1John 2:15 - Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
James 2:5 - Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
1John 3:1 - Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
“Santa” and “The Tammuz Tree”
Every year as the world honors the holidays (holy days), Christians continue to follow the ancient Babylonian ritual of placing an evergreen tree in their home and decorating it. Clearly, many believers are aware the Christmas tree is associated with Pagan religious idolatry, but they continue to rationalize their involvement because they claim that God has now "sanctified" the holiday and somehow redeemed it. This is, of course, apostasy of the worst kind for the practice of convincing oneself of the acceptability of anything they desire to do when the Bible clearly instructs them not to, places them in deadly spiritual peril.
The Lord says "my spirit will not always strive with a man," so we should be earnest in our efforts to submit everything to God lest we eventually cross some 
undesirable spiritual threshold. The Old Testament book of Jeremiah explicitly tells us "Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax; They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (Jeremiah 10:2-4)
In ancient Babylon, the goddess figure Semiramus was the mother of the Sumerian deity Tammuz. Other surrounding cultures have differing names for Tammuz. He is Attis to the Phoenicians, and Adonis to the Greeks, etc. In each legend, he dies young and his birth and death are honored on his birthday which coincided with the Winter Solstice. This was celebrated on December 25th. Part of the religious ritual involved cutting down a young green evergreen tree, which kills the tree, as a way of commemorating the premature death of Tammuz.
This tree is then decorated in the fashion Jeremiah described. A corollary to the "Tammuz tree," was the rite in which the women cried for the dead god. Shortly after Jeremiah's time, we find the idolatry has penetrated the Jewish temple where we see sun worship and "women weeping for Tammuz." (Ezekiel 16:14) The sun worship is closely related to the end of the Winter Solstice when the sun begins to stay in the sky longer.
The boughs of holly and related accouterments are descended from Celtic and Druidic rituals associated with the Wiccans or witchcraft.
Even the "yule" log that's placed on the fire is a Babylonian word. Obviously, the concept of a jolly immortal fellow dressed in red leaving gifts under the tree has a serious occultist flavor, but naming him a saint seems to make him acceptable with worldly Christians.
Christmas is but one of the pagan holy days that have infiltrated the Christian calendar and replaced the only holy day that God ordained, the seventh day.
Easter, which is derived from the name Ishtar, is actually closely related to the Tammuz tree. Indeed, the common
"Christians" routinely defend the sunrise Easter service as honoring the discovery of the resurrection of JESUS that occurred 3 days after Passover. With many of them not realizing they are honoring the ancient pagan holy day of Easter that predated Christianity by many centuries. In fact, the New Testament clearly shows the Apostles honored Passover, while the evil king Herod honored the Easter celebration. (Acts 12:2)
The day of Resurrection
The Bible states that the first day of the crucifixion is the day before the High Jewish Sabbath of the Seventh day.
State churches and World Christians refuse to repent of this pagan practice even as they assign the label of cultist to the various groups that seek to tell them the truth. "Satan" Claus continues to cast his spell as churches across the country produce pageants & programs like The Singing Christmas Tree. These extravaganzas are commercially marketed through seemingly respectable Christian organizations. Some churches, such as the Wesleyan Church, produce a variation. In San Diego, the Skyline Wesleyan has a pageant called The Living Christmas Tree. Tickets are available by calling 619-462-TREE.
Even without a formal choir program, literally thousands of Christian churches actually place Christmas trees right in their sanctuary every year. In our area, we have the Festival of Trees wherein every charitable group in the county gets involved as a community effort. At the Festival of Trees, they follow the Druidic ceremonies and even name each tree.
Christmas Trees reign in so-called American "Christian" culture. Sacramentalist & scriptural renegade Chuck Colson's Prison
There are thousands of examples of Christian T-Shirts, greeting cards, and even sheet music of Gospel songs incorporating the evergreen paganism. Even examples of Christian musician's newsletters are decorated with boughs of holly. There have been expensive print ads running in national Christian magazines that feature Christmas trees behind the printed pitch. There are seasonal catalogs from Christian book publishers with holiday titles that show manger like scenes in groves of Christmas trees.
