ISS:The winter festival  by Mark Abbotoy

   (taken partly from Babylon Mystery Religion, by Ralph Woodrow) (used
by permission)

   CHRISTMAS-DECEMBER 25-this is the day designated on our calendars
and on our hearts as the day of Christ's birth. But is this really the
day upon which Christ was born? Are today's customs during this season
of Christian origin? Or is Christmas a result of a mixture between
paganism and Christianity? This is a question that some will not even
want to consider. Many have heard the rumor, many have thought through
the question and justified the celebration of the holiday and many just
plain don't want to hear about it. But please, give these facts some
place in your mind so that you may know the truth and live accordingly.

   THE WRONG DATE

   The word "Christmas" is not found anywhere in the scriptures of
course, and, as we shall see, December 25 is definitely not the date on
which Christ was born. It is evident that Jesus was not born during the
middle of winter, for at the time of his birth, the shepherds were
living out in the fields with their flocks. As the bible says: "There
were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch
over their flock by night" (Luke 2:8). As is well known, the shepherds
in Palestine do not "abide in the fields" during the winter season
because of the extreme, cold temperatures. The shepherds always bring
their flocks in from the mountain slopes and fields no later than
October 15th!

   Further proof of this conclusion may be seen from the fact that at
the time Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had gone to Bethlehem to be
taxed (Luke 2:1-5). There are no records of this period whatsoever that
would indicate that the middle of the winter was the time of taxing.
Even Jesus said, when talking of the end times, "pray that your flight
not be in the winter" (Matt. 24:20). And so the harshness of the winter
season in Palestine, even though it is less harsh than what is
experienced in much of the United States, it is harsh enough to stop
people from traveling and certainly to stop the shepherds from tending
their flock at night. And so we see that Christ could not have been
born in the Winter. On the other hand, there is evidence that taxes
were paid in the fall season of the year. This was the logical time for
the taxes to be paid since this was at the end of their harvest. There
is also evidence that when Joseph and Mary made this trip, it was the
time of a great feast at Jerusalem. This is the most logical reason why
Mary went with Joseph, to attend the feast, as they also did on later
occasions (see Luke 2:41), for there was no law that required a woman's
presence at a taxing. 1

   We know that the time they went to pay taxes was also the time of
one of the great feasts at Jerusalem because of the enormous crowd, so
enormous in fact, "there was no room in the inn" at Bethlehem (Luke
2:7). Jerusalem was normally a city of only 120,000 inhabitants, but
(according to the Jewish historian, Josephus) during the feasts,
sometimes as many as two million Jews would gather there. With such
vast throngs of people coming to the feast, not only would Jerusalem be
filled, but the surrounding towns also, including Bethlehem, which was
only five miles to the south. Mere taxation would not cause a crowd
this big to be in Bethlehem, for each person returned to his own city
to be taxed. Even most scholars, among them A.T. Robertson, a late
professor of New Testament Greek at the Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, sets the time of Christ's birth in
the summer or early fall. And so, taking all of these things into
consideration, it seems evident that Joseph and Mary made the journey,
not only to pay their taxes, but also to attend a great feast at
Jerusalem. This was at the end of the harvest season that they were
taxed and this was also the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. All of
this, as well as the evidence already given would mark the birth of
Christ not in the winter and therefore not December 25th!2

   THE MERGING OF PAGANISM WITH "CHRISTIANITY"

   Since Christ was not born on December 25th, then how did this
particular day come to be a part of the church calendar? History has
the answer. Instead of this day being the time of Christ's birth, it
was the very day and season on which the pagans for centuries had
celebrated the birth of the Sun-god! A study into history shows how far
apostate church leaders went in their effort to merge Christianity and
paganism into one apostate religion, even to placing the birth of
Christ on a date to harmonize with the pagan birthday celebration of
the sun-god!

   There are four points in our calendar which are called "Solstice" or
"Equinox" points, two of each. The equinox occurs when the sun crosses
the equator of the earth and day and night are everywhere of equal
length. The sun does not actually cross the equator but with the
earth's natural tip on its natural axis as it orbits around the sun it
seems to. Then either one part of earth gets the most sun or the other
part does. But on these two occasions, the days are equal in length
everywhere and this occurs about March 21st and September 23rd.

   The Solstice is a little bit different. Earth orbits around the sun
in an ellipse. When the earth is farthest from the sun, we have the two
points that are known as Solstice. They occur when the sun is at its
greatest distance from the celestial equator, about June 21st when the
sun reaches its northernmost point on the celestial sphere, and about
December 22nd when it reaches its southernmost point. The solstice in
December is the time when the days of the year, in our hemisphere, are
the shortest.

