Christmas
Most of the present historical anniversaries that the world
keeps are ghostly hangovers from the time when the Mother of Harlots held
undisputed sway over "times and seasons," and the "bodies and souls of men." AND
many of them were borrowed by the Catholic Church from paganism.
Many, of course, are now only unfamiliar names to most of us:
Candlemass, Epiphany, St. Stephen's, Michaelmass, All Saints, Whitsuntide,
Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Plough Monday, Twelfth Night, and scores of
others. But some still remain prominent, as grim relics of an age of gross and
incredible superstition.
"SAINT" VALENTINE, for instance, was a romantically-minded
bishop of the third century, martyred (at least according to legend) for
performing "christian" marriages against the laws of the Emperor.
"SAINT" PATRICK converted Ireland to Catholicism and
immortalized the shamrock by using it to demonstrate the superstition of the
triple unity of the "Trinity".
EASTER is named from a pagan Saxon goddess of spring. Many
ancient heathen nations revered the egg as the symbol of the beginning of life:
it is from Teuton mythology that rabbit-laid eggs appear among Easter
superstitions. Dressing up in new clothes for Easter goes back to Constantine's
time. The Encyclopedia Britannica says --
"The name Easter is a survival from the old Teutonic
mythology. It is derived from Eostre or Ostara, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of
spring... There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the
New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers. The sanctity of
special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first
Christians."
HALLOWEEN: Of this, the Encyclopedia Britannica says --
"Hallowe'en long antedates Christianity. History shows that
the main celebrations of Hallowe'en were purely Druidical [ancient Britain]. The
Druids believed in the calling together of certain wicked souls on Hallowe'en by
Saman, lord of death. Upon the Druidic ceremonies were grafted some of the
characteristics of the Roman festival in honor of Pomona [pagan Italian goddess
of fruits and gardens] held about November 1st, in which nuts and apples,
representing the winter store of fruits, played an important part."
And this became the Roman Catholic "All Hallows", or "Festival
of All Saints," and was so passed on to a besotted world. The Encyclopedia
Americana says --
"Hallowe'en is associated in the popular imagination with the
prevalence of supernatural influences, and is clearly a RELIC OF PAGAN
TIMES."
CHRIST-MASS, too, we find is fundamentally of "religious"
origin (if superstitious paganism can be called "religion"), but it is FAR from
exclusively, or even principally, "Christian." Most of its innumerable customs,
traditions, and superstitions are of pagan origin. But the mystery-working of
the Catholic Church has greatly complicated them by the addition of priests and
madonnas and holy waters, and signs of the cross.
We must recognize the whole corrupt Babylonian system as a
total unit, all equally part of the same Apostasy. The better we perceive, the
less we will desire to have any part in heathen customs. When, by study, we come
to perceive fully, we shall be shocked and revolted at the idea of having
anything to do with it. We shall find it repulsive. We shall want to get as far
away from it as we possibly can. Anyone who GROWS in the Truth must inevitably
come to this conviction. The tragedy is that many never grow.
We find, above all things, that "Christ-Mass" has come to us
in its present form as basically and primarily a Roman Catholic institution. To
this great system of iniquity it owes its consolidation, establishment,
permanence and popularity.
THE TIME OF THE YEAR
For the period of the year in which it is held, it is indebted
to pagan sources. This time of the year -- following the harvest, and centering
about the winter solstice (shortest day of the year), when the days again begin
to lengthen -- has almost universally been a period of festivity and religious
significance in the northern hemisphere ages before the spread of
Christianity.
Regarding the date, most commentators agree that from many
points of view, no date could be more unlikely to be that of Christ's birth.
There is no month in the year in which respectable ecclesiastical authorities
have not confidently placed the birth of Jesus. The date is undeniably pagan:
even Catholic authorities admit that. The Encyclopedia Britannica (1949, article
"Christmas") says --
"CHRISTMAS (the 'Mass of Christ') ... Clement of Alexandria
(about 200 AD) mentions several speculations on the date of Christ's birth, and
condemns them as superstitious... The exact day and year of Christ's birth have
never been satisfactorily settled. When the Fathers of the Church in AD 340
decided upon a date to celebrate the event, they wisely (!) chose the day of the
Winter Solstice, which was firmly fixed in the minds of the people, and which
was their MOST IMPORTANT FESTIVAL."
