(Español: La Navidad es pagana… ¿y qué?)
“Every year again” (“Alle Jahre wieder”) is a famous German Christmas song, stating that the Christ Child descends to earth once every year to enter each house with His blessing. As a child, I heard and even sang this song without thinking much about it. As I grew older and began to learn more about the TRUTH, I realized how utterly deceptive this song is. But most people never come to this understanding, following blindly the annual customs of Christmas and their wrong and, quite frankly, blasphemous teachings. Where I live, I am surrounded by houses with Christmas decorations (notwithstanding some notable exceptions), and when I sometimes go after dark on my daily walk with my little dog, I’m regularly reminded of Circus Circus in Las Vegas. It’s utterly ridiculous, but this is the world we are living in today.
Years ago, I saw a TV program with an odd-looking “preacher” (smoking a pipe and wearing a cowboy hat) who spoke of the unbiblical Christmas customs. He proved for over an hour that Christmas was thoroughly pagan, but then concluded that it does not matter and that Christians should keep it anyhow. I was reminded of this program when I noticed the following article which was published by Forbes on December 15, 2017, titled, “Why is Christmas pagan…?”
Here are some mind-blowing excerpts:
“Paganism… isn’t something to fear and it is bigotry to act like it is. Christmas is a holiday that has evolved due [to] the passage of time and the influence of various cultures as Christmas has entered their lives. Each of those cultures has enriched the holiday, giving us more traditions with which to celebrate it…
“For the ancient Romans, that holiday was called Saturnalia, named for the god Saturn. Saturnalia was celebrated by feasts, the giving of gifts… The ancient historian, Livy, tells us that Saturnalia began in 497 BC. Modern historians believe it probably started earlier than that. So, at least half a millennia after the origin of Saturnalia, Jesus Christ was born… It would be a few centuries until early church leaders decided it was a day to… commemorate. It would also be a few centuries until they decided to pick a day for that celebration, because the gospels do not tell us on what day he was born…
“On December 25th, 274 AD, the Emperor Aurelian consecrated the temple of Sol Invictus, creating a holiday called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti – the birthday of the Sun – officially elevating the Sun to the highest position among the gods… Around 350 AD, Pope Julius I officially declared December 25th to mark the birth of Christ. There was no evidence that was the actual day of birth… there’s no rule that says a day of celebration has to coincide with the actual date of origin…
“So, in Rome in the fourth century, there were three big holidays being celebrated on December 25—Saturnalia, Dies Natalis Sol Invictus, and the Dies Natalis of the Christ. It’s only natural that elements from these celebrations would cross-pollinate each other…
“As… Christianity grew, the people that celebrated those holidays would take their traditions to new areas… and [as they] introduced Christmas to the native Germanic peoples, the practices of Christmas were influenced by the practices of those peoples for their winter solstice holidays. Over time, traditions like the Yule log, mistletoe, tree decorating, and evergreen wreaths were absorbed and became thought of as Christmas traditions. The Saxons, the Vikings, the Victorians, and the capitalists have all added traditions to the rich tapestry of the holiday we all call Christmas… Pagan contributions are not something to fear…”
Have you ever read such ignorant nonsense? Christmas is pagan, but so what? It’s not to be avoided, but rather, it enriches our Christian walk of life! Sadly, for many who want to be part of the “crowd,” it makes sense. It gives them justification for being like a dead fish floating downstream… if they even care.
Well, God cares, and He tells us this in Deuteronomy 12:28-31:
“Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods…”
As true Christians, we must NOT follow the pagan ideas and religious practices of other nations and people around us. If we do, it will not go well with us and our children.
