There is an increasing number of people who are coming to the awareness that the celebration of Christmas is not what it appears to be. This has to do with the various trappings associated with Christmas that didn’t originate in the Bible, but instead with numerous solstice traditions observed throughout pagan Europe.

There are many elements of Christmas that are non-Biblical, and they can be surprising when one is presented with them. Here is a list of a few of these traditions:

• December 25th was the birthday of Mithra, whose religion was the main religion of the Roman empire at the time of Christ’s ministry.
• The evergreen tree as a religious symbol was favored throughout the ancient world because it remained green throughout the year. Druids offered child sacrifices to Thor until their tree was chopped down by a Christian who tried to end the custom.
• Mistletoe was a religious symbol, too. If enemies were to meet under mistletoe during the winter solstice festivities, they were required to refrain from hostilities until the festivities were over. Druids used mistletoe as medicine. The joke’s on them, because mistletoe is poisonous.
• Caroling had less to do with music and more to do with going door-to-door demanding things.

There’s more. Much more. In light of all this, it becomes clear that the observance that we call “Christmas” is not Christian, but a set of appropriated solstice traditions. But what effect does this awareness have on Christianity?

More to the point, what does this mean for you?

That really depends on how sincere you are when it comes to your faith. Is your faith something that you take seriously? Or is it a matter of cultural identity, and you’re just doing something because everyone else around you is doing it?

As one reads the Bible, they can see that the ancient Israelites made poor choices in that regard. Even though they had been given express commandment to not follow the customs of the peoples around them, they were enamored with solar worship, and had integrated some of the customs of the pagans into their own worship, and in some cases they even turned to false gods outright! This mistake was among those credited with their national captivity.

While one might think that the New Testament is more lenient when it comes to taking on pagan customs and giving them Christian-sounding themes, we have no indication in the New Testament that this is the case. Instead, the Apostle Paul warned that what the nations offered, they offered to demons!

The Pagan origins of Christmas are increasingly coming to light, and more people are becoming aware of them. What do you do with this information? That depends on how sincere you really are about your faith. The wishy-washy would continue observing Christmas as though they didn’t know any better. However, those who have strength of conviction would decide that commercialized pagan mysticism is no proper way to worship!

When it comes down to it, everyone decides for themselves what they do. But can a person really honor someone by observing their birthday when it’s actually the birthday of their enemy? And can anyone really put someone back into something that they were never a part of to begin with?