In a Christmas drama catalog put out by Lillenas (the Nazarene church media arm,) 3 of the 5 book covers shown features Christmas trees. Sandi Patty's Word book (released by Thomas Nelson, the largest Christian publisher) "Merry Christmas, With Love," features a boy dragging a tree into his house on the cover. "Let's Keep Christmas" published by NavPress & written by revered pastor Peter Marshall has the whole family dragging the abomination to their house.
Children's ministry figure Rob Evans has a Christmas tree on the cover of his video from Integrity Press. Praise Banners has a 40" banner of a Christmas tree that is marketed specifically to churches.
Top Christian music artist Brian Duncan is pictured in front of his tree on his new Christmas CD. Even the print ads for the farewell version of the Young Messiah tour featured the evergreen motif in the form of boughs of holly while a drama produced by the Lamb's Players has the same Babylonian artifacts. There are literally hundreds of other examples, but the question is, what’s wrong with this picture?
The refusal of Christians to recognize the importance of relinquishing such demonic associations is a powerful indicator the church has gone astray. Following a pagan practice is sin, but the more dangerous sin is the steadfast refusal to recognize that the Bible tells us to present our bodies as "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is (our) reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).
This conflict illustrates the very real problem of how we interpret works versus grace.
But the Word of God is pure and always true. God is not mocked, thus we would do well do take to heart the already cited passage concerning the Tammuz Tree and what will happen to those that refuse to hear His warning: "Learn not the way of the heathen...in the time of their visitation they shall perish." (Jeremiah 10:2, 15)
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Satan's Clothes - Santa's Claus
Revelation 13
8.And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9. If any man have an ear, let him hear.
2 Thessalonians 2
3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
History
Pre-Christian origins of holiday
Christmas has its origins in several pagan holidays.
The Roman celebration known as Saturnalia included the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia). This holiday was observed over a series of days beginning on December 17 (the birthday of Saturn) and ending on December 25 (the birthday of Sol Invictus, the "unconquered sun").
The combined festivals resulted in an extended winter holiday season. Business was postponed and even slaves feasted.
There was drinking, gambling, and singing, and nudity was relatively common.
It was the "best of days," according to the poet Catullus.
During the time in which Christianity was spreading throughout the
another similar religion known as Mithraism was also gaining widespread acceptance.
The followers of Mithraism worshipped Mithras, a god of Persian origin, who was identified with Sol Invictus.
The followers of Mithraism, consequently, adopted the birthday of Sol Invictus as the birthday of
Mithras. In 274 AD, due to the popularity of Mithraism, Emperor Aurelian designated December 25 as the festival of Sol Invictus.
After the death of Emperor Constantine, three of his sons inherited the
Those who were non-Christians or followers of Mithras were eventually forced to convert under these laws. In spite of their conversion they adapted many elements of their old religions into Christianity. Among these was the celebration of the birth of Mithras on December 25 which was now observed as the birthday of Jesus.
Christian origins of holiday
Around 220 AD, the theologian Tertullian declared that Jesus died on March 25, 29, but was resurrected three days later. Although this is not a plausible date for the crucifixion, it does suggest that March 25, nine months before December
25th, had significance for the church even before it was used as a basis to calculate Christmas. Modern scholars favor a crucifixion date of April 3, 33, which was also the date of a partial lunar eclipse (These are Julian calendar dates. Subtract two days for a Gregorian date.).
By 240 AD, a list of significant events was being assigned to March 25, partly because it was believed to be the date of the vernal equinox.
These events include creation, The Fall of Adam and Eve, and, most relevantly, the Incarnation.
The view that the Incarnation occurred on the same date as crucifixion is consistent with a Jewish belief that prophets died at an "integral age," either an anniversary of their birth or of their conception.
