Here are some of my favorite videos and essays to bust common anti-Christmas myths.
MYTH 1. The date of December 25th for Christ’s birth comes from a pagan Roman festival; usually suggested as Sol Invictus or Saturnalia.
Since many a Grinch finds that reading things that contradict their prejudices makes their head hurt, let’s start with two videos debunking the Saturnalia and Sol Invictus myths on Christmas:
Calculating the birth date of Christ:
Via the date of his death-
There was an ancient belief that prophets die on the anniversary of their conception. Since Jesus died on Passover, then nine months forward will bring you to December, if you are using the Roman Julian calendar of the early church fathers when calculating dates for these events. (For an example, see Sextus Julius Africanus {c. 160AD to c. 240AD} who gave a date of March 25, 1BC for the Incarnation of Jesus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextus_Julius_Africanus#Further_reading )
Via the date of the Annunciation of Mary-
From: Why Christmas is not Pagan, by Fr. Geoff Harvey on Sun, 16/12/2018
“Ancient Christian writers built the timing for the birth of Christ from the Scriptural observation that Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist) was on duty on Yom Kippur (September 23). This observation comes from the information we find in the gospel of Luke.
“Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
The day of Yom Kippur is the day in which incense was offered in this manner.
Based on this observation, Christians were able to calculate the birth of John the Forerunner as being September 23 + 270 days = June 24. They then observed that the Annunciation of Christ’s birth was six months after John the Baptist’s conception.
“In the sixth month [of Elizabeth’s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26–27).
Calculating September 23 and adding six months brings us to March 25. Through this reasoning, the Greek Bishop Irenaeus (c. 130AD – c. 202 AD) had established March 25 as the date of the Annunciation before the end of the second century. The Annunciation was being celebrated long before Christmas, since the Annunciation was miraculous, whereas the birth was a mere function of human biology.
The date of December 25 is therefore derived from the date of Jesus’ conception.
By the year 221 AD, three Christian writers had independently calculated the date of Jesus’ birth as December 25. Irenaeus, as we have just said, identified the date of his annunciation before the end of the second century. Hippolytus used a different method, but determined December 25 as the date of the Nativity in 202 AD when he wrote his commentary on Daniel 4:23. Finally, Sextus Julius Africanus, in writing his “Chronology of the World” in 221 AD had also calculated December 25 as the date of Christ’s birth.
Full essay at: https://www.thegoodshepherd.org.au/why-christmas-not-pagan
Essay on the year of Christ’s birth:
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/liberato-de-caro-nativity
On Sol Invictus:
Roman Emperor Aurelian established the cult of Sol Invictus as an official religion in AD 274.
Meanwhile, St. Hippolytus said in his commentary on Daniel (written ca. AD 202-211) that Jesus’ birthdate is December 25.
MYTH 2: The Christmas tree has pagan origins.
ON CHRISTMAS TREES:
In Western Europe-
In Eastern Orthodox Europe- (From: Why Christmas is not Pagan, by Fr. Geoff Harvey. https://www.thegoodshepherd.org.au/why-christmas-not-pagan)
“It is usually said that the custom of the Christmas tree is foreign and western. But a manuscript in the British Museum from the 13th century informs us that in 512 AD the Emperor Anastasios I built a church at the Monastery of Saint Gabriel in Tur Abdin in northern Syria. Among other dedications, he offered “…two large brass trees which stood on both side of the Beautiful Gate of the sanctuary. On the leaves of the trees, there was a place for lights to flicker. Each tree had one hundred and eighty lamps and fifty silver chains from top to bottom. On these hung small objects of gold, silver or copper, as well as red eggs, vases, animals, birds, crosses, wreaths, bells, carved grape bunches, discs…”
Paul the Silentiary (c. 563 AD) in his Ekphrasis of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and Ekphrasis from the Ambon of Hagia Sophia, describes in detail the lights of the icon screen and the pulpit of the Great Church. On the architrave of the icon screen, there were metal cone-shaped trees, like a pine tree or a cypress of tender foliage, where instead of fruits they had conically shaped lights. This document even records that illuminated crafted trees (tree-like chandeliers) were placed throughout the Church. This is a description of Hagia Sophia’s Christmas trees.
Christmas tree practice is also documented in the study of the late professor of Byzantine Archaeology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Constantine Kalokyris, titled, “Sacred Trees and the Eastern Origin of the Christmas Tree.” Here he reveals that the custom of the Christmas tree is not foreign or western European but Byzantine and Orthodox!
Our Christmas tree is not derived from the pagan yule tree. Rather, from the Paradise Tree, adorned in honour of Adam and Eve. The Christmas tree is completely biblical in origin.”
MYTH 3: Santa Claus is based on the Norse god Odin.
SANTA CLAUS VS ODIN:
Odin isn’t Santa Claus: There’s really no good reason to think jolly old Saint Nick is based on the Norse god Odin. By Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.:
I plan on doing another of these posts before Easter, so if you enjoyed this please come back around that time.
Merry Christmas,
Bill McGrath
PS: Here are two excellent explanations of the difference between Western and Orthodox calendars and the celebrations of Christmas and Easter.
From the Catholic perspective:
From the Orthodox perspective:
PPS: If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy this 55 minute movie I found while researching these subjects.
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