What to Do with Christmas?

As I began to reconnect my expression of the Christian faith to its Jewish heritage, the thing that bothered me the most was probably the realization that I would have to answer the question, “What am I going to do with Christmas?” I absolutely LOVE the sensory overload that accompanies this holiday: the sights of the lights and the decorations; the warmth of a good fire; the smells of peppermint, gingerbread, cinnamon, and evergreen; the joyful sounds of carols both sacred and secular, from the Celt-inspired Deck the Halls, the boisterous Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, and the cheeriness of Winter Wonderland to the deep lyrics of worship found in the stanzas of O Holy Night and O Come All Ye Faithful—not to mention Handel’s Messiah; the hearthy comfort food, getting together with family, softly falling snow (though I’ve only experienced one actual white Christmas since I’ve been living in North Carolina); and of course, the Christmas story—hearing again how God Almighty, King of the Universe, and the ‘I AM’ revealed to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses became a man—and not just a man, but a baby. He invaded our world in the person of Jesus so that He could experience us—so that He would not be a High Priest “…who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses…” (Hebrews 4:15). It is one of the defining chapters of the greatest story ever told: deity infused with humanity via a teenage pregnancy out of wedlock. Furthermore, He truly could say He was born in a barn! This was not the fairy tale of a palace fit for the King of Kings—this was the commonest of the common—which is so like God to do.

The only problem is that it didn’t happen WHEN the Church said it did. Not only this, but finding out how and why the Church chose the date it did made my stomach hurt.

The Background

It must be admitted that the Greco-Romanizing of the Christian Church in the Western Roman Empire had been building since about 100 A.D. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D., some Gentile Christians decidedly began turning away from the Jewish context of Scripture; and with that, various pagan influences began to attach themselves to the Christian faith. Clement of Alexandria (150-215 A.D.), the first prolific Church Father to convert from paganism, actually taught that the body of wisdom taught by the Classical Greek philosophers formed a ‘covenant for the Gentiles’ (Stromata Book VI, Chapter 5); in particular, he was very fond of Plato, and drew heavily from his teaching. Clement’s catechismic school in Alexandria, Egypt, was certainly one of the engines that pulled the Christian train away from Judaism.

I go over the major factors which caused the split between what became Talmudic Judaism and Christianity here—and there are many. But the culmination—the finalization of the ‘Great Divorce’ between Judaism and Christianity, and the actual, official, nearly universal incorporation of the Gentile pagan context into the Christian story surrounded the life of Constantine the Great. This Roman Emperor was a skillful military and political strategist vying for control of an empire that was falling apart. He dreamed of returning the glory of Rome to what it once was; but now he had a problem: the Christians were turning the world upside-down. Despite three centuries of intense persecution, Christianity was actually gaining ground; people were turning away from the old gods in favor of this red-headed Jewish stepchild of a sect. Even Constantine’s mother was somehow held in its sway.

So Constantine decided on a brilliant compromise to unite what would become his domain: he invented a story where the ‘god of the Christians’ appeared to him in a dream and instructed Constantine to use the CHI-RO (labarum) symbol on the shields of his soldiers to ensure their victory as a sign of Constantine’s right to rule. In return, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, an official toleration of Christianity. It was not a pure package, however; Constantine intentionally equated Jesus with Sol Invictus, the Roman sun god. Even the coinage Constantine produced continued to depict the visage of Sol Invictus despite Constantine’s new-found 'Christian' faith. Constantine’s Sunday Law, his rejection of the Jewish Passover in favor of the calculation used for pagan Easter to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, his retention of the title pontifex maximus (a pagan term), and his wearing of the sun-halo diadem all played into this syncretism.

