Scripture Demands That We Believe In The Virgin Birth

December 14, 2009 Leave a comment

(Post 1 of a series of 3)

In the December 25th devotion from his classic devotional My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers writes: “Jesus Christ was born into this world; not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of – He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate – God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors.”

I want you to take careful notice of that last line: “His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors.” What was that most humble of doors? It was the womb of a young Jewish virgin.

I dare say that none of us can fully wrap our minds around this truth. Jesus (the son of God, God the Son) laid aside His power and glory, left heaven, invaded time and history, and in some miraculous way that we cannot fathom became a human fetus in the belly of young Jewish girl who was not officially married and had never had sexual relations with a man.

Is it any wonder that the liberals and skeptics have a hard time swallowing that? They say, “Oh, what a fantasy! What a fairy tale for adults!” Or they say, “The whole notion is just Christianity’s way of mimicking the traditions of the pagan religions in which the mythic gods and heroes supposedly sprang from supernatural sources.”

Sadly, such criticisms have surely taken their toll. Even amongst certain preachers of our day, there are some who say, “It doesn’t really matter whether or not you believe that Jesus was born to a virgin. The important thing is just to believe in Him. Let’s not make a big deal out of the virgin birth. At best, it is a minor issue and a secondary doctrine.”

But is this the attitude that we should take? Certainly not! Christ’s virgin birth is not a minor issue or a secondary doctrine. Not only is it a major issue, it is also a foundational doctrine. And this is what I’m going to show you through the three posts of a series I’m calling ”Why We Should Believe In The Virgin Birth.”

Now, with this first post I want to say that we should believe in the virgin birth because scripture demands it. You need to know that the Bible distinctly teaches that Mary was a virgin when she conceived baby Jesus in her womb. Follow with me and I’ll give you the references.

First, in Matthew 1:18, the Bible says: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”

Second, in Matthew 1: 24-25, we read: “Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.”

Third, Luke 1:26-27 says: “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.”

Fourth, Luke 1:34 says of Mary after Gabriel had told her that she was going to conceive a son: “Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’”

By the way, in these New Testament passages that specifically use the word “virgin”, the Greek word that is translated is parthenos. It is the same word that was used in the naming of the famous Parthenon, which was the Greek temple dedicated to the virgin goddess Athena. So, yes, the Bible really does teach that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived in her womb.

Of course, I hope that quoting these passages from the gospels of Matthew and Luke is enough evidence for you to agree that scripture demands that we believe in the virgin birth. Sadly, however, it isn’t enough evidence for some people. Consider the following example.

Harry Rimmer, who was a well-known Presbyterian minister of his day, once found himself in a sad situation as he served as a member of the ordination council that was examining a certain young man for ordination into the ministry. To Rimmer’s astonishment the young man boldly stated that he did not believe in the virgin birth of Christ. Even more astonishingly, when some of the other ministers began to sternly question the young man about his position, an older minister from the council spoke up and said, “I don’t want this council to make a big point of this because I don’t accept the virgin birth either.” To that, one of the other ministers asked, “Why not?” The older minister replied, “Because it is only found on two pages of the New Testament. Matthew and Luke are the only ones who ever mention it. In all of the writings of Paul, he never introduces the question of the virgin birth.”

It was at this point that Dr. Rimmer could no longer keep quite. He stood up and said to the older minister, “Tell us then, what do you teach and preach?” The man answered, “The Sermon on the Mount. That is enough for anyone.” Dr. Rimmer said, “It’s not enough for me. I don’t believe in the Sermon on the Mount.” The older minister asked, “Why not?” Dr. Rimmer said, “Because it only occurs on two pages of the New Testament and Matthew and Luke are the only Gospels who mention it.”

Do you see how absurd the older minister’s argument was? Yes, it’s true that Mark never mentions the virgin birth of Christ, but Mark never mentions the birth of Christ at all! Can we assume then that because Mark’s gospel doesn’t mention Christ’s actual birth that Jesus was not born? Of course not! Do you see how absurd it is to say of any doctrine, “That can’t be scriptural because it is only mentioned in two places in the Bible”? How many times does God have to record something for it to become a legitimate doctrine or teaching? So, to sum up, we should believe in the virgin birth because scripture demands it.

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Some Things To Remember This Christmas

December 12, 2009 Leave a comment

An old legend tells of how Satan and his demons once threw a Christmas party for themselves. As the party was ending and the demons were heading out to begin their worldwide activity again, one demon jokingly said to Satan, “Merry Christmas, your majesty.” To that Satan replied, “Yes, help the world keep it merry. If they ever get serious about it, we’ll all be in trouble.”