   Pagan man saw this and feared that the days would get shorter and
shorter and finally cease to exist. When the day came for the sun to
overcome the darkness, and for the sun to cause the days to be longer
it meant that there was not going to be eternal night. The sun had won
another fight and so pagan culture had festivals and feasts on this
day. It was celebrated in China, in India, in South America, in Mexico,
in Africa and in many other cultures. There were presents exchanged,
green trees decorated in honor of the sun-god and great celebrating.

   When Christianity gained influence in the fifth century they
outlawed the pagan holiday with little success. Finally they adopted
the holiday into the church and changed the words and meanings of the
festivities to fit with "christianity". It took many years to effect
this. It took much propaganda and it took many penalties and reprisals
against those who continued with the old festival but eventually the
"christian" community won the day. Then there was a change from the
Gregorian calendar to the present day calendar, and with that change
Christmas or the Solstice shifted a few days so that December 25th
became officially recognized as a Christian day.

   It was in the fifth century that the Roman Catholic Church commanded
that the birth of Christ be observed forever on December 25th, the day
of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, one of the names of the
sun-god!3

   In pagan days, this birth of the sun-god was especially popular
among the branch of the "mysteries" known as Mithraism. Concerning this
we read: "The largest pagan religious cult which fostered the
celebration of December 25th as a holiday throughout the Roman and
Greek worlds was the pagan sun worship, Mithraism. Their winter
festival was called 'the Nativity', the "nativity of the SUN".4 And not
only was Mithra, the sun-god of Mithraism, said to be born at this time
of the year, but Osiris, Horus, Hercules, Bacchus, Adonis, Jupiter,
Tammuz, and other sun-gods were also supposedly born at what is today
called the "Christmas" season, the winter solstice!5

   Says a noted write: the "winter solstice (was) the time at which all
the sun-gods from Osiris to Jupiter and Mithra had celebrated their
(birthdays), the celebration being adorned with the pine tree of
Adonis, the holly of Saturn, and the mistletoe.. ..tapers represented
the kindling of the newborn sun- god's fire..."6

   Now the fact that the various sun-gods that were worshipped in
different countries were all born at the same season (in old fables),
indicates that they were but different forms (under different names) of
the original son of the sun-god, Tammuz, of Babylon, the land from
which sun-worship originally spread.7 In Babylon, the birthday of
Tammuz was celebrated at the time of the winter solstice with great
feasts, revelry, and drunkenness, the same way most people celebrate it
today! The ancient celebration spread and became so much an established
custom that "in pagan Rome and Greece, in the days of the Teutonic
barbarians, in the remote times of ancient Egyptian civilization, in
the infancy of the race East and West and North and South, the period
of the winter solstice was a period of great rejoicing and festivity."8

   When this mid-winter festival came to Rome, it was known as the
Saturnalia, Saturn being but another name for Nimrod or Tammuz as "the
hidden god". This feast was the most vile, immoral feast that ever
disgraced pagan Rome. It was a season of license, drunkenness, and
debauchery when all restraints of law were laid aside. And it was from
this very feast at Rome that the merry-making of this season passed
into the Roman Catholic Church and on down to our present civilization!
"It is a matter of common knowledge", says one writer, "that much of
our association with the Christmas season, the holidays, the giving of
presents and the general feeling of geniality, is but the inheritance
from the Roman winter festival of the Saturnalia- survivals of
paganism."9

   Tertullian, one of the early church fathers, mentions that the
practice of exchanging gifts at this season was a part of the pagan
Roman Saturnalia. When this mid-winter festival was adopted into the
Roman church, this custom was also adopted. As usual, however, apostate
leaders tried to find some point of similarity between paganism and
Christianity - to make the merger seem less obvious. In this case,
reference was made to the fact that the wise men, when they came to see
the Christ-child, presented to him gifts. Some suppose that this is
where the custom of exchanging gifts at Christmas time came. But not
so! The wisemen did not exchange gifts among themselves. They presented
their gifts to JESUS who was born king of the Jews. (It was an Eastern
custom to present gifts when coming into the presence of the King). But
these gifts were not birthday gifts. When the wisemen arrived, it was
some time after the day on which Jesus was born. By this time, he was
no longer in a stable, but in a HOUSE (Matt. 2:9-11). Obviously, the
gifts of the wisemen were not Christmas gifts.