Reverse is Sol Invictus, with caption “The Invincible Sun, the Companion [of the Emperor]”

According to a 9th century letter, Pope Julius I, the last of four men to be hand-picked by Constantine to serve as bishop of Rome, declared in 350 A.D. that Jesus' birthday should be celebrated on December 25th, which happened to be the 'birthday' of Sol Invictus. Now, whether this was done specifically for the purpose of equating Jesus with Sol Invictus is debatable; December 25th was one of the many dates that had been previously proposed as Jesus’ birthday, and so Julius most likely simply desired to unify this celebration date among Christians in the Empire—which makes sense, because unifying the Empire culturally was Constantine’s overwhelming drive.

St. Augustine, who was not far removed from this time period, having been born in 354, hints that the decision was indeed based on its proximity to the winter solstice, and the theological messaging that comes along with such a decision:

“Hence it is that He was born on the day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase.”

–St. Augustine, Sermon 192, For the Feast of the Nativity

It was later stated that December 25th was chosen (along with many other rituals and traditions of the church) in order to make Christianity easier to accept by the pagans:

“It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnized on that day.”

–Jacob (Dionsysus) bar-Salibi, 12th-century Syrian bishop

The stories of many of the major pagan sun deities from the various cultures of history bear a remarkable similarity to the story of Jesus, including the Roman Sol Invictus. Several of these traditions include a ‘father god’ figure and a mother ‘goddess’ or human female who produce a man-god child that is actually the reincarnation of the father. Usually, the man-god child is born around the winter solstice, to mark the turning of the seasons to bring back the sun.

It is altogether normal that Gentile Christians would think about their God being incarnated at the winter solstice. In the context of a Gentile pagan, one would easily think, “Why wouldn’t Jesus be born at the winter solstice? That’s when gods are born…”

The similarities to Jesus’ story, no matter how thin, have led persons critical of Christianity to suggest that the story of Jesus was made up altogether and borrowed from these much earlier pagan traditions. Mounting a defense against such spurious allegations, Christians have fought hard to disprove them; but still, the controversy continues everywhere. As the war against both Judaism and Christianity has escalated over the last twenty years with secularists and atheists on the opposing side, the argument of the paganism of Christianity is increasingly used as ‘evidence’ of its falsehood.

How are we sure that Christianity isn’t false, however?

In addition to the extra-Biblical historical information that confirms the existence and story of Jesus, one only has to look at the Tanakh for support. Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies related to the ‘Suffering Servant’ role of the Messiah in His lifetime. The odds of one man fulfilling just eight of these prophecies is 1 in 10²⁸ power. When taking this number and spreading the odds across all the possible people who have lived from the time the prophecies were given to the present time, the chances are reduced to 1 in 10¹⁷ power. That is like layering silver dollars across the face of Texas two feet deep, randomly marking one with an X, and then having a blindfolded man wade into the pile and pull out the marked silver dollar. (Stoner, Peter W. Science Speaks. Chicago: Moody Press, 1957.) Basically, this is statistically impossible apart from the direct plan of God before the foundation of the world.

As far back as 4000 years before Jesus was born, prophecies were made which He directly fulfilled. Furthermore, the prophet Daniel provided a window of time in which the Messiah was to have appeared—and Jesus fits this timeline. If the Messiah didn't come during this window, then either Daniel is a false prophet, or no one else can be the Messiah but Jesus Christ.

If the Bible is right in saying that all of mankind descended from a single ancestor in the person of Noah and spread across the earth (which it is), the stories of a coming Redeemer would have spread with them (which they did). As differing cultures emerged, the stories would have changed slightly from the original. Furthermore, Christians and Jews believe that we have a supernatural enemy, the kingdom of darkness composed of fallen angels including the one we call Satan, who are responsible for deceiving mankind into rebellion against God―not only at the Garden of Eden, but at the Tower of Babel; they influenced men to begin pagan religions in the first place. They not only created the Nephilim—half men, half-‘gods’ who were the nations’ heroes for the purpose of making their own kingdoms, but they knew that God would send the 'Son' to redeem us; what a perfect way to establish a counterfeit to the Jesus story by simply mimicking it ahead of time!

