The story of Christmas is a cult classic you could say. It's got miracles, Virgins, and God's only begotten son.
So what's the catch? Where is the story ACTUALLY derived from? What does it all mean?
Mary, a young virgin girl, was engaged to Joseph, a carpenter and descendant in the Tribe of David. During their engagement, God sent an Angel to Mary explaining that she would become pregnant and conceive a child by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The prophecy came true, and Mary birthed Jesus in a crude stable on the evening of December 25 in Bethlehem
We'll start with the easy stuff
First off, the bible only mentions two birthdays celebrations, and only in reference to ego-driven selfish Kings
Genesis 40:20
"And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday"
Matthew 14:6
"But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod."
There is never a mention, in any verse, which describes the dates or celebrations of the prophets such as Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses etc.
Jesus' birthday goes unrecorded as well, and so early Christians didn't celebrate it.
The exact date is unknown.
In the Gospel of Luke (15:23) an angel informed Zacharias (John the Baptist's Father) that his wife would have a son. John was conceived around the middle of June
After 9 months, John the Baptist would have been born in mid March
Jesus was conceived about 6 months after John
This would mean Jesus was conceived in December, and 9 months later would be September, not late December as we're usually told.
Here's a couple biblical verses which add evidence to a non-winter birth date
Luke 2:8
*"there were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night" *
If Jesus had been born December 25, it would have been in the midst of winter. This weather is too cold for shepherds to be tending to their flock in the fields
The Qur'an also states that mary ate ripe dates after delivering Jesus. Dates ripen in early autumn, giving more credence to a birth the autumn month of September and not in the depths of a December winter.
Qur'an 19:25-26
"(O Mary, shake the trunk of a date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you. So eat and drink and be glad"
But if Jesus wasn't born December 25, why is this date used?
What is the Winter Solstice?
It's typically the shortest day of the year and marks the beginning of winter
Well, that's cool and all, but why's that matter?
This is the same day that many Sun Worshippers used for the celebration of their pagan gods
Horus (Egypt), Buddha (Asia), Krishna (India), Zarathustra (Iranian), Mithra (Persian), Dionysus (Greek), Tammuz (Babylonian)
Surely you recognize some, if not most, of these names. The funny thing is many were born from Virgin mothers as well
Quite the coincidence
Said to have a miraculous birth and turn "water to wine"
Followers ate a sacred meal of bread & wine that became the body and blood of their god
Said to have been crucified & resurrected
Mithras comes from Persian mythos. In their teachings he was
and
The main rituals of Mithras' cult were
I'm starting to get some deja vu, how about you?
Krishna is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu they are considered to be one and the same
Vishnu is said to have descended into the womb of Devaki to be born as a divine incarnation
He killed demons & performed miracles
"the whole sky was filled with his glory" when he ascended (died)
Etymologically speaking, the word ‘Vishnu’ means ‘one who pervades, one who has entered into everything.’ So he is the transcendent as well the immanent reality of the universe. He is the inner cause and power by which things exist.
Ok last one,
Tammuz was born from Semiramis, who was also called Ishtar and the 'Queen of Heaven'
She claimed she was impregnated through the rays of her ex-husband the Sun god Nimrod
Tammuz died & was resurrected
The cross was also a sacred symbol. It's shaped like the letter Tau
As you can see, there are major similarities between the Story of Jesus and other pagan deities. But if you're still unconvinced about the origin of Jesus' tale, get this
There is a winter festival that is celebrated annually called Yule. It is held in late December/Early January.
Yule is synonymous with Christmas and the word is still used in some European countries
This is a Slavic pre-Christian winter ritual
The tradition was later incorporated into Christmas and is still used in the Old Church Slavonic language.
The word is still used in modern Ukrainian ("Коляда", Kolyadá), Belarusian (Каляда, Kalada, Kaliada), Russian (Колядá, Kolyada), Polish (Szczodre Gody kolęda [kɔˈlɛ̃da]), Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian (Коледа, Коледе) Lithuanian (Kalėdos, Kalėda) and Bosnian, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene (koleda)
Some claim it was named after Kolyada, the Slavic god of winter or Koliada, the goddess who brings up a new sun every day
As you may see, Pagan solar events the likely origin of Christmas as we know it. The story of Jesus seems to be an amalgamation of these previous religions and astrology.
We're not done yet though.
Just as eggs and rabbits are to Easter, the Evergreen Tree is to Christmas.
We can look back to our friend Tammuz of Mesopotamia as one origin for this tradition.
His mother Semiramis claimed that from a dead tree stump, an evergreen tree sprang to life overnight. The story goes on to say that every year, on the anniversary of his birth (Dec 25) Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts beneath it
This is possibly where the tradition of leaving gifts under a Christma3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutess tree is elicited from
The Mother of Sun God Adonis, who was said to be mystically changed into a tree and brought forth her divine dead son
Romans, during the feast of Saturnalia, decorated houses with evergreen shrub clippings and decorated them with bits of metal and replicas of their god Bacchus
By the mid 500's, Germans used evergreen trees to symbolize hope for incoming spring
The Christmas Tree was first introduced by the Queen of England in 1841 when Queen Victoria's husband brought a tree from Germany and put it up in Windsor Castle
The bible explicitly tells us not to do this
Evidenced by
Jeremiah 10:3
"Learn not the way of other nations... A tree from the forest is cut down ... They decorate it with silver and gold"
Just another golden calf. An idol being worshiped against the command of God
Christian and Pagan traditions were amalgamated in order to conciliate the two types of worshipers and assimilate Pagans into Christianity. The celebration of Christmas is not found anywhere in the Bible and was never celebrated by Jesus or early Christians
Pagan practices and festivals are forbidden in the Bible
Leviticus 18: 2-4
"You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes"
The holiday has been profoundly commercialized in efforts to induce people into spending money and steer them away from their original religious values and doctrines
I hope you enjoyed this article, I will be exploring more on the historic roots of many misrepresented topics and ideas in the future. If you have any ideas you'd like me to cover or look into feel free to drop a comment below
Cheers