   Other pagan practices that are included in the holiday of Christmas
are the use of the round wreath, the mistletoe, the use of the Yule
log, the wassail bowl, holly, red berries, Santa Claus, the undue
commercialism of the season, the use of candles during the holiday,
etc. The wassailing bowl of Christmas had its precise counterpart in
the "Drunken festival" of Babylon. The candles, in some parts of
England, lighted on Christmas-eve, and used as long as the festive
season lasts, were equally lighted by the Pagans on the eve of the
festival of the Babylonian god, to do honor to him; for it was one of
the distinguishing peculiarities of his worship to have lighted wax
candles on his altars. For complete documentation on these and other
pagan carry-overs see The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop.

   THE TREE

   Finally, in connection with the customs of the "Christmas" season,
we will mention the Christmas tree. An old Babylonish fable went like
this: Semiramis, the mother of Tammuz, claimed that overnight an
evergreen tree sprang up from a dead tree stump. The dead stump
supposedly symbolized her dead husband Nimrod; the new evergreen tree
was the symbol that Nimrod had come to life again in the person of
Tammuz!

   This idea spread and developed to such a degree that the various
nations all have had their legends about sacred trees! Among the
Druids, the oak was sacred; among the Egyptians, it was the palm; and
in Rome, it was the fir, which was decorated with red berries during
the Saturnalia!10 Among the Scandinavians, the fir tree was sacred to
their god Odin. "The Scandinavian god Woden or Odin was believed to
bestow special gifts at Yuletide to those who honored him by
approaching his sacred FIR TREE."11 And even as other rites of the
Yuletide season were absorbed into "Christianity", so also is the
wide-spread use of the tree at this season a carry over of an ancient
practice! "The Christmas tree recapitulates the idea of tree worship,
with the gilded nuts and balls symbolizing the sun. The festivities of
the pagan winter solstice have been absorbed into the celebration of
Christmas. The use of holly and mistletoe come from the pagan, Druidic
ceremonies, the use of the Christmas tree from the worship paid to
Odin's sacred fir."12

   In at least ten Biblical references, the "green" tree is associated
with idolatry and false worship.13 The "green" tree refers to trees
that are green all year round, since, of course, all trees are green at
one time or another. So the "green" trees that the scriptures are
talking about are the evergreen trees or trees within that family!
Taking all of this into consideration, it is interesting to notice the
reading of Jeremiah 10:1-5 and compare it with today's custom of
decorating a tree :

   "The customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the
forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe." "They
fasten it with nails and hammers. They deck it with silver and with
gold."

   Now of course the people in the days of Jeremiah, as the context
goes on to show, were actually making an idol out of the tree. We are
not inferring that people today who put trees in their homes during the
Christmas season are worshipping the tree, but that the use of the tree
is plainly and totally a carry over from paganism. Whatever the
difference may be between the ancient use of the tree as compared with
present day customs, no one can deny that these things of which we have
been speaking are customs of men. And God says: "The customs of the
people are vain"(Jeremiah 10:3)-and "the temple of idols have nothing
in common with the temple of God."(II Corinthians 6:16)

   ONE ERROR LEADS TO ANOTHER

   The Christmas celebration was adopted into the Roman church during
the fifth century. In the sixth century, missionaries were sent through
the northern part of Europe to gather pagans into the Roman fold. They
found that the 24th of June was a very popular day among these people.
In order to induce them into the "church", as was the usual custom
after the falling away, apostate church leaders would allow them to
continue celebrating their pagan holiday, only they would attempt to
associate it with some Christian event. But what event could they
associate with June 24th? They had already adopted a day to celebrate
the birth of Christ-December 25th. And this error led to another error.
They noticed that June 24th was approximately six months before Jesus,
why not set June 24th as the day to celebrate John's birthday? And this
is what they did. To this day, June 24 is known on the papal calendar
as St. John's Day or the Nativity of St. John! But obviously, such an
idea is built on a false foundation, for John was not born on June 24;
and mixing his name with this day was but a cover up, so the old pagan
holiday could be continued-now within the "church".

