December is the most popular month for Christians because of Christmas, the day Jesus Christ was born. Right? I, too, used to celebrate Christmas, but not any longer.
In my family, Christmas was never about Jesus. We would come downstairs on Christmas morning, sit around the tree packed with presents, and before anyone started opening presents, we had to read something from the Bible.
Someone would go find it, dusty and hidden in some closet. Then they would fumble through it saying, “Where is that verse again?” Not one of us had any idea where to look for the verse about Jesus’ birthday being on December 25th. The only thing we knew was that, of course, the story of Jesus’ birthday is in the New Testament. We were happy if we found even one sentence with the words “Jesus” and “birth” and if we got lucky, the verse with the wise men who visited Jesus.
In my Christian family, Christmas was not at all about Jesus or God. It was simply an excuse to buy gifts.
So, when I came to the Church of God, I wasn’t surprised to I find out that Ahnsahnghong taught Christmas is not in the Bible. What did surprise me was learning the origin of Christmas!
Is Christmas in the Bible?
Most Christians believe that Christmas has its origins in the Bible. Not even the word “Christmas” is anywhere in the Bible. Don’t believe me? Go ahead, search it:
Search for Christmas on BibleGateway.com
There are no verses where Apostle Peter or James brought Jesus gifts on his birthday, or where Apostle Paul made sure to setup a tree in his house on Jesus’ birthday. Also, I saw that the Franklin Institute in America did some research, concluding that Jesus Christ was not born in December, but in March or April. Since the origins of Christmas are not in the Bible, where did Christmas come from?
The True Origin of Christmas
Although there is no evidence in the Bible of Christmas, nor is December 25th ever mentioned, in the pagan religion, December 25th is a very popular day.
December 25th is known as the winter solstice in the Greek calendar and the birthdays of the sun god. Sacrifices to the sun god were made on this day. Depending on the country, there were different names for the sun god: Mithra, Baal, etc. They believed that this was the birthday of the sun god because from the day of the winter solstice, the length of the day increases, and the night decreases.
So It’s Not His Birthday? Does it Matter?
Deuteronomy 12:30-31 – … be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates…
This is exactly what happened. Someone thought, “How can we celebrate the birthday of Jesus? The pagans have a birthday for their god. Let’s do the same.” God clearly says God hates this, and I don’t want any part of what God hates, so I no longer celebrate Christmas!
When you look deeper, Christmas is 100% pagan! Where did the 12 days of Christmas come from? Why do people bring a tree in the house? Why do people put up mistletoe? These we will examine in part 2.