The Encyclopedia Americana (1946, article "Christmas") says
the same --
"CHRISTMAS, the 'Mass of Christ'... In the 5th century the
Western Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman
feast of the Birth of Sol (the Sun)... Among the German and Celtic tribes, the
Winter Solstice was considered an important point of the year, and they held
their chief festival of Yule to commemorate the return of the burning-wheel (the
sun)."
And Everyman's Encyclopedia says --
"CHRISTMAS (the Mass of Christ)... It is certain that the time
now fixed could not by any possibility have been the period of Jesus' birth. The
choice of this season was probably due to the general recognition that the
Winter Solstice was the turning point of the year."
THE PAGAN FOUNDATIONS
It was during the period of the ascendancy of the Roman Empire
that Christ-Mass originated. Consequently we find that pagan Roman customs
played the major part in fixing its date and characteristics. Its general
season, however, was later found to coincide with important religious
superstitions of the north European barbarians (who also worshipped the Sun and
marked the Solstice), and this too played a large part in its development.
Alfred Hottes, Christmas Fact and Fancy --
"The roots of Christmas observance go deeply into the folklore
of the Druids, Scandinavians, Egyptians and Romans."
The Chambers Encyclopedia records --
"Many of the beliefs and usages of the Old Germans, and also
of the Romans, relating to this period, passed over from heathenism to
Christianity."
R.J. Campbell, in The Story of Christmas, declares --
"There are not a few popular observances associated with the
Christmas season which have NOTHING TO DO with the Christian religion and the
birth of Jesus. Most of these observances are older than Christianity, and some
of them -- it must be confessed -- are NOT OF VERY ELEVATED ORIGIN."
William Auld, in Christmas Traditions, notes --
"There are the green garlands, the marvelous trees, the mystic
fire and lights, and customs many...still clustering about the great midwinter
feast -- all of which descend to us from the PAGAN CHILDHOOD OF THE
RACE."
T.G. Crippen, in Christmas and Christmas Lore, confesses --
"The Feast of the Nativity rather incorporated than supplanted
various heathen festivals. It was therefore only natural that RELICS OF HEATHEN
PRACTICE should survive as traditional customs."
The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics confirms this --
"MOST of the Christian customs [related to Christmas] now
prevailing in Europe, or recorded from former times, are HEATHEN customs which
have been absorbed or tolerated by the Church. The Christian feast has inherited
these customs from two sources: Roman and Teutonic PAGANISM."
And the Catholic Encyclopedia (note the source) admits --
"There is NO DOUBT that the original Christian nuclei
attracted PAGAN accretions."
The Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia similarly says --
"There were non-Christian elements present in the origin of
Christmas. The giving of presents was a Roman custom. The Yule-tree [modern
'Christmas Tree'] and the Yule-log are remnants of old Teutonic NATURE
WORSHIP."
All these sources, bet it noted, are friends of Christmas.
They are not exposing its corrupt background: they are rather glorying in it.
They regard its heathen-Catholic origin as a delightful and intriguing asset. We
find exactly the same picture in standard, independent reference books. The
Encyclopedia Britannica says --
"Many current customs date back to pre-Christian origins:
among them are Christmas decorations. The Romans ornamented their temples and
homes with green boughs and flowers for the Saturnalia [Dec. 17-23] ... The
Druids gathered mistletoe and hung it in their homes; the Saxons used holly and
ivy."
The Everyman's Encyclopedia declares --
"The practice of decorating churches is pagan in its
origin."
And this is from the Encyclopedia Americana --
"The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log and the wassail bowl
are relics of pre-Christian times...The Christmas tree has been traced back to
the Romans."
ORIGINALLY BABYLONIAN
Alexander Hislop, in his monumental Two Babylons, goes even
further back --
"The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally
common in pagan Rome and pagan Egypt... The festivals of the Roman Church are
innumerable, but five of the most important may be singled out for elucidation,
viz:
CHRISTMAS, Lady-day, Easter, the Nativity of St. John, and the
Feast of the Assumption. Each and all of these can be proved to be
Babylonian.
