Is Xmas pagan?

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 origin of Christmas pagan?

The origins of Christmas stem from both the pagan and Roman cultures. The Romans actually celebrated two holidays in the month of December. The first was Saturnalia, which was a two-week festival honoring their god of agriculture Saturn. On December 25th, they celebrated the birth of Mithra, their sun god.

What is the pagan version of Christmas?

Christmas owes its roots to the ancient Roman holiday of Saturnalia, which was a pagan festival which was celebrated from December 17-25 each year. This custom was altered and absorbed into Christmas, and this allowed early Christians to gradually erase these old pagan holidays.

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.

Where in the Bible does it say 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.

Is Christmas PAGAN? In defense of Christmas

What the Bible Says About Christmas?

Christmas Is Not Supported By Scripture

One of the first things you will notice when studying Scripture is that the word “Christmas” is not mentioned in any verse, chapter, or book of the Bible. None of Jesus' disciples, nor any of His apostles attempted to celebrate the miraculous birth of our Lord and Savior.

Is December 25th 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.

Is Santa Claus a pagan belief?

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.

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.

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.

Who invented Xmas?

The first recorded incidence of Christmas being celebrated actually dates all the way back to the Roman Empire in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine – so technically the Romans invented it, although there's no specific person who is credited with having done so.

What pagan god is Santa based on?

Santa Claus may owe his earliest influence to Odin (also known as Wodan), a god revered by Germanic peoples in Northern Europe as early as 2 B.C.E. Odin was celebrated during Yule, a pagan holiday that took place midwinter. During this time, Odin was said to lead the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky.

When was Jesus's actual birthday?

The date of birth of Jesus is not stated in the gospels or in any historical reference, but most biblical scholars assume a year of birth between 6 and 4 BC.

Are Christmas trees against the Bible?

Deuteronomy 16:21 says:

Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Although this verse doesn't speak directly to christmas trees, it does make a point to mention trees near the altar of the lord.

What is the truth behind Christmas?

Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion.

How do non Pagans celebrate Christmas?

What religion is Christmas originally from?

What is Christmas? Christmas was traditionally a Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus, but in the early 20th century, it also became a secular family holiday, observed by Christians and non-Christians alike.

Did Christians Steal Christmas?

Maybe you have seen one of your friends or family members post something on Facebook that says Christmas and Easter were originally pagan holidays. Maybe you have even heard Christians say that.

Is it OK to say Xmas?

— Christmas is also known on paper as XMAS. But some people just don't agree with the spelling of the holiday. They believe it takes the Christ out of Christmas, saying it's a modern and disrespectful abbreviation that focuses on the commercialization of this Christian holiday.

Is Valentine's day pagan?

The earliest possible origin story of Valentine's Day is the pagan holiday Lupercalia. Occurring for centuries in the middle of February, the holiday celebrates fertility. Men would strip naked and sacrifice a goat and dog.

What pagan holiday did Christmas replace?

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 a pagan in the Bible?

Pagan is derived from the Late Latin paganus, which was used at the end of the Roman Empire to name those who practiced a religion other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. Early Christians often used the term to refer to non-Christians who worshiped multiple deities.

Why Easter is Pagan?

While Christmas was a celebration of the winter solstice, Easter was a celebration of the spring equinox for the pagans. Pagans lived their lives in strong accordance with nature's rhythms and patterns, and solstices and equinoxes were considered to be sacred times.

What are the four Pagan festivals?

Four of the festivals have Celtic origins and are known by their Celtic names, Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain.