Crhistmas Celebration.pptx

CHRISTMAS
ORIGINS &
CELEBRATION
By
PT Khumalo

What It Is
The name of the celebration: Christ + mas = Mass that is taken on
Christ’s Birthday. (Britannica)
This name is fairly new in origin. The encyclopaedia suggests that it
might have derived from German “jōl” or Anglo-Saxon “geōl” which
refers to a feast of winter solstice.
The French “Neöl” suggests nativity (stat of being born).
Since the 20th century Christmas has been a secular holiday,
celebrated by both Christians and non-Christians devoid of Christian
elements.
24 January 2023 The Christmas Origin & Celebrations 2

What It Is, Cont.
An atheist Tom Flynn, in his book “The Trouble with Christmas”
argues that as a humanist, when tacitly participating in Christmas:
You add legitimacy to Christianity.
You lose the ability to criticise this religion.
We agree with him on that point 100%.
We cannot say this thing is illegitimate, and participate on it at the
same time without losing our morals.

The ORIGIN & DEVELOPMENT
Early Christian community distinguished between date identification and liturgical
celebration of Christ’s birth.
Birthdays are said to have started around 3000 BCE in Egypt.
They are said to have been the monopoly of the Pharaohs.
(www.pumpitupparty.com).
Even with them, this was not their true birthdays, in that they referred to his
ascension to the throne as he was believed he was then transformed to a god.
Pagan Greeks believed that when a king is born, he had a spirit that watched him
mystically relating to a god that was born on the same day as he.
This was not for common people until the time of the Roman republics.

Birthdays were considered to be a pagan ritual by the Christians, and a
celebration thereof, evil.
This way, there was no way for the early Christians to have celebrated the
birthday of Christ until in the 4th century.
The Britannica says,: “the precise origin of the 25th December as a birthday of
Jesus is unclear.
According to this source, “it was Sextus Julius Africanus who was a Christian
‘historian’ who came up with this date in 221 AD.
Another source attributes this dat to Christinaizing of the dies solis invicti nati
(Latin for birthday of unconquered sun) which was a popular holiday in the
Roman Empire.
As it is common knowledge now that Christians had to compromise to be
accepted then, the above is more reliable

Flynn, a humanist, asks a very important question despite being an
atheist,:
If we infidels are committed to truth and critical thinking, how can we condemn certain
superstitions and embrace others? (The Trouble with Christmas, by Tom Flynn, p13)
We are not limiting this question to superstitions but do extend it to the law,
as some are hung on the cross while others in the same category are
pulled down from the cross.
The same goes for festivities. We ask how can some be promoted and
celebrated while others are hung on the cross?
On page 26 of his book, Flynn says “Some infidels think they can get the
best of both worlds by observing winter solstice. Is winter solstice a
brilliant compromise?”

www.historyvault.com, commenting on Christmas says: “Many
people rejoice during the winter solstice, when the worst of winter
was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and
extended hours of sunlight.” (History of Christmas)
We also learnt that in Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated the Yule
from 21 December, winter solstice, through January…
The people would feast until the log burns out, which could take as
many as 12 days at times.
They also believed that each spark from the burning log represented
a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.

Pagan Celebrations
There are many pagan celebrations that have been baptised into
Christianity or which Christianity has adopted.
Father Gavazzi, a Roman Catholic Priest, testifies to this in his lectures.
One such pagan festivity is called “Saturnalia” which was a hedonistic time
when food and drink was plentiful and the normal Roman social life was
turned upside down.
For a month of December, enslaved people were given temporal
freedom and treated as equals.
Businesses and schools were closed so that all could participate in the
festivities.

Pagan Celebrations
MITHRA: Was a god of the unconquerable sun, who was celebrate on the
25th of December.
It was belied that Mithra, an infant god was born on the 25th Dec. From
a rock.
For some Romans, Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred day of the
year.
We are trying to avoid boredom on your part by giving you just these two.
By participating on these celebrations of this day, which god are you
honouring? Is it Mithra or Saturnalia? It surely isn’t the Creator of Heaven
and earth.

Christmas Myths
The Christmas Origin & Celebrations
An Australian SDA Pastor, Emmanuel
Millen, calls this history we have just
discussed a “MYTH”.
He bases his assertion on a book by
Alexander Hislop, “The Two Babylons”.
Alexander in this book compared the
Roman Catholic Church to Babylon.
Our guess is the close connection he
has with the said church that he takes
such an unbiblical stance.
24 January 2023 10

Christmas Myths, Cont.
This pastor admits though that “Alexander had a few facts correct on several
occasions.
That does not convince him though that these are not just correct but accurate.
(Such is a hypnotised mind.)
Emmanuel denies that the Romans celebrated Mithra’s birthday on this date.
He bases his argument on an unsynchronised Lunar/Solar/ Gregorian calendas.
He says this date (25 Dec.) would have fallen on any day and not on the same
day every year.
Obviously, this pastor never did hermeneutics at school, if he did, then he must
have failed it with flying colours.