"It is admitted by the most learned and candid writers of all
parties that, within the Christian Church, no such festival as Christmas was
ever heard of till the third century, and that not till the fourth century was
far advanced did it gain much observance...
"This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism half
way was very early developed. We find Tertullian, even in his day, about the
year 230, bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of the disciples of Christ in
this respect, and contrasting it with the strict fidelity of the pagans to their
own superstitions. 'By us', he says, 'the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and
the Matronalia are now frequented, gifts are carried to and fro, and sports and
banquets are celebrated with uproar. Oh, how much more faithful are the heathen
to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the
Christians.'
"Upright men (continues Hislop) strove to stem the tide, but
in spite of all their efforts the Apostasy went on till the Church, with the
exception of a small remnant, was submerged under pagan superstition... THAT
CHRISTMAS WAS ORIGINALLY A PAGAN FESTIVAL IS BEYOND ALL DOUBT."
SATURNALIA: CLIMAX OF ROME'S YEAR
This period of the year was one of great festivity for the
pagan Romans. First came the celebrated Saturnalia, beginning Dec. 17. This
feast of the god Saturn, the Roman deity of seed and sowing, finds much mention
in all commentaries on Christ-Mass. One says --
"The Roman Saturnalia was characterized by processions,
singing, lighting candles, adorning houses with laurels and green trees, giving
presents."
Again from the Religious Encyclopedia --
"The Saturnalia provided the model for most of the merry
customs of Christmas. The time was one of general mirth. All classes exchanged
gifts, the commonest being candles and dolls. Christmas inherited the general
merriment: games, giving of gifts, abundance of sweetmeats, and -- as to the
more ceremonious elements -- the burning of candles."
The Encyclopedia Britannica relates similarly --
"Christmas customs are an evolution from times that long
antedated the Christian period: a descent from seasonal, pagan, religious, and
national practices ... The god Saturn's great festival was the Saturnalia.
Business, public and private, was at a standstill, schools closed, presents were
exchanged, the traditional ones being candles and dolls."
Likewise the Encyclopedia Americana --
"At the commencement of this festival, a great number of
candles were lighted in the temple of Saturn... no business was transacted,
schools kept holiday, law courts were closed. Jests and freedom everywhere
prevailed, and all ceased from their various occupations."
Campbell, in The Story of Christmas, further says --
"The Romans adopted from earlier folk-customs the rituals
which appear in their Saturnalia which have been CARRIED OVER INTO THE
OBSERVANCE OF MODERN CHRISTMAS. There was giving of presents, feasting,
drinking, and decorating with evergreens."
Auld says again, in his Christmas Traditions --
"Much of the spirit of this old Roman festival of the
Saturnalia passed into Christmas celebration. The early Puritans, witnessing the
jolly antics of grotesque fools (the 'Lords of Merry Disport'), never had any
doubt in the matter... That transient [that is, shallow and passing] feeling
which blossoms at Christmastime OWES AS MUCH TO THE KIND GOD SATURN as to the
loving Son of Man... This is the Christmas which -- mixed with a LITTLE,
sentimental Christianity, lies so pleasantly in the genial pages of
Dickens."
BUFFOONERY AND BLASPHEMY
A major feature of the pagan Saturnalia festival was the
reversal of all order and dignities: a mock turning everything upside-down. This
was carried to great lengths at Christmastime in the Church in the Middle Ages.
In England it was customary to appoint a "Lord of Mirule" or "Abbot of Unreason"
who presided over the blasphemous foolery. The Encyclopedia Britannica says --
"Merrymaking came to have a share in Christmas observance,
even while emphasis was on the religious phase... A Lord of Misrule and his
jester directed the revels, and kept them uproarious."
The Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia adds this --
"In England an 'Abbot of Misrule' was chosen in every large
household; in Scotland, and 'Abbot of Unreason'. During the term of the festival
he was the master of the house."
We discover, with shock and surprise, that it was quite
customary for even the clergy to let down all barriers of restraint within the
Church itself at the Christmas season. Crippen relates (which seems almost
unbelievable) --
"At Vespers [the evening prayers], at the end of the
Magnificat [hymn of praise to God], the whole service was turned into burlesque.
