Christmas the pagan gods and goddesses of Rome.
Date: Sep 15th, 2008 9:26:05 pm - Subscribe
Mood: Loving Torah
Christmas the pagan gods and goddesses of Rome and not the birthday of Yeshua
Fifth addition since 2000- As a ministry we never have celebrated any roman holidays and god and goddesses sex idols- only the holy biblical feast have we taught and observed
By Rabbi Aminadav Ben Avraham Hinton,
Mind Changing Ministries Beit Yeshua
Romans 14.5-12- Don’t esteem one day over another!
Script:
Jer 10.2-8/ 2 King 17.6-23/ Jer 11.3-17/ Deut 18.9-22/ Psalms37.27-40/
scripture reference:
Remember as i keep telling you, Christianity, Christendom is but an invention of Catholicism with all it's beliefs
Hoshea: King of Israel of the tribe of Ephraim
Halah: Province of Assyria
Habor: a land mass of Assyria
Gozan: City in Assyria
Medes: inhabitants of Media
Baal: deity of idol of Phoenicians- even the cities were named after him Divination: fake foretelling of the future and future events
enchantments: magic, sorcery, divination, séances, black magic, spells, incantations
The birth of Ha'Mashiach- Yeshua was already two years old when the wise men came to see him-Luke 1.26-80/ Matthew 1.18-25/ At this time was Hanakkah and Yeshua according to John 10. was an adult in Solomons Porch
Jeremiah 10:2-4
2Thus saith Hashem, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3For 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 axe.
4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not
The Mithric observance of the "Birthday of the Invincible Sun." This also coincided with Saturnalia and the Winter solstice during the period when Mithraism was practiced in Rome. Since the day was already being kept as a holiday, Christians may have adjusted the symbolism of the day, declaring it the birthday of their "Invincible Son." According to events in the Gospel of Matthew, the date of Jesus' birth may actually have taken place much earlier in the year.
The word "Christmas" means "the mass of Christ," and originated in the 11th century as a name for this pagan feast. It was one of the most popular and universally celebrated holidays in Europe during the Middle Ages. During the Reformation, however, the celebration of Christmas began to decline in importance. Reformers engaged in complex doctrinal arguments in an attempt to prove the celebration of Christmas was unscriptural. The first mention of December 25 as the birth date of Yeshua occurred in A.D. 336 in an early roman calendar. The celebration of this day as Jesus' birth date was influenced by pagan [Christian] festivals held at that time. The ancient romans held year-end celebrations to honor Saturn, their harvest god; and Mithras, the [sic] god of light... As part of all these celebrations, the people prepared special foods, decorated their homes with greenery, and joined in singing and gift giving. These customs gradually became part of the Christmas celebration."
"In the late 300's, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire... The popularity of Christmas grew until the Reformation, a religious movement of the 1500's. This movement gave birth to Protestantism. During the Reformation, many Christians/catholics began to consider Christmas a pagan celebration because it included nonreligious customs. During the 1600's, because of these feelings, Christmas was outlawed in England and in parts of the English colonies in America." THE YULE LOG
The custom of burning the Juul (pronounced yool) came from the Norse and Anglo-Saxons. They burned a huge oak log once a year to honor Thor, the god of thunder. After the Norse became Christians, they made the yule log an important part of their Christmas ceremonies. The Scandinavians adopted the word yule to mean Christmas. In Lithuania, the word for Christmas actually means log evening. The yule log became equally important in England. The English considered it good luck to keep an unburned part of the log to light next year's yule log.
MISTLETOE
Mistletoe decorates many homes in the United States, Canada, and Europe at Christmastime. No one knows exactly how mistletoe became connected with Christmas. Ancient Celtic priests, called Druids, used to give people sprigs of the plant as a charm. Hundreds of years ago, some people in Europe used it at religious gatherings.
HISTORY
In A.D. 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. Christmas is the pagan mixture of Christianity and the other gods and goddesses birthed through Catholicism. Tradition, Marketing and Mysticism- It is the trait of those who are commercialized through there acceptance of anything and will deny the truth, scriptures and facts to met there flesh driven desires-The Church is sadistic idol worshipers and do not even follow the biblical feast which are recorded in scriptures- Halloween, Christmas, Lent, Easter Divination, Valentines day, and none of the other pagan holidays can be even seen in the Bible…… Below are the names of Hashems festive days that Jews and Christians should be following, Hashem did not separate the Gentile after the cross to be separate from the Jews but as the part of the olive tree in Romans 11. we are suppose to be doing the same things as they do as Joint Aires as family people of the same God Hashem
Rosh Hashanah – New Years Day/Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement/
Sukkot – The Feast of Tabernacles or Booths/
Shemini Atzeret
Begins the day after the seventh day of Sukkot. In Israel Shemini Atzeret is also the holiday of Simkhat Torah. Outside of Israel, where extra days of holidays are held, the second day of Shemini Atzeret is Simkhath Torah.
Simchath Torah – The Rejoicing over the Law
October 26th
On this day in ancient Jewish tradition the reading of the book of Deuteronomy is completed and Genesis is begun. The law is rejoiced over, taking the Scrolls of the Law in the arms and carrying it around the synagogue seven times whilst all the time singing songs celebrating and honoring the giving of the Law
Hanukkah – Festival of Lights (The Feast of Dedication)
Purim/ Pesach – Passover/ Shavu’ot – The Festival of Weeks/Tisha B’Av
No we rather serve the holidays of the Greeks and Romans through the veneration of pagan deities and goddesses, Serving the demons of Halloween and two months later profess the birth of Christ. (Who is he?) a roman name for a female deity
( There is no birthday celebrations in the bible that we are suppose to honor-None) and in two months from now buying human hearts( red hearts and inexorable amounts of chocolate- will but cascade from holidays to scenes and buy and purchase and follow every custom with ease and say we are believers- No your not, no such Jews follow any paginated roman gods and goddess and equinox venerations. 99 % of these so called believers unknowingly worship the God of Israel. Mixed with the gods and goddesses and traditions of pagan’s blood drinkers. The church has integrated Romanization and Jehovah mixed with Baal all in one tight nit religion- Let’s expose the Truth:
December 25th was celebrated by the Pagan sun-worshipers of Mithraism as the "birthday of the invincible sun," because on that day the sun began its return to the northern skies "the winter solstice." And so, the sun and the Son, have become a deliberate Pagan mix. Tammuz, the Babylonian Pagan sun deity, was also the first counterfeit savior. The Scriptures in Ezekiel 8:14-18 condemns ancient Israel for adopting worship of the Pagan god Tammuz, which included sun worship and the Asherah (a phallic symbol). The Christian cross symbol is actually the letter " t " the symbol for the Pagan god tammuz with it's many shapes and forms. All cross symbols are of Pagan origin and date thousands of years before our Messiah's birth. The Messiah was executed on an upright stake not on a cross with a horizontal cross member.
December 25th was also the date of the Pagan Brumalia (winter) festival in Rome. It was preceded by the Saturnalia festival Dec. 17-24 - in honor of the Roman god Saturn, as a period of unrestrained merriment in celebration of the winter solstice.
The Saturnalia and Brumalia festivals were so popular among the heathen and so deeply entrenched in their customs, that rather than attempt to reform the Pagan populous the Roman Church, the Emperor Constantine, chose instead to absorb their festivities into the Constantine Roman Catholic Church. This corrupted form of Christianity continues to be with us today, and has crept into many modern so-called "Christian" but actually "Pagan" Churches.
The word Christmas is a contraction for "Christ's Mass." The "mass" is a man-made Constantine Roman Catholic ceremony in which the Messiah is sacrificed over and over again in what is called an "unbloody sacrifice." It is taught that the true believer cannot be fully cleansed of his sins unless he partakes of this sacrifice at mass over and over again. This is a complete corruption of the full forgiveness available from Yahweh for sincere repentance. It is an abomination of Yahweh's commandments against the eating/drinking of blood. This is an act, which resembles cannibalism. But so called Christians are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza –Hanukkah according to John 10. verse 20-23 is the only one of Hashem- the rest are pagan. Kwanzaa is a made-up creed cobbled together by a man hostile to the very God you claim to worship! According to Karenga, Christianity is a myth.(That part is true) He does not believe in the God of the Bible. He says this about Christianity and the bible itself: “Belief in spooks who threaten us if we don't worship them and demand we turn over our destiny and daily lives must be categorized as spookism and condemned.” He believes that the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua, the whole rationale behind Christianity, is a myth.(True)
Over the years, Karenga has altered his pagan intentions to attract more black Christians into the fold. He now claims that Kwanzaa is a time of giving “reverence to the Creator.” Just what creator he refers to is unclear. Red flags should jump out at any Bible-believer when someone reveres a “Creator” but denies the deity of Yeshua.
Blacks must understand that Karenga intends Kwanzaa to be an alternative to Yeshua-whom men call Christ so that blacks can celebrate themselves rather than Yeshua.