This world certainly makes it hard to get serious about Christmas, doesn’t it? It sometimes seems impossible to keep our focus on the important things when we are bombarded at every turn with the silly things. I’ve never heard it put any better than Keith Ogden, the pastor of Hill Street Baptist Church in Asheville, North Carolina, said it. He called the Christmas holiday a “mixture of the reasonable with the ridiculous” and said, “Christmas today is a mixture of the sacred with the secular, the holy with the common, the holiday with the holy day, the babe in a manger with the elf in a sleigh, the shepherds in the field, watching their sheep with reindeer that know how to fly.”

And so, in these days just before Christmas, I think it would be good for us to identify a few things we should remember this Christmas. These are things that will help us to celebrate the birth of Christ in a manner that is pleasing to Him. There’s nothing wrong with having Christmas; it’s just that we must do it in the right way.

The first thing we should remember is: Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth. Christmas isn’t about: Santa Claus, elves, reindeer, the grinch, Christmas trees, presents, eggnog, Jimmy Stewart, or Bing Crosby. It’s about Jesus! You can’t even spell the word “Christmas” without starting with the word “Christ.” Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth.

I once read about a family who celebrated Christmas each year by actually throwing a birthday party for Jesus. They would go so far as to set an extra chair at the table as a reminder of Christ’s presence at the party. The mother would fix a cake, complete with candles, and the whole family would sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. One year a visitor said to the family’s little five-year old daughter, “Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?” The little girl replied, “No, but then it’s not my birthday.” We need more of that attitude today.

A second thing we should remember is: It is more blessed to give than to receive. In Acts 20:35, Paul says to the pastors of Ephesus: “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

If your whole idea of Christmas is getting a bunch of presents, you are missing the point of the holiday. What does John 3:16 say? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You see, the baby Jesus lying in that manger on that night so long ago was a gift to the world. And God expects those of us who follow Jesus to be givers. 

A third thing we should remember is: Even in our giving we can cross the line into sin. Colossians 3:17 says: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Did you know that Jesus wants to be the Lord of your Christmas shopping? He doesn’t want you to buy one thing that is outside His will. I don’t care if an item is on clearance for 90% off. You’d better consult the Lord about buying it. Jesus doesn’t mind you buying gifts for others; but He does want you to filter every purchase through His will. What a concept this is to most people, even the average Christian. So many people simply go too far when it comes to Christmas shopping.

What passes for the holiday spirit was on display at a Wal-Mart in Long Island, New York last year. In the dark, early morning hours of the Friday after Thanksgiving, approximately two-thousand people gathered outside the doors of the mall where the Wal-Mart was located. When a thirty-four-year old male employee opened the store’s doors, he was immediately knocked to the ground by the onrushing crowd. The force of the crowd was so great that a metal portion of the door frame was crumpled like an accordion. In all the chaos, no one cared that the employee couldn’t get up. They just kept stepping all over him. Finally some of the other employees tried to fight their way through the crowd to help their coworker, but they were knocked down and trampled upon as well. After the stampede was over, the worker was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead around six a.m. Tell me, do you think Jesus is pleased that such crazed behavior is associated with the season of His birth? You know He isn’t.

The fourth thing we should remember is: We should always do our part to live peaceably with others. A good text here is Romans 12:18: “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Isn’t it sad that of all the times of the year Christmas usually brings out the worst in people? This is especially true with the families.

Family members get mad over the stupidest things, don’t they? Wars break out over the holiday schedule of events! Dad wants the whole family to get together for a big meal on Christmas Eve, but his daughter-in-law would rather take the grandkids to a Christmas Eve candlelight service at her church. One grandma wants everybody at her place at one o’clock on Christmas day, but the other grandma wants everybody at her place at two o’clock. The wife’s family always opened their presents on Christmas Eve, but the husband’s family always opened theirs on Christmas day. How should the children be raised? Two of the grandkids are in one church’s Christmas play but the other grandkid is in another church’s play, and both plays start at seven o’clock on the Sunday night before Christmas. Should the grandparents play the numbers and go see the play with the two grandkids? Decisions, decisions! Of course, if your family has been touched by divorce, you can multiply every holiday event by at least two.