Dice were cast, and black puddings [blood sausage] were eaten, on the alter,
ludicrous songs were sung, and old leather was burned as mock incense. In some
places an ass was led into the Church, in whose honor a mock hymn was chanted,
with a bray for a refrain."
The Encyclopedia Americana confirms this, saying --
"On St. Nicholas' Day, a 'Boy Bishop' was elected, who
exercised a burlesque episcopal jurisdiction, and parodied ecclesiastical
functions and ceremonies."
Such is the height and stability and value of a religion
grounded on sentiment and superstition. Auld adds --
"All through the Middle Ages the two rivers of RIOT and
RELIGION flowed together."
SIGALLARIA AND BRUMALIA
Following the Saturnalia in Rome was the Sigallaria, or Doll
Festival, another obvious link with modern Christmas. Then on the great day,
December 25th itself, came the Brumalia (from bruma: "shortest day") -- the
religious observance of the sun-worshipers. This was known also as Natalis Solus
Invicti: the "Birth of the Unconquerable Sun" -- the date when the day began
again to lengthen. It is significant that the Catholic Encyclopedia itself says
--
"The well known solar feast of Natalis Invicti, celebrated on
Dec. 25, has a strong claim for the responsibility of our Christmas
date."
On this point, the Encyclopedia Americana says --
"In the fifth century the Western Church ordered Christmas to
be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of
Sol."
And Everyman's Encyclopedia declares --
"The observance which especially influenced the Christian
Church was probably the Roman festival of the Winter Solstice, celebrated on
Dec. 25."
Then came the Kalends of January, and finally the Juvenalia
(Children's Festival), both of which have contributed their share to the modern
Christ-mass. With very odd logic, but typical of the thinking of the flesh,
Crippen remarks --
"Surely it was well that all these should be COMBINED IN ONE
GREAT CHRISTIAN FEAST, and their ancient significance transferred in the light
of the Gospel. Many customs obtained a new lease of life. In Egypt, as in Rome,
the new festival would coincide with the birthday of the Sun-God. And the
northern barbarians would find it practically coincident with their own Yule. It
seems to have been the festival of the god Thor."
Again from Auld --
"After the barbarians were Christianized, all the customs and
SUPERSTITIONS which had belonged from time immemorial to their own Yuletide
began to CLUSTER ABOUT CHRISTMAS. When the season calls up in the mind crackling
fires on the hearth, lighted candles, rooms adorned with evergreens, bright
berries and flowers, feast and frolic -- these are the GENUINE PAGAN
ELEMENTS."
WHEN THE CATHOLICS INVENTED CHRISTMAS
Regarding the period when Catholicism originated Christmas,
the Catholic Encyclopedia says it was NOT among the early festivals of the
Church, because Ireneus and Tertullian, at the end of the second century, omit
it from their list of feasts. The first evidence of any observance of the birth
of Christ (says this same authority) appears about 200 AD in Egypt. It was not
earlier than 330 AD that Dec. 25 was chosen by any "Pope", and it was not
universally accepted till long after that -- for the position and authority of
the "Pope" was then still far from established. In the Schaff-Herzog Religious
Encyclopedia, we are told --
"From the beginning of the fourth century, when the restless
searchings of the nature and persons of Christ drove men's minds into many
singular errors, the Eastern Church began to feel the importance of emphasizing
the actual birth of Christ by a separate festival...The date once fixed,
Christmas gradually became one of the three great annual festivals of the
Church."
And from the Abbott-Conant Dictionary of Religious Knowledge
--
"Christmas seems to have first appeared in the Roman Church
after the middle of the fourth century. At a somewhat later period it spread
into Eastern Asia. It was not received with equal readiness by all the churches.
Some denounced it as an innovation... It was not till the sixth century that
anything like unanimity prevailed as to the day to be observed.
"The manner in which this festival came to be observed in the
Romish Church, and through it to the other churches, is as follows: In this
season of the year, a series of heathen festivals occurred, the celebration of
which was in many ways closely interwoven with the whole civil and social life
of the Romans.
"These festivals had an import which easily admitted of being
spiritualized, and transformed into a Christian sense. First came the
Saturnalia, which represented the Golden Age, and abolished for a while the
distinction of ranks.
"Then came the custom, peculiar to this season, of making
presents, afterwards transferred to the Christmas festival.