The truth revealed about Christ-mass = Christmas
Where did Christmas come from and why do Christians feel it is of God and that Yeshua was born on Christmas with the graven idols of the nativity scenes even in the church yards, It baffles me that people think there saved who serve devils, The Pagan Christmas trees and idol groves tracing back to The Prophet Jeremiah- December which again should be only Hanukkah-John10. It moves in trees in the homes and in the churches of people who have no ideal of its origins. With the Heathen Greeks and their worship of their god Adoniia who allegedly was brought back to life by the serpent Aessulapius after having been killed. The ancient romans(Who killed Yeshua) who stole Judaism and revamped it with the tag: Christian rather Christendom after Yeshua and the final witnesses were murdered and the temple destroyed who then Killed the Jews under the Christian title and terms who had no genealogy of Hashem but of gods and goddesses of wood, stone, clay, and gold, and temples that are still seen in Rome proves it, The Romans who again stole Judaism ideal and Christianized it after Yeshua and the talmidim died who through Alexander the great and Constantine reinvented another version which acclaims millions as Catholics. Stole biblical ideals and revamped them with 162 idol pagan beliefs and did not want to get rid of the other gods and goddesses and so mixed them together. Decorating there trees with bits of metal and replicas of there god Bacchus –a fertility goddess, They placed twelve candles on the tree in honor of there other god the sun god also-Which Islam also worships as the god Allah- which occurred during there winter festival of Saturnalia starting on December 17th and lasting until a few days after the solstice, In Northern Europe the ancient druids tied Fruit and attached candles also to ever green tree branches in honor of there gods. Wooden trees were viewed as symbolizing eternal life. This is the deity (gods and goddesses) after which the trees joined holly, mistletoe, the wassail bowl and the Yule as symbols of this season. The word of Hashem- The Bible/Torah says:
LEARN NOT THE WAYS OF THE HEATHEN- But the so-called Christians do the ways of the Heathens, why do they oppose the scriptures because they are not of Hashem/ God -1 John 3. and We do not want salvation according to Hashems ways, He despises his people mixing with the pagans gods and practices but we still go ahead and do it anyway.
Christmas Full History:
Christmas goes back to Germany in the 16th century they called there trees of Christmas Paradeisbaunt meaning –Paradise Trees and were brought into homes to celebrate the annual feast of Adam and eve on December 24. The Bible has no mention of honoring the days of Adam with trees and paganism, The mixture of Christianity and paganism was brought to the Church- By Hasatah Satan with such vestments of Humanism, stargazers, Tree Huggers. It kind of interesting that the pagan nations as Rome, Europe, Greek honored the same gods and goddesses sometimes just with different abbreviations and slight changes of names- but the same devil
Christmas was proceeded by Eastern, Pentecost, Ascension and Epiphany, further proof that Yeshua/Jesus was not born in the winter: December is the rainy season in Judea and a time when the Shepherds would have been in the fields of Bethlehem; Christmas was established to replace existing pagan festivals of the time, Pagan significance at the time of the roman saturnalia god was during the Mithriac birthday of the god called the unconquered sun, much of our current Christmas comes from these ancient customs mixed with Christianity through Constantine and Alexander the great after the death of Yeshua and all his talmidim/ apostles, all witnesses- Then was this never mixed paganism mixed with Christianity rather birthed it. The Christmas lore from these ancient customs, Saint Nicholas inheriting his reindeer comes from the Nordic god called Odin chief of the wild hunt. Who rode through the sky, saturnalia the ancient roman festival and god occurred December 17-23. It was the predecessor to many of the customs of Christmas. The festival of Saturn-the god celebrated in ancient Rome at the end of the vintage and harvesting with feasting and unrestrained merry making and it was done to honor saturnus the god of agriculture(harvest gods of the earth) Observance included exchanging presents and offering pagan sacrifices to there idol gods- Children would receive wax tapers and clay dolls- Mithra-the god/ Mithraicism-The sacrifice services was Christianities main competitor for converts in early Judaic times, Mithiraic winter festivals occurred for the birthday of Mithra the god of the sun, It coincides with a pagan celebration of the winter solstice birthday of the unconquered sun as mentioned prior, Early Christmas celebrations did not appear until the 4th century- It’s customs of the Mistletoe- Than hanging of the mistletoe comes from the druids to whim it was believed to have healing powers from there gods, They would hang it over their doors to appease the woodland spirits in the belief that only happiness could pass the mistletoe, From this derived the custom of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas(Christ-Mass/ Catholic Mass) Holly comes from the use of the term to deck the halls, It comes from saturnalia and from Teutonic gods of hanging ever green trees in homes as refuge from Sylvan spirits-from the inclement winter weather- Jeremiah 10 already told us why the Trees in the homes and even in the churches are honored to other gods and goddesses. There had long been a custom of exchanging gifts on New Years day, The patron of pagan origins of this custom and the desire by the Christians to abolish all pagan customs combined them with the difficulty in eliminating long observed customs was moved into Christmas and all the rest of the pagan Romanized holidays that can not be found anywhere in the whole Bible/Torah. Where it could be looked upon as an emulation of Magi the god and a token of generosity and good will by mixing Christianity and paganism together to please each groups the pagan and Christians.
The name Santa Claus is a name of corruption of what the name really is Saint (Catholics) Nicholas which was pronounced as -Sinter Klaus-The patron saint of children whose feast day is on December 6. It was the custom in Old England to clean out the chimneys at the bonging of the year so that luck could descend and stay all year, The term luck came from paganism: Luck or Lucky is a word of mixture of magical beliefs, witchcraft thus Christians should never use the word luck because for we are not pagans first, secondly the word Luck deals with games of chance- Lottery, Gambling, Games of Chances- Luck is not of Hashem and not by Hashem, we as Believers do not just cohabitate but we are blessed- Bless, Blessings, Blessed-Baruch in connotation of bliss or having become blessed- Hashem operates in Blessings not luck- not games of chance- but in trusting him and not trusting agents of a gamble or demon.
Looking at greater paganism as the title Never Lands- The mystical story of the home of Santa Claus come from mixing pre-Christian mythology of the god named as wpden- The legend mixed with magic and morbid is the custom of placing a wooden shoe by the fire place to be filled with gifts which later became the stockings following Scandinavia the ancient Goths and Saxons celebrating the winter solstice gods and goddesses with a festival called Juul from which we get the name Yule- the ancient festival including Bone fires(Bon fires) Burning the dead and throwing them in the fires for the pagan gods-dedicated to the gods called Thor and we still refer to a larger Christmas log with the mythological wreaths of hanging silver and gold and dancing around it celebrating the goddess of futility, Thus if you say you are Christians after the way of Israel- Messianic believers following the Bible only and asunder ourselves to the other gods and celebrate there holidays instead of the Holy Feast then you are honoring graven images, idols and man made carved images from mans imaginations and are worshiping Satan
(HaSatan in Hebrew)
Revelations 3. Verse 8-9 says I know thy works behold I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it for thou hast a little strength, and has kept my word and hast not denied my name. Behold I will make them of the synagogue (Church, Congregation) of Satan which say they are Jews and are not( Who say there of Hashem and are not-
Read the rest of that chapter:
Other supported scriptures:
Ezekiel 3.1-27/ Romans 11.2-36/ Deuteronomy 12.30-32/ Judges 16. verse 23/ 1 Samuel 5.2-12/ 1 Chronicles 10.1-14
Christmas is a driven force of commercialism, You can’t put Yeshua in something he was never ever in, The Torah/ Bible no where tells us to observe a holiday celebrating the birthday of Yeshua Ha'Mashiach but it does mention to commensurate his death- Yeshua was already two years old when the not three wise men came but the wise men came and presented him with gifts as it was common to do to the new king coming on the throne in Judaism, Christmas is nothing more than pagan worship to strange gods and goddesses and unbiblical customs and beliefs thrown together with a mixture of Yeshua/Jesus name and Teutonic gods, Druids and other gods and goddesses made to look innocent to you, made to look harmless to you, made to look even Biblical to you who are all so focally blinded>
More on Christmas:
There is no biblical warrant, precedent, nor precept for remembrance of the day of Yeshua's birth as a day of special religious celebration. This is not to say that we shouldn't remember Yeshuas birth as mentioned and its significance, but for religious commemorations or celebrations, We must have biblical command or precedent! The fact of the matter is this -- the early Jews did not celebrate Yeshua's birth, but such celebration only came into the church with the "Christianize" of pagan rites as Catholicism was made the state religion by Constantine in the fourth century A.D. Since the Word of Hashem does not support the tradition of Christmas, a Christian's conscience ought not and must not be bound.
The following outline describes the origin of Christmas (with its associated pagan customs, symbols, and terminology), details the Scriptural support against celebrating Christmas, attempts to show that celebrating Christmas violates the spirit of every one of the ten commandments, attempts to demonstrate that celebrating Christmas does not fall in the realm of Christian liberty, and attempts to debunk eight of the major rationalizations Christians put forth for celebrating Christmas.
I.The Origin of Christmas
A. A Long Evolution -- Christmas customs are an evolution from times long before the Christian period -- a descent from seasonal, pagan, religious, and national practices, hedged about with legend and tradition. Their seasonal connections with the pagan feasts of the winter solstice relate them to ancient times, when many of the earth's inhabitant's were sun worshipers. As the superstitious pagans observed the sun gradually moving south in the heavens and the days growing shorter, they believed the sun was departing never to return. To encourage the sun's return north (i.e., to give the winter sun god strength and to bring him back to life again), the sun gods were worshipped with elaborate rituals and ceremonies, including the building of great bonfires, decorating with great evergreen plants such as holly, ivy, and mistletoe, and making representations of summer birds as house decorations. The winter solstice, then, was the shortest day of the year, when the sun seemingly stood still in the southern sky. Observing the slowdown in the sun's southward movement, and its stop, the heathen believed that their petitions to it had been successful. A time of unrestrained rejoicing broke out, with revelry, drinking, and gluttonous feasts. Then, when the pagans observed the sun moving again northward, and a week later were able to determine that the days were growing longer, a new year was proclaimed.
B. Not Among the Earliest Christian Festivals
Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Jews. It was not celebrated, commemorated, or observed, neither by the apostles nor in the apostolic messianic congregation -- not for at least the first 300 years of church history! History reveals that about 440 A.D., the Church(Catholic-Roman) at Jerusalem commenced the celebration of Christmas, following the lead of Roman Catholicism.It was sufficient for the early Christians that Jesus, Yeshua Hashem their Lord and Savior, had been born. They praised God that Jesus Christ had, indeed, come in the flesh. The day and the time of His birth had no relevance to them, because Jesus was no longer physically on earth. He had returned to heaven. And it was the risen, exalted Christ(Idol, Statue) to whom they looked, and that by faith -- not a babe laid in a manger. Yeshua Ha'Mashiach is no longer a baby; no longer the child," but the exalted El of all. And He does NOT somehow return to earth as a baby every year at Christmas-time -- though this is the impression given even in certain hymns sung in Protestant services.
