Why we and many believers don’t celebrate
Christmas anymore
(I Crowther)
Around every December we see how dear
Christians are saying ‘Put Christ back into CHRISTmas’, but dear believer,
Christ WAS NEVER in Christmas in the first place!
There are
quotations of extra Biblical evidence about where Christmas has its origins
from. All these quotations are evidence of many scholars who knew that
something is not completely in order, yet Christians just went with the flow
for ages and accepted what was taught to them. Many of us, like myself too, had
questions that bothered us through the years and now and then through the
years, we even realized that Christmas is actually a pagan feast that was
Christianized, and the fact that it was Christianized comforted us and on we
just carry on celebrating it! Or, like it happened to me and my husband in our
young days during the early Eighties: we realized that something is not right-
it is originally a pagan Feast and we decided we are not going to celebrate it
anymore, but at that time (in the early Eighties) we were going to be ostracized
by dear family and friends and we knew that there were so few people yet who
had the same conviction, that soon we gave in and compromised again (couldn’t
take a stand then).
After many years, the bothering questions
flared up once again but then we comforted ourselves with the well-known
compromising excuses that Christians had and still have of: “We know
it has pagan roots, but we can use Christmas as a tool to show others who the
real Messiah is and after all, in our hearts we know that we don’t worship a
false god but the true God of the Bible and His Son Jesus”. We put balls on
our Christmas tree with Scripture verses concerning prophecies of the promised
Messiah and Scripture verses concerning Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) birth and we were
comforted again, but completely out of line with the truth. We even called the
Christmas tree a "tree of life" or came up with all other lovely
creative ideas. And don't forget this one: "we must be loving and consider
our friends and family". So many Christians are very sincere and are
still comforting themselves with the fact that in their hearts they don’t
worship a pagan god, but the “true God of the Bible” and therefore when they
celebrate Christmas, it is with THAT knowledge and hearts that are sincere, that
they therefore believe it is not wrong for them to still celebrate Christmas even
though they know that Christmas’s roots are pagan. (I know, because we did the
same). I don’t even know what we did with the fact that we started to know that
Yeshua (Jesus still for us at that time) is not even born during this time or
on this date. Even today there are Christians who sort of know but they still
choose to celebrate it as “Jesus’s” birth. Then another question is what did we
do with the facts that we already had a hunch then but that are so clear now
that there is a lot of pagan worship elements in this so called Christianised
feast? Is it perhaps a matter of blind eye and deaf ears that hear but that
doesn’t REALLY want to hear? The fact that there are specific Festivals
commanded by our heavenly Father which portray beautifully the whole salvation
plan of YHVH, is something that many still don’t really want to “hear”. The
discovering that Father YHVH said in Lev 23 “these are My Festivals that you
shall observe” still fall on deaf ears but a feast which is not a Biblical
feast but a pagan feast that was just Christianized (like Christmas and
Easter), THAT they will still obey even after hearing the truth and it is
something that many believers STILL don’t want to think about too much. They
rather just go with the flow. Although
during the last 15 years or so things became SO much clearer for us and
thousands of other believers of how we were deceived into mixture of pagan worship
with the worship of the true Elohim (translated wrongly as God – Elohim that means
Mighty One). How many times as Christians through the years, didn't we hear
from the pulpit near Christmas time (we even said it ourselves): "put
back the real meaning of Christmas into Christmas people- put Jesus
back into Christmas". But my dear friends, we began to SEE that
Yahshua/Yeshua (Jesus) was NEVER IN Christmas!! Or…does this one sound
familiar?: “Oh my, just see how the
people don’t realize what the TRUE meaning of Christmas is! Oh, well, as long
as WE remember what the true meaning is…” My dear friends, brothers and
sister in Yeshua (Jesus), MORE importantly than these above quotes and our own
opinions, is the question: "WHAT DOES YHVH (Yahveh/Yauah) (translated in
most English Bibles as the LORD) OUR ELOHIM (translated in most English and Afr
Bibles as God) HAVE TO SAY ABOUT CHRISTMAS! THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN
ANYTHING ELSE!!!!!!
Is
there any commandment found in SCRIPTURE to celebrate the Messiah’s birth?
