Regarding the period when Catholicism originated Christmas, the Catholic Encyclopedia says it was NOT among the early festivals of the Church, because Ireneus and Tertullian, at the end of the second century, omit it from their list of feasts. The first evidence of any observance of the birth of Christ appears about 200 AD in Egypt. It was not earlier than 330 AD that Dec. 25 was chosen by any Pope, and it was not universally accepted till long after that—for the position and authority of the Pope was then still far from established.
In the Schaff-Heroz Religious Encyclopedia, we are told…
“From the beginning of the fourth century, when the restless searchings of the nature and persons of Christ drove men's minds into many singular errors, the Eastern Church began to feel the importance of emphasizing the actual birth of Christ by a separate festival...The date once fixed, Christmas gradually became one of the three great annual festivals of the Church.”
And from the Abbott-Conant Dictionary of Religious Knowledge…
“Christmas seems to have first appeared in the Roman Church after the middle of the fourth century. At a somewhat later period it spread into Eastern Asia. It was not received with equal readiness by all the churches. Some denounced it as an innovation... It was not till the sixth century that anything like unanimity prevailed as to the day to be observed. The manner in which this festival came to be observed in the Romish Church, and through it to the other churches, is as follows: In this season of the year, a series of heathen festivals occurred, the celebration of which was in many ways closely interwoven with the whole civil and social life of the Romans. These festivals had an import which easily admitted of being spiritualized, and tranformed into a Christian sense. First came the Saturnalia, which represented the Golden Age, and abolished for a while the distinction of ranks. Then came the custom, peculiar to this season, of making presents, afterwards transferred to the Christmas festival. After the Saturnalia came the Festival of Infants [Juvenalia], at which the children were presented with images. Next came a festival still more analogous to Christmas, that of the shortest day [Brumalia], the Winter Solstice1, the Birthday of the New Sun, about to return once more toward the earth... Hence the celebration of the Nativity of Christ was transferred to December 25. In the Romish Church, Christmas is a very high festival.”
Regarding the attitude of early Christians toward such things, Auld says…
“As for the first believers, they had NOT THE SLIGHTEST INTEREST IN ANYTHING OF THE KIND. Hope in the Lord's imminent return from heaven in great power and glory was the flame that fired their devotion.”
In the book, The Customs of Mankind, we read…
“Christmas was originally a festival of the Winter Solstice. It was customary to hold great feasts in honor of the HEATHEN GODS. The early teachers of Christianity PROHIBITED THESE FESTIVALS as unsuited to the character of Christ. Yet the symbols and customs of the old festivals are adapted to the new, and so we find Christmas patterned with many customs of pagan origin. To the mind of the Puritans, Christmas smelled to heaven of idolatry... The Puritans abolished Christmas as a hateful relic of Popery.”
Tertullian—who wrote (says Encyclopedia Britannica) “in a period when a LAX SPIRIT OF CONFORMITY had seized the churches”: about 200 AD—says regarding decorating with evergreens and ceremonial candles…
“Let those who have no Light, light their lamps, let them affix to their posts laurels. YOU [Christians] are the Light of the World, a tree ever green. If you have renounced temples, make not your own gate a temple [by heathen wreaths].”
Crippen says, “At the time of persecution, Christians were detected by NOT decorating their houses at the Saturnalia.”
Some conformed to the heathen customs to avoid suspicion, and to appear like their neighbors, so they would not be looked on as odd and different. This practice was strongly condemned by the early church.
And Campbell relates…
“There can be no doubt that [some of] the early Christians also frequently shared in the frolics of their heathen neighbors; and the fathers of the Church had considerable difficulty in prevailing on their members to refrain from such unedifying pastimes. The early Christians discouraged the use of evergreen decorations in Christian homes and assemblies, because their display had long been associated with heathen festivals. Bishop Martin of Braga forbad the use of all greenery and 'other dangerous Kalend customs'.”
