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"Christian" Holidays

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Are Christmas and Easter pagan holidays?

Do you believe in Thanksgiving?

 

Question: Are Christmas and Easter pagan holidays?

“Some friends of mine are saying it is not good to celebrate Christmas and Easter for they were named after [false] gods. Is that true or false and what proves it?”

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Answer:

I do not believe Christmas was named after a false god, but it is a generally accepted fact that Easter was named after Eastre, a Teutonic goddess of spring. Many of the common rituals that are practiced on Easter and Christmas have pagan origins, and many have no Christian counterpart to even lend a pretense to their continued practice by Christians. There are many ways to prove these things, and I will just share a few things I found in the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, on this subject.

Under the article Easter this encyclopedia says, “Easter, a Christian festival, embodies many pre-Christian traditions. The origin of its name is unknown. Scholars, however, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe it probably comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored Easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.” (“Easter,” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia)

This encyclopedia also says, “Sun worship persisted in Europe even after the introduction of Christianity, as is evidenced by its disguised survival in such traditional Christian practices as the Easter bonfire and the Yule log on Christmas.” (“Sun Worship,” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia)

Regarding Christmas this encyclopedia says,

“Roman Catholics first celebrated Christmas, then known as the Feast of the Nativity, as early as 336 AD. The word Christmas entered the English language sometime around 1050 as the Old English phrase Christes maesse, meaning “festival of Christ.” Scholars believe the frequently used shortened form of Christmas—Xmas—may have come into use in the 13th century. The X stands for the Greek letter chi, an abbreviation of Khristos (Christ), and also represents the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

“Historians are unsure exactly when Christians first began celebrating the Nativity of Christ. However, most scholars believe that Christmas originated in the 4th century as a Christian substitute for pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. Before the introduction of Christmas, each year beginning on December 17 Romans honored Saturn, the ancient god of agriculture, in a festival called Saturnalia. This festival lasted for seven days and included the winter solstice, which usually occurred around December 25 on the ancient Julian calendar. During Saturnalia the Romans feasted, postponed all business and warfare, exchanged gifts, and temporarily freed their slaves. Many Romans also celebrated the lengthening of daylight following the winter solstice by participating in rituals to glorify Mithra, the ancient Persian god of light (see Mithraism). These and other winter festivities continued through January 1, the festival of Kalends, when Romans marked the day of the new moon and the first day of the month and year.

“Although the Gospels describe Jesus’ birth in detail, they never mention the date, so historians do not know on what date he was born. The Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 as the day for the Feast of the Nativity in order to give Christian meaning to existing pagan rituals. For example, the Church replaced festivities honoring the birth of Mithra, the god of light, with festivities to commemorate the birth of Jesus, whom the Bible calls the light of the world. The Catholic Church hoped to draw pagans into its religion by allowing them to continue their revelry while simultaneously honoring the birthday of Jesus. The Eastern Orthodox Church took a slightly different course. By the end of the 4th century the Eastern Church in Constantinople had also begun to acknowledge December 25 as Jesus’ birthday, but it emphasized the celebration of Christ’s baptism on January 6 as the more important holiday.

“Over the next 1000 years, the observance of Christmas followed the expansion of Christianity into the rest of Europe and into Egypt. Along the way, Christian beliefs combined with existing pagan feasts and winter rituals to create many long-standing traditions of Christmas celebrations. For example, ancient Europeans believed that the mistletoe plant held magic powers to bestow life and fertility, to bring about peace, and to protect against disease. Northern Europeans associated the plant with the Norse goddess of love, Freya, and developed the custom of kissing underneath mistletoe branches. Christians incorporated this custom into their Christmas celebrations, and kissing under a mistletoe branch eventually became a part of secular Christmas tradition.

“During the Reformation of the 16th century, Protestants challenged the authority of the Catholic Church, including its toleration of surviving pagan traditions during Christmas festivities. For a brief time during the 17th century, Puritans banned Christmas in England and in some English colonies in North America because they felt it had become a season best known for gambling, flamboyant public behavior, and overindulgence in food and drink.” (“Christmas,” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia)

Regarding Santa Claus this encyclopedia says, “The Christian figure of Saint Nicholas replaced or incorporated various pagan gift-giving figures such as the Roman Befana and the Germanic Berchta and Knecht Ruprecht. The saint was called Sankt Nikolaus in Germany and Sanct Herr Nicholaas or Sinter Klaas in Holland. In these countries Nicholas was sometimes said to ride through the sky on a horse. He was depicted wearing a bishop’s robes and was said to be accompanied at times by Black Peter, an elf whose job was to whip the naughty children.” (“Santa Claus,” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia)

This is a very brief history of Christmas and Easter. It is obvious to me that these holidays did not originate with Christ and His apostles, but rather entered the Christian church through the papacy at about the same time as Sunday worship, immortality of the soul, consciousness of the dead, the trinity, etc., in an attempt to make pagans feel at home in the Christian church. These holidays, along with many other pagan practices and beliefs in Christianity, show that paganism has been introduced and widely accepted in the Christian church of the fourth century. To continue these pagan practices is simply to continue in paganism. Many people are unaware of the paganism in the Christian church, and God winks at their ignorance. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.” (Acts 17:30)

Now that light is shining on this subject we must examine ourselves and determine whom we wish to follow, God or men. As for me and my house, we have chosen not to celebrate these pagan holidays. However, we find joy in the Thanksgiving time to get together with loved ones and thank the Lord for what He has done for us.