"After the Saturnalia came the Festival of Infants
[Juvenalia], at which the children were presented with images.
"Next came a festival still more analogous to Christmas, that
of the shortest day [Brumalia], the Winter Solstice, the Birthday of the New
Sun, about to return once more toward the earth... Hence the celebration of the
Nativity of Christ was transferred to December 25.
"In the Romish Church, Christmas is a very high
festival."
HOW THE EARLY CHRISTIANS FELT
Regarding the attitude of early Christians toward such things,
Auld says --
"As for the first believers, they had NOT THE SLIGHTEST
INTEREST IN ANYTHING OF THE KIND. Hope in the Lord's imminent return from heaven
in great power and glory was the flame that fired their devotion."
In the book, The Customs of Mankind, we read --
"Christmas was originally a festival of the Winter Solstice.
It was customary to hold great feasts in honor of the HEATHEN GODS. The early
teachers of Christianity PROHIBITED THESE FESTIVALS as unsuited to the character
of Christ. Yet the symbols and customs of the old festivals are adapted to the
new, and so we find Christmas patterned with many customs of pagan
origin.
"To the mind of the Puritans, Christmas smelled to heaven of
idolatry... The Puritans abolished Christmas as a hateful relic of
Popery."
Tertullian -- who wrote (says Encyclopedia Britannica) "in a
period when a LAX SPIRIT OF CONFORMITY had seized the churches": about 200 AD --
says regarding decorating with evergreens and ceremonial candles --
"Let those who have no Light, light their lamps, let them
affix to their posts laurels. YOU [Christians] are the Light of the World, a
tree ever green. If you have renounced temples, make not your own gate a temple
[by heathen wreaths]."
Crippen says --
"At the time of persecution, Christians were detected by NOT
decorating their houses at the Saturnalia."
Some conformed to the heathen customs to avoid suspicion, and
to appear like their neighbors, so they would not be looked on as odd and
different. This practice was strongly condemned by the early church. And
Campbell relates --
"There can be no doubt that [some of] the early Christians
also frequently shared in the frolics of their heathen neighbors; and the
fathers of the Church had considerable difficulty in prevailing on their members
to refrain from such unedifying pastimes.
"The early Christians discouraged the use of evergreen
decorations in Christian homes and assemblies, because their display had long
been associated with heathen festivals. Bishop Martin of Braga forbade the use
of all greenery and 'other dangerous Kalend customs'."
Crippen remarks --
"So long as heathenism was in full vigor, the ancient
Christians were puritanically jealous of anything that might seem like
coquetting with idolatry. But when heathenism was declining, there was a
disposition to adopt its customs. What had been heathenish became rich with
Christian (!) symbol."
Note that last statement. Auld too betrays the same perverted
outlook --
"The use of evergreens is one of the happy (!) contributions
which PAGANISM made to the Christian festival. At first the Church frowned upon
this intrusion of paganism into the sacred season. But altogether, the ancient
Church was wisely tolerant (!) in her attitude to heathen IDEAS and customs ...
hence the curious and interesting MIXTURES of IDEAS -- pagan and Christian --
which became charmingly (!) entwisted."
After unsuccessfully fighting the adoption of pagan customs,
says Campbell --
"The clergy endeavored to transform the heathen revels into
amusements which -- if not really more spiritual in character -- had at least
the merit of recognizing the authority of the Church."
The Encyclopedia Britannica confirms this --
"As Christianity spread among the peoples of pagan lands, many
of the practices of the Winter Solstice were blended with those of Christianity,
because of the liberal ruling of Pope Gregory I and the cooperation of the
missionaries."
That is, instead of teaching the converts to abandon their old
superstitions, and to start a clean new life solely according to the Way of God,
the Church found it more practical and profitable to give the old superstitions
new names, and mix Christianity with paganism.
And such was the slow but deadly course by which what was
originally the faithful and holy Ecclesia of Christ exchanged purity for
pleasure, and the friendship and Way of God for the friendship and ways of the
world.