The Date

In truth, the facts surrounding the life of Jesus are not the same as the pagan deities. We believe that the fullness of deity is in Jesus (Colossians 2:9)—He is not a half-man, half-‘god’—like the Nephilim demons, nor a reincarnation of the Father, like so many other religions have taught. And while the modern church traditions surrounding this holiday are suspect, the Biblical record is spotless and can be trusted with absolute certainty. What we must do to obtain the truth, then, is to disentangle the Biblical account from the pagan traditions and myths we have packed around it. The traditional Christmas story itself only has two marked differences from the Biblical text, but they are significant:

The date. While the church chose December 25th in correlation to pagan mythology—whether intentionally or unintentionally, and while the Bible does not explicitly state a date of Jesus’ birth, it does narrow His birth to one of two possible times of the year: near the Jewish Feast of Passover in the spring, or near the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles) in the autumn. In Luke Chapter 1, the story begins with Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. Zechariah was a priest in the 'course of Abijah’ (see 1 Chronicles 24:10); each priestly course was one week long, and there were two courses per year, thus resulting in one of the two possible dates. Long story short, most Messianic believers feel that the Sukkot date is the correct one, due to the circumstantial evidence in the text, and the prophetic significance of a concurrence with Sukkot (chiefly that God's tabernacle is with man, He is Immanuel, 'God with us').

If Zechariah was in his late spring course of priestly service, we can calculate the time from this point. Assuming that his wife Elizabeth (who was Mary’s cousin) became pregnant with John the Baptist fairly soon after Zechariah left the temple, then by adding the six months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy that the Bible records occurred when Mary was visited by the angel (around Hanukkah)—and finally, by assuming that she became pregnant right away as well (which the Bible seems to indicate she was), we arrive at a date nine months later somewhere in the mid-September to mid-October time frame around the Feast of Sukkot. (If Zechariah was in his autumn course of service, the time of year would simply be flipped, resulting in the Passover date.)

If this had happened on the first day of Sukkot, then Jesus would have been circumcised at the Temple on what would later become Simchat Torah, the celebration of the Word. Jesus was called the 'Word' of God even more than He was referred to as the 'Son' by the earliest Christians.
Those who argue that the traditional date is the correct one often point to the Early Church Fathers, especially Hippolytus of Rome, who in the early 200's did in fact declare that December 25th was the true Nativity. But the basis for this assertion was an ancient superstition stating that the very righteous die on the day of either their conception or their birth―not on the evidence of the Bible itself. How could he and so many others have missed this gigantic clue in the text? I can answer this from personal experience: I read these passages for forty years, and never made the connection between Luke 1 and 1 Chronicles 24 until someone else pointed it out to me. Furthermore, all of the Church Fathers past the 1st century―and especially the post-Nicene theologians of the 4th century―were sufficiently removed enough from the Jewish context of the Scriptures that they would not have immediately paid attention to this clue.
Some details concerning the sequence of events. The church took the entire story surrounding Jesus’ birth and smashed it into a one-day celebration. However, the Bible tells the story over a time span of two years: while the shepherds arrived immediately at the stable where Jesus was born, the wise men, who had been following the star, did not arrive until Jesus was two years old. They visited the holy family in a house, not a stable or a cave; apparently, Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem and found or built a house. Furthermore, they told Herod that Jesus was two years old, which is why Herod had all the baby boys in Bethlehem two years old and younger killed.

The point is that we know for certain, directly from the Bible, that Jesus was not born on December the 25th. Above all questions of any deliberate association to pagan religions with regard to the date, the fact is that the date is wrong. No matter which of the two possible dates one chooses to believe, neither one matches the supposed birthday of pagan deities, providing less credence to the idea that it was simply borrowed.

Once we are aware of the Bible’s clues about the date, the real question is this: as ‘Bible-believing’ Christians, if we assert that the Judeo-Christian worldview is based in factual truth, and not myth or in subjective experience as are the rest of the world’s religions, then why would we want to intentionally misrepresent the date as we present one of the cornerstone truths of our worldview to a skeptical world? How do we expect them to believe us when we can’t even get the date right?

