Christmas is not Pagan
Around this time of year, there are always people asserting that Christmas is a pagan holiday. While it may be true that there are pagan festivities around the time of Christmas, there is no writing among the Church Fathers, nor within the Church to support the subversion of the pagan holidays.
If one were to examine the Church Fathers, they would find admonitions against associating Christ with pagan gods, especially that of the Sun God, and this was being done as early as Tertullian.
The question then arises of why did the Church pick December 25th for the date of Christ's birth? The frank answer is that they believed it to be so, but before I get to that, many wish to associate Christmas with the feast of Sol Invictus. However, it should be noted that this feast, which essentially replaced worship to Mithras, did not occur until 274 AD. Yet, it may be found that Christian communities were already celebrating the birth of Christ circa 200 AD; consequently, the date varied from community to community, and the uniformity of the celebration would not be until the 300s AD. Nevertheless, Clement of Alexandria (who died in 215 AD) noted that the Basilidians were celebrating the Epiphany on January 6th during his time. It would not be until the Emperor Constantine that Christians would be able to meet and practice their faith freely, and matters such as calendars and even Holy Scripture could be addressed.
Why was December 25th chosen?
The early Christian tradition that Jesus was born on Dec 25 stemmed from the Jewish belief that prophets died on the anniversary of their conception. Since Jesus was crucified on Nisan 14 (equivalent to Mar 25), according to the Gospel of St. John, this implied that He had been conceived on Mar 25 (hence the Feast of the Annunciation) and born on Dec 25. This would differ from the Eastern Church's calculation, which would ultimately reach the conclusion of January 6th.
The date concluded was not chosen to subvert Saturnalia, Sol Invictus or any other pagan festivity, and there is no early writing to suggest otherwise; rather, such ideas were contrived much later, but the date falling on December 25th or January 6th had more to do with calculations based on scriptural interpretation than pagan festivities.
While St Cyprian may have thought it providential that Christ should be born the day the sun was born, paganism and association of Christ with the Sun God was deemed heretical; therefore, it was not the goal of the Church to associate Christ with the Sun God. It was merely the day that they believed was birthday of Christ.
If one were to examine the Church Fathers, they would find admonitions against associating Christ with pagan gods, especially that of the Sun God, and this was being done as early as Tertullian.
The question then arises of why did the Church pick December 25th for the date of Christ's birth? The frank answer is that they believed it to be so, but before I get to that, many wish to associate Christmas with the feast of Sol Invictus. However, it should be noted that this feast, which essentially replaced worship to Mithras, did not occur until 274 AD. Yet, it may be found that Christian communities were already celebrating the birth of Christ circa 200 AD; consequently, the date varied from community to community, and the uniformity of the celebration would not be until the 300s AD. Nevertheless, Clement of Alexandria (who died in 215 AD) noted that the Basilidians were celebrating the Epiphany on January 6th during his time. It would not be until the Emperor Constantine that Christians would be able to meet and practice their faith freely, and matters such as calendars and even Holy Scripture could be addressed.
Why was December 25th chosen?
The early Christian tradition that Jesus was born on Dec 25 stemmed from the Jewish belief that prophets died on the anniversary of their conception. Since Jesus was crucified on Nisan 14 (equivalent to Mar 25), according to the Gospel of St. John, this implied that He had been conceived on Mar 25 (hence the Feast of the Annunciation) and born on Dec 25. This would differ from the Eastern Church's calculation, which would ultimately reach the conclusion of January 6th.
The date concluded was not chosen to subvert Saturnalia, Sol Invictus or any other pagan festivity, and there is no early writing to suggest otherwise; rather, such ideas were contrived much later, but the date falling on December 25th or January 6th had more to do with calculations based on scriptural interpretation than pagan festivities.
While St Cyprian may have thought it providential that Christ should be born the day the sun was born, paganism and association of Christ with the Sun God was deemed heretical; therefore, it was not the goal of the Church to associate Christ with the Sun God. It was merely the day that they believed was birthday of Christ.