Does the
Scriptures command, allow or mandate a festival like Christmas? It must be stated categorically that NOT A
WORD is mentioned in Scriptures about a festival called "Christmas" nor
is there any commandment (or hint) in Scriptures that believers are supposed to
celebrate the birth of the Messiah. The Almighty, our Father YHVH, through
Yahshua DOES command us in His Torah though to have an appointment called
Pesach (Passover), a memorial to remember the death of the first lambs in
Mitsrayim (Egypt) to the salvation of the Hebrew people and those who want to
join them AND to remember the Lamb of
Elohim and the fact that He arose on the third day, ascended to haven 40 days
later and that the Set apart Spirit (the Holy Spirit) was poured out on the 50th
day, on the day of Shavuot (called Pentecostee in Greek). Pesach is part of
the annual Biblical Feasts called the “Feasts of YHVH (Yahveh)” (Feasts of the
LORD as the normal Bible Versions translated it in Lev 23:2) Elohim (God)
Himself established these Appointments (Feasts) in Scriptures (e.g. in
Leviticus 23 - repeated in Deutr 16 and other places: Pesach, Chag haMatzot
(feast of unleavened bread which is for seven days, the Omer Resisheet which is
more a mitvah than a feast leading up to a count of seven weeks (40 days) up to
the Feast of Shavuot (which was transliterated out of Greek to Pentecost in
many Bible Versions). Then on the first day of the Seventh Hebrew Month is Yom
Teruah (The day of the great awakening blast) and on the Tenth day of the 7t
month is Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonment/s) and then on the 15th day
of the 7th Hebrew month starts the seven days of Sukkot of which the
seventh day was called the Great day of the Feast (the Hoshianna Rabbah) and
then then the last annual Appointment/Feast called Shemen Atzereth,( the Eighth
day Assembly). All these last Appointments /Feasts take place in the Seventh
Hebrew Month whereas the first ones take place in Spring to Summer according to
Israel’s seasons. For ages we have wrongfully thought of it as the “Jewish
festivals”, as if it was given only to the Jews. IN the mean time the last 4
(from Yom Teruah to Shemeni Atzereth) are not even fulfilled yet, Is that not
so much more important that we as wild olive grafted-in believers (Rom 11) plus
the “natural branches” (especially the Messianic Jews), should celebrate it annually
according to the Hebrew calendar?
For ages
the church, through the influence of Constantine and the early Church fathers
made us to believe that the Torah was done away with when the Messiah was
executed on a stake, whereas Yahshua the Messiah Himself said that He didn’t come
to do away with the Torah (Matt5:17). He also said that he will be the least in
the Kingdom of Elohim who teaches the people to not obey even the least of the
commandments as given in the Torah. So, the Festivals of YHVH which are
commanded to be observed for all generations (main references are in Lev 23, Deutr 16- and repeated in a few other
places), are the Festivals (or Appointed times) that need to be celebrated by
believers in Yahshua and His Father, the Elohim of heaven and earth. There is
no record in Scriptures of individuals or groups celebrating the birth of
the Messiah Yahshua (Jesus). In fact, birthdays were not even
celebrated in the Hebrew community. There are only two instances where we
encounter a birthday party in Scripture (Pharao and Herod). There are, however,
numerous instances in Scriptures where believers – even in the Apostolic
Scriptures’ (New Testament) times – celebrated the festivals of Yahveh as
commanded in the Torah. Even the non-Torah commanded feasts (“days of gladness
and joy”) of Purim (book of Esther) and Chanukah (the feast of Dedication) are
celebrated although the last two are not Torah -commanded.
Was
Yahshua/Yeshua (Jesus) even born on the 25th of December?
It is in
the first place not possible that the birth of the Messiah could have taken
place on the 25th of December. The season in Israel that correspond with the
Gregoian Decamber is a time of the year which is mid-winter in Israel – the
season known for its extreme wet and cold conditions. In
Luke 2:8 it is said that “there were shepherds in the same country staying
in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock”. Most commentators agree that shepherds could
not have been in the field with their flock, watching over them by night,
during this time of year in Israel. This could not have happened any time close
to the 25th of December. It is also very
unlikely that Caesar Augustus would have called for a census/ enrolment in the
middle of the winter season. The common time during the year for a census was
between August and October. After that it became cold and rainy in Israel.