Because I am a person who wants to live in truthfulness above all else, this is enough for me to want to stop celebrating Christmas. If I know for certain that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th, why would I want to pretend that He was? It’s one thing to say, “Sukkot is one of two possible dates on which He was born―we believe this is the right one;” it’s another to say, “I know He wasn’t born on December 25th, but I’m going to act like He was anyway.” However, most people listening to me simply reply, “Well, you know, why does it really matter what day He was actually born—it’s kind of like how we sometimes celebrate a person’s birthday on a different day than it really is.” But this isn’t a variation by a couple of weeks due to a scheduling conflict; we’re talking about moving the most important birthday in history to an entirely irrelevant season of the year. We wouldn’t celebrate our child’s birthday in the summer if he or she was born in the winter—it wouldn’t make any sense!

What is worse is that we then combine this error with the many mythical and pagan traditions we have attached to this holiday, and then present these all to our children in one package as reality. When they find out that Santa Claus isn’t really climbing down our chimneys to give us presents, for example, do we think there are no consequences or questions that arise as to whether the rest of the story is true? And when they attend university, and the professors begin to talk about how Jesus wasn’t born on December the 25th, and that it was borrowed from pagan traditions, what do you think our children’s response will be? The statistics of how many young people are leaving the faith show the truth.

The incidental pagan stuff

Outside the actual Biblical story of the Messiah’s nativity, all the other traditions of Christmas are a thorough mix of Christian and pagan ideas. Let's look at some of the more popular elements with which most of us are familiar:

Santa Claus: The figure of Santa Claus is partially based on Nicholas of Palmyra, a fourth-century bishop who was a contemporary of Constantine. The legend of Santa coming down a chimney was in some measure based on Nicholas’ alleged salvation of three young girls from a life of slavery by sneaking into their window at night and placing a bag of gold into their stockings by the fire. Whether he really did this is uncertain; but in truth, Nicholas was a staunch Trinitarian; he attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. and fought to preserve the doctrine of the Trinity—literally. He was so passionate about the cause that it is said he got into a fistfight with Arius the heretic. Nobody messes with Santa!

Unfortunately, the caricature of Santa Claus is an amalgam of Scandinavian, Germanic, and Celtic myths mostly based on the Norse god Odin (Woden in Germanic countries, which is where we get the word Wednesday). Odin rides atop a steed with eight legs that flies across the winter sky, which is where the eight reindeer of the modern Santa Claus come from. Sinter Klaas, a direct mix of St. Nicholas and Odin, also has an eight-legged flying steed instead of a sleigh with reindeer. Note in the picture the typical vestment of the bishopric, which is pagan in orgin; the staff, which is called a crozier, is representative of a serpent and originates in Egypt as a symbol of power; this is why God had Moses throw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and changed it into a snake—God was trying to get Pharaoh’s attention by using a symbol of power with which Pharaoh was familiar.

The American version of Santa Claus first came in with the arrival of Scandinavian and German immigrants to the USA, but was not popularized until the 1920’s, when Coca-Cola began running ad campaigns featuring the now ubiquitous character. They reimagined him in a far more ‘jolly’ light in the 1930’s, in an effort to bring more hope during the Great Depression. But before this, Sinter Klaas was a much more stern character.

Elves/Krampus: Here’s what we normally conjure up in our minds when we think of elves:

...or wise, beautiful, immortal being from the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.

But this is what SinterKlaas’ helpers really look like:

They don’t make toys. They are called the Krampus, and these demons accompany Sinter Klaas to every village to determine whether the children have been good or bad. If they have been good, of course, Sinter Klaas will give the children treats and presents, while those youngsters who misbehave suffer the wrath of the Krampus by being harassed and beaten; the worst miscreants will be summarily dragged away to hell. You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why...Sinter Klaas is coming to town!