   In ancient times, this day was set aside for Baal worship. In
Britain, before the entrance of Christianity there, the 24th of June
was celebrated by the Druids with blazing FIRES in honor of Baal (the
sun-god, Nimrod in deified form). The writings of such noted historians
as Herodotus, Wilkinson, Layard, and others tell of these ceremonial
fires in different countries. When June 24th was adopted into the
"church" and renamed as St. John's day, so also were the sacred fires
adopted and renamed as "St. John's Fires"! "I have seen the people
running and leaping through the St.John's fires in Ireland..", says one
writer of the past century, "proud of passing through unsinged,
thinking themselves in a special manner blessed by the ceremony."14 In
reading of such rites, we are reminded of similar practices into which
the backslidden children of Israel fell when they would "pass through
the fire to Molech"(Jer. 32:35; Ezek. 20:31). Obviously, none of these
practices had any connection with John the Baptist.

   THE MIXTURE

   The mixture of Christianity and paganism is seen in the word
"Christ-mass" itself. Though it includes the name of Christ, it also
mentions the "mass". Now the mass, with its rituals, elaborate
ceremony, pagan prayers for the dead, transubstantiation rites, etc. is
most assuredly a continuation of paganism.15 Considering then that the
name of these pagan rites, the Mass, is connected with the name of
Christ in the word "Christ-mass", we immediately see an attempt to
merge two conflicting systems together! Actually, to attach the name of
Christ with the word "Mass", a pagan and hedonistic ritual (for
conclusive proof of the pagan origin of the Mass see The Two
Babylons)16 is but to pollute the Holy name of our God! And God says:
"Pollute ye my holy name no more"! (Ezekiel(20:39)

   CONCLUSION

   The days and times we have mentioned were all adopted into the
calendar of the Roman church from paganism. We wonder if the apostle
Paul were to be raised up to preach to this generation, if he would not
say to the professing church today, as he did the Galatians long ago:
"You observe days, and months, and times, and years, I am afraid of
you, lest I have labored in vain"(Gal. 4:9- 11). To what days did Paul
give reference? The context shows that the Galatians had been converted
from the pagan worship of the "gods"(Gal.4:8), and so it is evident
that when some of them went back to their former worship, the days and
times they were observing were those days and times that were set aside
to honor these pagan gods! And yet, it was these very days that the
fallen church merged into her worship, changing them slightly,
disguising them with Christian sounding names, and their observance has
continued to this day!

   1. Mede's Works, 1679. Discourse xlvii 2. Ibid. 3. Encyclopedia
Americana, Vol.6, p.623. 4. The Golden Bough, p.471. 5. Doane, p.474;
Hislop, p.93. 6. Man and His Gods, p.201. 7. The Two Babylons, pg.
96-97. 8. Curiosities of Popular Customs, p.242. 9. The Legacy of Rome,
p.242. 10. Curiosities of Popular Customs, p.242. 11. Festivals, Holy
Days, and Saints' Days, p.222. 12. Ibid, p.238. 13. Dt.12:2; I Kings
14:23; II Kings 16:4,17:10; Ez. 6:13. 14. Toland's Druids, p.107. 15.
The Two Babylons 16. Ibid.

   FURTHER DOCUMENTATION IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

   COMMENTS AND REMARKS by Mark Abbotoy

   The most common objections to separating oneself from the Christmas
festival will now be answered. The objections that will be answered are:

   1. Shouldn't we convey the "true" meaning of Christmas during this
time of the year?

   2. If our heart-attitude is right then what does the origin of
Christmas matter?

   3. Did not Paul say not to judge one another in regards to holy days
and religious festivals?

   4. If we stubbornly abstain from the festivities of Christmas, how
shall we ever win our families and friends to Jesus (for they will
surely call us fanatics)?

   5. The Kingdom of God is not a matter of such trivial things so why
waste our time in our concern over it?

   6. I know that Christmas is pagan, but where do I draw the line in
regards to abstinence from certain things?

   I. Shouldn't we convey the true meaning of Christmas to everyone?

   The above discussion establishes the true meaning of Christmas. Any
meaning other than this meaning could not be called Christmas.
Furthermore, to give any other meaning to the origin and meaning of
Christmas other than the historical one would be deception. Also worth
noting is that the early church had no record of celebrating the birth
of Christ and there is no authority in scripture given to believers
which allows them to celebrate His birth in this manner.

   II. If our heart attitude is right, what does it matter if the
origin is bad?

   The scriptures such as II Corinthians 6:14-7:1 and I Corinthians
10:18-22 give evidence that we should not be involved in a mixture of
anything that involves the mixture of truth with error. We are so quick
to judge the cults for mixing truth with error, yet we allow ourselves
to do the same thing. II Corinthians 6 exhorts us to keep away from
that which is unclean and to separate ourselves from all forms of
idolatry. The word of God demands purity in both our attitudes and
actions, to walk in Spirit and in TRUTH. So you see that our heart
attitude has got to be based upon truth or else it is the wrong
attitude no matter how 'innocent' or 'good' it may feel to us.