He makes some admissions though by quoting:
The pagan worship of the unconquerable sun (Sol Invictus) was
celebrated on the 25th of December.
He has some knowledge which he intends to refute that this holiday
was instituted by the Roman Emperor Aurelian in 274 AD.
He says in is research, the earliest recorded date of Christmas
celebration was in 202 AD.
We believe his research to be either too shallow or he conveniently
forgot who introduced it and when. (Refer to our earlier slide)

His definition of Christmas is shocking. He says this term in from Latin “Christ – Mas”
where “mas” means “sent” and he uses John 17:18 when Christ sent His disciples.
In all shape, form and size, his definition is coined up to deceive as many members of
his church as possible.
Had his definition been true, it would mean that every Sunday, the Catholics celebrate
being “sent” and that has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.
That still would nullify his celebration of what he calls Christmas.
He goes home on his “fantasy” that Jesus was conceived most probably in late
December.
To convince his readers that he is a scholar and a researcher, he throws in the story of
Judas Maccabees victory over the Romans and the restoration of the Temple, 164 BC.
He calls this a miracle of light, ascribed to when the Jews came in the Temple to light the
Menorah, they found only half day worth of oil, which miraculously lasted for 8 days until
they got enough oil.

That story is not in the Bible for a purpose! And should not be drawn in
here to confuse and mislead God’s people.
While we were wondering how the Hanukah, (Jewish festival of light)
comes in here, then he says because that happened in winter solstice, and
Jesus was miraculously conceived in the solstice.
He then says that according to him, Christmas is correctly celebrated in
winter solstice since Christ was conceived in that time.
If we were to take his logic and believe it as he intends we should, then
Christmas would have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus, for, it could
have taken place some 9 months later than December.
That would still have nothing to do with 25 December either as we do not
know the date of conception.

We recognise him as a Christmas diehard since he even coins up some
myths in order to convince his spiritually destitute believers.
Under a title he calls “Mandate”, he states clearly that the Bible does not
mandate his celebration.
He then tells another lies that since Jesus celebrated Hanukah, then He
must have sanctioned it.
We have read from the Bible that Jesus often went to the Temple, but have
not read that He celebrated Hanukah. That is an assumption on his part.
Maybe that is found in the book of Maccabees, which is not the Bible!
We also noted that he did not give any Biblical reference to his
assumption.

He then quotes E.G. White saying, “Christmas can serve a very good
purpose.”
As we all can read, this statement does not say “celebrate Christmas!”
Neither does it read “Christmas celebration can serve a good purpose.”
Thus we think the good pastor is once again over board, misquoting even
other writers in support of his unbiblical belief.
Some members of the Seventh-day Adventist church do celebrate
Christmas, basing it on account that their pastor or leader said so.
We find that strange that they defy God in allegiance to their pastor or
leader!

Biblical Research Institute
This body has been established and given authority to give church statements on
SDA beliefs.
We are quoting in this instance a statement by Manuel Rodriguez on Christmas
entitled “Should Adventists Celebrate Christmas?”
He says right from the beginning, “Adventists are not against and should not be
against Christmas.”
We note again that he does not give a Scriptural reason for his command that
SDAs “should not be against Christmas.”
We also note that he intentionally says nothing about Christmas celebration in
his command to the SDA members.
That leaves one wondering who actually should be listened to, God in His Word
or the so called “Church Leaders”?
We noted that he opposed Millen, the pastor, in his definition of Christmas.

Rodriguez defines Christmas as “Christ-messe or Christ mass” and
correctly states that it originates from the Middle Ages practice of
having a Mid-night Mass on the eve of 25th December, to celebrate
Christ’s birth.
He even states that the most common explanation of Christmas is
somehow connected with Roman cult of the Invincible Sun (Latin: Sol
Invictus) which was celebrated on the 25th of December.
He also says, “this could explain the importance of lights during the
celebration of Nativity.”
We note again that on this point, he opposes his pastor-colleague,
Emmanuel.

We take his conclusion that: “We do not know why God in His
providence, chose not to preserve for us the records of Jesus’ birth.
Thus there is no need to speculate on this.”
We agree with him when he says: “The fact that the Christian world
celebrates Christmas on 25 December, we cannot change.”
The reason why we agree with him is that we are not called to
change anybody’s belief, but to proclaim God’s will as expressed in
His word, the Bible.
From history we learn that at one time, people tried to cancel
Christmas from 1659 to 1681, but failed. – Prof. David Kyle Johnson

Historical Support: Early Christianity
Saturnalia was a popular December celebration in the Roman Empire.
Jesus would have been born between 15 BCE and 15 CE.
Earliest writings (Paul and Mark) mention nothing about Jesus’ birth.
Luke and Matthew wanted to establish Jesus’ “status” at birth, but their birth
stories are different and contradictory.
Other additions to the story were made by pseudo-gospels—e.g., virgin birth
and perpetual virginity.
Early Christians (first 350years) did not celebrate birthdays (like pagans do)
and
thus, did not celebrate Jesus’ birth.
But two gospels – Mathew and Luke—do tell the story,
to establish that he was “special from birth.”