C. The Role of Religion in Ancient Rome -- Seemingly forgotten is the essential role religion played in the world of ancient Rome. But the Emperor Constantine understood. By giving official status to Christianity, he brought internal peace to the Empire. A brilliant military commander, he also had the genius to recognize that after declaring Christianity the "state" religion (Constantine forced all the pagans of his empire to be baptized into the Roman Church), there was need for true union between paganism and Christianity. The corrupt Roman Church was full of pagans now masquerading as Christians, all of which had to be pacified. What better way than to "Christianize" their pagan idolatries. Thus, the Babylonian mystery religions were introduced by Constantine beginning in 313 A.D. (and established a foothold with the holding of the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.). The Constantine-led Roman Church was more than willing to adapt and adopt pagan practices in order to make Christianity palatable to the heathen. Constantine used religion as a political tool, totally devoid of any true spirituality:
Pagan rituals and idols took on Christian names (e.g., Yeshua Ha'Mashiach was presented as the Sun of Righteousness- a roman female god [Malachi 4:2] replacing the sun god, Sol Invictus ).
Pagan holidays were reclassified as Christian holidays (holy-days).
December 25th was the "Victory of the Sun-God" Festival in the pagan Babylonian world. In the ancient Roman Empire, the celebration can be traced back to the Roman festival Saturnalia, which honored Saturn, the harvest god, and Mithras, the god of light; both were celebrated during or shortly after the winter solstice (between the 17th and 23rd of December). To all ancient pagan civilizations, December 25th was the birthday of the gods -- the time of year when the days began to lengthen and man was blessed with a "regeneration of nature." Moreover, all of December 25th's Babylonian and Roman festivals were characterized by 5-7 day celebration periods of unrestrained or orgiastic revelry and licentiousness.
December 25th was particularly important in the cult of Mithras, a popular deity in the Old Roman Empire. Robert Myers (a proponent for celebrating Christmas) in his book Celebrations, says:
"Prior to the celebration of Christmas, December 25th in the Roman world was the Natalis Solis Invicti, the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. This feast, which took place just after the winter solstice of the Julian calendar, was in honor of the Sun God, Mithras, originally a Persian deity whose cult penetrated the Roman world in the first century B.C. ... Besides the Mithraic influence, other pagan forces were at work. From the seventeenth of December until the twenty-third, Romans celebrated the ancient feast of the Saturnalia. ... It was commemorative of the Golden Age of Saturn, the god of sowing and husbandry."
In order to make Christianity palatable to the heathen, the Roman Church simply took Saturnalia, adopted it into Christianity, and then eventually many of the associated pagan symbols, forms, customs, and traditions were reinterpreted (i.e., "Christianized") in ways "acceptable" to Christian faith and practice. (In fact, in 375 A.D., the Church of Rome under Pope Julius I merely announced that the birth date of Christ had been "discovered" to be December 25th, and was accepted as such by the "faithful." The festival of Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithra's could now be celebrated as the birthday of Christ!(His name is Yeshua and always have been-rome changed that to) The pagans flocked into the Catholic places of worship, because they were still able to worship their old gods, but merely under different names. It mattered not to them whether they worshiped the Egyptian goddess mother and her child under the old names (Isis and Horus), or under the names of the "Virgin Mary" and the "Christ-child." Either way, it was the same old idol-religion (cf. 1 Thes. 1:8-10; 5:22 -- Paul says to turn from idols, not rename them and Christianize them). Roman Catholicism's Christmas Day is nothing but "baptized" paganism, having come along much too late to be part of "the faith once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).
D. "Christianization" of Pagan Customs, Symbols, and Terminology -- Christianity had to undergo a transformation so that pagan Rome could "convert" without giving up its old beliefs and rituals. The actual effect was to paganize official Christianity. "'A compound religion had been manufactured, of which ... Christianity furnished the nomenclature, and Paganism the doctrines and rights.' The idolatry of the Roman world, though deposed from its ancient pre-eminence, had by no means been demolished. Instead of this, its pagan nakedness had been covered with the garb of a deformed Christianity" (W.E. Vine). Pagan customs involving vestments, candles, incense, images, and processions were all incorporated into church worship and continue today.
The following customs and traditions associated with Xmas all have pagan/heathen origins. ("Xmas" is the more preferable form for the day, since it at least leaves the name of our Savior out of the heathen observance.) Naturally, Christians would not keep these customs for such evil and perverse reasons, but the fact of their origins remain -- "the customs of the people are vain" (Jer. 10:3), and should thereby be carefully considered by all who know and love the Lord:
1. The blasphemous "Christ's Mass" shortened to "Christ-mas" -- The Roman Catholic "Christ's Mass" is a special mass performed in celebration of Christ's birth. In this mass, Jesus is considered both the priest and the victim, represented by the Catholic priest who offers Him as a sacrifice each time the mass is performed. In offering this "sacrifice," the priest believes he has the power to change the bread and the wine of the Communion into Jesus' literal flesh and blood, requiring the people to worship these elements as they do God Himself. This is obviously a denial of the gospel, and thereby, a false gospel (a re-doing of the sacrifice for sin -- Heb. 9:12, 24-26; 10:10,12,14). Yet, many who cry out all year long against the blasphemous Roman Catholic system, at year-end embrace Rome's most blasphemous abomination of them all -- Christmas!
2. Nativity Scenes (tainted with paganism) -- Nearly every form of pagan worship descended from the Babylonian mysteries, which focus attention on the "mother-goddess" and the birth of her child. This was adapted to "Mary-Jesus" worship, which then easily accommodated the multitude of pagans "converted" to Christianity inside Constantine's Roman Catholic Church. If anyone were to erect statues (i.e., images) of Mary and Joseph by themselves, many within Protestant circles would cry "Idolatry!" But at Xmas time, an image of a little baby is placed with the images of Mary and Joseph, and it's called a "nativity scene." Somehow, the baby-idol "sanctifies" the scene, and it is no longer considered idolatry! (cf. Exo. 20:4-5a; 32:1-5a; 9-10a).
3. Christmas Tree -- Evergreen trees, because of their ability to remain green through-out the winter season when most other forms of vegetation are dormant, have long symbolized immortality, fertility, sexual potency, and reproduction, and were often brought into homes and set up as idols.
The full mystical significance of the evergreen can only be understood when one considers the profound reverence the ancient pagans had for all natural phenomena -- "To them, Nature was everywhere alive. Every fountain had its spirit, every mountain its deity, and every water, grove, and meadow, its supernatural association. The whispering of the trees ... was the subtle speech of the gods who dwelt within" (W.M. Auld, Christmas Traditions). This is nothing but nature worship or Animism.
The custom of bringing the tree into the home and decorating it as is done today has legendarily been attributed to Martin Luther. In truth, the modern custom has been lost in obscurity, but almost every culture has some such tradition. For ages, evergreen trees would be brought into the house during the winter as magic symbols of luck and hope for a fruitful year to come, It may also be that the star with which many of today's trees are topped did not originate as a representation of the star that the wise men followed, but rather a representation of the stars to which the ancient Chaldean astrologers looked for guidance.
The first decorating of an evergreen was done by pagans in honor of their god Adonis, who after being slain was brought to life by the serpent Aesculapius. The representation of the slain Adonis was a dead stump of a tree. Around this stump coiled the snake -- Aesculapius, symbol of life restoring. From the roots of the dead tree, then comes forth another and different tree -- an evergreen tree, symbolic to pagans of a god who cannot die! In Babylon, the evergreen tree came to represent the rebirth/reincarnation of Nimrod as his new son (Sun), Tammuz. In Egypt, this god was worshiped in a palm tree as Baal-Tamar. (Heathen people in the land of Canaan also adopted tree worship, calling it the Asherah -- a tree with its branches cut off was carved into a phallic symbol.) The fir tree was worshiped in Rome as the same new-born god, named Baal-Berith, who was restored to life by the same serpent. A feast was held in honor of him on December 25th, observed as the day on which the god reappeared on earth -- he had been killed, and was "reborn" on that day, victorious over death! It was called the "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun." Thus, the annual custom of erecting and decorating evergreen trees was brought down to us through the centuries by the pagan Roman Catholic Church -- the paganism of Tammuz and Baal, or the worship of the sun, mingled with the worship of Aesculapius the serpent. Whether erected in private homes or in churches, decorated or not, the evergreen tree is a glaring symbol of this false god.
4. Christmas Wreaths -- In pagan mythology, evergreen means eternal life and a never-dying existence. Made from evergreens, Christmas wreaths were most frequently round, which symbolized the sun (just as do halos in most religious art). Hence, the round Xmas wreaths stand for an eternal sun, a never-dying or self-renewing sun. In addition, the round form can also relate to the sign of the female, which stands for the regeneration of life. Because of these pagan associations, the Christian church was initially hostile towards the use of wreaths and other evergreen derivatives. But in the same way it Christianized other pagan traditions, the church soon found a way to confer its own symbolic meanings. For example, the sharp pointed leaves of the "male" holly came to represent Christ's crown of thorns and the red berries His blood, while the "female" ivy symbolized immortality (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor Christmas," p. 6). Such wreaths now not only adorn churches at Christmas time, but are also appearing during the equally pagan Easter season.
5. Mistletoe -- The use of the mistletoe plant (which is poisonous to both man and animals) can be traced back to the ancient Druids. (The Druids were pagan Celtic priests who were considered magicians and wizards.) It represented the false "messiah," considered by the Druids to be a divine branch that had dropped from heaven and grew upon a tree on earth. This is an obvious corruption of God's prophetic Word concerning Yeshua, "the Man the Branch," coming from heaven. The mistletoe symbolized the reconciliation between God and man. And since a kiss is the well known symbol of reconciliation, that is how "kissing under the mistletoe" became a custom -- both were tokens of reconciliation. The mistletoe, being a sacred plant and a symbol of fertility, was also believed to contain certain magical powers, having been brought to earth from heaven by a mistletoe thrush carrying it in its toes (hence the name). It was once known as the "plant of peace," and in ancient Scandinavia, enemies were reconciled under it (yet another reason why people came to "kiss under the mistletoe"). It was supposed to bring "good luck" and fertility, and even to protect from witchcraft the house in which it hung.