REFORMATION... THEN DECLENSION
In times of reformation, and attempted return to Bible ways,
there have been periodic revolutions against these heathen corruptions, but they
have not endured. In 529 AD, the Emperor Justinian decreed that no one should
work on the Catholic festival of Christmas. At the Reformation, one thousand
years later, the revulsion against the Catholic superstitions was such that laws
were made against not working on Christ-mass. Crippen says --
"The leaders of the Reformation in Scotland thought the Roman
Church was too bad to be mended. In their view, it must be ended, and a new
beginning made strictly on the model of the New Testament.
"Now certainly the New Testament MADE NO MENTION OF
ECCLESIASTICAL FESTIVALS. So the new beginning included the sweeping of them all
away. On Dec. 26, 1583, the Glasgow Kirk Session put 5 persons to public penance
for keeping the 'superstitious day called YULE'."
The early Puritan settlers of America were of the same mind.
Christmas, they declared, "smelt to heaven of idolatry," and they abolished it
as a "relic of Popery" [and it certainly is] . In Massachusetts in 1659, a law
was passed that-
"Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas,
either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or in any other way, shall be fined 5
shillings."
In their earlier, sounder days, when they valued the Bible as
the Word of God, and were trying to be guided by it, the Presbyterians and
Baptists were similarly opposed to these superstitious observances, on the same
grounds, but they have long since drifted back to the "ways of the heathen." In
England in 1644, at a time of respect for the Word, and of revulsion against
Catholicism, the observance of Christmas was forbidden by an act of
Parliament.
WHEN THE CATHOLICS INVENTED CHRISTMAS
Regarding the period when Catholicism originated Christmas,
the Catholic Encyclopedia says it was NOT among the early festivals of the
Church, because Ireneus and Tertullian, at the end of the second century, omit
it from their list of feasts. The first evidence of any observance of the birth
of Christ (says this same authority) appears about 200 AD in Egypt. It was not
earlier than 330 AD that Dec. 25 was chosen by any "Pope", and it was not
universally accepted till long after that -- for the position and authority of
the "Pope" was then still far from established. In the Schaff-Herzog Religious
Encyclopedia, we are told --
"From the beginning of the fourth century, when the restless
searchings of the nature and persons of Christ drove men's minds into many
singular errors, the Eastern Church began to feel the importance of emphasizing
the actual birth of Christ by a separate festival...The date once fixed,
Christmas gradually became one of the three great annual festivals of the
Church."
And from the Abbott-Conant Dictionary of Religious Knowledge
--
"Christmas seems to have first appeared in the Roman Church
after the middle of the fourth century. At a somewhat later period it spread
into Eastern Asia. It was not received with equal readiness by all the churches.
Some denounced it as an innovation... It was not till the sixth century that
anything like unanimity prevailed as to the day to be observed.
"The manner in which this festival came to be observed in the
Romish Church, and through it to the other churches, is as follows: In this
season of the year, a series of heathen festivals occurred, the celebration of
which was in many ways closely interwoven with the whole civil and social life
of the Romans.
"These festivals had an import which easily admitted of being
spiritualized, and transformed into a Christian sense. First came the
Saturnalia, which represented the Golden Age, and abolished for a while the
distinction of ranks.
"Then came the custom, peculiar to this season, of making
presents, afterwards transferred to the Christmas festival.
"After the Saturnalia came the Festival of Infants
[Juvenalia], at which the children were presented with images.
"Next came a festival still more analogous to Christmas, that
of the shortest day [Brumalia], the Winter Solstice, the Birthday of the New
Sun, about to return once more toward the earth... Hence the celebration of the
Nativity of Christ was transferred to December 25.
"In the Romish Church, Christmas is a very high
festival."
HOW THE EARLY CHRISTIANS FELT
Regarding the attitude of early Christians toward such things,
Auld says --
"As for the first believers, they had NOT THE SLIGHTEST
INTEREST IN ANYTHING OF THE KIND. Hope in the Lord's imminent return from heaven
in great power and glory was the flame that fired their devotion."
In the book, The Customs of Mankind, we read --
"Christmas was originally a festival of the Winter Solstice.
It was customary to hold great feasts in honor of the HEATHEN GODS. The early
teachers of Christianity PROHIBITED THESE FESTIVALS as unsuited to the character
of Christ. Yet the symbols and customs of the old festivals are adapted to the
new, and so we find Christmas patterned with many customs of pagan
origin.
