Questions on holidays

[d_maximus5]

Hello everyone,

How does i explain christmas to someone who is stuck on the pagan history of Dec. 25 and says that nowhere is it proven that Christ was born on this day?

I know its been christianized, for a lack of better explanation, but when i’m asked why was that day chosen and such, what is the explanation i have give?

Also in regards to Easter, and this one I can use for my own edification since I still don’t fully understand. Christ said he was be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. I think I quoted right. How do we explain dying on Good Friday and rising on Sunday?

And can anyone recommend a good book that helps explain the church holidays and how they come to those understanding.

Thanks in advance everyone

 

[ConstantineTG]

Hello everyone,

How does i explain christmas to someone who is stuck on the pagan history of Dec. 25 and says that nowhere is it proven that Christ was born on this day?

I know its been christianized, for a lack of better explanation, but when i’m asked why was that day chosen and such, what is the explanation i have give?

What else is there? We commemorate the event, not the day. A pagan holiday was chosen to get pepole to celebrate Christ and not some pagan festival.

Also in regards to Easter, and this one I can use for my own edification since I still don’t fully understand. Christ said he was be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. I think I quoted right. How do we explain dying on Good Friday and rising on Sunday?

And can anyone recommend a good book that helps explain the church holidays and how they come to those understanding.

Thanks in advance everyone

Jesus rose on the third day. It is entirely different from rising after three days. The day Jesus died is day 1. Sabbath is day 2. Sunday is day 3. Thus the third day. If we said “after three days,” then it would have been Monday.

 

[Jenny_M]

Perhaps the Early Church Fathers also chose December 25 for its symbolism: Christ is the Light of the World, and the light of the sun begins to lengthen again around December 25.

Jenny M

 

[PowderBear]

When dealing with numbers in the Bible, keep in mind that the concept of 0 on the number scale was not always around. Some civilizations knew about ‘zero’ much earlier than others (Mayans, for example), but most civilizations didn’t catch on that quick. Numbers, times and dates in the Bible can be tricky because of this, as well as calendar issues, translation issues, etc.
When you are having issues with numbers not matching up, and it is a one-number difference (the three days/Easter issue), it is because the translation is staying true to the original number system without a zero.

Also, there is Biblical and historical evidence for Jesus being born in late December. The only reason people continue to claim that Jesus’ birthday is just a pagan ‘cover’ is because it is a simple (and appealing) explanation-- but not necessarily correct. Here is a well-researched document that explains the Biblical and historical evidence:
agapebiblestudy.com/documents/Dating%20the%20Birth%20of%20Jesus%20of%20Nazareth.htm
**It starts to talk specifically about the day and month of his birth where it says “Concerning the month and day of Jesus’ birth, St. Clement reported that…” at the beginning of a paragraph towards the top of the document. Everything before that is concerning the year.

I hope that document helps.
Personally, I believe that God knew very clearly that Jesus’ birth would fall on a Pagan holiday-- And God did that on purpose to symbolize that Jesus was the real truth that could fill the longing in people’s hearts.

 

[Luke65]

How does i explain christmas to someone who is stuck on the pagan history of Dec. 25 and says that nowhere is it proven that Christ was born on this day?

You say that nowhere is it proven that December 25th was a pagan holiday until long after Christ was born…

All this is not without controversy. In the 9th chapter of his dissertation, Aurelian, Constantine, and Sol in Late Antiquity, S.E. Hijmans rejects the attribution to Aurelian for the date of Christmas:
*“On G. Wissowa’s (1912, 367) contention that the festival was instituted by Aurelian, cf. Wallraff 2001, 176-7 n. 12; Salzman 1990, 151 n. 106; Heim 1999, 643 with refs. There is no explicit evidence stating that the feast of December 25th was instituted by Aurelian. In fact the calendar of 354, supplemented by Julian’s hymn to Helios, is our only conclusive evidence for an official feast day in honour of Sol on that day. On the evidence currently available we cannot exclude the possibility that, for instance, the 30 chariot races held in honor of Sol on December 25th were instituted in reaction to the Christian claim of December 25th as the birthday of Christ. In general, the extent to which late pagan festivals copied, incorporated, or responded to Christian practices, elements, and dates deserves far more attention than it has received; cf. Bowersock 1990, 26-7, 44-53.”
ancienthistory.about.com/od/holidaysfestivals/a/solsticeceleb_4.htm?rd=1

And that’s because the world hates the truth, and loves the lie. December 25th was made the “birthday” of the mythical Mithras. However…

The mysteries of Mithras were not practiced until the 1st century AD.[8] The unique underground temples or Mithraea appear suddenly in the archaeology in the last quarter of the first century AD.[9]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraic_mysteries

Now, Christians should understand that the Deceiver loves to mimic God, in order to deceive His people and lead them astray. The devil and his demons may well have been eyewitnesses to the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. And so they would have known His birthday. The Mithraist pagans, who worshipped demons (cf. 1 Cor. 10:20), certainly copied many aspects of Christianity, as the Church Fathers tell us:

St. Justin Martyr: "For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body; "and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood; “and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn.” (First Apology, ch. 66)

And here’s an interesting and informative article on the subject:

ancient-future.net/christmasdate.html

Also in regards to Easter, and this one I can use for my own edification since I still don’t fully understand. Christ said he was be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. I think I quoted right. How do we explain dying on Good Friday and rising on Sunday?

Ah, an easy one! The Jews counted partial days as whole days. So part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday was called “three days”.

God bless.

 

[d_maximus5]

Thank your very much everyone! Excellent explanations! I need to get my hands on a good Catholic encyclepedia to help with my progress in growing in understanding. Any recommendations?

 

[ljsedivy]

Thank you to everyone who posted here. this was extremely helpful in “dialogue-ing” with an aquaintance who believes Dec 25th to be a pagan festival.

Amazing that some so called Christians try to “dis-prove” Christian heritage. Seems there’s a “cult” out there that really goes against the grain of Christian heritage as they create their own church. Thanks so much for all the articles posted.

In joy,