During all this family turmoil you would do well to keep in mind what those angels said to those shepherds on the night of Christ’s birth: “Peace on earth, goodwill to all men.” You say, “But I wanted a pumpkin pie instead of a pecan pie.” Get over it. “But I wanted Levis instead of Wranglers.” Get over it. “But I wanted a real tree instead of an artificial one.” Get over it. It’s Christmas! We’re supposed to be celebrating the fact that God took human flesh upon Himself and was born into this world as a baby so that He could grow up and die for our sins that we might spend eternity with Him. It’s not a time for arguing and petty bickering. It’s not a time to demand your way and ignore the feelings of others. It’s a time of doing your part to live peaceably with others. Here’s a good saying for you this Christmas: “Blessed are the flexible for they will get along.” Use that one, and thank me later. Merry Christmas!

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What Should A Christian Do About Christmas Trees & Santa Claus?

December 8, 2009 3 Comments

(Post 4 of a series of 4)

This will be the last post in our series on the origins of our Christmastime traditions. But with this one I don’t want to deal with any more origins of any more traditions. Instead, I want to focus upon rightly applying what we’ve learned.

There are some who staunchly believe that Christians should have nothing to do with the Christmas holiday. They say, “The holiday has its roots in paganism, and Christians should avoid it altogether.” This was the mindset of the early Puritans, Baptists, Quakers, Presbyterians, and Calvinists who played such major roles in the settling of America.

If you ever meet someone who does oppose the holiday, that person will probably refer you to Jeremiah 10:2-5, which says:

Thus says the Lord: Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good.

Some people read that passage and say, “You see? Right there the Bible tells us that we shouldn’t have Christmas trees.” But are these people right? That’s what we need to figure out. 

Several years ago, I came face to face with this issue in my life. I had learned the information that I’ve passed along in this series, and I had to figure out how to apply it to my life. Since the whole subject was pretty overwhelming to me, all I knew to do was pray about it. I poured out my heart to God and said, “Lord, You show me what You want me to do about the Christmas holiday, and I’ll do it.”

I prayed that and I meant it! I was open to never again having a Christmas tree. I was open to never again having Santa Claus mentioned around my house. I was open to ending the practice of buying presents and getting presents.

You say, “Oh, Russell, that kind of thinking is just going to a wrong extreme.” Well, maybe it is, but tell me, have you ever seriously prayed about the issue of the pagan taint that Christmas has upon it? I dare say that most people go their entire lives and never commit the matter to prayer. Say what you will, but I did that.

And what answer did God bring me back to time and time again? Well, if you go into my house at Christmastime, you will find a big Christmas tree sitting in my living room. It is beautifully decorated and, depending on what day you go, it might even have a few presents under it. You’ll also find stockings for Ryan and Royce hung on our windowsill. You get the idea. God gave me a peace about our Christmas traditions, and He taught me that it all comes under the heading of Christian liberty.

Not surprisingly, I’ve since learned that I’m not the only Christian whom God has led to this conclusion. Years ago, in Jerry Falwell’s publication The National Liberty Journal, he had a word to say about Christians and Christmas. It was so in line with how God had answered my prayers that I cut it out and kept it. Falwell wrote:

I usually get some critical mail from friends who object to trees, Santa Claus, gifts, and the entire celebration. They remind me that we do not know the exact date of the birth of Christ; that the Christmas tree and Santa have pagan origins; that commercialism dominates the scene; and that Christians should ignore the whole season. Of course, I respectfully disagree. I have never met a person who was damaged emotionally for life because of believing in Santa as a child, or believing in the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, or Mother Goose rhymes. Rather, I have met many who were sadly robbed of their childhood by strict legalistic parents who thought they were doing God a service by denying their children all harmless fun and innocent fantasy.

(By the way, Jerry Falwell was hardly classified as a liberal!)

Let me give you another quote that I like. This one comes from James Dobson’s Focus On The Family magazine. In answering a question about Santa, Dobson wrote, “…if I had to do it over, I would still let my children thrill to the excitement of Santa’s arrival down the chimney on Christmas Eve.”

So, does Christmas really have its roots in paganism? Yes. There’s no denying that. In this series, I didn’t even take the time to explain the pagan origins of mistletoe, the Yule log, decking the halls with boughs of holly, the Christmas goose, and many, many other Christmas traditions. I assure you that these customs didn’t come from the Bible. But does that mean that God would have us to boycott Christmas? No, it doesn’t.