I seem to remember Jesus saying specifically in the Scriptures that "...a house divided against itself cannot stand..." (Matthew 12:25, Mark 3:25, Luke 11:17) So, why would a Christian bishop be traveling with a pack of demons who aid him? What would prompt 'good Christian' people to celebrate such an unholy and unsavory tradition? Naturally these rites are echoes of European pagan past, when human victims were sacrificed to gods like Odin, whose throats were slit while wearing a wreath ablaze with four candles, like the Advent wreaths we use in many churches today. The St. Lucia story and celebration also contains shadows of this grisly practice.

While most of the nations of Europe (and areas colonized by them, like the US, Canada, and Australia) practice tamer varieties of these customs than did the Scandinavian and Germanic countries, the pagan influences of the Christmas holiday all find their roots in the midwinter human sacrifice story. Here are some lesser aspects of the holiday with which we are familiar and their pagan associations:

  
    Holly and Ivy

    Taken from fertility cults, the holly and ivy represent the male and female in reproduction.  The plants are often found growing together, and seeming in struggle, are often intertwined as in sexual intercourse.

    Mistletoe

    Similar to holly and ivy, the mistletoe was used as plant which blessed fertility.  Rome: was used to 'sanctify' orgies that took place in honor of Saturn.  Scandinavia:  Blessed by Frigga, the mother goddess in penance for forgetting about it as a weapon used to slay her son Balder.  She vowed that the plant would never be used to hurt anyone again, so it would be an omen of love instead.

    Wreaths
    Pagans of all cultures tend to view the world in a cyclical fashion; the wreath symbolized the 'wheel of life' or the 'wheel of the earth'.  Pagans would pray to their gods to turn back this wheel to the longer summer months.  Scandinavia:  mid-winter sacrifice victims would wear a wreath as a symbol of why they were being sacrificed--to appeal to the gods in turning the wheel.

    Advent

    The Celts in particular would count down the days to the winter solstice and the subsequent 'rebirth' of the sun.

    Yule Log

    Yet another tradition related to sun-worship.  The Yule Log was an emblem of the return of the sun, and the lengthening of days as a sacrifice to Thor for slaying the frost giants and saving the goddess of fertility from marrying into their race.

    Christmas Tree

    Very ancient practice among pagan societies:  the tree represents fertility and the origin of all life.  Brought into the house in winter to sustain life during the months of winter death.

    Lights and Ornaments

    Candles and ornaments were placed in the fertility tree to honor the sun and ancestors.

    Star (on top of tree)

    In all cultures using a decorated tree as part of sun-god worship, this represents the sun-god himself as the pinnacle of fertility. Stars were thought in ancient cultures to be gods or spirits—this symbolism is even true of the Bible.

    the name:
'Christ-mass'

    Most people think the name 'Christmas' simply means the time when Christ comes; but the 'mass' was originally the name for a pagan service where a sacrifice was performed. The Eucharist as practiced by the Romanized Church is a symbol of this pagan sacrifice:  the 'bread' is a sun-disc, which descends into the womb of the mother goddess, represented by the cup, and is reborn to be lifted high

    Christmas ham

    The boar's head is offered as a sacrifice to the 'queen of heaven'; in some pagan stories, the sun god is killed by a boar before being resurrected, so the killing of the boar is an act of revenge to bring back the sun.

The resurgence of paganism around the world has left us copious amounts of evidence for these claims. Wiccans and and other pagan religions are not only claiming these associations are true, but are proud that they have survived 'the Christian onslaught' to change their meaning. Meanwhile, most Christians have a hard time swallowing just how much of Christian practice, including the Christmas holiday, is imbued with pagan ideology and tradition. When confronted with this truth, the most common response I hear is, "Well, I don't practice all that pagan stuff; I just worship Jesus and focus on His birthday. Besides, what does it matter if we celebrate His birthday on the right day or not?"