"To the mind of the Puritans, Christmas smelled to heaven of
idolatry... The Puritans abolished Christmas as a hateful relic of
Popery."
Tertullian -- who wrote (says Encyclopedia Britannica) "in a
period when a LAX SPIRIT OF CONFORMITY had seized the churches": about 200 AD --
says regarding decorating with evergreens and ceremonial candles --
"Let those who have no Light, light their lamps, let them
affix to their posts laurels. YOU [Christians] are the Light of the World, a
tree ever green. If you have renounced temples, make not your own gate a temple
[by heathen wreaths]."
Crippen says --
"At the time of persecution, Christians were detected by NOT
decorating their houses at the Saturnalia."
Some conformed to the heathen customs to avoid suspicion, and
to appear like their neighbors, so they would not be looked on as odd and
different. This practice was strongly condemned by the early church. And
Campbell relates --
"There can be no doubt that [some of] the early Christians
also frequently shared in the frolics of their heathen neighbors; and the
fathers of the Church had considerable difficulty in prevailing on their members
to refrain from such unedifying pastimes. The early Christians discouraged the
use of evergreen decorations in Christian homes and assemblies, because their
display had long been associated with heathen festivals. Bishop Martin of Braga
forbade the use of all greenery and 'other dangerous Kalend customs'."
Crippen remarks --
"So long as heathenism was in full vigor, the ancient
Christians were puritanically jealous of anything that might seem like
coquetting with idolatry. But when heathenism was declining, there was a
disposition to adopt its customs. What had been heathenish became rich with
Christian (!) symbol."
Note that last statement. Auld too betrays the same perverted
outlook --
"The use of evergreens is one of the happy (!) contributions
which PAGANISM made to the Christian festival. At first the Church frowned upon
this intrusion of paganism into the sacred season. But altogether, the ancient
Church was wisely tolerant (!) in her attitude to heathen IDEAS and customs ...
hence the curious and interesting MIXTURES of IDEAS -- pagan and Christian --
which became charmingly (!) entwisted."
After unsuccessfully fighting the adoption of pagan customs,
says Campbell --
"The clergy endeavored to transform the heathen revels into
amusements which -- if not really more spiritual in character -- had at least
the merit of recognizing the authority of the Church."
The Encyclopedia Britannica confirms this --
"As Christianity spread among the peoples of pagan lands, many
of the practices of the Winter Solstice were blended with those of Christianity,
because of the liberal ruling of Pope Gregory I and the cooperation of the
missionaries."
That is, instead of teaching the converts to abandon their old
superstitions, and to start a clean new life solely according to the Way of God,
the Church found it more practical and profitable to give the old superstitions
new names, and mix Christianity with paganism. And such was the slow but deadly
course by which what was originally the faithful and holy Ecclesia of Christ
exchanged purity for pleasure, and the friendship and Way of God for the
friendship and ways of the world.
REFORMATION .. THEN DECLENSION
In times of reformation, and attempted return to Bible ways,
there have been periodic revolutions against these heathen corruptions, but they
have not endured. In 529 AD, the Emperor Justinian decreed that no one should
work on the Catholic festival of Christmas. At the Reformation, one thousand
years later, the revulsion against the Catholic superstitions was such that laws
were made against not working on Christ-mass. Crippen says --
"The leaders of the Reformation in Scotland thought the Roman
Church was too bad to be mended. In their view, it must be ended, and a new
beginning made strictly on the model of the New Testament. Now certainly the New
Testament MADE NO MENTION OF ECCLESIASTICAL FESTIVALS. So the new beginning
included the sweeping of them all away. On Dec. 26, 1583, the Glasgow Kirk
Session put 5 persons to public penance for keeping the 'superstitious day
called YULE'."
The early Puritan settlers of America were of the same mind.
Christmas, they declared, "smelt to heaven of idolatry," and they abolished it
as a "relic of Popery" [and it certainly is]. In Massachusetts in 1659, a law
was passed that-
"Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas,
either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or in any other way, shall be fined 5
shillings."
