“He will try to change their religious laws and festivals.”
(Dan 7:25b, GNB)
We are currently examining history in an effort to understand how Christmas developed as a Christian festival with pagan origins.
Commodus was the first Roman Caesar to convert himself to Mithraism. Later, in the year 270 AD, Aurelius united the Roman Empire by means of a coup. In 274 AD he tried uniting all the various religions under the jurisdiction of the state, starting the cult Sol Invictus. In his temple all the sun gods of Babylon were represented and worshiped. By Diocletian’s time (284-305 AD) about ten percent of the Roman Empire were already Christian and they made more and more converts from the pagan religions despite fierce persecution. Constantine was the next Roman despot, but got converted himself in 312 AD. Although he declared the Christian religion as state religion he still, for various reasons, including that of state safety, integrated it with various pagan rituals, an attempt to assimilate the different religious strains. This included the institutionalizing of the day of the Sun as a day of worship, a rejection of the Jewish calendar and the growing importance of a bishop for the Christian congregation, all aspects that have dictated terms in the church since that time. During the persecution period the Christian tradition was also romanized, some Roman elements mixed in with the Christian truth, fictionalizing both in the process.
Constantine saw himself as the head of both the cult of the Sun as well as the Christian religion. In 325 AD, at the first council meeting of Nicea he penned down the first dogmatic principles, which led to the principles of Christian orthodoxy. (This grouping was the nucleus of what would become the hierarchical Roman Catholic Church.) During this meeting the dates of Easter and Christmas were decided on. Due to political pressure the Christmas date was proclaimed as December 25th, the day that was at that point celebrated as the birth date of Mithras.
The celebration of birthdays – including that of Christ – was rejected in the first 300 years of the Christian religion, as it was seen as part of the pagan tradition. The Reformation of the sixteenth century strengthened this resolve and discouraged the celebration of Christmas. IT WAS THE COMMON WORLDWIDE PRACTICE TILL THE EARLY 1800’S! Cotton Mather (1663-1728), a Puritan pastor from New England, referred to Christmas as “an affront unto to the grace of God.” This statement is a good indication of the ecclesia’s sentiment towards this heathen holiday.
- Sela: Ponder the role of popular culture in issues of faith.
- Read: 2 Chr 29; Job 28; Isa 9
- Memorise: Isa 9:5-6
- For a deeper understanding: Read John Holland Smith’s Constantine the Great.