This is not a new sentiment; today, this philosophy is used with regard to nearly everything, particluarly by those who believe that we should make Christianity 'relevant' to unbelievers. Pope Gregory the Great thought so, too; he wrote to Miletus in 601 A.D.,

“…what I have, upon mature deliberation of the affair of the English, determined upon, viz., that the temples of the idols in those nations ought not to be destroyed; but let the idols that are in them be destroyed; let holy water be made and sprinkled in the said temples, let altars be erected, and relics placed. For if those temples are well built, it is requisite that they be converted from the worship of devils to the service of the true God; that the nation, seeing that their temples are not destroyed…may the more familiarly resort to the places to which they are accustomed.

And because they have been used to slaughter many oxen in the sacrifices to devils, some solemnity must be exchanged for them on this account, as that on the day of the dedication, or the nativities of the holy martyrs whose relics are there deposited, they may build themselves huts of the boughs of trees, about those churches that have been turned to that use from temples, and celebrate the solemnity with religious feasting, and no more offer beasts to the Devil, but kill cattle to the praise of God in their eating, and return thanks to the Giver of all things…Thus while some outward rejoicings are preserved, they will be able more easily to share in inward rejoicings. It is doubtless impossible to cut everything at once from their stubborn minds…”

From the time of Constantine onward, it has been the standard philosophy of the Romanized church to engage every new culture by blending their pagan ideas with the message of the Gospel.

Now, I want to say before continuing that this is a noble motivation from a human standpoint. The most likely reason why all of these traditions were ‘Christianized’ is because Christians wanted to share their faith with their unbelieving neighbors.

It is often claimed that the ‘Christianizing’ of pagan traditions was somehow a conspiracy—a cloak and dagger operation by nefarious agents of the Church to sway us all from Biblical truth. While I believe persons like Constantine the Great were disingenuous, I think on the whole this is nonsense. We can in fact see that this was obvious and deliberate, but I believe it was done from the native cultural standpoint with the best of intentions.

Like Paul, who used the idol ‘to an unknown god’ as a segue to present the Gospel to the Greeks in Athens, later Christians used the varying traditions surrounding the midwinter sacrifice festival to point to the Savior. This is why you will also find lots of origin stories about the ‘Christian’ meanings of the elements of the Christmas holiday: the red color symbolizes Christ’s blood while the evergreen symbolizes everlasting life, the Gospel in the stories of candy canes and gingerbread men, the wreath became symbolic of the crown of thorns, while the Christmas tree represents everlasting life and its triangular shape reminds us of the Trinity—and the list is as long as all the elements used.

There is only one problem with this: it's not Biblical to participate in the same practices as the unbelievers you’re trying to convert. Paul didn’t bow down to the idol of ‘the unknown god’, even though he used it as an illustration. Throughout the Bible, God made it very clear that any opposing viewpoint has nothing in common with the Gospel; specifically speaking with regard to pagan religion--in contrast to Pope Gregory's instructions above, to destroy every last vestige of pagan religion that rooted itself in the land of Israel:

Then the Lord said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

“Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. Do not make any idols."

—Exodus 34:12-17

"When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?' You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God [many versions say 'Do not worship the LORD your God in their way'], for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods."

—Deuteronomy 12:29-31

Sadly, Israel not only refused to heed God's warnings, but, as God predicted, they participated in these practices to the point where they exceeded that of their pagan neighbors. Eliciting God's disgust, they were removed from the land for 70 years.

In the New Covenant, God's passion has not changed; while the blood sacrifices of Judaism are absorbed in the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus, God's attitude toward adopting pagan ritual remains the same. As worshipers of YHWH, we should not be involved in anything directly related to the worship of any other god. The above passages make clear that God does not even want us to worship Him using pagan methods or traditions.

