesus' birthday appears in an early Roman calendar from AD 336.

Why Christmas On December 25 Is NOT A Pagan Holiday

Is Christmas pagan in origin?

Though December 25 is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the date itself and several of the customs we've come to associate with Christmas actually evolved from pagan traditions celebrating the winter solstice. "Christmas is really about bringing out your inner pagan," historian Kenneth C.

What was Jesus actual birthday?

The common Christian traditional dating of the birthdate of Jesus was 25 December, a date first asserted officially by Pope Julius I in 350 A.D., although this claim is dubious or otherwise unfounded.

Is Christmas a pagan religion?

Now, as Christmas applies to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas is decidedly not pagan. However, there are some differences of opinion when it comes to the selection of day of celebration. On the Roman calendar, December 25 was the date of the winter solstice (December 21 on the modern calendar).

Is the Christmas tree a pagan symbol?

The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans. It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America.

Is Santa Claus pagan?

The modern Santa Claus is a direct descendent of England's Father Christmas, who was not originally a gift-giver. However, Father Christmas and his other European variations are modern incarnations of old pagan ideas about spirits who traveled the sky in midwinter, Hutton said.

How do we know Jesus was born on December 25?

Dec. 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus's birth; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem. The earliest Christians did not celebrate his birth.

Did Christians Steal Christmas?

So Christians may have stolen the date from the pagans, or the pagans might have tried to ride the coattails of Jesus' popularity as the Son of God to worship the Sun God. Either way, we don't really know who claimed the date first. We don't know who stole Christmas.

What was Christmas before Christianity?

The pre-Christian Germanic peoples—including the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse—celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period, yielding modern English yule, today used as a synonym for Christmas.

What does Christmas tree have to do with Jesus?

Because the evergreen flourishes all year round, it came to symbolize eternal life through Christ's birth, death, and resurrection. However, the custom of bringing tree branches indoors in the winter began with the ancient Romans, who decorated with greenery in the winter or put up laurel branches to honor the emperor.

What religions are considered paganism?

Common Pagan religions include Wicca, Druidism (based on pre-Christian Celtic religions), Greek (based on pre-Christian Greek religion and mythology) and Asatru (based on pre-Christian Norse religion and mythology).

What is Jesus real name?

Jesus' name in Hebrew was “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua.

How old were Joseph and Mary when Jesus was born?

All About Mary

However, now we believe that Mary and Joseph were both in their teens when Jesus was born, around sixteen and eighteen respectively.

Why are Christmas trees pagan?

Christmas trees did begin as a pagan tradition as early as the fourth century C.E., according to ABC News. European pagans were largely responsible for dressing their homes with the branches of evergreen fir trees in order to bring color and light into their dull winters.

Is Thanksgiving a pagan holiday?

While Thanksgiving is not tied to any one specific religion, it's traditions are quite similar to a number of ancient Pagan harvest celebrations. For example, in ancient Rome they celebrated the holiday of Cerelia, which honored the harvest goddess of grain called Ceres.

Is Easter a pagan holiday?

Well, it turns out Easter actually began as a pagan festival celebrating spring in the Northern Hemisphere, long before the advent of Christianity. "Since pre-historic times, people have celebrated the equinoxes and the solstices as sacred times," University of Sydney Professor Carole Cusack said.

Is Christmas stolen from paganism?

But is it? In reality, the notion that Christmas is a festival stolen from pagans is quite as much a compound of confusions and inaccuracies as anything believed about the feast day by Christians themselves. There is no evidence — absolutely none — that the birth of Mithras was celebrated on 25 December.

Where is Christmas mentioned in the Bible?

The New Testament contains two Christmas stories, not one. They appear in Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2. They have some points in common.

When was Jesus actually born Catholic?

Some scholars believe that he was born between 6 B.C. and 4 B.C., based partly on the biblical story of King Herod the Great.

What is a pagan nation?

1 : an unconverted member of a people or nation who does not practice Christianity, Judaism, or Islam especially : a follower of a polytheistic religion (as in ancient Rome) 2 : one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods : an irreligious or hedonistic person.