The Origin of Today

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The Origin of Todays Christmas customs

• Nothing but the facts.

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What does the bible have to say?

• Jer 102 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way
  of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs
  of heaven for the heathen are dismayed at them.
• Jer 103 For the customs of the people are vain
  for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the
  work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
• Jer 104 They deck it with silver and with gold
  they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that
  it move not.
• De 725 The graven images of their gods shall ye
  burn with fire thou shalt not desire the silver
  or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee,
  lest thou be snared therein for it is an
  abomination to the LORD thy God.
• De 726 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination
  into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing
  like it but thou shalt utterly detest it, and
  thou shalt utterly abhor it for it is a cursed
  thing.

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So where did these customs originate?

• Youll find that todays Christmas custom came
  from many different cultures and nations.
• The date of December 25th comes from Rome and was
  a celebration of the Roman god, saturn, and the
  rebirth of the sun god (jupiter).This was done
  long before the birth of Jesus. It was noted by
  the pre-Christian Romans and other pagans, that
  daylight began to increase after December 22nd,
  when they assumed that the sun god died, that the
  great mother goddess gave birth to the new sun,
  restarting the cycle of the seasons.
• This was a cause for much wild excitement and
  celebration. Gift giving and merriment filled the
  temples of ancient Rome, as sacred priests of
  saturn, called druids, carried wreaths of
  evergreen boughs to worship these gods.

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Customs continuation

• The oldest written reference of a festival to
  mark the return of the sun is made to the
  Mesopotamians. They held a 12-day festival to
  help the god merodach tame the monsters of chaos
  for one more year. This is why Christmas is in
  this day celebrated for 12 days.
• Jer 5231-And it came to pass in the seven and
  thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin
  king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five
  and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach
  king of Babylon in the first year of his reign
  lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah,
  and brought him forth out of prison,
• The worship of saturn was recorded in the Bible,
  Amos 5 26But ye have borne the tabernacle of
  your moloch(jupiter) and chiun your images, the
  star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

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Customs continuation.

• In Germany, the evergreen tree was used in
  worship and celebration of the yule god
  (jupiter), also in observance of the resurrected
  sun god. The holly wood was used by witches to
  make wands.
• These customs transcended the borders of Rome and
  Germany to the far reaches of the known world.
• Act 1413-Then the priest of Jupiter, which was
  before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto
  the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the
  people.

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• Red holly (mistletoe berries) was used in the
  worship of Diana goddess of fertility. This is
  the same Diana from acts!
• Both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of
  temples and homes to invoke powers of fertility
  in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing
  the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them.
  
• 1935-And when the townclerk had appeased the
  people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is
  there that knoweth not how that the city of the
  Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess
  Diana, and of the image which fell down from
  Jupiter?

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How pagan rituals became tied with todays
culture.

• The question now arises How did all of these
  customs find their way into modern Christianity,
  and other religions.
• Emperor Constantine declared Christmas to be an
  immoveable feast celebrating the birth of Christ.
• The word Christmas came from the Roman Catholics.
  The word "Christmas" is a combination of the
  words "Christ" and "Mass. The word "Mass" means
  death. The word Christmas belongs exclusively to
  the Catholic church of Rome.
• A simple study of the tactics of the Roman
  Catholic Church reveals that in every case, the
  church absorbed the customs, traditions and
  general paganism of every tribe, culture and
  nation in their efforts to increase the number of
  people under their control.
• In short, the Roman Catholic church told all of
  these pagan cultures, "Bring your gods,
  goddesses, rituals and rites, and we will assign
  Christian sounding titles and names to them.
• Protestants took the Catholic practice of
  Christmas with them.

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Hannukah

• The holiday commemorates the rededication of the
  holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Jews' 165
  B.C.E. victory over the Hellenist Syrians.
  Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, outlawed
  Jewish rituals and ordered the Jews to worship
  Greek gods.
• Mattathias Maccabee, a Jewish High Priest lead
  the revolt against the Syrains.
• Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days because at
  the time of the rededication, only a day supply
  of oil was found to light the menorah, supposedly
  that oil lasted for eight days.
• The word Hanukkah actually means dedication.
• Hanukkah gained unusual importance with many
  secular Jewish families in twentieth century
  America, who did not consider themselves
  religious, yet wanted an alternative to Christmas
  celebrations that often coincide with Hanukkah.
• Hanukkah, like Purim, is a post-Biblical holiday,
  a happy, fun-filled celebration for the young and
  the young-at-heart.

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True Santa Clause

• The true story of Santa Claus begins with
  Nicholas, who was born during the third century
  in Patara, a village in what is now Turkey. His
  wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout
  Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was
  still young.
• Nicholas was a young bishop in the Catholic church

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Stories about Saint Nicholas

• One story is of Saint Nicholas on a ship
  traveling back home, on his journey home a mighty
  storm threatened to wrecked the ship. It was said
  that he prayed and the wind and waves suddenly
  calmed.
• Compare this to Luke 437-39 -37-And there arose
  a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into
  the ship, so that it was now full. 38-And he was
  in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a
  pillow and they awake him, and say unto him,
  Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39-And he
  arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the
  sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and
  there was a great calm.

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• Another story is of 3 students on their way to
  Athens the study. They came to an inn, and the
  inn keeper murder them and hide their remain, it
  was said that Saint Nicholas happened to be
  traveling that same way and stayed at that same
  inn. And that night he had vision of the murder,
  and arose out of his sleep and summoned the inn
  keeper and prayed and the student where restored
  to life and wholeness.
• 41Then they took away the stone from the place
  where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his
  eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou
  hast heard me.
• 43And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a
  loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44And he that
  was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with
  graveclothes and his face was bound about with a
  napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let
  him go.

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Christmas Evolved in Germany

• Germans put candles on their evergreen trees
• In German mythology, Thor was a norse god pulled
  through the sky in a chariot by two magic goats
  Tanngrisnir (tooth-grinder) and Tanngnjóstr
  (tooth-gnasher)

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And the elves?

• During the pagan era in Scandinavia , the people
  believed there were house gnomes which prevented
  evil from entering their homes
• Scandinavian writers put these gnomes into play
  when Christmas became popular again in the 1800s
• These gnomes are now known as Santas Elves

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European Immigrants Bringing

• European immigrants brought the holiday of
  Christmas to the United States
• In 1823 Clement Clarke Moore followed a
  printer's error that made them "Donder and
  Blitzen" instead of the Dutch-American words
  "Dunder" and "Blixem," meaning thunder and
  lightning. Moore spoke German, but not Dutch.

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Materialism

• Christmas more than anything these days is about
  receiving, about getting that gift that youve
  been longing for throughout the year. And not
  only Christmas, but if you look at Easter it has
  become more about spring break and less about the
  resurrection of our Lord. Thanksgiving has become
  a day to fill yourself with food, and the day
  after is the biggest shopping day of the year.
  These seemingly good holidays have become a
  retailers dream.

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Conclusion

• We believe that many of the customs are of pagan
  origin, but we do not condemn the remembrance of
  our Lords birth on December 25.
• John 423But the hour cometh, and now is, when
  the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
  spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such
  to worship him.