There are 8 choices, 14 votes for XBrittanyX's debate

Is christmas a pagan holiday or truly the birth of christ?

Was christmas truly when christ was born or an adopted holiday that we use to justify the birth of the chirstian lord?


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    I looked it up and this is what I got:

    In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. 

    Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.

    By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today's Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the "lord of misrule" and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined "debt" to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.

    (Source: http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/holidays/christmas/real2.html ) just scroll down a bit.

    28%  Voted for by ElisaRose, manofomens2, MindOphelia, TygerSiren.
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  • The reason for celebration is Christian, the traditions are pagan

    The trees, santa, date of the event, ect. are pagan. Truth is no one knows the actual birthdate of Christ for the Bible doesn't state is. Most likely it was during harvest.

    The early catholic church used the winter pagan festivals for prostelyzation efforts making it easier to gain converts.

    Truth is, it doesn't matter WHEN Christ was born rather THAT He was born. Quite a number of us refrain from pagan traditions during Christmas and focus instead on Christ.

    21%  Voted for by praise-reborn, welbis, Red Death.
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  • september

    historians say he was born in september. the reason it's celebrated in december is because the early church had a really hard time trying to stop pagans celebrating solstice. so they blended them together to make it easier. they did a lot of that it seems

    14%  Voted for by kage069, Red Death.
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  • Mixed

    I have no real feelings on this matter considering there is hardly and fact behind it. I was curious of everyone elses opinions

    Voted for by XBrittanyX.
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  • Paganism and modern religoin

    Pagans once were the main religion but there were other religions forming in a compromise the religions blended and continued to blend until the other religions had simply adotped pagan tradions as there own. However the christian church does not like to admitt it stole any thing (seeing as that goes against their religion).So they used Jesus as a preface to make the pagan holidays seem more like a simple coincidence. we have proof of Jesus being born and we have testimonies of the diciples but the bible was NOT written by Jesus infact most of the male population was name Joseph and then Jesus so there were many 'Jesus son of Joseph's at this time and um........ THEY ARE TRUSTING HIS FRIENDS TO TELL HIS FAULTS AND LONG AFTER HE IS DEAD... I WOULDNT HAVE SAID EVERY BAD THING ABOUT MY FRIEND THEY WILL END UP LOOKING LIKE SAINTS TOO... and on a side note that is very interesting jesus wasn't a saint till like the 3rd century and that was cause the church voted and barely decided that he should be a saint... giving more evidence to what i said before so your acctually all correct... the Jesus that is refered to in the bible was most likely born in late summer/early fall and was definately born on either 3 or 4 AD so this information should teach you not to just look at the cristian church's view and submitt... I know all this cause I am a pagan and research is who i am

    Voted for by cerokhol.
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  • Why should it matter?

    Does it matter what the origins of the holiday were? Celebrate it now in the name of god, on any day.

    Voted for by Jesusquest.
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  • Pagan Crimmbo

    Luke tells of shepherds tending sheep in the hills around Bethlehem when Jesus was born (2:8), which would not have been possible during the Judean winter and in actuality, Jesus was most likely born in September, 6 months after passover. In actuality, Christmas is a genius act of Christian marketing and was chosen to make thier dogma easier to swallow for the newly converted Pagans. Before Jesus was even born, the Babylonians celebrated December 25th as the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature). Also, the Romans celebrated through December and January what they called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun, which is where the tradition of 'Mummers' was born; people who dressed up went from house to house entertaining neighbors. During the Pagan Winter Solstace called 'Yule', huge Yule logs were burned in honour of the sun (Yule means "wheel" the pagan word sun). In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25, which is thought to have made the Pagan's conversion easier by ensuring that thier feasts and parties would not be taken away from them. Case and point: it is arrogant to believe that Christians invented Christmas and should therefore be the only ones allowed to celebrate it. Christmas is simply the name appropriated by our Christian ideology and is essentially irrelevant. Christmas should be celebrated by whoever and called whatever it wants. Those who so choose should do so in whatever way Hallmark, Disney, Coca-Cola and McDonalds has made them think they should. j (sources available on request)

    Voted for by Silhouetto-of-a-Man.
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  • not the point

    what about the fact that christians forceably stopped pagans from celebrating their own religious festivals? nobody think this was at least a bit shitty? (and typical of christianity- peace and love, unless you aren't a christian.) money/power/greed/need i go on?

    Voted for by trashed.
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