A Pagan Festival

[Pk_#2]

Peace be upon those who follow guidance,

*i hope this doesn't offend anyone-seemed interesting so i posted-sorry in advance*

Let us now move on to the "birthday of Jesus", Christmas. Jesus (pbuh) is commonly considered to have been born on the 25th of December. However, it is common knowledge among Christian scholars that he was not born on this day. It is well known th at the first Christian churches held their festival in May, April, or January. Scholars of the first two centuries AD. even differ in which year he was born. Some believing that he was born fully twenty years before the current accepted date. So how was the 25th of December selected as the birthday of Jesus (pbuh)?
Grolier's encyclopedia says: "Christmas is the feast of the birth of Jesus Christ, celebrated on December 25.... Despite the beliefs about Christ that the birth stories expressed, the church did not observe a festival for the celebration of the event until the 4th century.... since 274, under the emperor Aurelian, Rome had celebrated the feast of the "Invincible Sun" on December 25. In the Eastern Church, January 6, a day also associated with the winter solstice, was in itially preferred. In course of time, however, the West added the Eastern date as the Feast of the Epiphany, and the East added the Western date of Christmas".
So who else celebrated the 25th of December as the birth day of their gods before it was agreed upon as the birth day of Jesus (pbuh)? Well, there are the people of India who rejoice, decorate their houses with garlands, and give presents to their friends on this day. The people of China also celebrate this day and close their shops. The pagan god Buddha is believed to have been born on this day when the "Holy Ghost" descended on his virgin mother Maya. The great saviour and god of the Persians, Mithras, is also believed to have been born on the 25th of December long before the coming of Jesus (pbuh).
The Egyptians celebrated this day as the birth day of their great saviour Horus, the Egyptian god of light and the son of the "virgin mother" and "queen of the heavens" Isis. Osiris, god of the dead and the underworld in Egypt, the son of "the holy virgin", again was believed to have been born on the 25th of December.
The Greeks celebrated the 25th of December as the birthday of Hercules, the son of the supreme god of the Greeks, Zeus, through the mortal woman Alcmene. Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry among the Romans (known among the Greeks as Dionysus) was also born on this day.
Adonis, revered as a "dying-and-rising god" among the Greeks, miraculously was also born on the 25th of December. His worshipers held him a yearly festival representing his death and resurrection, in midsummer. The ceremonies of his birthday are recorde d to have taken place in the same cave in Bethlehem which is claimed to have been the birth place of Jesus (pbuh).
The Scandinavians celebrated the 25th of December as the birthday of their god Freyr, the son of their supreme god of the heavens, Odin.
The Romans observed this day as the birthday of the god of the sun, Natalis Solis Invicti ("Birthday of Sol the invincible"). There was great rejoicing and all shops were closed. There was illumination and public games. Presents were exchanged, and the slaves were indulged in great liberties. Remember, these are the same Romans who would later preside over the council of Nicea (325 AD.) which lead to the official Christian recognition of the "Trinity" as the "true" nature of God, and the "fact" that Jesus (pbuh) was born on the 25th of December too.
In Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon says: "The Roman Christians, ignorant of his (Christ's) birth, fixed the solemn festival to the 25th of December, the Brumalia, or Winter Solstice, when the Pagans annually celebrated the birth of Sol " vol. ii, p. 383.
Christmas is not the only Christian festival which was borrowed from ancient paganism and foisted upon the religion of Jesus (pbuh). There is also Easter the Feast of St. John, the Holy communion, the Annunciation of the virgin, the assumption of the virgin, and many others have their roots in ancient pagan worship.

[Grace Seeker]

Yeah. So what?

As the article states: it is common knowledge among Christian scholars that he was not born on this day. It also happens to be common knowledge among nearly all thinking persons, including Christians. Would it make any difference to you if we celebrated some other day? Personally, I've been campaigning for October 10 (my birthday) for about 50 years, but to no avail. :'(

Seriously, we know that December 25 is just a date. We've got a 1 in 365 chance that we've picked the right date. But we would have no better, no worse chance by picking another date. So, there is nothing that makes one day better than another. What we do know for certain is that Jesus was born. And given that, he has a birthday someday. We don't know when it was. But we want to celebrate it just the same. So we pick a date.

Actually, my own son had to do the same thing. He came to the USA from Vietnam as a refugee many years ago. He did not speak any English at the time. And they use a completely different calender in Vietnam than they do in the US. So, when they asked him for his birthday, he didn't have any idea how to answer the question. He could give it on the Vietnamese calendar, but it, like the Islamic calendar, moves with reference to the Julian calendar. And Hoa did not know how to give the date on our calendar. So, they just picked a date. Now, many years later we have been able to figure out what the correct date should be, but we've been celebrating the other one for 20 years. And it is the one that is on his passport and other identification papers. And, we just want to celebrate that he was born and is with us, so we celebrate the one that has become tradition in our family. What is important isn't the date, but that we celebrate that he was born.


Now, you may have some complaints about why the early church chose the December 25 date. But those are issues passed under the bridge long ago. We are not celebrating any Sun god or other pagan dieties, we are celebrating Jesus. If you don't want to celebrate his birth, or want to do it on a different day, that's up to you, but for the vast majority of us Christians, this issue was settled long ago and we are not going to try to change it now. (Unless you really think I can get everyone to switch to October 10.:omg: :D )