The idea that December 25 is Jesus' birthday was popularized by Sextus Julius Africanus in Chronographiai (221 AD), an early reference book for Christians.
This identification did not at first inspire feasting or celebration. In 245 AD, the theologian Origen denounced the idea of celebrating the birthday of Jesus "as if he were a king pharaoh." Only sinners, not saints, celebrate their birthdays, Origen contended.
As
gave the church an opportunity to promote the intermediate view that Christ was divine from the time of his incarnation. Mary, a minor figure for early
Christians, gained prominence as the theotokos, or god-bearer.
There were Christmas celebrations in
Medieval Christmas and related winter festivals
Christmas soon outgrew the Christological controversy that created it and came to dominate the medieval calendar.
The forty days before Christmas became the "forty days of
Former Saturnalian traditions were attached to Advent. Around the 12th century, these traditions transferred again to the "twelve days of Christmas"
(i.e. Christmas to Epiphany).
The fortieth day after Christmas was Candlemas.
The Egyptian Christmas celebration on January 6 was adopted as Epiphany, one of the most prominent holidays of the year during the Early Middle Ages. Christmas Day itself was a relatively minor holiday, although its prominence gradually increased after
Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas Day in 800 AD.
Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul (Yule), originally the name of a twelve-day pre-Christian winter festival. Logs were lit to honor Thor, the god of thunder, hence the "Yule log." In
By the High Middle Ages, Christmas had become so prominent that chroniclers routinely noted where various magnates "celebrated Christmas." King Richard II
of
Christmas feasts. Caroling also became popular, and was originally a group of dancers who sang. The group was composed of a lead singer and a ring of dancers that provided the chorus. Various writers of the time condemned caroling as
lewd, largely due to overtones reminiscent of the traditions of Saturnalia and Yule). "Misrule” drunkenness, promiscuity, gambling — was also an important
aspect of the festival. In
The Reformation and the 1800s
Santa Claus hands out gifts to Union soldiers during the US Civil War in Thomas Nast's first Santa Claus cartoon, Harper's Weekly, 1863.During the Reformation,
Protestants condemned Christmas celebration as "trappings of popery" and
the "rags of the Beast". The Catholic Church responded by promoting the festival in
a more religiously oriented form.
When a Puritan parliament triumphed over the King, Charles I of
Pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities.
For several weeks,
The Restoration (1660) ended the ban, but Christmas celebration was still disapproved of by the Anglican clergy.
By the 1820s, sectarian tension had eased and British writers began to worry that Christmas was dying out. They imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration, and efforts were made to revive the holiday.
The book A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens played a major role in reinventing Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion (as opposed to communal celebration and hedonistic excess).
Father Christmas persuades the jury of his innocence in The Examination and Trial of Father Christmas (1686) by Josiah King The Puritans of
disapproved of Christmas and celebration was outlawed in
Meanwhile,
Interest was revived by several short stories by
depict harmonious warm-hearted holiday traditions
in
describes, they were imitated by his American readers.
German immigrants and the homecomings of the Civil War helped promote the holiday.
Rome, the Nativity and the Sun God
Early celebrations of Christ's birth
First of all, the commemoration of Christ’s birth became an independent feast only in the fourth century when it was separated from the Epiphany (the Magi’s visit to Jesus, ie, the pagan recognition of Christ’s divinity). In the early Christian Church, in fact, the Birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi and the Theophany (the manifestation of Christ’s divinity at his baptism) were all celebrated together on 6 January.
The Cronografo of 354, containing, among other things, lists of Roman feasts, of consoles, city prefects, and burial dates of Roman bishops and martyrs, is the first written evidence that Christ’s Nativity was celebrated on 25 December and that it marked the beginning of the liturgical year in Rome from 336. Some scholars even believe that this celebration was first established around 300, possibly not in Rome, but in North Africa.