In their earlier, sounder days, when they valued the Bible as
the Word of God, and were trying to be guided by it, the Presbyterians and
Baptists were similarly opposed to these superstitious observances, on the same
grounds, but they have long since drifted back to the "ways of the heathen." In
England in 1644, at a time of respect for the Word, and of revulsion against
Catholicism, the observance of Christmas was forbidden by an act of
Parliament.
SANTA CLAUS -- CHRISTMAS TREE
The name "Santa Claus" is clearly recognizable as derived from
the good Bishop "Saint Nicholas," patron saint of beggars and thieves. In the
Middle Ages, thieves were known as "clerks of St. Nicholas." In Europe he
travels about in all his bishop's regalia riding a white horse (which he
inherited through amalgamation with Scandinavian mythology from the god Wodin,
who was engaged in exactly the same activities at that period of the year). His
descent down the chimney is traceable to similar habits of the Norse goddess
Hertha. Auld writes about St. Nicholas-
"The names and attributes of the mysterious purveyors of gifts
disclose a most CONFUSED MIXTURE OF PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN NOTIONS. All kinds of
bugbears and bogies figure in the European Christmas. By their names they
suggest a loose connection with St. Nicholas, but by their activities they
betray unmistakable relationship with the weird beings of pagan
mythology."
We have seen how the Christmas tree is traced clearly to
ancient paganism. Virgil, the Roman poet, speaks of decorating pine trees in
honor of Bacchus, the god of drinking and revelry. Hislop connects similar
customs with Egyptian cults. And -- in a strange, latter day reversal -- pagan
Russia has borrowed back the pagan "Christmas"' tree. The Moscow News reports
that Moscow alone has 10,000 of such trees. Colored pictures show these "New
Year"' trees, with all their tinsel and bright baubles and lights, to be
indistinguishable from "Christmas" trees, except there are no "Christian"
symbols, and the crowning Star at the top is red. And Russia's genial
"Grandfather Frost" associated with these trees, with his jolly face, and bushy
white beard, and suit of red: who can distinguish him from St. Nick? He is St.
Nick, stripped of his adopted Catholicism, and returned to his pagan origin.
Mistletoe, of course, is well-known as inherited -- and introduced into
Christmas -- from the Druid priesthood of ancient heathen Britain. For centuries
the Church forbade its use because of the superstitions attached to it. It was
so sacred a talisman that enemies meeting beneath it laid down their arms. (The
world still has a relic of this heathen superstition).
Miscellaneous Christmas superstitions are far too numerous to
mention. Campbell, in summing up, comes surprising close to the truth --
"There is really NOTHING IN COMMON between the mystery of the
Word made flesh for man's salvation, and the orgies of eating and drinking and
horseplay associated with the paganism of pre-Christian times, and PERPETUATED
AT THE CHRISTMAS SEASON in our own as well as earlier generations.
"There's goodwill in both, but one is CARNAL, and the other
SPIRITUAL."
How do we -- called out to be holy sons and daughters of the
Lord -- stand in relation to these confused and corrupt Catholic-Pagan things of
the world? Admittedly, it all appeals powerfully to the flesh. It is "pretty",
it is exciting, it is the popular way of the crowd, it is pleasant to the
senses. It is all tinsel, and hoopla, and music, and glistening stars, and
twinkling lights. It has everything that attracts the shallow, juvenile, fleshly
mind. The Christmas songs and Christmas stories are concocted and executed by
consummate actors for the fullest emotional effect. Doubtless the children of
Israel, indulging in the "pretty" Canaanite religious customs, said to
themselves (or in self-excuse to others), "There really isn't any harm. Of
course I do not really mean it in a religious way. It really means nothing to
me, and it is all so pretty and pleasant. I really serve the Lord, but I just
like a little fun and relaxation. Why do we have to be so different?"
There is absolutely nothing scriptural about Christ-mass.
Nothing like it, or leading to it, or justifying it, is ever mentioned in the
Bible, or even in early "Christian" records. We have seen that it is a
"religious," blasphemous Catholic-Pagan abomination. Why should holy brethren
and sisters of Christ ever want to have anything to do with such things of the
Apostasy? Surely we desire holiness!
We cannot really say what part of this fleshly mixture -- the
Pagan part or the Catholic part -- is the more objectionable to God, but either
one alone should be enough to keep a child of God from having anything to do
with it.
(In large part, from GVG)
