A corresponding celebration was observed by polytheistic sun worshipers. According to The Encyclopedia Americana, such people in northern Europe “celebrated their chief festival of Yule at the winter solstice to commemorate the rebirth of the sun . . . The Roman Saturnalia . . . also took place at this time, and some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration. It is held by some scholars that the birth of Christ as ‘Light of the World’ was made analogous to the rebirth of the sun in order to make Christianity more meaningful” to converts who had previously honored their own mythical gods by such festivals.
Jesus’ followers, however, held no commemoration of Christ’s birthday at all—not on December 25, not even in October. And this held true until about the middle of the fourth century. Origen, a third-century historian, wrote that “of all the holy people in the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a . . . birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born.” (Genesis 40:20-23; Mark 6:21-28) According to McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopedia, Jews of Bible times “regarded birthday celebrations as parts of idolatrous worship.”
Could Christ be honored by festivals originally designed for mythical gods and idolatrous worship? The Bible answers: “Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For . . . what agreement does God’s temple have with idols?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16) Dressing idolatrous festivals with a Christian name does not make them acquire harmony with Christ.
Really Appreciating God’s Gift
No wonder Jesus did not command a commemoration of his birth! But he did inaugurate a binding Memorial of his death (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) He died that you may have life. And you can show appreciation for this and truly honor him by not going beyond his instructions. As he said: “He that has my commandments and observes them, that one is he who loves me. In turn he that loves me will be loved by my Father.”—John 14:21.
Such obedience is all the more vital because Jesus is now neither a babe nor a dead Savior. He was resurrected to immortal life on the third day after his death and has been given “all authority . . . in heaven and on the earth.” As mankind’s rightful Ruler, he will shortly remove all causes for sorrow so that those truly loving him can receive the gift of everlasting life on a paradise earth.—Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:22-36; Romans 6:23; Revelation 21:1-5.
Saturnalia's relation to Christmas
Main article: Christmas
Christians in the fourth century assigned December 25 (the Winter Solstice on the Julian calendar[dubious – discuss]) as Christ's birthday (and thus Christmas) because pagans already observed this day as a holiday. As the dates of Saturnalia are not precisely coincident with Christmas, a more refined argument is that Christmas was set on the feast of Sol Invictus, which was on December 25, and which had supplanted Saturnalia. However, with many of the traditions of Saturnalia incorporated into Sol Invictus, it is likely that some of those traditions — such as the exchanging of gifts — were also carried forward as a part of the Christian holiday.
Bibliography
- Balsdon, "Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome" p 124-5.
- Beard, M. North, J. and Price, S. "Religions of Rome. Vol II A Source Book, numbers 5.3 and 7.3.
- Dupont 1992 p 205-7. And the Oxford Classical Dictionary sv. Saturnalia.
- Woolf, Greg. ""Roman Leisure" course handout, University of St. Andrews, March 2005.
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