As with anything, of course, we can go way overboard, spending what precious little time and strength we have engaging in witch hunts to dispel even the slightest whiff of something ‘pagan’. Pagans decorate their homes with plants to be closer to nature; does this mean all indoor plants are taboo? I would say not. Pagans use crystals to supposedly enhance certain spiritual energies; does this mean we shouldn’t have anything with precious stones in it? No, the very breastplate of the High Priest was decorated with precious stones, and the New Jerusalem will have precious stones in it. Pagans use music and rhythm as part of their worship; should we remove song from our methods of extolling the praises of our God? Certainly not—indeed, the use of music as a platform for worship is well-documented throughout the Scriptures.

There’s nothing in the Scriptures about eating candy canes or gingerbread, singing songs, giving gifts to one another, or many of the other things that people do in our modern celebration of this holiday. With many of these traditions, I don’t believe there is a hard and fast rule about what is right and wrong; instead, each person must ask the LORD to help them make a determination as to where some of these lines should be drawn. I don’t think it’s meant for us to judge one another over these things. The Apostle Paul gives us some guidelines in Romans 14 as to how we should treat each other regarding issues that are more minor in scope; we should treat each other with dignity and courtesy regardless of where one fixes the boundaries of their practice.

Over the last two decades specifically, this has become such a sensitive topic especially among Evangelicals and Hebrew Roots adherents, with the war cry of Hebrew Roots people shouting ‘PAGAN’! on one side, while Evangelicals and other mainstream Christians are shouting ‘KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS’! on the other. Meanwhile, we are not noticing that atheists in particular are pulling out the popcorn bowl and are enjoying the melee. Is it worth it?

Christmas certainly no longer has the meaning for me that it once did, and I can’t imagine a Christian person continuing to celebrate the Christmas holiday in its current traditional form after having heard, seen, and examined the truths about the date of Jesus’ birth from Scripture and the mixture of the holiday’s traditions. But that’s my sentiment, and there are a lot of people out there who haven’t seen these things, let alone think the same way that I do. Can we just stop throwing grenades at each other and treat each other with some respect? We can be completely right factually and theologically, but if we do not have love, we are nothing. Jesus said the world will know that we are His disciples when we love one another, and this issue has become one where His love is the last thing we exhibit.

Definitely I would say that we should not engage in any custom that is directly and specifically related to the worship of another god. Beyond this is Romans 14 territory. I would ask some questions with regard to any behavior, especially in this case concerning Christmas:

What is the motivation for doing what we do?  Is it simply because a thing is familiar, or is it because we are intentional about worshipping God?  The word 'holiday' is a drect compound of 'holy day'; it is meant as a day of worship.  When we are celebrating our holidays, are we sure we are worshipping God, and if we are, are we conforming to His Word?
Are we willing to let go of something that is comortable for the sake of attaining what is right?
Why defend a practice that, while traditional, is unbiblical--or at the very best, has mixed origins?

In the 'war against Christmas' currently being waged in Western culture, well-meaning Christians are using slogans like 'Keep Christ in Christmas' and 'He's the reason for the season'. This is done knowing that the real war is against Christianity, not Christmas. The world does not have problems with a jolly red man in a suit giving presents to people. Their issue lies with a Jewish God who proclaimed their sin and sent a Jewish Messiah to proclaim that He was 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life"—that He is the only way to God.

I would contend that Jesus was never in Christmas in the first place; maybe it's time to let the pagans have their winter solstice festival back so that we, as Judeo-Christians, can focus on the true, Biblical story. On the flip side, I would encourage those like me who have begun to understand the Jewish context of the faith and who have seen that many of our church traditions—including Christmas—are based on shaky ground at best or misinterpretations of Biblical truths at worst to focus more on living out the true Biblical story in our own lives rather than spending inordinate amounts of time pointing out how everyone else is missing the boat.

I also know this is far easier said than done. Growing up in the Christian Church, I was taught that the traditional story is the way it really happened. I believed that everything we celebrated was an unbroken, pure tradition related to worship of the true God—though some things did not quite make sense. Now as an adult, having studied the background, I understand why; but every year, the topic of Christmas is still difficult.