   III. Didn't the apostle Paul say not to judge one another in regards
to holy days and religious festivals?

   Yes, Paul did say this in the 2nd chapter of Colossians. In the
context of this chapter, however, Paul was dealing with Jewish holidays
and festivals, not pagan or idolatrous festivals. We have seen that
Paul has much to say about idolatry and the believer's abstinence from
it in all forms; therefore, in this context we see that this passage of
scripture does not apply to our discussion. Paul does, of course, talk
about eating meat sacrificed to idols and says that an idol is nothing
and that we should not raise questions of conscience about the eating
of such meat. The logic of comparing 'meat sacrificed to idols' to
'Christmas festivities' is faulty and cannot be done honestly. In I
Corinthians chapter 10, starting at verse 20 Paul writes:

   "No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God,
and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink
the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part
in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Are we trying to
arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

   So you see, that the sacrifices that unbelievers make during the
Christmas season are offered to demons, not to God. Paul exhorts us to
not partake in such things.

   IV. If we stubbornly abstain from the festivities of Christmas, how
shall we ever win our families and friends to Jesus (they will call us
fanatics)?

   Whatever people may call us, fanatics, Jehovah Witnesses, etc. you
will be known as Christians, and in the secret consciences of men you
will be acknowledged as such. How was it with the early Christians?
They lived so separate from the world and it made such an impression
that even pagan writers say of them, "These men win the hearts of the
mass of people, because they give themselves up to deeds of charity,
and pour contempt on the world." If Christians would live like this
today, the world would quickly be converted. To put the feelings of
unbelieving relatives (they may be offended if we don't celebrate
Christmas) before obedience and sincerity before God is putting them in
a higher place of importance than God. And Jesus has said, "Anyone who
loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me..."
(Matt.10:37).

   V. The kingdom of God is not a matter of such trivial things as
these, so why waste our time discussing them?

   A Christian who fears the Lord will pursue the subject until he is
either cut off from conforming to the world or cut off from the church.
It is not only Christmas, as such, but it is conformity to the world in
general that is the great stumbling block in the way of sinners. How
can the world be converted, while professing Christians are conformed
to the world? The unbelievers may just as well ask, "What profit will
it be to become Christians, when those who are Christians are pursuing
the world with all the vigor that we are?" "Born again" Christians are
the laughing stock of many cults and secularists because of their
ignorance in matters such as these. Separation from the world is not a
trivial matter. It is essential for engaging in powerful prayer, which
will bring forth the power and blessing of the Holy Spirit to convert
the world. So you see, this subject is not trivial.

   VI. I know that Christmas is pagan, but where does one draw the line
regarding abstinence from certain things?

   This final objection is the hardest one to answer, but here some
general guidelines that should be followed: The spirit of Christmas is
a counterfeit spirit. It is a spirit of 'false' love and 'false' joy
that the world enjoys during Christmas. This spirit is not the HOLY
Spirit of God! For it does not lead the world to conviction of sin and
repentance and it does not confess Jesus as Lord. It is a false spirit,
a spirit that leads many to commit suicide during this season.
Statistics show that the suicide rate is higher during the Christmas
season than at any other time of the year. This is the spirit of the
world, the spirit of the antichrist, who wishes death upon all men. The
scripture refers to the devil as an angel of light and as the deceiver
and counterfeiter. This spirit is prevalent in most evangelical
churches during the Christmas season. It takes the form of Christmas
parties, candlelight services, Christmas cantatas and the like. To be
separate from this spirit is important.

   FINAL COMMENTS

   The facts that have been discussed should cause every true believer
to doubt the godliness of the Christmas celebration. The scripture
says: 'everything that is done with a doubting conscience is sin'
(Romans 14:23).

   Many things associated with Christmas require abstinence but the
Spirit of God will lead as one asks for His guidance and His light. Why
not try to help those who are being led into suicide by lying spirits
during this season, to trust the Holy Spirit to lead you to such
hurting people as these and to others who may be ripe for harvest. He
will guide as one walks in the truth on this matter. Before ignoring
this call of God to be separate from the world, heed His word to us...

   "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the
world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the
world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says
without reason that the Spirit He caused to live in us tends toward
envy?" (James 4:4-5)
