Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth, best who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance. (Qur'an 16:125)
It seems that there is an underlying theme in humans: they will follow the way of their forefathers without taking even a few minutes to question these beliefs and practises. The Christians likewise celebrate Christmas with little investigation into the origins of this religious holiday.
For the Christians, the most important day of the year is Christmas in which supposedly they celebrate the birth of Jesus. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of people celebrate this religious holiday. The irony of Christmas is that its origins are actually pagan, and completely antithetical to Jesus who deplored pagan practises.
Jesus was not born in the winter, and therefore, it is odd that Christians celebrate Jesus’s birthday on December 25th. December was actually the time in which the pagans used to celebrate the winter solstice. A solstice is either of the two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator. It was a time of great importance for the pagans, who attributed special powers to the sun. During the solstice, the pagans would hold various celebrations, including Saturnalia, Yule, and the festival of Sol Invictus (the “unconquered sun”).
The pagan populations of Europe did not want to abandon these celebrations; therefore, the Christian Church decided to adopt these holidays instead of alienating these potential converts. Saturnalia, which took place December 17-23, was modified and became the “twelve days of Christmas.” Yule, which took place on December 25th, became Christmas. In fact, “Yule” and “Yuletide” are the archaic terms for Christmas, and this is the meaning of “Yule” in both the full Oxford English Dictionary and the Concise Oxford Dictionary. In many foreign languages, people still use the word “Yule” as opposed to Christmas. Another important pagan holiday held on December 25th was the festival of Sol Invictus.
The underlying point is that the Christian Church decided to adopt various pagan holidays which all were celebrated around the time of the winter solstice. And in fact, these pagan holidays revolved around festivities that involved sexual lewdness, drunken orgies, and gambling. This is the pagan and irreligious origin of Christmas.
Today, “good” Christians celebrate Christmas. But in ancient times, good Christians deemed it as a reversion to paganism and condemned Christmas as heresy. In fact, Origen–considered to be one of the early fathers of the Christian Church–condemned celebrating the birthday of Jesus as a pagan concept. Christmas was in fact officially banned by the church in 1647. Although this ban was later over-turned, various times in history would religious Christians remind their bretheren that the holiday was of pagan–and not Christian–origins. The Puritans of New England outlawed Christmas, and this ban remained in effect from 1659-1681.
The ritual of decorating one’s house with a Christmas tree is also from pagan origins. The pagan Romans would do this to celebrate the holiday of Saturnalia, again in honor of the pagan god Saturn. Cutting down trees and decorating them is actually forbidden as pagan in the Bible (Jeremiah, 10:2-4). Other Christmas rituals such as mistle-toe, logs, etc are also from pagan origins.
It is strange that so many millions of Christians can be really so ignorant that they celebrate something in the name of Jesus even though Jesus himself would condemn it as pagan. If these Christians would simply reflect on history, they would find out how their whole religion is based on the antithesis of the very man they claim to follow.
Christmas
ReplyDeleteIt seems that there is an underlying theme in humans: they will follow the way of their forefathers without taking even a few minutes to question these beliefs and practises.
The Christians likewise celebrate Christmas with little investigation into the origins of this religious holiday.
For the Christians, the most important day of the year is Christmas in which supposedly they celebrate the birth of Jesus. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of people celebrate this religious holiday. The irony of Christmas is that its origins are actually pagan, and completely antithetical to Jesus who deplored pagan practises.
Jesus was not born in the winter, and therefore, it is odd that Christians celebrate Jesus’s birthday on December 25th. December was actually the time in which the pagans used to celebrate the winter solstice. A solstice is either of the two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator. It was a time of great importance for the pagans, who attributed special powers to the sun. During the solstice, the pagans would hold various celebrations, including Saturnalia, Yule, and the festival of Sol Invictus (the “unconquered sun”).
The pagan populations of Europe did not want to abandon these celebrations; therefore, the Christian Church decided to adopt these holidays instead of alienating these potential converts. Saturnalia, which took place December 17-23, was modified and became the “twelve days of Christmas.” Yule, which took place on December 25th, became Christmas. In fact, “Yule” and “Yuletide” are the archaic terms for Christmas, and this is the meaning of “Yule” in both the full Oxford English Dictionary and the Concise Oxford Dictionary. In many foreign languages, people still use the word “Yule” as opposed to Christmas. Another important pagan holiday held on December 25th was the festival of Sol Invictus.
The underlying point is that the Christian Church decided to adopt various pagan holidays which all were celebrated around the time of the winter solstice. And in fact, these pagan holidays revolved around festivities that involved sexual lewdness, drunken orgies, and gambling. This is the pagan and irreligious origin of Christmas.
Today, “good” Christians celebrate Christmas. But in ancient times, good Christians deemed it as a reversion to paganism and condemned Christmas as heresy. In fact, Origen–considered to be one of the early fathers of the Christian Church–condemned celebrating the birthday of Jesus as a pagan concept. Christmas was in fact officially banned by the church in 1647. Although this ban was later over-turned, various times in history would religious Christians remind their bretheren that the holiday was of pagan–and not Christian–origins. The Puritans of New England outlawed Christmas, and this ban remained in effect from 1659-1681.
The ritual of decorating one’s house with a Christmas tree is also from pagan origins. The pagan Romans would do this to celebrate the holiday of Saturnalia, again in honor of the pagan god Saturn. Cutting down trees and decorating them is actually forbidden as pagan in the Bible (Jeremiah, 10:2-4). Other Christmas rituals such as mistle-toe, logs, etc are also from pagan origins.
It is strange that so many millions of Christians can be really so ignorant that they celebrate something in the name of Jesus even though Jesus himself would condemn it as pagan. If these Christians would simply reflect on history, they would find out how their whole religion is based on the antithesis of the very man they claim to follow.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christma...
Seek ye Truth and Truth shall set u free... (The Bible, John 8:32)
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