A kiss is also something which is, at times, associated with lust. So the practice of "kissing under the mistletoe" also had roots in the orgiastic celebrations in connection with the Celtic Midsummer Eve ceremony. At the time the mistletoe was gathered, the men would kiss each other as a display of their homosexuality. (The custom was later broadened to include both men and women.) Kissing under the mistletoe is also reminiscent of the temple prostitution and sexual license proliferating during Roman Saturnalia.
6. Santa Claus -- Santa Claus or "Father Christmas" is a corruption of the Dutch "Sant Nikolaas." ("Saint Nicholas" was the 4th century Catholic bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, who gave treats to children; he was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church, "regarded as a special friend and protector of children." The red suit comes from the fact that Catholic bishops and cardinals in Italy wear red.) Santa Claus was also known as "Kriss Kringle," a corruption of the German "Christ Kindl"-- Christ Child. This has to be one of the most subtle of Satan's blasphemies, yet most Christians are unaware of it{ It wasn't Hashems will that you be Christian/ Catholic-same thing}
Originally, the Santa Claus concept came from the pagan Egyptian god, Bes, a rotund, gnome-like personage who was the patron of little children. Bes was said to live at the North Pole, working year-round to produce toys for children who had been good and obedient to their parents. In Dutch, he was called "Sinter Klaas." Dutch settlers brought the custom to America. In Holland and other European countries, the original Santa Claus was actually a grim personage who traversed the countryside, determined to find out who really had been "naughty or nice." Those who had been acting up were summarily switched. The association of Santa Claus with snow, reindeer, and the North Pole suggests Scandinavian or Norse traditions of the Yuletide season. (In Babylonia, also, the stag [reindeer] was a symbol of the mighty one, Nimrod. The symbolism of antlers worn on the head of a noble leader would demonstrate his prowess as a hunter, and thereby, influence people to follow him.)
Santa is the blasphemous substitute for God! He is routinely given supernatural powers and divine attributes which only GOD has. Think about it. He is made out to be omniscient -- he knows when every child sleeps, awakes, has been bad or good, and knows exactly what every child wants (cf. Psa. 139:1-4). He is made out to be omnipresent -- on one night of the year he visits all the "good" children in the world and leaves them gifts, seemingly being everywhere at the same time. He is also made out to be omnipotent -- he has the power to give to each child exactly what each one wants. Moreover, Santa Claus is made out to be a sovereign judge -- he answers to no one and no one has authority over him, and when he "comes to town," he comes with a full bag of rewards for those whose behavior has been acceptable in his eyes.
Santa Claus has become one of the most popular and widely accepted and unopposed myths ever to be successfully interwoven into the fabric and framework of Christianity. It is a fact that Christ was born, and that truth should greatly rejoice the heart of every Christian. But the Santa Claus myth distorts the truth of Christ's birth by subtly blending truth with the myth of Santa Claus. When Christian parents lie to their children about Santa Claus, they are taking the attention of their children away from God and causing them to focus on a fat man in a red suit with god-like qualities. All of this teaches the child to believe that, just like Santa, God can be pleased with "good works," done in order to earn His favor. Also, they teach that no matter how bad the child has been, he will still be rewarded by God -- just as Santa never failed to bring gifts. Even in homes of professing Christians, Santa Claus has clearly displaced Yeshua in the awareness and affections of children, becoming the undisputed spirit, symbol, and centerpiece of Christmas.
7. Christmas Eve -- "Yule" is a Chaldean word meaning "infant." Long before the coming of Christianity, the heathen Anglo-Saxons called the 25th of December "Yule day" -- in other words, "infant day" or "child's day" -- the day they celebrated the birth of the false "messiah"! The night before "Yule day" was called "Mother night." Today it is called "Christmas Eve." And it wasn't called "Mother night" after Mary, the mother of our Lord -- "Mother night" was observed centuries before Jesus was born. Semiramis (Nimrod's wife) was the inspiration for "Mother night," and "Child's day" was the supposed birthday of her son (Tammuz), the sun-god!
8. Yule Log -- The Yule log was considered by the ancient Celts a sacred log to be used in their religious festivals during the winter solstice; the fire provided promises of good luck and long life. Each year's Yule log had to be selected in the forest on Christmas Eve by the family using it, and could not be bought, or the superstitions associated with it would not apply. In Babylonian paganism, the log placed in the fireplace represented the dead Nimrod, and the tree which appeared the next morning (which today is called the "Christmas tree") was Nimrod alive again (reincarnated) in his new son (sun), Tammuz. (Still today in some places, the Yule log is placed in the fireplace on Christmas Eve, and the next morning there is a Christmas tree!)
Today's Yule log tradition comes to us from Scandinavia, where the pagan sex-and-fertility god, Jule, was honored in a twelve-day celebration in December. A large, single log was kept with a fire against it for twelve days, and each day for twelve days a different sacrifice was offered. The period now counted as the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany was originally the twelve days of daily sacrifices offered to the Yule log. (What, then, are we really doing when we send "Yuletide greetings"? Are we really honoring Christ by sending greetings in the name of a Scandinavian fertility god? These are the same customs being practiced today as in ancient paganism! Only the names have changed.)
9. Candles -- Candles were lit by the ancient Babylonians in honor of their god, and his altars had candles on them. And as is well known, candles are also a major part of the ritualism of Roman Catholicism, which adopted the custom from heathenism. Candles approached the Yule log in ritual importance. Like the Yule log, they had to be a gift, never a purchase, and were lighted and extinguished only by the head of the household. Such candles stood burning steadily in the middle of the table, never to be moved or snuffed, lest death follow. The Yule candle, wreathed in greenery, was to burn through Christmas night until the sun rose or the Christmas service began (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor Christmas," p. 9). Obviously, candles used for pagan practices should have no part in believers worship, for nowhere in the scriptures is their use sanctioned for that.
10. Giving of Gifts -- The tradition of exchanging gifts has nothing to do with a reenactment of the Magi giving gifts to Yeshua, but has many superstitious, pagan origins instead. One prominent tradition was the Roman custom of exchanging food, trinkets, candles, or statutes of gods during the mid-winter Kalends (the first day of the month in the ancient Roman calendar). This custom was transferred to December 25th by the Roman Church in keeping with the Saturnalian festival and in celebration of the benevolent St. Nicholas. [Is it not the height of ridiculousness to claim that giving one another presents properly celebrates Jesus' "birthday" (not that there is anything necessarily wrong in giving each other presents)? But what are we giving Him, if indeed we are specifically celebrating His incarnation?]
11. Christmas Goose -- The "Christmas goose" and "Christmas cakes" were both used in the worship of the Babylonian "messiah." The goose was considered to be sacred in many ancient lands, such as Rome, Asia Minor, India, and Chaldea. In Egypt, the goose was a symbol for a child, ready to die! In other words, a symbol of the pagan "messiah," ready to give his life (supposedly) for the world. This is obviously a satanic mockery of the truth.
12. Christmas Ham ( your not even suppose to eat ham, You learned it from being pagan)-- Hogs were slaughtered and the eating of the carcass was one of the central festivities of the Saturnalia. Each man would offer a pig as a sacrifice because superstition held that a boar had killed the sun deity Adonis. Hence, the tradition of the Christmas ham on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
13. Christmas Stocking -- According to tradition, a poor widower of Myra, Turkey, had three daughters, for whom he could not provide a dowry. On Xmas-Eve, "Saint Nicholas" threw three bags of gold down the chimney, thereby saving the daughters from having to enter into prostitution. One bag rolled into a shoe, and the others fell into some stockings that had been hung to dry by the fire. Hence, the beginning of the tradition of the "Christmas stocking" or "boot."
14. Christmas Cards -- The first British Xmas card can be dated back to 1843. The first cards featured pictures of dead birds! Evidently, the popularity of hunting robin and wren on Christmas Day made the dead bird image an appropriate one for "holiday" cards. Often the text of the cards would also have a morbid tone. Later, the cards displayed dancing insects, playful children, pink-cheeked young women, and festively decorated Christmas trees. The first actual Xmas cards were really Valentine's Day cards (with different messages) sent in December. Mass production of Xmas cards in the United States can be traced back to 1875. Initially, the manufacturers thought of Xmas cards as a sideline to their already successful business in playing cards. But the "tradition" of sending cards soon caught on, leading to a very profitable business by itself.
15. Christmas Carols -- What do you suppose the reaction would be by a church's leaders if its pastor were to propose that the following hymns be introduced into the church to commemorate the birth of Christ? After all, the tunes are quite lovely.
Hymn #1 -- A hymn by a Unitarian minister (Unitarians reject the Trinity and full deity of Yeshua ) that does not mention Yeshua Ha'Mashiach and reflects the liberal social gospel theology of the 19th century.
Hymn #2 -- A hymn by an American Episcopal priest, the fourth verse of which teaches Roman Catholic superstition about Christ coming to be born in people during the Advent season.
Hymn #3 -- A song, the words by an Austrian Roman Catholic priest, the music by a Roman Catholic school teacher, containing the Roman Catholic superstition about halos emanating from holy people, with no gospel message.
Perhaps you would expect the church's leaders to be very upset. It might surprise you to learn that they were upset when they suspected that the pastor might somehow prevent them from singing them! You see, those three hymns were already in the church's hymnals! The pastor did not have to introduce them. The three theologically incorrect "Christmas carols" referred to above are It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, O Little Town of Bethlehem, and Silent Night. (See the sub-report for an evaluation of some of the most popular Xmas carols found in church hymnals today.)