Crippen remarks…
“So long as heathenism was in full vigor, the ancient Christians were puritanically jealous of anything that might seem like coqueting with idolatry. But when heathenism was declining, there was a disposition to adopt its customs. What had been heathenish became rich with Christian (!) symbol.”
Note that last statement. Auld too betrays the same perverted outlook…
“The use of evergreens is one of the happy (!) contributions which PAGANISM made to the Christian festival. At first the Church frowned upon this intrusion of paganism into the sacred season. But altogether, the ancient Church was wisely tolerant (!) in her attitude to heathen IDEAS and customs ... hence the curious and interesting MIXTURES of IDEAS — pagan and Christian — which became charmingly (!) entwisted.”
After unsuccesfully fighting the adoption of pagan customs, says Campbell…
“The clergy endeavored to transform the heathen revels into amusements which — if not really more spiritual in character — had at least the merit of recognizing the authority of the Church.”
The Encyclopedia Britannica confirms this…
“As Christianity spread among the peoples of pagan lands, many of the practices of the Winter Solstice were blended with those of Christianity, because of the liberal ruling of Pope Gregory I and the cooperation of the missionaries.”
That is, instead of teaching the converts to abandon their old superstitions, and to start a clean new life solely according to the Way of God, the Church found it more practical and profitable to give the old superstitions new names, and mix Christianity with paganism.
The Christmas extravaganza has become the standard for traditional holidays today. Families will gather around December 25, gorge on ham and turkey, stare at a decorated tree while a swooning Bing provides the ambience, while exchanging billions of dollars in gifts. A crescendo of months of retailer pre-hype will come to a climax on one glorious orgy of joy and peace. Or, theoretically, anyway.
Christmas is assumed by many to be rooted in the Bible. A revealing survey would be to poll frantic Christmas shoppers to find out how many know the origins of Christmas. Do YOU know what Christmas is all about? If Christmas is that significant—the biggest holiday of the year demanding a great deal of your time and money—shouldn’t you at least know what it is actually all about?
Do you observe Christmas because you believe it is in the Bible? Try as you might, you will not find a hint of Christmas anywhere in the Scriptures. There is neither a call to observe it nor an example where anyone in the Bible did so. Shocking? Millions are oblivious to this simple fact! As one authority puts it, “There is no historical evidence that Jesus’ birthday was celebrated during the apostolic or early post-apostolic times,” (Christmas, p. 47). The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Another writer makes this astounding statement: “The day was not one of the early feasts of the Christian church. In fact the observance of birthdays was condemned as a heathen custom repugnant to Christians,”. (The American Book of Days, by George W. Douglas.)
What an eye-opening statement. The single most important religious holiday observed today in Christianity would have been FORBIDDEN in early New Testament times! Many other historians and Biblical scholars corroborate this fact. Now read a candid admission from The New Catholic Encyclopedia…
“Inexplicable though it seems, the date of the [Messiah's] birth is not known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month,” vol. 3, p. 656. And the Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature says, “The fathers of the first three centuries do not speak of any special observance of the nativity. No corresponding festival was presented by the Old Testament ... the day and month of the birth of [the Messiah] are nowhere stated in the Gospel history, and cannot be certainly determined,” Christmas, p. 276.
If Christmas is as popular and pervasive a religious holiday as retail sales indicate, why isn't it found anywhere in the bible?
The bible, itself, does not place the birth of Christ anywhere near the solstice. In fact, it states otherwise. Luke 2:8: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Is this describing a cold, wintry December scene? According to Jeremiah 36:22, December is wintry in the Holy Land. It is the rainy season where on occasion snow covers the ground. Luke, however, says that sheep were still in the open fields. This had to be before the cold winter rains and snows began to fall. The livestock had not yet been moved to shelters. Notice: “It was a custom among Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts about the Passover [early spring], and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain” (Clarke's Commentary by Adam Clarke, vol. 3, p. 370). Clarke says the first rain commences in October or November. He adds, “As these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Savior was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields ...the flocks were still in the fields BY NIGHT. On this very ground the nativity in December should be given up.” December is no time for flocks and their shepherds to be standing out in the field.