State of Protest

Shortly after Halloween had ended, it began. Christmas. Small signs of the impending, inescapable attack of the Christmas season had already begun to appear. The seasonal aisles of my supermarket were cleared of Halloween sweets, supplies, and decorations to be replaced with Christmas sweets, plastic evergreen trees, decorations, and gifts. Soon my mind began to wander: Do the men selling the $5 “Keep the Christ in Christmas” magnets at the supermarket know (or care) that many Christmas traditions are pagan in origin? How much of these traditions and customs are directly related to the actual birth of Jesus? Did I correctly remember that Christmas celebrations were at one time outlawed in Colonial America?

Let’s have a quick look at Colonial America, the Pilgrims, and Christmas.

The Pilgrims were separatists who sought to purify the Church of England by ridding it of all Roman Catholic influence. These Puritans regarded Christmas as a frivolous and wasteful celebration which was unaligned with core Christian beliefs. They had found no historical or scriptural reference regarding the December 25th birthday of Jesus. They denounced Christmas as a pagan ritual that had been disguised in Christianity. Providing further impetus for the Puritan suppression of Christmas was the manner in which the celebration occurred. Raucous behavior, mockery, and excessive consumption of food and alcohol were common characteristics of the Christmas celebration. The celebrations were thought to be so disruptive and unsavory at the time, that the General Court of Massachusetts declared in 1659 that celebration of Christmas was to be a criminal offense (the law was repealed in 1681).¹ So, on December 25th, Puritan separatists toiled as they would have on any other day while frowning upon the celebration of Christmas.

It is somewhat of a loss that the Puritanical suppression of Christmas did not catch on. I tire of the annual Christmas bombardment. In the United States, the Christmas holiday permeates the marketplace for at least two full months. This is where I stifle my rant about Christmastime consumerism. I encounter Christmas party after Christmas party, each meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This year I have been metaphorically submerged in mistletoe and holly that sometimes I think I may drown. On the other hand, I enjoy the paid Christmas vacation. I enjoy it, that is, until I stop to think about the origin of Christmas and its traditions.

As I mentioned above, Puritans denounced Christmas as a pagan ritual that had been re-wrapped in Christian wrapping paper. In pre-Christian Europe, it was a tradition to celebrate the winter solstice. Celebrating the winter solstice may be one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. As the winter solstice approached, each day grew shorter, darker, and colder. Ancient peoples may have believed the sun’s power was weakening as the days progressed toward the winter solstice. When the winter solstice finally arrived, this “loss of power” would cease and the days would grow longer and brighter as the sun’s strength was “reborn”. This would certainly be cause to celebrate, consuming the food and drink that had been the fruits of a successful year of harvest. Different pagan festivals were present in pre-Christian Europe, most of these were related to either the sun or the winter solstice. The largest of the Roman festivals was Saturnalia. Near the time of winter solstice, Romans celebrated Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture and harvest. The celebration was one of feasts, gifts, tom-foolery, gift-giving, and role-reversal. Romans celebrating Saturnalia could be found decorating their homes with greenery and candles. Another Roman festival was Dies Natalis Solis Invicti “the birthday of the unconquered Sun”. The use of the title “Sol Invictus” as it pertained to this festival encompassed several sun gods including Mithras², the patron god of Emporer Aurelian. In northern Europe, Yule was celebrated by the Celts who believed that the sun stood still for twelve days in mid-winter. During these twelve days, a Yule log was lit to conquer the darkness. Mistletoe was a symbol of life during the dark winter months and was also used in many Druid ceremonies. It was harvested by Celtic priests on or about the winter solstice from holy oak trees. ³

Feasts, frolic, candles, bright evergreens, yule logs, holly, and mistletoe - all are part of our modern Christmas celebrations, all are pagan in origin. Since these festivals were age-old traditions, pagans were extremely hesitant to stop celebrating them as part of conversion to Christianity. Some Christians even enjoyed partaking in the pagan celebrations:

“It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnised on that day.”⁴

The Roman Catholic Church needed a method by which the pagans would more easily accept Christianity. The church found this method in the institution of December 25th as a feast in honor of Christ’s birth. The Roman Catholic Church proposed a December 25th Christian celebration which would actively oppose the Roman pagan holiday of Natalis Solis Invicti “the birthday of the unconquered Sun”. It was to take place on the same day of celebration as the pagan celebration. The first Christmas within the Roman Catholic Church occurred when Pope Sixtus III officiated the first Christ Mass on December 25th, 435.⁵⁶

Perhaps there is merit to the Christian celebration of Christ’s birth. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention in what month (or what day) Jesus was born. When reading the nativity story, a December birth seems unlikely. Would shepherds and their flocks sleep outside during a cold winter night? The story also contains a reference to the census requested by Caesar Augustus. According to the story, the census required that people return to their town of origin. Winter months would have been poor traveling for many. Indeed, a winter birth date of Christ is not likely. Since the birth date of Jesus is not known, I suppose that it is acceptable to honor a person on a day other than the day of their birth. However, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus should be the most revered holiday for Christians, seeing as how these events are core to the Christian doctrine. Why create a new holiday to honor his birth? Assimilation. The pre-Christian pagan festivals were too difficult for the Roman Catholic church to combat, so they conveniently began celebrating the birth of Jesus at the same time of year that the pagan festivals had traditionally occurred.

Pagan celebrations of the winter solstice appear to be the real “Reason for the Season”. Without their occurrence, I doubt that we would be celebrating Christmas, and if we did, I doubt that it would take place in winter with the traditions we see today. The celebration of Christmas did not originate as a reverent time of reflection of Christ’s birth. It was a strategy of the Roman Catholic Church to successfully Christianize European pagans. This contradicts the message I had received when growing up in the Methodist church. I had believed that Christmas was a solemn observation of the birth of Jesus Christ. This holiday is misrepresented. Instead of originating as a reverent celebration, it seems to have originated as a Roman Catholic conversion tactic - a tactic which has stolen and repackaged pagan celebrations and customs in an effort to Christianize non-Christians.

1. The Battle for Christmas, 1996 page 14 [↩]
2. The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913 “Mithraism” [↩]
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/wintersolstice.shtml [↩]
4. Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries, Ramsay MacMullen. Yale:1997, p155 [↩]
5. Manual of Liturgical History, 1955, Vol. 2, p. 67 [↩]
6. Encyclopedia Brittanica 1944 edition, “Christmas” [↩]