E. European Xmas Traditions -- In the early days of Christianity, as it moved north and west into Europe, many pagan celebrations were encountered. For example, in the late-6th century in England, the Angles and Saxons were found celebrating Yule. The Christian evangelists thought they would fail in any attempt to rival, suppress, or stamp out such long held customs, so they simply adopted popular dates for their own "special rituals and hallowed services." In other words, it was easier to establish a festival celebrating the birth of Christ if it conveniently coincided with an existing popular pagan feast day. In this way, the pagan peoples (albeit potential converts to Christianity) could continue with their usual celebrations at this time of year, but the reason for the merrymaking could be redefined and attributed to Christ's birth rather than to any pagan rituals. As paganism eventually died out and Christianity became widespread, Christmas became increasingly more associated with its religious foundations than any others (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor Christmas," p. 2).
It was left to the Puritans to denounce everything. For them, Christmas was rightfully part popish, part pagan, and was forbidden to be kept as a holiday or feast day. The attack began in 1644 when the Puritans controlled the Parliament; December 25th was changed to a Fast Day. By 1647, even the Fast Day was abolished as a relic of superstition, synonymous with the Church of Rome. No observation on December 25th was any longer permitted, but the day was to be observed as a normal market-day. Christmas was accurately depicted by such names as the Profane Man's Ranting Day, the Superstitious Man's Idol Day, the Papist's Massing Day, the Old Heathen's Feasting Day, the Multitude's Idle Day, and Satan -- that Adversary's -- Working Day. In those days, any Christmas celebrations would be broken up by troops, who would tear down decorations and arrest anyone holding a service. Some who celebrated it in Europe were also thrown into prison. Because of the riots that broke out following the banning of Christmas, the celebrations and revelry were restored in 1660 by King Charles II, a Roman Catholic (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor Christmas," p. 3).
F. American Xmas Traditions -- America's settlers (the "founding fathers" of so-called "Protestant America") rightfully considered Christmas a "popish" holiday. In fact, it was only in the early 1800s that several founding members of the New York Historical Society "invented" Christmas. Before then, it was illegal in colonial Massachusetts to even take December 25th off work. Christmas was forbidden as "unseemly to ye spiritual welfare of ye community." (It was banned in Massachusetts in 1659, and this law remained on the books for 22 years. In Boston, public schools stayed open on December 25th until as late as 1870!) It wasn't until 1836 that any state declared Christmas a holiday (Alabama), and then there were no more state declarations until the Civil War. It was not until 1885 that all federal workers were given Christmas Day off. The so-called Xmas customs and traditions were later concocted more for commercial purposes than for religious.
Quoting from a 12/23/83 USA TODAY article about Christmas: "A broad element of English Christianity still considered Christmas celebration a pagan blasphemy. The Puritans, Baptists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Calvinists and other denominations brought this opposition to early New England and strong opposition to the holiday lasted in America until the middle of the 18th century." Henry Ward Beecher, a Congregationalist, wrote in 1874 of his New England boyhood:
"To me Christmas is a foreign day, and I shall die so. When I was a boy I wondered what Christmas was. I knew there was such a time, because we had an Episcopal church in our town, and I saw them dressing it with evergreens, and wondered what they were taking the woods in the church for; but I got no satisfactory explanation. A little later I understood it was a Romish institution, kept by the Romish Church."
II. Scriptural Support Against Celebrating Christmas -- Unacceptable Worship
A. 2 Chron. 33:15-17 -- The Israelites had kept the old pagan form (the high places of Baal), but had merely introduced the worship of Hashem into that form -- a refusal to let go of pagan worship forms (i.e., Hashem was to be worshiped in the Temple, not on the high places). This was unacceptable worship because the right object of worship was mixed with wrong forms of worship; i.e., the mixing of Holy worship with ungodly form. Likewise, is not the celebration of Christmas the taking of a celebration established by pagans and for pagans, and then introducing the worship of Christ into that pagan form?
B. Deut. 12:29-32 – Hashem warned His people Israel to destroy all vestiges of pagan worship that they found in the "Promised Land." Not only did Hashem want to prevent His people from being enticed to worship false gods, but He also specifically revealed that He did not want His people to worship Him in the same manner in which the heathen worshiped their gods. We know, therefore, that our El is displeased by practices which profess to honor Him, but which are copied from the tradition of false religions. The command here was to worship Hashem only in His way, do only what Hashem commands -- not adding to Hashems commands nor taking away from them. Therefore, is not "putting Yeshua back into Christmas," worshiping "the Lord your God their way"? Is there any command in the Bible to give special reverence to the Scriptural account of Yeshuas birth more so than to any other Scripture, let alone even a suggestion to celebrate or commemorate His birth in any way whatsoever? Hashem never intended for His people to be imitators of the pagan customs of the world, but has called us to be separate and set apart.
C. Lev. 10:1,2 -- Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire to the Lord. Is not the celebration of Christmas, with all its pagan symbols and forms, a "strange fire" unto the Lord, and is not this form of worship contrary to what Hashem commands?
D. 1 Sam. 15:1-3, 7-9, 21-23 -- Saul disobeyed Hashems prophet in order to worship Hashem in his way. Is not the celebration of Christmas one of man's ways of worshiping there named Christ? There is certainly no Biblical command to offer worship in this manner.
E. 2 Sam. 6:2-7 -- David attempts to transport the ark on a "new cart" instead of using the rings and poles as the Law required (Exo. 25:12-15). Additionally, the "transporters" of the ark were not even authorized to carry it (1 Chron. 15:2, 13-15); i.e., the ark was not only transported in the wrong way, but was transported by the wrong people! Is not the celebration of Christmas the wrong way (pagan forms and tradition) with the wrong people (the heathen of the world join right in with the professing Christians)?
F. 1 Ki. 12:26-33 -- In order to unify the northern ten tribes of Israel, ungodly King Jeroboam set up pagan idols, not in place of Hashem, but as new focal points for directing worship to Hashem. He even instituted a new festival on a new day; i.e., a new religious holiday of his own choosing. Even though the true Hashem of Israel was still to be the object of worship in the new religious holiday, both the holiday and the worship were not authorized by Hashem nor accepted by Him (1 Ki. 13:1-3; 15:29,30). Why? Because the concocted mixture of error with truth constituted false religion! Likewise, is not the celebration of Christmas a religious holiday of man's own choosing, replete with pagan symbols and forms, all under the guise (by pagan Christians at least) of worshiping the one true Hashem and Savior? But does not this worship form and system still constitute false religion, and thereby, make it unacceptable to Hashem? And besides, where in the Bible do Christians have the right to add a new holy day to the so-called Christian calendar, any more than King Jeroboam had the right to add a new holy day to Hashems theocratic calendar?
G. 1 Cor. 8:4-13; Rom. 14:1-13; 1 Cor. 10:14, 18-21 -- These passages concerning Jewish liberty are discussed in more detail under Roman numeral IV. [Believers liberty can best be defined Biblically as "the freedom to engage in practices not prohibited by the Scriptures or denying oneself what is permitted (i.e., a moral choice of self-discipline) in order to be a more effective witness for Hashem." So the question must first be answered, "Is Christmas permitted?"] Briefly, some claim that Rav. Shaul is teaching that the participation in pagan forms condemns no one, and therefore, participation in Christmas and its forms, even though arising out of pagan idolatry, is inconsequential. However, Rav. Shaul nowhere approves participation in acts of idolatry, of which the participation in the pagan forms of Christmas comes dangerously close to doing. Instead, Rav. Shaul is speaking of the liberty to continue in Jewish days of worship/festival that had been previously ordained under the Jewish law. There is certainly no liberty to bring outside pagan forms into the Jewish worship services. Likewise, there is no liberty to ChristianizeBabylonian/Roman pagan holy days as special days.
Messianic in the first century synagogue had the liberty to observe Old Testament holy days and feasts (days that had previously been revealed by Hashem and all Gentiles) According to exoduds 12. all strangers who accepted the ways of the Jews observed the same feast, not pagan ones. if they were so immature as to do so. The weaker brother, Rav. Shaul wrote, was at that time not to be censured for continuing to attach some importance to the Old Testament holy days, as a clear knowledge of their abolition in Yeshua was not yet given to him (the weaker brother). But to observe a pagan holy day is something this passage does not sanction. They certainly did not have the liberty to regard Babylonian/Roman pagan holy days (days that were invented by the devil) as special days. Again, that would have been idolatry, worldliness, and even a form of Satan worship on their part. Therefore, how can the observance of Christmas Day, or any other Babylonian/Roman Catholic holy day, be a matter of Jewish liberty?
Yet when some of us refuse to regard the pagan holy days as special days, we are the ones often referred to as the "weaker brother" in this matter! Are we opposed to such days because we are "weak in faith"? Faith would be defined as believing what the Word of Hashem says about a matter and acting upon it. It was by faith that we stopped regarding pagan holy days as special days. Would we be more mature believers if we would start regarding such days again? It would certainly be much easier on our families and us.
III. Christmas and the (Spiritual) Violation of the Ten Commandments (reverse order)
A. Do Not Covet -- Children learn to covet the gifts of others, to drool over the Christmas catalog, to drag their parents endlessly through toy stores, all in the name of "the Christmas spirit."B. Do Not Bear False Witness -- "Yeshua is the reason for the biblical seasons!" is the Christian battle cry to "put Yeshua back in Christmas," when in actuality, there is not only no Biblical warrant for Christmas, but its roots are in pagan worship systems. Nevertheless, professing Christians lie to their children about Santa Claus, the supernatural, sorcerers false "god" of Christmas, whose "gospel" is one of works salvation along with unconditional acceptance and rewards. Parents lie to their children for years about the god-like character of Santa Claus, in effect asking them to trust in a false god and a lie, and then don't understand why later in life their children won't believe and trust in the true Hashem, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach.