Let me tell you something, unless you move to a cave on top of a mountain, you can’t really boycott it anyway. A man says, “My family isn’t going to celebrate Christmas in any way.” Then he sends his five-year-old off to kindergarten and the boy comes home and says, “We are having a Christmas party at school on Friday, and I’m supposed to bring the cupcakes.” A woman says, “I’m not even going to acknowledge that there is a Christmas. I just won’t let it into my house.” Then she goes to her mailbox and finds that her neighbor has sent her a Christmas card. Do you see what I mean?

Someone says, “But what about that passage from Jeremiah chapter 10?” I’ll tell you about it. It has absolutely nothing to do with a Christmas tree! What the passage condemns is cutting down a tree and fashioning a wooden idol out of it. If you don’t believe me, sit down and read it for yourself. The key to rightly understanding the passage is to read the entire chapter. Don’t just stop at verse 5. Keep going on through the chapter. When you do that, you will see that the reference is to the making of a wooden idol. It doesn’t have one thing to do with Christmas trees or Christmas.

Listen, Jesus knows that He wasn’t born on December 25th, and He knows about Saturnalia and all the other winter-solstice festivals that other cultures used to celebrate. But He also knows what it is to live in a fallen world. And, knowing that, what He asks from us each Christmas (as well as every other time of the year) is that we live all out for Him.

Parent, I firmly believe that Jesus wants you to let your kids have their fun at Christmas, but He also wants you to teach them the difference between myth and reality. What He especially wants is for you to teach them how to live for Him out there in the real world, a real world that makes a big deal out of Christmas. That’s why I would encourage you to pour out your heart to the Lord about all of the issues of Christmas, and let Him show you the guidelines and boundaries. He did that for me, and He will do it for you if you are sincere in wanting to know His will. To you, Christmas can simply be a wonderful time of family, tradition, and, of course, the heartfelt celebration of the birth of Jesus.

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Christmas Trees, Santa, Bing Crosby, & Charlie Brown

December 6, 2009 Leave a comment

(Post 3 of a series of 4)

We’re in a little series on the origins of our Christmastime traditions. With the first post, I covered the subjects of the winter soltice and Saturnalia. With the second, I explained the effect the Roman emperor Constantine had upon the winter soltice and Saturnalia celebrations. With this third post, I’ll cover the origins of three major traditions.   

Tradition #1 is the name “Christmas” itself. The word comes from the Roman Catholic term “Christ’s Mass.” When you know this, it will come as no surprise that each Christmas Eve the Roman Catholics observe Mass, which is their version of the Lord’s Supper.

Tradition #2 is the Christmas tree. Long before the time of Christ, ancient Egyptians brought green palm branches into their homes on the shortest day of the year, the day of the winter solstice. To them, those green palm branches symbolized life. Centuries later the Romans decorated their homes with evergreen wreaths during the days of Saturnalia. The idea of a Christmas tree came out of these historical observances of the Egyptians and the Romans.

The first recorded reference to an actual Christmas tree comes from the 16th century. At that time the families in Strasbourg, Germany are known to have decorated fir trees with colored paper, fruits, and sweets. In 1520, Martin Luther, who was German, saw the beauty of the stars twinkling through the evergreen trees outside his home and attempted to copy this beauty by placing lit candles on his Christmas tree. His neighbors soon followed suit.

The custom of the Christmas tree eventually spread through Europe. Records tell us that Prince Albert of Germany married Queen Victoria of England and set up a beautifully decorated tree in England’s Windsor Castle. The tree was decorated with candies, sugared fruits, and tiny wrapped gifts.

As for the United States, the custom was brought here by German soldiers and Hessian mercenaries who were paid to fight in the Revolutionary War. In 1804, U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn, in what is now Chicago, hauled trees from the surrounding forests to their barracks at Christmastime. Once the custom had begun in America, it quickly spread.

In 1851, a man named Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds loaded with trees from the Catskills to the streets of New York and opened the nation’s first retail lot. In 1882, Edward Johnson, a partner of Thomas Edison, invented electric Christmas tree lights and hung the first string on his tree. This was safer than Martin Luther’s old idea about placing lit candles on Christmas trees. Franklin Pierce, America’s fourteenth president, was the first president to place a Christmas tree in the White House. Later on, in 1923, Calvin Coolidge began the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, which is held every year on the White House lawn.

Tradition #3 is Santa Claus. In approximately 280 A.D., a man named Nicholas was born in Turkey. He was raised in a wealthy family and received a fine education. As a young man, he became a priest. This Nicholas was well known for his kindness and generosity. When his parents died, he even distributed his inheritance and property to the needy. Ultimately, Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra. To this day a feast is held on December 6th, the date of his death.