I personally am making a gradual transition to minimize Christmas in favor of Hanukkah, a truly historical winter observance with a connection to Jesus that I can get behind without having to lie to children. It is not a change that I can make 'cold turkey'; and since I have made the commitment to not castigate anyone who continues to celebrate Christmas, there is a somewhat awkward aspect to my relationship with others around this time, particularly with those who know me and what I believe. But you know what? If someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, I’ll wish them one back. Meanwhile, I have busied myself incorporating some of the non-overtly pagan traditions into other areas and building new ones related to the Biblical story. Some things I hang onto are these:

We studied earlier that Jesus was most likely born during Sukkot; which means it is very possible Jesus was conceived around Hanukkah.  I have taken to celebrating the Incarnation of Jesus Christ during the Hanukkah holiday as the Light of the World. After all, as pro-life persons, we believe that life begins at conception; therefore, it is fitting that we celebrate the Incarnation at this time.  Furthermore, Hanukkah was one of the major instances where Jesus revealed Himself as the Messiah at the Temple in Jerusalem (John 10:22-30); so there is definitely a New Covenant connection to be had during this holiday.
If the Sukkot date is the correct one as we have studied, then the part of the story where the angel appeared to Mary and later Joseph would have occurred at this time of year. I also incorporate this into my Hanukkah observance.
There is no definitive date on the calendar stating when the wise men arrived in Jerusalem seeking to find the two-year old Jesus; whenever I am 'forced' into a situation where I am with others celebrating the Christmas story, I focus on this aspect.
There is nothing wrong with having parties, eating delicious food, and giving gifts. Many Jewish families choose to give gifts on Hanukkah; we can do the same. Better yet, we can give gifts to our loved ones at whatever time of the year we are thinking about them—when the gift means much more, and not as an obligatory trading of money back and forth.
Because I come from a significantly Slavic background on my father's side of the family, among the many Christmas traditions I have enjoyed is the Wigilia, the traditional Polish and Ukranian vigil supper that is held until midnight on Christmas Eve awaiting the arrival of the Christ Child. The highlight for me of this tradition is the opłatek, the sharing of communion with all throughout the household, blessing one another as we share. I have taken this tradition along with some others and incorporated them into my observance of Hanukkah.  Also, in 2014 on the first night of Sukkot, I got out my Christmas music and played O Holy Night. Certainly on the one hand, it felt strange to be singing and playing this in the autumn; but in many ways, I felt the most peace that I had in years about singing this song.

Above all, our calling as priests in God’s kingdom and as ambassadors of His holy nation is to love our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. While we certainly want to present the truth, to live in the truth, and to be ready to answer with the truth, now is not the time to blast people with self-righteous, rage-fueled charges of ‘pagan worship’, simply because they have not heard or choose to disagree with our message. No Christian person I know is setting out to worship Odin; outside of the original lyrics to O Tannenbaum (which have since changed to include verses about the Nativity), no one that I know sings to their Christmas tree or bows down to it. They’re just simply repeating the narrative they’ve been told.

Conversely, if you remain unconvinced by the arguments put forward against the traditional celebration of Christmas and you continue to believe that Jesus was born on December 25th, or you simply believe there is no problem with celebrating this holiday despite the date being wrong and the traditions being mixed, know that I believe this is between you and the LORD. You may have had some very angry people out there blast you for that decision, and it may have made you defensive; but I’d ask that you first consider what’s been written here and seek the LORD’s counsel, then please show some grace toward those who choose not to celebrate it, or who celebrate it differently from you. I know I want to be the one who shows love first; I’m trusting that’s your motivation as well.

This time of year is incredibly depressing for most people; reminders of personal losses, tragic events, and emotional wounds often come pouring in to cloud the festivities. And afterward, there is the fading euphoria from unrealized expectations, the dread of returning to ‘normal’ life, and figuring out how to pay for all those Christmas gifts that didn’t fit into this year’s budget. Be ready to love, to listen, and to point them toward our Savior who really was born, died, and resurrected for our sins, and with whom we can live and talk to every day.

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