C. Do Not Steal -- Christmas spending patterns could never stand the test of Biblical stewardship; i.e., Christians, in celebrating Christmas, "steal" El's resources by ignoring their proper use; lavishly spend these resources on worthless and useless trinkets (in many cases); and withhold resources from those in need, while at the same time claiming to never have enough money to buy good Jewish books, pay for home schooling, or buy Bible helps for their children. (Christians could also be helping the spiritually needs by buying and giving them tracts, books and getting out of Christianity and getting into Messianic Judaism) We "steal" from our families what they need and what we owe them in order to buy gifts for those who don't need them.
D. Do Not Commit Adultery -- At this "special" time of the year, lustful thoughts are actually encouraged; e.g., teens are allowed to go to parties and stay out later, thereby having temptations put in front of them that otherwise wouldn't be there. Christmas parties for adults also encourage evil thoughts through the use of the mistletoe, etc. (According to Matt. 5, such thoughts constitute adultery. At the very least, spiritual adultery is encouraged by the "season.")
E. Do Not Murder -- Envy and hate of my brother (which, according to Matt. 5, is equal to murder) because he has more than me or because he receives a larger Christmas bonus than me, is encouraged at Christmas time. We also tend to spiritually sacrifice our children to the "god of Christmas" via greed, selfishness, etc.
F. Honor Father and Mother -- Christmas gift-giving is not an honor to parents; the term "exchanging" gifts (i.e., giving in expectation of a return) is a dead give-away of the mockery associated with this tradition.
G. Remember the Sabbath/Shabbat and Keep It Holy -- Although we recognize that Hashem is not the "Christian Sabbath," clearly the Lord's Day is to be kept for worship and observed as such. Yet when Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or the day after Christ-mas falls on a Sunday, most churches adjust the Lord's Day to accommodate Christ-mas, usually by canceling the regularly scheduled Sunday evening service. Most of its members are too busy or too tired to attend services anyway.and they have already denied Saturday as Shabbat or as the true holy set aside day-They choose the Sunday which is the day of the sun god
H. Do Not Take Hashems Name in Vain -- "Yeshua" and "mass" are two words that are totally opposite from one another, and to connect the two is to blaspheme the name of Yeshua. By taking a pagan celebration, "Christianizing" it, and calling it a celebration of the birth of Yeshua, is most certainly taking Hashems name in vain. (A good example of the willingness of the professing church to profane the name of the Lord would be the title of a popular children's Christmas concert production -- The Divine Ornament. Imagine, identifying Hashem with a pagan ornament to hang on a pagan tree! What insult! What blasphemy!) In addition, some professing Christians use religion ("Christ's birthday") as a cloak to cover the evils of covetousness, idolatry, greed, immorality, etc. -- all excuses to give vent to evil lusts.
I. Do Not Make Yourself Any Carved Image -- Nativity scenes, "pictures" of Roman pagan Christ, Christmas cards with "pictures" of Jesus/Yeshua, etc., all violate this command. Hashem has given us His Word, not images, to teach us about Yeshua (1 Pe. 1:23; Dt. 4:12, 15-19).
J. Have No Other Elohims Before Me -- The "god of Christmas" is idolatrous! Looking to the Christmas season for happiness, joy, and fulfillment, rather than through a pure, personal, and Biblical relationship with Yeshua Ha'Mashiach , is idolatry.
IV. Is a Christian's Decision to Celebrate Christmas a Part of Christian Liberty?
A. Romans 14:1-13 -- This passage is speaking of Jews who were observing the Old Testament Jewish holy days/festivals and dietary laws but they were also judging their Gentile brothers-in-Hashem who did not observe the Jewish customs. Likewise, the Gentile Christians were judging their Jewish brothers who were seemingly caught-up in ceremonial law. Rav. Shaul was thusly saying, "To you pagan Christians -- leave the Jewish converts alone, because they are not violating any Scriptural commands by their actions (i.e., it's a "disputable" matter [doubtful or gray area] and not a moral issue). To you Jewish believers -- it's okay for you to observe the Jewish festivals and dietary laws because they were given by Hashem in the Old Testament, and thereby, are considered to be previously approved worship forms, but don't judge your Gentile brothers, because there is no Biblical command for either of you to continue to observe these things. If a moral issue is involved (i.e., a practice that is covered in Scripture), then this passage and its application to liberty (i.e., the freedom to engage in practices not prohibited by Scripture) would obviously not apply. And as brought out earlier in this report, the celebration of Christmas appears to be such a moral issue, because its celebration is not only not from Hashem, but is from ancient paganism itself!
B. 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 -- The Gentile nations, who had been raised in an idolatrous system, were having a problem with their Jewish brothers who were eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. (Apparently, this was the only "healthy" meat available.) Similar to the Romans 14 passage above, Paul says that eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols is not a moral issue, and thereby, is not prohibited. However, Paul does not say that it is okay to go into the pagan temple itself; in fact, in other passages (1 Cor 10:14, 18-21), Paul specifically prohibits getting involved with the pagan feasts. In other words, it's not a moral issue to partake in the byproducts of a pagan religious system (note, however, that there is no indication here that the Jewish brothers were using the "idol meat" as part of their worship), but it is not okay to partake in the religious system itself (because the corrupt character of the participants would be harmful for believers). Rather, we must be separate from the worldly system (2 Cor 6:14-7:1). Therefore, when items (byproducts) associated with a pagan religious system not only develop religious associations of their own, but have been integrated into what would otherwise be Christian worship (as the celebration of Christmas has clearly become in our culture), then we should pull away from them so that there is no confusion over our allegiances.
C. Galatians 4:9-10; Colossians 2:16-17 -- Both these passages of Scripture refer to the Jewish holy days under Torah . If Christians were not even to observe the Old Testament holy days( and they are suppose to) -- they certainly don't have the liberty to observe pagan holy days!
D. James 4:11 -- James is saying that Christians may only judge a brother on matters determined in Hashems Word (i.e., moral issues). If a matter is not covered in the Word, then these are matters of liberty in some cases (á la Rom. 14:1-13 and 1 Cor 8:4-13), and he who judges in these areas of liberty is, in effect, judging and condemning the Word of Hashem as being an imperfect standard to which the judge, thereby, refuses to submit. On the other hand, since we have clear Scriptural precept that condemns the things that go on around December 25th in the name of Yeshua other than that which is suppose to be honored being Hanukkah, the celebration of Christmas does not appear to be a matter of liberty, but one of moral conduct.
V. The Right Response
A. Quench Not the Holy Spirit(Truth) (1 Thes 5:19-22) -- Test all things against the Scripture and line-up beliefs and actions with what is true ( do not treat with contempt the Word of Hashem). If Hashem is convinced that to celebrate Christmas is sin, then he and his family must not compromise with the world or the church by participating in any Christmas pagan demonized celebrations (Rom. 14:23).
B. Avoid Traps of the Devil:
1. Lack of Zeal -- One who never considers why he does certain things, but he just does them because he always has or because his parents always have; one who acts on emotions rather than on facts.
2. Lack of Truth -- One who does things for good reasons and right motives ( plenty of zeal), but not in truth.
C. Realize that Christians Celebrating Christmas as the Day of Yeshuas Birth Makes No More Sense than Adding Any of the Following Days as Special Days of Celebration: -- (Remember, the Bible's focus on the birth of Yeshua is for the sole purpose of documenting his virgin birth, his resurrection, and the fulfillment of His prophetic Messiahship. Like the tongue-in-cheek suggestions below, one must also remember that there is no Biblical warrant, precedent, nor precept for the remembrance of the day of Yeshuas birth as a day of special religious celebration.)
1. Mikvah Celebration -- Why not have three days of swimming parties in the summer in order to celebrate/symbolize Yeshua three days in the grave? We could even honor a day based upon scripture evidence of when John the immerser baptized Yeshua! And celebrate that,But most certainly can not add his name to paganism submergence
2. Ascension Celebration -- Why not have one day set aside every year for hot-air balloon rides in order to celebrate Yeshua ascension to heaven?
3. Miracle Celebration -- There is considerable Biblical focus on Yeshuas' miracles (even more than on his birth), so why not have one day set aside every year to celebrate the first of Yeshuas miracles?
D. Avoid the Rationalizations that:
1. "Christmas Provides a Festive Time to Share the Gospel" -- One cannot take something condemned in Hashems Word and "use it" to spread the Gospel; neither will Hashem bless it to spread His Word. Unacceptable worship and the "mixing-in" of unholy/pagan forms is surely not the normal means through which Hashem blesses the faithful. Satan works to blend together his system with Hashems system,because when unacceptable worship (paganism) is blended with true worship (Hashems truth), true worship is destroyed. In fact, any time one mixes pagan ideas and practices with the pure religion of Yeshua, it is condemned in Scripture as the heinous sin of idolatry! Hashem has always detested taking those things dedicated to idols and using them to worship Him. As a matter of fact, this "special time of the year" is probably more a hindrance to the receptiveness of the gospel message than a help. Much of the celebration observed by our contemporary society deludes people into assuming that Hashem is pleased, when in reality, He is offended by false religion, pseudo-worship, and alien philosophies. The ecumenical spirit and a counterfeit "love" under the guise of "peace and goodwill among men," more than likely dulls one's sensitivity to his desperate need to repent of sin and be reconciled to thee holy Hashem.
2. "Christmas is Merely the Honoring of Idol Religion Births" -- Someone says, "I know Christmas is of pagan origin, but I still think it's not wrong for a church to have a special time for honoring Yeshuas birth." But since when did Protestants believe that so called Christians have the right to add to the Bible? Is the church a legislative body? Are we to follow the Bible in our faith and practice, or the thinking of fallible men and fallible roman created religion? If we have the right to add a special holy day to the economy, then we can add 10,000 other things. Then we will be no better than the false cults and the Roman Catholics who follow heathen traditions! [Besides, celebrating Yeshuas birth is a form of worship. But since Christmas is a lie, those who celebrate it are not worshiping in "spirit and truth" (John 4:24).]