This would have created a situation where many
people would have been forced to travel to their hometowns in extreme weather
conditions. In the case of Yoseph (Joseph)
and Miriyam (Mary), who had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, it would have
implied a trip of perhaps several days in most unpleasant cold weather
conditions.
Nowhere in
Scripture is the specific day of the birth of the Messiah mentioned, but there
are, however quite a few hints in Scriptures which helps us to come to the
conclusion as to what time of the year this event (the birth of Messiah) may
have taken place. It can be proven that it could have been during the Feast of Yom
Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets/Day of the great awakening blast) or Feast of
Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles). These two feasts are 14 days apart. We just
have to look at a few Scriptures in the Tenach (OT) and in the Second Writings
(NT) and can work it out that it had to be by Yom Teruah or by Sukkot,that
Yeshua was born. Nowhere though, are we commanded to celebrate His birth.
Pagan
rituals in Christmas
We have
seen in the extra-Scriptural sources (at end of this article) that there is
overwhelming evidence that during the fourth century the church had decided to
link the birth of Jesus (Yeshua/Yahshua/Yahushua) the Messiah with an existing
feast usually celebrated on the 25th of December which was filled with pagan
and idolatrous traditions and practices.
It is impossible to deny that the entire Christmas package is
polluted with a mixture of different religious elements and idolatry mixed with
the worship of the true Elohim (God). Is
it any wonder that year after year Christmas is surrounded with a cloud of
death, accidents, immorality, suicide, family tragedies, violence and feelings
of resentment and emptiness? We never really wanted to acknowledge that,
because is Christmas time not the most wonderful time for families to get together
and have a great time? And all the presents!
Notice how
our Heavenly Father in all these following verses leaves absolutely no doubt
that He rejects all practices and customs with any sort of idolatrous
connotation.
Jer
10:2-4: “Thus says יהוה , "Don't learn the way of the
nations, and don't be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are
dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a
tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe. They
deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with
hammers, that it not move”.
The
practice of cutting, decorating and honoring trees played an important role in pagan
rituals as a tribute to their idols. You can do your own research on all
these pagan practices around the Christmas tree.
Jer
44:17-22: “But
we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to
burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to
her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the
cities of Judah (Yehudah), and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we
plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off
burning incense to the queen of heaven, and pouring out drink-offerings
to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by
the famine. When we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured
out drink-offerings to her, did we make her cakes [This is where the
hot-cross- buns during Easter come from. The cross on it is the symbol for
the Sun-god] to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings to her, without
our husbands? Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the
women, even to all the people who had given him who answer, saying, The incense
that you burned in the cities of Judah (Yehudah), and in the streets of
Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of
the land, didn't YHVH (Yahveh) remember them, and didn't it come into his mind?
So that YHVH (Yahveh) could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings,
and because of the abominations which you have committed; therefore is
your land become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without
inhabitant, as it is this day”.
Over the
centuries the “Queen of Heaven” has been associated with Semiramis (the
wife of Nimrod) - her name in other cultures: Isis, Juno, Athena, Diana, Venus,
Minerva, Rhea, Astarte, Aphrodite, “The Lady”, “Madonna”, “The Mother” and the
“Virgin Mary”! Decorating evergreen trees symbolises Nimrod in his infant form.
The jule log, or the sun log, is a symbol of the sun, signifying regeneration
and rebirth through Nimrod's so-called resurrection into heaven.
Ezek
8:13-18: “He said also to me, You shall again see
yet other great abominations which they do. Then he brought me to the door of
the gate of YHVH’s
house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.