Influential pagan practices
It is certain that in Rome the institution and celebration of Christmas was strongly influenced by pre-existing pagan practices. Since 45 BC, Romans used to celebrate the winter solstice (from Latin sol stitium, ie, 'sun standstill') on 25 December, when the duration of daylight first begins to increase. All ancient religions were indeed very sensitive to the movement of the sun and the other celestial bodies, which were fundamental for all human activities (not only agriculture, but also war and peace, social organisation, etc.) since they determined the change of seasons and, thus, the whole cycle of life. This is shown in Greco-Roman art as well as in some ancient Jewish synagogues (eg, the zodiac of Beth Alpha synagogue). Representations of the sun-god Helios/Apollo, personifications of Seasons and seasonal activities (such as harvesting putti) were indeed quite widespread.
Helios/Sol Invictus
One of the most common theories is that the Christmas festivity originated from the pagan feast of Sol Invictus (the undefeated sun). This god counted among his many adepts the first Christian emperor, Constantine, whose syncretistic tendencies (ie, melding the traditions of various faiths) are well known. It is not surprising that the ceremony of dedication of Constantinople in 330 was half–pagan, half-Christian: the chariot of the sun-god was set in the market square with the Cross of Christ over its head, while the Kyrie Eleison (Greek for 'Lord have mercy' and a liturgical rite) was sung.
As a matter of fact, Romans had developed a local Sun cult much earlier (at least from the first century BC, according to written evidence), which was centred on the Quirinal hill but did not have any preferential day for its festivities. This local cult was replaced in the second century AD by Oriental sun cults, namely Mithraism and Sol Invictus Elagabal. Neither of them, however, had a public celebration day on the winter solstice. Apparently, it was only in 274 with the Emperor Aurelian that 25 December became the day dedicated to Sol Invictus, whose cult, in the meanwhile, had been reformed and “Romanised” as an attempt at religious “monotheism” unifying the various cults diffused throughout the empire.
“The Sun of justice”
However, the reason why Christians adopted a day which had such strong “solar” connotations for the Birth of Christ is not merely linked to the cult of Sol Invictus. There are biblical references that justify these developments. Early Christians attributed to Christ the words of the Old Testament’s prophet Malachi: “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of justice will rise with healing in his rays (Ml 3:20)”. In a Christian text of an unknown author (Pseudo-Cyprian) called De pascha computus of 243, drawing a parallel between the creation of the world and the events of Christ’s life, we read: “O how admirable and divine is the providence of the Lord, that on that day on which the sun was made on the same day was Christ born, the 5th of the Kalends of April, the fourth day of the week, and so rightly did the prophet Malachi say to the people: ”the sun of righteousness shall rise upon you, with healing in his wings”. Despite the fact that the date for Christ’s nativity was not considered to be 25 December, but 28 March (25 March, ie, the Spring equinox, was thought to indicate the first day of creation; the sun was created on the fourth day according to Genesis), the comparison between Christ and the sun was clearly stated. Christ was greeted as the Sun of righteousness, the beginning of a new era, and his resurrection was associated with the dawn. He was the Saviour and the Lord of the universe, the Light and Life of the whole creation. This dimension of Christian worship is shown, for example, in the third century mosaic of the grottoes under St. Peter’s Basilica, on the ceiling of the tomb of the Julii, where Christ is represented with a radiated crown as the sun-god Helios/Sol Invictus riding in his chariot (see photo).
Thus, Christmas is the celebration of Christ the Sun of the world, in a moment of the year when the sun starts “growing” again, and the darkness slowly makes room for the light... Nature and religion, astrology and liturgy are perfectly combined. Once again, early Christians anchored their faith in the “instinctive” and creative intelligence of the many generations and cultures that had preceded them.
Raffaela Fazio*
December 2006
*Author note: Raffaela Fazio holds degrees in Modern European Languages, Religious Sciences, and a Master of Arts in the Cultural Heritage of the Church from the Pontifical Gregorian University. She works for the Holy See's Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.
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