3. "All I'm Doing is Putting Christ Back into Christmas" -- The modern conservative cry to put Christ/Ha'Mashiach back into Christmas is absurd. As detailed earlier in this report, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach was never in Christmas. It's a lie to say He was. He has no part in a lie. When anyone takes the truth and mixes it with a lie, they no longer have the truth. They have changed the truth into a lie. Neither is it possible to take a lie and mix it with enough truth to change the lie into the truth. You still come out with a lie. One may say, "Well, I know it's not the truth, but I'll put Yeshua back in Christmas and glorify God in it then." No, you won't. Yeshua never was in Christmas. You cannot change a lie into the truth. It should in reality be called Baal-mass, Nimrod-mass, Tammuz-mass, Mithras-mass, or Mary-mass.Yeshua-mass is a lie. Why use a lie as a good time for a fundamental truth (the incarnation) of the pagan Christian faith?
4. "I'm Using Christmas to Witness for Christ, Just Like the Apostle Paul Did" -- Some say that all they are doing is taking the "truth" from Christmas and "cultivating" it as the Apostle Paul did (Acts 17/Mars Hill),Rav Shaul a Jew did no such thing, taking the opportunity of the season to witness to a lost world. This would be fine if these Christians were actually doing only as Rav. Shaul really did, spread Judaism in a Goyim land, in addressing the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, proclaimed to them that their "unknown god" to whom they had erected an altar, was none other than Hashem( That Hashem is the only God rather) who made the world and all the things therein." Shaul was not intimidated by the pagan surroundings and symbolisms, nor did he berate the Greeks for their error, but merely showed them the truth of the besora of Yeshua.
But do Christians really use the "opportunity presented by the season" in the same way as Shaul used the opportunity of the pagan altar? Do Christians personally stand in front of their hometown public displays of Xmas (Nativity scenes, etc.) and preach the gospel? To paraphrase Shaul, do they say: "Men of Indianapolis, I see that in every way you are very religious; what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you"? Do they come out of the public schools, where they have just attended their children's Xmas programs, and preach to the attendees about the true Hashem who has been grossly misrepresented in the program they have just witnessed?
Hardly. Even to most of those who understand the true origin of Xmas, this "unique time of year" means inviting unbelievers into their homes to gather around the Xmas tree, to enjoy the beauty of the wreaths, absorb the heat from the Yule log, etc., reasoning that they are only using the pagan forms and the pagan festival season as an opportunity to witness. If Shaul meant this in Acts 17, he would have met the people in the Athenian temple or in his or their homes, gathering around their idols that he had witnessed to and was now using as a part of his worship. Most of the people who decorate their homes and churches with Xmas trees, holly wreaths, Nativity scenes, etc., all supposedly to be used as "opportunities" via "Xmas coffees," neighborhood "grab bag" gift exchanges, Xmas concerts, etc., are thoroughly convinced that they're doing God a service. And since they are not involved in the crass secular "commercialization" that the world revels in, but have instead "put Yeshua back in Xmas" (so to speak), they reason that all is Biblical and pleasing to God.
5. "It Doesn't Mean Anything to Me" -- Many Christians who routinely make a habit of picking-and-choosing which Biblical commands they will or will not obey, have likewise carried this practice over into a justification for celebrating Christmas. They claim, "but the Christmas tree, mistletoe, Santa Claus, etc., don't mean anything pagan to me, so I'll exercise my Christian liberty and partake in all of it." Obviously, if one were to take such a cavalier approach to the physical world ( "I can drink rat poison because I choose not to regard it as poison"), it would likely lead to a quick physical death. Why, then, do Christians think they can avoid spiritual harm by ignoring Hashems spiritual warnings?
6. "The 'Connection' Has Been Broken" -- There are those who clearly recognize the pagan nature of the various Christmas worship forms and practices. Nevertheless, many of these Christians claim that because of the long passage of time from their pagan inception to the present (6,000 years?), the "connection" to paganism has been sufficiently diminished to allow the adoption of these forms and practices into our Christian worship and celebration. While it may be true that most symbols have lost their original demonic meaning and significance in a modern society, it is strangely bizarre and ironic that Christendom seeks to commemorate Yeshua birth with the faded symbols of Satan. And even though some of God's people may be naive and ignorant about the source of these things, surely Hashem is not. Can such things please Him? And think about this -- if it were possible to "disconnect" current practices from their pagan/occultism roots, why does Scripture not provide us any guidelines as to:
(a) how much time is necessary for the "neutralization"/disassociation process to occur; and
(b) which of the hundreds of ancient pagan rites would then be acceptable for adaptation into Christian worship (since some are obviously much more pagan/occultism than others)?
7. "There Are Hundreds of Other Items of Daily Life that Have a Pagan Origin" -- It is said, "Such things as the wedding ring, certain clothing customs, the modern division of time into hours and minutes, the names of the days of the week, etc., all have pagan connections in their origins, so isn't it a contradiction on your part to say that their meanings have sufficiently changed while Christmas's meanings have not?" But we are not saying that their meanings have changed. The question is one of using things of pagan origin in our worship of Yeshua. So we would ask the question back, "Which of these pagan items do we focus on to celebrate the birth of Yeshua? Or which of these is 'Christianized' and brought into our weekly worship of, or our daily devotion to the so called roman Christ, as you do with the pagan forms and traditions of Xmas?" The origin and meaning of a custom, tradition, or form does not take on significance unless it is somehow specifically incorporated into, or lined up with, our worship. As we have already detailed in the section on Christian liberty (Section IV.B.), these rings, clothing customs, etc. would be merely the byproducts of paganism, not paganism itself, and they have developed no religious connotations or associations of their own, as have the Xmas customs and traditions.
8. "Baptism (and Circumcision) Have Pagan Origins and Hashem Still Gave Their Use in Scripture, So What's Wrong With Using the Pagan Forms of Christmas?" -- This argument is frequently made by pastors who say that to be consistent, those who would have us forbid the forms, symbols, and traditions of Christmas should also be calling for us to abandon believer's baptism; i.e., shouldn't the would-be banners of Christmas be saying, "Since the ancient mystery religions practiced forms of baptism, therefore baptism is a pagan custom and should be outlawed for the believer in Christ"? This is a strange argument for anyone to make, (and, in our opinion, reveals a low view of Scriptural admonitions). If baptism were absent from the Bible, as using pagan forms and traditions to celebrate or commemorate the birth of Yeshua are totally absent, there would then be no Biblical justification for baptism. But Hashem has not commanded us to celebrate or commemorate Yeshua birth in any way. He has commanded us to baptize (Matt. 28:19).
E. Abstain From the Observance of Christmas -- What, then, ought to be the Christian's response to this and other pagan and Roman inventions? It cannot be denied that they are pagan, pure and simple, from beginning to end. Hashem gives us specific instructions in His Holy Word: Thus saith El, Learn not the way of the heathen ... (Jer. 10:2). These words are perfectly clear. What rational options do you have as believing Christians?
VI. Conclusion
The very popularity of Christmas should cause the Christian to question it. Anyone and everyone can celebrate Christmas without question -- outright pagans, nominal Christians, and even Buddhists and Hindus. If, in reality, December 25th were a date set by Hashem to remember the birth of Yeshua, there is no doubt that the world would have nothing to do with it. After all, Hashem has commanded one day in seven -Shabbat -- to worship Him. Does the world observe it? Of course not. As expected, the world loves Christmas, but hates the true Yeshua-who was Jewish and not Roman (John 15:18, 23-25). It shuns anything pertaining to true religion. Shouldn't the Christian be just a little suspicious of a celebration in which the whole sinful world can join without qualms?
One way to test the Scriptural of our practices is to reflect on what we would expect missionaries to teach new converts in a foreign culture. We assume that they would use the Bible as their guidebook. If they could start new local churches without importing American culture encumbered with Roman Catholicism, liberal Protestantism, and crass commercialism, wouldn't it be wonderful? Missionaries who have urged new converts to forsake all pagan superstitious relics have later been questioned about the apparent inconsistency of their own American Christmas customs. Nationals perceived them as idolatrous even though the missionaries were oblivious to that possibility!
When Christmas is exposed for what it really is, this angers people. It angers Evangelical Protestant people! And there is reason why it does so. When the pagan celebration of Christmas is rooted up, and rejected, then what has become a Protestant tradition is, in effect, being rejected! And that is why people become angry. It began as a Roman Catholic holy day, and then it became a Protestant holy day. And if anyone dares show it up for what it really is, they face the wrath of the Protestant religious machine. And these days, that can be very ugly.
Christmas is a thoroughly pagan holiday -- in its origin, in its trappings, and in all its traditions. Perhaps we should contemplate the words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, delivered in a Lord's Day sermon on December 24, 1871:
"We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and consequently, its observance is a superstition, because [it's] not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Saviour's birth, although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred. ...
"It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the nativity of our Lord; and it was not till very long after the Western church had set the example, that the Eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known, therefore superstition has fixed it; ... Where is the method in the madness of the superstitious? Probably the fact is that the holy days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. ... We venture to assert that if there be any day in the year of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which the Saviour was born, it is the twenty-fifth of December. ... regarding not the day, let us, nevertheless, give Hashem thanks for the gift of His dear Son."
And from Dr. H.A. Ironside's Lectures on the Book of Revelation (1920: p. 301):
"It is a lamentable fact that Babylon's principles and practices are rapidly but surely pervading the churches that escaped from Rome at the time of the Reformation. We may see evidences of it in the wide use of high-sounding ecclesiastical titles, once unknown in the reformed churches, in the revival of holy days and church feasts such as Lent, Good Friday, Easter, and Christ's Mass, or, as it is generally written, Christmas. ... some of these festivals ... when they are turned them into church festivals, they certainly come under the condemnation of Galatians 4:9-11, where Hashem and the Ruach Hokodesh warns against the observance of days and months and times and seasons. All of them, and many more that might be added, are Babylonish in their origin, and were at one time linked with the Ashtoreth and Tammuz mystery-worship. It is through Rome that they have come down to us; and we do well to remember that Babylon is a mother, with daughters who are likely to partake of their mother's characteristics ..."