Then said he to me, Have you seen this, son of man? you shall again see yet
greater abominations than these. He brought me into the inner court of YHVH’s house; and see, at the door of the
temple of YHVH
, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs
toward the temple of YHVH and their faces
toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east. Then
he said to me, Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house
of Yehudah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they
have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to
anger: and, behold, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also
deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though
they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Nimrod was so evil that he married
his own mother. After Nimrod's untimely death, his so called mother/wife -
Semiramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit
being. She claimed that a full-grown evergreen tree sprung up overnight from
the dead tree stump which symbolised the springing forth unto new life of the
dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth - 25th December, she claimed that
Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts on it. The Babylonians
used the evergreen tree as a symbol of eternal life. Semiramis, who is a real
type of Jezebel; by means of her wickedness, became the Babylonian Queen of
Heaven. And Nimrod under various names became the divine sun of heaven. It was
the pagan worship of the Babylonian queen of Heaven and her baby. This mother-baby
image, became chief objects of worship. These pagan beliefs came into the
The crying
of the women is symbolic of the efforts to revive Tammuz (or Nimrod) so that
fertility may return to the people’s crops.
The putting of the branch to their noses was probably a symbolic effort
to “inhale” the life-giving power of Tammuz in order to obtain immortality.
Roman Saturnalia Celebrations
Tammuz: In Babylon the birth date
of Tammuz, the child of Nimrod was celebrated with great feasts, revelry and drunkenness.
When transferred to
But how did this custom creep into
Christianity?
Remember the Roman world had been
pagan prior to the 4th century. The early believers in Yahshua the Messiah were
all Torah observant believers who kept the Shabbat/Sabbath on the Seventh Day,
celebrated the annual Festivals, kept the Dietary laws etc. These Believers of
“The Way”, although few in number and increasing, were persecuted by the
government and pagans. But when Constantine the Emperor made his profession of
Christianity in the 4th century, “Christianity” was by now severed from its
Jewish/Hebraic roots and was placed equally with paganism. This was exactly
what the Eternal had commanded over and over in His Torah, not to happen.
Christianity was not just another religion. The People of the Roman world began
to accept this new popular Christianity by the hundreds of thousands. However,
their roots were pagan. They had grown up in pagan customs and so brought in
the pagan ways into the church (“church” by the way is also a pagan word. The
original Hebrew word is Qaha (Kehilla) and was translated into Greek as
“ekklesia” and both have the meaning of called-out-ones/assembly/congregation.
It should never have been translated as “church”) - the chief one(pagan way)
was the adulterous festival on 25th
December. It was a festival of merrymaking with a special spirit and they
did not want to give it up, so to keep the peace and provide cohesion a
compromise was made. So the birthday of the sun god became the birthday of the ‘Son
of God’.
The first mention of Christmas
occurred in AD336. In the early Roman/Gregorian calendar giving 25th December
as the date. As part of the celebrations, people prepared special foods,
decorated their homes with greenery and joined in singing and gift giving.
These then gradually became part of Christmas. By 1100 AD Christmas had become
the most important religious festival in
2 Cor
6:14-17: “Don't be unequally yoked with
unbelievers, for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? Or what
communion has light with darkness? What agreement has the Messiah with Belial?
Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever? What agreement has a temple
of Elohim with idols? For you are a temple of the living Elohim. Even as
Yahveh/Yauah said,
‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their Elohim, and they
will be my people.’ Therefore, ‘Come out from among them, And be separate,'
says Yahweh, 'Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you.’”
1 Cor
10:14: “Therefore,
my beloved, flee from idolatry”.
This
was the final straw for me personally and for thousands of other believers when
I discovered that one cannot mix that pagan tradition with Christianity and say
to Elohim (God) that it is a celebration for Him. “I'm doing it as unto you
my Father. I know that its origins are pagan, but now I’m doing it with the
right heart who honours Jesus whom You sent as your Son to be born”. We discovered
that this is exactly what happened with the Golden calf incident. They built a
golden calf, an IDOL to be worshiped and then an altar in front of it and Aharon
said “tomorrow is a festival to YHVH (the LORD)”.
Exo
32:4 And he took this from their hand, and
he formed it with an engraving tool, and made a moulded calf. And they said,
“This is your mighty one, O Yisra’ĕl, that brought you out of the land of
Mitsrayim!” Exo 32:5 And Aharon saw and
built an altar before it. And Aharon called out and said, “Tomorrow is a
festival to יהוה.”
Exo
32:9 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “I have seen this people,
and see, it is a stiff-necked people!
Exo
32:10 “And now, let Me alone, that My
wrath might burn against them and I consume them and I make of you a great
nation.”