I hope this helps to answer your questions.

This question and its answer were printed in the November 2001 issue of Present Truth.

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Question: Do you believe in Thanksgiving?

Do you believe in Thanksgiving? If you do why? Have you done a study on it?

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Answer:

Yes, I believe thanksgiving is a holiday that, compared to the rest of the holidays in the year, can truly be called a Christian holiday. I say this because Christmas, Easter, Lent, Good Friday, and many others have pagan origins as was demonstrated in the November, 2001 issue of Present Truth.

Thanksgiving was originally observed by Christians to thank God for the things He has provided. The Encarta Encyclopedia has this to say about the origin of Thanksgiving:

“Long before Europeans settled in North America, western Europeans observed Harvest Home festivals to celebrate the successful completion of gathering-in the season’s crops. In the British Isles, Lammas Day (Loaf Mass Day), observed on August 1, was often held to celebrate a good wheat harvest. If the wheat crop was disappointing, the holiday was usually canceled.

“Another important precursor to the modern Thanksgiving holiday was the custom among English Puritans (see Puritanism) of designating special days of thanksgiving to express gratitude for God’s blessings. These observances were not held regularly; they usually took place only in times of crisis or immediately after a period of misfortune had passed. Puritan thanksgiving ceremonies were serious religious occasions and bore only a passing resemblance to modern Thanksgiving celebrations. (“Thanksgiving Day,” Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000)

The World Book Encyclopedia has this to say about Thanksgiving:

“The first Thanksgiving observance in America was entirely religious and did not involve feasting. On Dec. 4, 1619, a group of 38 English settlers arrived at Berkeley Plantation, on the James River near what is now Charles City, Va. The group’s charter required that the day of arrival be observed yearly as a day of thanksgiving to God.

“The first Thanksgiving in New England was celebrated in Plymouth less than a year after the Plymouth colonists had settled in America. The first dreadful winter in Massachusetts had killed about half the members of the colony. But new hope arose in the summer of 1621. The settlers expected a good corn harvest, despite poor crops of peas, wheat, and barley. Thus, in early autumn, governor William Bradford arranged a harvest festival to give thanks to God for the progress the colony had made.

“The festival lasted three days. The men of Plymouth had shot ducks, geese, and turkeys. The menu also included clams, eel and other fish, wild plums and leeks, corn bread, and watercress. The women of the settlement supervised cooking over outdoor fires. About 90 Indians also attended the festival. They brought five deer to add to the feast. Everyone ate outdoors at large tables and enjoyed games and a military review. Similar harvest Thanksgivings were held in Plymouth during the next several years, but no traditional date was set.

“Later Thanksgiving Days in the United States. The custom of Thanksgiving Day spread from Plymouth to other New England colonies. During the Revolutionary War, eight special days of thanks were observed for victories and for being saved from dangers. In 1789, President George Washington issued a general proclamation naming November 26 a day of national thanksgiving. In the same year, the Protestant Episcopal Church announced that the first Thursday in November would be a regular yearly day for giving thanks.

“For many years, the country had no regular national Thanksgiving Day. But some states had a yearly Thanksgiving holiday. By 1830, New York had an official state Thanksgiving Day, and other Northern states soon followed its example. In 1855, Virginia became the nation’s first Southern state to adopt the custom.

“Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, worked many years to promote the idea of a national Thanksgiving Day (see HALE, SARAH JOSEPHA). Then President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November 1863, as ‘a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father.’ Each year afterward, for 75 years, the President formally proclaimed that Thanksgiving Day should be celebrated on the last Thursday of November. But in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set it one week earlier. He wanted to help business by lengthening the shopping period before Christmas. Congress ruled that after 1941 the fourth Thursday of November would be observed as Thanksgiving Day and would be a legal federal holiday.” (“Thanksgiving Day,” World Book Encyclopedia 1999)

From all I have studied on this subject there is no pagan origin of Thanksgiving. I can see no reason to cease from giving thanks to God each year on a day that is set aside for that purpose. I personally have many things to be thankful for. Thanksgiving day is a wonderful opportunity to get together with friends and family since most people do not work on that day. Some people even exchange gifts on that day instead of doing so on Christmas day.

I hope this helps to answer your questions.

This question and its answer were printed in the December 2001 issue of Present Truth.

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