And, finally, from Alexander Hislop's 1916 classic, The Two Babylons: Or the Papal Worship:
"Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under Pagan superstition. That Christmas is a Pagan festival is beyond all doubt. The time of the year and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin."
We can summarize by saying that nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to commemorate the birth of our Lord, and God the Father evidently deemed it unwise to make the date known. Hence, it will always remain unknown and is not to be ceremoniously remembered and celebrated. (In fact, as pointed out in the Ironside quote above, God has warned us about getting entangled with any special days [Gal. 4:10]). Notice though, that we are commanded to remember Him in His death (but no special day was specified for this either):
"Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; this DO in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:18,19; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).This was not any communion, thats another lie-it was the breaking of halekim-bread-Challah and the KiddishThose who love the true Yeshua should certainly rejoice that He was born and lived amongst us as a man. But if we truly want to glorify Him and bear testimony of who He is, we must stop marrying that blessed gift with the debauchery of paganism. If we want to honor His birth, let it be done as He would have done it: year-round unselfishly serving our fellow man as an unending act of love for our Hashem. Let us put away all of the mixture of pagan customs and take up His mantle= Tillid and His pure worship, and show the confused world that there is a difference.
A. Popular myth puts his birth on December 25th in the year 1 C.E.
B. The New Testament gives no date or year for Yeshua’ birth. The earliest gospel Mark’s, written about 65 CE – begins with the baptism of an adult Yeshua. This suggests that the earliest Christians lacked interest in or knowledge of Yeshua’ birthdate.
C. The year of Yeshua birth was determined by Dionysius Exiguus, a Scythian monk, “abbot of a Roman monastery. His calculation went as follows:
a. In the Roman, pre-Christian era, years were counted from ab urbe condita (“the founding of the City” [Rome]). Thus 1 AUC signifies the year Rome was founded, 5 AUC signifies the 5th year of Rome’s reign, etc.b. Dionysius received a tradition that the Roman emperor Augustus reigned 43 years, and was followed by the emperor Tiberius.
c. Luke 3:1,23 indicates that when Jesus turned 30 years old, it was the 15th year of Tiberius reign.. If Yeshua was 30 years old in Tiberius’ reign, then he lived 15 years under Augustus (placing Yeshua birth in Augustus’ 28th year of reign).
e. Augustus took power in 727 AUC. Therefore, Dionysius put Yehsua birth in 754 AUC.
f. However, Luke 1:5 places Yeshua’ birth in the days of Herod, and Herod died in 750 AUC – four years before the year in which Dionysius places Yeshua birth.
D. Joseph A. Fitzmyer – Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at the Catholic University of America, member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and former president of the Catholic Biblical Association – writing in the Catholic Church’s official commentary on the New Testament[1], writes about the date of Yeshua’ birth, “Though the year [of Yeshua birth is not reckoned with certainty, the birth did not occur in AD 1. The Christian era, supposed to have its starting point in the year of Yeshua birth, is based on a miscalculation introduced ca. 533 by Dionysius Exiguus.”
E. The DePascha Computus, an anonymous document believed to have been written in North Africa around 243 CE, placed Jesus birth on March 28. Clement, a bishop of Alexandria (d. ca. 215 CE), thought Yeshua was born on November 18. Based on historical records, Fitzmyer guesses that Yeshua birth occurred on September 11, 3 BCE.
But this is all stupid, You can't go to rome to get the dates of Yeshua, When yeshua observed Lunar dates, Jewish Calender- New Moons
II. How Did Christmas Come to Be Celebrated on December 25?
A. Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.
B. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season).
C. In the 4th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians.
D. The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday.
E. Christians had little success, however, refining the practices of Saturnalia As Stephen Nissenbaum, professor history at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning i to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc.
F. some Reverend(What ever-he hasn't read Psalms 111.vs 9) Increase Mather of Boston observed in 1687 that “the early Christians who first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that moshiach was born in that Month, but because the Heathens’ Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian ones.”[3] Because of its known pagan origin, Christmas was banned by the Puritans and its observance was illegal in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681.[4] However, Christmas was and still is celebrated by most Christians.
G. Some of the most depraved customs of the Saturnalia carnival were intentionally revived by the Catholic Church in 1466 when Pope Paul II, for the amusement of his Roman citizens, forced Jews to race naked through the streets of the city. An eyewitness account reports, “Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators. They ran… amid Rome’s taunting shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily.”Christmas is a lie. There is no bible with a tradition that Yeshua was really born on December 25th.
December 25 is a day on which Jews have e. In a bid for pagan adherents in Northern Europe, the Catholic Church adopted the Nicholas cult and taught that he did (and they should) distribute gifts on December 25th instead of December 6th.
f. In 1809, the novelist Washington Irving (most famous his The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle) wrote a satire of Dutch culture entitled Knickerbocker History. The satire refers several times to the white bearded, flying-horse riding Saint Nicholas using his Dutch name, Santa Claus.
g. Dr. Clement Moore, a professor at Union Seminary, read Knickerbocker History, and in 1822 he published a poem based on the character Santa Claus: “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in the hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there…” Moore innovated by portraying a Santa with eight reindeer who descended through chimneys.
h. The Bavarian illustrator Thomas Nast almost completed the modern picture of Santa Claus. From 1862 through 1886, based on Moore’s poem, Nast drew more than 2,200 cartoon images of Santa for Harper’s Weekly. Before Nast, Saint Nicholas had been pictured as everything from a stern looking bishop to a gnome-like figure in a frock. Nast also gave Santa a home at the North Pole, his workshop filled with elves, and his list of the good and bad children of the world. All Santa was missing was his red outfit.
i. In 1931, the Coca Cola Corporation contracted the Swedish commercial artist Haddon Sundblom to create a coke-drinking Santa. Sundblom modeled his Santa on his friend Lou Prentice, chosen for his cheerful, chubby face. The corporation insisted that Santa’s fur-trimmed suit be bright, Coca Cola red. And Santa was born – a blend of b. Nicholas was among the most senior bishops who convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and created the New Testament. The text they produced portrayed Jews as “the children of the devil”[11] who sentenced Yeshua to death.
c. In 1087, a group of sailors who idolized Nicholas moved his bones from Turkey to a sanctuary in Bari, Italy. There Nicholas supplanted a female boon-giving deity called The Grandmother, or Pasqua Epiphania, who used to fill the children's stockings with her gifts. The Grandmother As part of the Saturnalia carnival throughout the 18th and 19th centuries CE, rabbis of the ghetto in Rome were forced to wear clownish outfits and march through the city streets to the jeers of the crowd, pelted by a variety of missiles. When the Jewish community of Rome sent a petition in1836 to Pope Gregory XVI begging him to stop the annual Saturnalia abuse of the Jewish community, he responded, “It is not opportune to make any innovation.” On December 25, 1881, Christian leaders whipped the Polish masses into Antisemitic frenzies that led to riots across the country. In Warsaw 12 Jews were brutally murdered, huge numbers maimed, and many Jewish women were raped. Two million rubles worth of property was destroyed.
III. The Origins of Christmas Customs
A. Christmas Trees
Just as early Christians recruited Roman pagans by associating Christmas with the Saturnalia, so too worshipers of the Asheira cult and its offshoots were recruited by the Church sanctioning “Christmas Trees”.[7] Pagans had long worshipped trees in the forest, or brought them into their homes and decorated them, and this observance was adopted and painted with a Christian veneer by the Church.
B. Mistletoe
Norse mythology recounts how the god Balder was killed using a mistletoe arrow by his rival god Hoder while fighting for the female Nanna. Druid rituals use mistletoe to poison their human sacrificial victim.[8] The Christian custom of “kissing under the mistletoe” is a later synthesis of the sexual license of Saturnalia with the Druidic sacrificial cult.[9]
C. Christmas Presents
In pre-Christian Rome, the emperors compelled their most despised citizens to bring offerings and gifts during the Saturnalia (in December) and Kalends (in January). Later, this ritual expanded to include gift-giving among the general populace. The Catholic Church gave this custom a Christian flavor by re-rooting it in the supposed gift-giving of Saint Nicholas (see below).[10]
D. Santa Claus
a. Nicholas was born in Parara, Turkey in 270 CE and later became Bishop of Myra. He died in 345 CE on December 6th. He was only named a saint in the 19th century was ousted from her shrine at Bari, which became the center of the Nicholas cult. Members of this group gave each other gifts during a pageant they conducted annually on the anniversary of Nicholas’ death, December 6.
d. The Nicholas cult spread north until it was adopted by German and Celtic pagans. These groups worshiped a pantheon led by Woden –their chief god and the father of Thor, Balder, and Tiw. Woden had a long, white beard and rode a horse through the heavens one evening each Autumn. When Nicholas merged with Woden, he shed his Mediterranean appearance, grew a beard, mounted a flying horse, rescheduled his flight for December, and donned heavy winter clothing.Christian crusader, pagan god, and commercial idol.
IV.The Christmas Challenge
Christmas has always been a holiday celebrated carelessly. For millennia, pagans, Christians, and even Jews have been swept away in the season’s festivities, and very few people ever pause to consider the celebration’s intrinsic meaning, history, or origins.
Christmas celebrates the birth of the Christian god who came to rescue mankind from the “curse of the Torah.” It is a 24-hour declaration that Judaism is no longer valid.
Thats a freaking shame-Judaism is very much alive and not transfigured with paganismbeenmed, tortured, and murdered.
Many of the most popular Christmas customs – including Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas presents, and Santa Claus – are modern incarnations of the most depraved pagan rituals ever practiced on earth.
We have given you the most truth on the subject, but you will find other subjects in our article listings in the News Letter dealing with the History of church/Christian inventions of Rome, Before Rome the Jews knew no such term as Christian or Church-and it is sad that the church has not come back to its former roots Messianic Judaism..
Sincerely Rabbi Aminidav Ben Avraham Hinton
Torah a day keeps ignorance away
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Mind Changing Ministries Beit Yeshua
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