The Nativity Stories - Differences
Matthew: Herod, wise-men, slaughter of innocent boys, star,
angel appears to Joseph.
Luke: angel appears to Mary, census, shepherds, host of
angels, inn and manger, temple presentation.

The Nativity Stories - Contradictions
Location:
Matthew’s story starts in Bethlehem (they live there), the family flees to Egypt
because of Herod’s threat, then they move to Nazareth.
Luke’s story starts in Nazareth (they live there), they have to go to Bethlehem for a
census, then they go right back to Nazareth after a quick stop at the temple in
Jerusalem.
Time period:
Matthew has Herod ruling (he died in 4 BCE).
Luke specifically places the precursors of the story (the heralding of the birth of John
the Baptist) during the days of Herod’s reign, but then specifically places all other
events “after those days.” Even more specifically, Luke says the birth takes places
while Quirinius is governor of Syria (he began his rule as governor of Syria in 6 CE).
Both knew nothing of Jesus’ birth but were simply telling a story consistent with what
they knew from Mark (born in Bethlehem, from Nazareth, mother is Mary). But they told
totally different stories that had these elements.

The Nativity Stories – Other Problems
No census ever required relocation, much less one based on ancestral relations
tracing back 1000 years.
No record of a census under Caesar Augustus.
No record of a slaughter of innocents by Herod in Bethlehem—and careful records
were kept.
A star that “leads” and stops over a specific house doesn’t make any sense.
Also note: The magi would not have arrived until at least 2 years after Jesus’ birth,
not “in the stable.”
Mathew’s Virginal Conception is based in a mistranslation of Isaiah 7:14. (“young
woman” vs. “virgin”)
Note: Nothing about virginity in Mark,
the earliest gospel.
There is no way shepherds would watch
their flocks by night, at the end of
December, when the days were
shortest and sheep predators hibernating.

Christmas Wars
Constantine “converted” to Christianity in the early 300s.
The biggest festivals and celebrations: Saturnalia (mid-December) and the
sun god’s (Sol/Mithra) birthday—Dec 25th (their solstice).
Sun god was big with the military and government officials.
Constantine “declared” Dec 25th Jesus’ birthday to aid in the conversion of
his empire. (He couldn’t convert his empire or army by force, but he couldn’t
have them celebrating non-Christian festivals either.)
This way, he could say, the celebration was done “in Jesus’ name.”
Around 336, Dec 25th is first identified, in print, as the anniversary of Jesus’
birth.
So starts the effort to “Christianize” December celebrations.
People begin to forget the real origin of the celebration.

Christianizing Christmas
It’s important to realize that these efforts were part of a campaign to claim late
December holidays for Christ—to make people think that the holiday originated from
Christianity and ultimately to Christianize the holiday.
Some of these efforts were successful…
Most people did eventually forget the origins of the holiday and assumed that it
began in year one with the birth of Christ. (This is evident still today.)
… and others were not.
The holiday was never Christianized.
The reason that Constantine had to “re-label” the holiday, instead of eliminate it,
is because he couldn’t.
People were not going to stop celebrating their favorite holiday, and they were
not going to change the way they did. (Can you imagine if the president declared
that we all stop buying Christmas gifts?)
The raucous customs of misrule, social inversion, heavy drinking and wild sex
continued…to this day.

The Puritans and Christmas
The effort to Christianize the holiday was such a failure that the Puritans
surrendered; they ended the Christian War for Christmas by declaring a War
on Christmas.
Knowing that it was rooted in pagan religion, and hating its raucousness,
Puritans banned the celebration of Christmas.
You had to work on Christmas—couldn’t take the day off.
You couldn’t go to church on Christmas (unless it fell on a Sunday).
They (e.g., Increase Mather, Cotton Mather) preached against its evils.
You could be fined, or put in the stocks, for celebrating.
They didn’t control everything, but celebrating Christmas remained very
unpopular through the 1600s and into the 1800s—both in Europe and the
American Colonies.
It wasn’t even a nationally recognized holiday until 1870.

Conclusion
The Christmas Origin & Celebrations
Cutting to the chase, the mere fact that the exact date of Jesus’ birth is
not known, means it wasn’t supposed to be celebrated.
If one celebrates any day of his choosing and ascribes it to Jesus, that is
tantalous to idolatry.
The similar date can’t be coincidence.
Constantine had to either eliminate everyone’s favorite holiday,
Saturnalia, AND Christianize Sol Invictus.
There is evidence that Christians before Constantine were already trying
to gain legitimacy and converts by making Christ look like Sol Invictus, the
sun god.
Emperor Aurelian had declared sun worship the official Roman
religion around 270, TO UNIFY the empire AND to combat
Christianity.
Evidence suggests that a propaganda war ensued: Pope Leo
complained that Christians were still bowing to the sun before
entering St. Peter’s Basilica as late as the mid-400s.
Moved their Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday .
Artwork depicted Jesus riding the “sun chariot” across the skies
from late 300s (similarity continues today).
24 January 2023 27

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