A Historical look into the Origin and Traditions of Christmas

Many years ago I began to question whether or not Christmas is about Jesus. This one question lead me on a path to un-cover the origin of Christmas, and whether it was even true. “Is Jesus truly the reason for this holiday season?”

Now you might want to turn away at this point as you begin to feel an upwelling of discomfort. You may want to dis-miss me as “one of those fanatics!” I assure you that my intent is only to shine a light on truth regarding our walk of faith as believers in Christ. One of those truths surrounds the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I pray you will have the strength to read on, and allow God’s wisdom to shine upon you.

Many of us have followed, and participated in a great number of festivals, celebrations, and traditions over the years. Having either been told, or become accustomed to participate. However, as to the reasons why there never seems to be an explanation. Well, I would like to give some historical, and factual reasons for “the season” we have come to call “Christmas”.

The first known and documented occurrence of Christmas was during the time of the Emperor Constantine. Constantine is most notably known to most Christians as the emperor who ended the persecution of Christians. Add to that, his mother Helena also made a mark in Christendom by locating and preserving Christian holy sites.

Constantine converted to Christianity during his reign as emperor of Rome in the year 306-337 AD. However, it has been noted in the historical texts that he was not baptized until on his death bed in 337 AD by the Archbishop of Constantinople-Eusebius of Nicomedia.

During his reign as emperor, Constantine was reported as being a strong supporter, follower, and devout protector of Christianity. However, he had transitioned to Christianity from a Roman pagan culture, and thus he still had ties to some of the pagan traditions. One of those was the celebration of Saturnalia, and Sol Invictus.

Saturnalia was/is a roman pagan celebration during the harvest time in December during the the winter solstice. The festival celebrates saturn, who was the Roman pagan god of agriculture. The celebration included several similarities of the modern day Christmas celebration of the following: the giving of gifts, hanging wreaths, evergreen trees, parties, mistletoe, lights/candles, and the wearing of festive colorful clothing to signify the event. The adoption of December 25th, as the date for Christmas, is more closely related to the celebration of Sol Invictus. Sol Invictus was known as the Roman sun god. The church in Rome began the celebration of Christmas on December 25th, 336 AD during Constantine’s reign as emperor. It has been said that the turn of Rome to Christianity under the rule of Constantine is the reason that he change December 25th from the celebration of Sol Invictus to celebration of Christ’s birth and name it Christmas.

So then, is Jesus the reason for the season? The simple answer is a flat out NO! Over the years I had been told that Christmas is about the birth of Christ, or the Nativity. The nativity is real. Christ was born, and was a real person. God in the flesh, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit. That being said he was not born on December 25th. The scriptures, or any extra Biblical sources for that matter, do not definitively document a date of his birth. However, the time frame was closer to the spring, and it is documentable. There is mention throughout the scriptures, as well as extra Biblical sources, that make mention of the shepards in the field tending the lambs, (spring lambs for sacrifice during the passover festival). There is also the mention of Herod and his slaughter of the innocent children after his visit from the magi. Herod ordered that all the male children under the age of two to be killed. This reference leads us to the two year time period before the magi actually visited Jesus.The Apostle Luke wrote a very thorough account of Jesus’ life as he spent a great deal of time with Jesus’ mother Mary. However, Luke was very vague about the time of Jesus’ conception, and birth. Scholars have concluded that Jesus was more likely born around March. Either way, the historical accounts of December 25th reveal that the Emperor Constantine officially instituted December 25th as the day everyone would celebrate the birth of Christ.

You may be asking at this point, “What’s wrong with that?” The scriptures tells us not to add to or take away from the word of God.

Proverbs 30:6

“Do not add to his words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”- NKJV

Isaiah 29:13

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.:- -NIV.

Mathew 15:8-10

Jesus had this to say,

“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me, but in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.”- NASB1995

In this day and age it seems as though there is more attention being placed on the “birth” of Christ rather than the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Our salvation comes from the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The blood He shed for our sins is what allows us to be cleansed. His birth was necessary for the sacrifice, but the birth is meaningless without the sacrifice.

John 14:6 Jesus says,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Based on all this I have chosen to step away from the celebration of Christmas, and instead focus more on the resurrection of Christ. I prefer to celebrate “Resurrection Day”. This is a topic for another discussion as this is a day that falls closely on another day of a pagan festival known as Easter. For those of you who find the lines blurred I will refer you to the term syncretism for further research.

In conclusion, I would like to say that I pray that you have come away with a renewed hope and faith in Jesus Christ, and not in an invented holiday. It is my hope that you will feel the relief, as I did, that comes from knowing that you are no longer bound to the traditions and precepts of the doctrine of man. No longer do you need to face the dreaded, “day after” fall out that inevitably follows Christmas. There is something to said for the psychological impact such a doctrinal celebration can have on a person’s mental well being.

I pray God’s wisdom will shine upon you, and you will forever find yourself in His favor,

All my love in Christ Jesus,

Annie 🙂