christmas

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Permalink Reply by Charles on October 18, 2009 at 10:28pm

Here's a good website that will help answer your questions:

http://www.google.com/

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Permalink Reply by mark bethea on October 18, 2009 at 10:51pm

it's not that i really need an answer,i just wanted to here what others felt about it.thanks anyway!

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Permalink Reply by Anna on October 18, 2009 at 10:51pm

My suggestion is to look elsewhere to find a better answer than the opinions of people here :) Read the New Testament for the birth of Jesus. As far as Santa, reindeer, Christmas tree, etc., they have little to no relation to the actual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and were added later (especially Santa and reindeer ideas). I know the candy cane has meaning to the Jesus/Christmas, but it of course was a creation by a candy maker many many years/centuries after the Savior was born. I hope you find the answer to your questions, my best suggestion is to ask a local pastor. Take Care.

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Permalink Reply by Charles on October 18, 2009 at 10:58pm

Watch Part 1 of Zeitgeist on youtube.

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Permalink Reply by Lockheart on October 18, 2009 at 11:27pm

Christmas is a pagan holiday. It has nothing to do with Jesus. End of story!

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Permalink Reply by WhoRaw on October 21, 2009 at 1:25pm

Totally agree.

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Permalink Reply by Danny on October 24, 2009 at 8:25am

+1

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Permalink Reply by Raw Mama Bear on October 19, 2009 at 12:00am

Christmas was celebrated years and years before the Messiah was born.

In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.

In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born.

In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.

Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods.

The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.

In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.

Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.”

So yes. It's completely pagan and has no significance to the Messiah whatsoever. I find it to be extremely blasphemous and don't participate in the ritual at all.

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Permalink Reply by mark bethea on October 19, 2009 at 9:14am

thanks christa,....,nor do i!!!!just wanted to know if there were others out there that didn't

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Permalink Reply by Raw Mama Bear on October 19, 2009 at 9:23am

oh yes... :) my entire family doesn't.

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Permalink Reply by AwesomeUniverse!!! on October 19, 2009 at 9:48am

I like the idea of everyone getting together and celebrating once a year and having the reason being a religious reason. I never liked Christmas though because it usually involved negative circumstances.

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Permalink Reply by mark bethea on October 19, 2009 at 8:46pm

to me it is a blasphemas act against GOD,.........,it even is mentioned in the book of jeremiah(10:1-5) that the decorating of the tree is a sensless act.

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