The Father did not accept it. We
discovered that He will also not accept it now. Our Father prescribes the way
you worship Him, according to His word, by His principles and by His
conditions. Think of Cain and Abel. Abel did correctly according to the principles
and instructions of the Almighty One and his sacrifice was accepted before Him.
Cain was not prepared to do it. He said I give you the sweat of my hands, my
ability, my works, the vegetables which I have grown. Not according to your
will but mine. Take it or leave it. And what did Elohim do? He left it. He
judged Cain. (Leviticus 10) We have Aaron's sons offering strange fire
to Elohim in the temple and what does the Almighty One do? He consumes them.
Think of Samuel's sons. They taught the people to worship other gods and so Yahveh
judged the house of Eli. Christmas is a borrowed, converted pagan festival.
Does this not make it an abomination? My dear friend, brother, sister we
discovered that it doesn't matter if we say “it is unto Jesus or unto God” and
we had to make a decision :Turning a blind eye…. Or are we
having a heart to obey. That was the decision that we and thousands of other
believers made (to rather obey and take a stand) even though we lost friends of
family.
Time and
space are insufficient to call up more “testimonies” from Scriptures. We did
not even begin to mention all the places in the Torah (the first five
books of Moshe (Moses)) where the Almighty commanded over and over to have
NOTHING to do with the pagan practices of the nations! Every reader of this
article is encouraged to undertake his or her own study in this regard. The important question for us is what we are
going to do with the information that is so freely available now in our day-
this is the day of the “restoration of all things”. Are we going to take notice of all these
facts and carry on celebrating a festival of which the Messiah has never been a
part of and of which He surely has no desire to become part of? If you do a
study from the first five Books of Moses (the Torah) and look at all the places
where our Father commanded to uproot and break down ALL pagan worship; if you
look at the evidence of the building of the golden calf where Aaron said
tomorrow we will have a feast unto Yahveh (this was an example of mixing
paganism with true worship) - isn’t this then what we were/are doing when we
think we can just hang nice Scripture verses on a Christmas tree and use Christmas
as an outreach tool and have the “right heart”?). The true Elohim of heaven and
earth, the Elohim of Israel said that this is an abomination to Him! Or will we be brave enough to turn our backs
on this spectacle that may certainly be noted as one of the best examples of
how the world has been deceived through the centuries by “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE
GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev
17:5). Is it coincidence that (scholars
have irrefutably proven that) the majority of the “pillars” on which Christmas
is built, is of Babylonian origin? For
many people it will be traumatic to let go of this beloved family tradition,
but if we truly love our ABBA, the Eternal One and his Word and our Master
Yahshua the Messiah the Mediator, then one wonders whether we have much of a
choice ...One also wonders how did it happen that for so many ages all the
proof and evidence were under our noses but we just wouldn’t see it?! We and
thousands of beleievers made a choice to stop with the Pagan Feasts
(Constantine’s Easter too) and rather obey Father YHVH and celebrate HIS
Feasts/Appointed Times.
When we
finally decide to “return” to the only path that leads to life, we come
out of the dark and into “His marvelous light” (1 Pe. 2:9). By coming
back into the light, we can begin to see things we didn’t see before; we find
things we didn’t even know we had lost – i.e. Sabbaths, feasts of Yahveh/Yahuah,
dietary laws etc. All these things must come first if we are ever going to
realize YHVH’s ultimate purpose – restoration.
Acts
3:19“Repent therefore and turn back, for the blotting out of your sins, in
order that times of refreshing might come from the presence of the Master,
Act
3:20 and that He sends יהושע
Messiah, pre-appointed for you,
Act
3:21 whom heaven needs to receive until
the times of restoration of all matters, of which Elohim spoke through the
mouth of all His set-apart prophets since of old.
In
essence, Peter told the Father’s people that we must return to the one and only
path so that those things we had lost as well as those things we had not
understood could be revealed to us. Ultimately, this journey of light and life
would lead us into the times of the restoration of all things. We must emphasize
that word – all. Peter tells us that everything will ultimately be
restored. To restore something is to put it back the way it was originally. So
then Peter tells us that, at the time just before the Messiah returns, a
process will have begun whereby everything will begin to be restored back to
its original state. Furthermore, he tells us that these things have been spoken
“since the world began,” in other words, this is not some kind of new
revelation.
