December 25th (Christmas) - Nimrod/Baal's Birthday »
Posted By Revelation1412 12 months ago in ReligionHave you heard of the story where a heroic supernatural figure visits an evergreen tree on December 25th to leave gifts? Does that sound familiar? It actually goes all the way back to ancient Babylon.
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Radiofreeeuropa11 months, 4 weeks ago
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Yes modern Christmas owes more to Dickens than Jesus. But I find it comforting to participate in a celebration that many cultures throughout the world and through time found significant. The Solstice under whatever banner you want to fly!
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seanClassicalHistorian11 months, 4 weeks ago
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Good morning and happy holidays everyone! Having spent 15 years as a devout evangelical Christian, I knew full-well that Christmas had absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. This celebration -- which later became Christmas -- was borrowed from a very popular pagan holiday. As Professor Richard Hines, Washington State University, states (GenEd 110X, World Civilizations I ON-LINE CLASS):
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"Early Christians did not celebrate the birth of Christ and nowhere in any of the histories is the day of Jesus' birth set down. In their attempt to deal with Mithraism, they fold of the celebration of Mithra's birth at the Winter solstice into a Christian celebration of the birth of Christ, also held at the Winter solstice, Christmas ..."
AND:
Professor Michael Grant, Edinburg University, states:
"Sol Invictus was a religious title applied to at least three distinct divinities during the later Roman Empire: Elagabalus, Mithras, and Sol.
Unlike the earlier, agrarian cult of Sol Indiges ("the native sun" or "the invoked sun" - the etymology and meaning of the word "indiges" is disputed), the title Deus Sol Invictus was formed by analogy with the imperial titulature pius felix invictus ("dutiful, fortunate, unconquered").
The Romans held a festival on December 25 called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun." The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elagabalus, a Syrian sun god, Sol, the patron god of Emperor Aurelian, and Mithras.[1] (Catholic Encyclopedia)"
AND:
"The birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the Sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithras celebrated the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Invincible Sun). On December 25, 274, [Roman Emperor] Aurelian had proclaimed the Sun God the principal patron of the Empire and dedicated a temple to Him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the Sun was particularly strong at Rome."--Vol. III, The New Catholic Encyclopaedia, p.656, 1967 ed.
Nowhere in the Bible does it state that we are to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Quite the contrary. Scripture make it clear that we are to honor only a handful of holidays which are:
The Passover and the Feasts of Unleavened Bread,
Pentecost,
The Feast of Trumpets,
The Day of Atonement,
The Feast of Tabernacles, and the
The Last Great Day
This list of Holy Days can be found in Leviticus 23:1-44 and Deuteronomy 16:1-6.
That said, what is most important about Christmas has nothing to do with a particular religious figure, but with the very basics of humanity -- loving and caring for one another. This is the true meaning of Christmas IMHO.
Sean
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