May we
have ears that will hear and eyes that will see!
Quotations
of extra Scriptural evidences -"There
is no historical evidence that our [Savior's] birthday was celebrated during
the apostolic or early post-apostolic times" (The New Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, "Christmas," p. 47).
"The
day was not one of the early feasts of the Christian church. In fact the
observance of birthdays was condemned as a heathen custom repugnant to
Christians" (The American Book
of Days, George W. Douglas, p. 658).
"In
[C.E.] 354, Bishop Liberius of Rome ordered the people to celebrate on December
25. He probably chose this date because the people of Rome already observed it
as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the birthday of the sun" (The World Book Encyclopedia, 1962,
"Christmas," p. 416).
"The
festivals of Rome are innumerable; but five of the most important may be
singled out for elucidation -viz., Christmas-day, Lady-day, Easter, the
nativity of St. John, and the Feast of the Assumption. Each and all of these
can be proved to be Babylonian" (The Two Babylons, by Alexander
Hyslop, page 91).
"The
Christmas Tree has been traced back to the Romans. It went from Germany to
Great Britain" (The Encyclopedia Americana, 1942 edition. vol. 6,
page 623).
"Christmas
was not among the earliest festivals of the church ... the first evidence of
the feast is from Egypt" (Catholic Encyclopaedia, 1911 edition).
"Christmas
customs are an evolution from times that long antedated the Christmas period -
a descent from seasonal, pagan, religious and national practices … The exact
day and year of (Messiah’s) birth have never been satisfactorily settled, but
the fathers of the church in A.D. 340 chose the day of the winter solstice
which was firmly fixed in the minds of the people and which was their most
important festival" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, article Christmas,
page 642).
"There
is no authoritative tradition as to the day or month of (Messiah’s) birth ...
The winter solstice was regarded as the birthday of the sun … When Christianity
spread northwards it encountered a similar pagan festival also held at the
winter solstice - the great Yule feast of the Norsemen. Once again Christmas
absorbed heathen customs. From the various sources came the Yule log, the
Christmas tree introduced into England from Germany and first mentioned in
1789" (Chambers Encyclopaedia 1970, page 538, article Christmas).
"December
25 was the date of the Roman pagan festival inaugurated in 274 as the birthday
of the unconquered sun which at the winter solstice begins again to show an increase
in light. Sometime before 336 the Church in Rome, unable to stamp out this
pagan festivals, spiritualized it as the Feast of the Nativity of the Sun of
Righteousness" (New International Dictionary of the Christian Church,
p. 223).
"In
patristic thought [the Messiah] had traditionally been associated with light or
the sun, and the cult of the Sol invictus (invincible Sun) … presented a
distinct threat to Christianity. Hence, to compete with this celebration the
Roman church instituted a feast for the nativity of [the Messiah], who was
called the Sol iustitiae" (The Dictionary of the Middle Ages, pp.
317-318).
"The
Feast is first mentioned at the head of the Depositio Martyrum in the Roman
Chronograph of 354. Since the Depositio was composed in 336, Christmas in Rome
can be dated that far at least. It is not found, however, in the lists of
Feasts given by Tertullian and Origen" (New Catholic Encyclopedia,
vol. 3, p. 656).
"The
Latin Church, supreme in power, and infallible in judgment, placed it (the birth
date of the Messiah) on the 25th of December, the very day on which the ancient
Romans celebrated the feast of their goddess Bruma. Pope Julius I was the
person who made this alteration" (Clarke’s Commentary).
"To
me Christmas is a foreign day, and I shall die so. When I was a boy I wondered
what Christmas was … I saw them dressing it (the church in our town) with
evergreens, and wondered what they were taking the woods in church for; but I
got no satisfactory explanation. A little later I understood it was a Romish
institution, kept up by the Romish Church" (Henry Ward Beecher,
clergyman and lecturer, 1874).
“It is
time to come out of the Land of Babylon which the hucksters of wares and
materialism have taken over ... and leave December 25 to the pagans" (Peter
J Riga, Roman Catholic priest and editor of the U.S. Catholic magazine).