It is from the life and deeds of Saint Nicholas that the basics of the legend arose. The most famous story is about him making three secret visits to the home of a poor father of three daughters. On each of the first two visits, Nicholas threw a bag of gold through the window of the home. On the third visit, he threw the bag of gold down the chimney. As the story goes, the bag landed in a stocking that had been hung by the chimney to dry. The father used those three bags of gold as dowries to get his daughters married into good families. Because of this, over the course of time, people began to thank Saint Nicholas anytime they received an unexpected gift.

According to legend, Saint Nicholas’ cape was bright red and trimmed with white fur. This was the origin of what Santa wears. The name “Santa Claus” comes from “Sinter Klaas,” the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas. The Dutch were the ones who brought the story of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) to America.

Once in America, the legend began to take on new details. In 1809, Washington Irving wrote a story about children leaving stockings out for Saint Nicholas to fill. A few years later, in 1821, Irving wrote a book entitled “The Children’s Friend,” in which he said that Santa traveled by a sleigh that was pulled by reindeer. That was different from earlier versions of Santa’s story, which said that he traveled by wagon with the assistance of a magic white horse.

One year later, in 1822, a New Yorker named Clement C. Moore wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” It began, “Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house…” That story inspired an artist named Thomas Mast to draw a cartoon of Santa for the popular magazine Harper’s Weekly. That cartoon depicted St. Nicholas as a jolly, fat man.

Actually, Santa is just one of the many areas in which America has added its own touches to Christmastime. In 1942, in the movie “Holiday Inn,” Bing Crosby first sang the song “White Christmas.” In 1946, Jimmy Stewart starred as George Bailey in “It’s A Wonderful Life.” In 1947, Twentieth Century Fox released “Miracle On 34th Street.” In 1964, Elvis Pressley recorded the song “Blue Christmas.” Also in 1964, television gave us the cartoon classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” In 1965, it gave us “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” In 1966, it was “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” In 1968, it was “The Little Drummer Boy.” In 1969, it was Frosty the Snowman. All of these elements and a vast assortment of others that we all know so well have become a part of the far-out, odd, colossal mix that we call the Christmas holiday.

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Constantine & Christmas

December 4, 2009 Leave a comment

(Post 2 of a series of 4)

With yesterday’s post I began a series on the origins of the traditions of our Christmas holiday. That post explained the winter solstice and the Roman holiday known as Saturnalia. Now, with today’s post, I need to say some things about a Roman emperor named Constantine.  

Constantine became one of the emperors of the Roman empire in the year 306. Six years later, in 312, he found himself at a pivotal point in his war against his brother-in-law and co-emperor, Maxentius. According to the historian Eusebius, it was on the day before a crucial battle at Milvian Bridge that Constantine prayed to God and asked for divine assistance.

As the story goes, Constantine then saw in the noonday sky a vision of a cross of light. The cross was superimposed upon the sun and written on the cross were the words in Latin “in this sign you will conquer.” That night Constantine had a dream that reaffirmed his vision. Supposedly, in the dream, God told him to use the sign of the cross in all of his battles. So, the next day Constantine added the sign of the cross to his flags, and his army went on to win the battle at Milvian Bridge.

A short time after that, in 313, emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan. That Edict made Christianity legal throughout Constantine’s empire. This meant that Christianity went from being a despised and persecuted religion (which is where the New Testament record leaves it) to being an accepted and even highly favored part of Roman religion.

The fact is, over the years of his reign, Constantine took Christianity even further than that. With the help of the bishops of the church in Rome, he made Christianity nothing less than the state religion of the Roman empire. He lavished gifts upon Christian leaders. He made Sunday a holiday so that people, especially his soldiers, could attend church. He made Christian clergy exempt from government duty. He made churches tax-exempt. He even personally funded the construction of several lavish, ornate church buildings. In Constantine’s view, his Rome and the Christian church should be as close as possible.

All of this, of course, ultimately helped to bring about the financial, political, and religious empire that we know as the Roman Catholic Church. And therein lies the great debate about Constantine. Was he, as some contend, a true Christian who was used by God to greatly serve the cause of Christianity? Or was he, as others contend, a lost man who was deceived by Satan and greatly used by Satan to corrupt Christianity? The answer you get depends upon who you ask.

One of the most serious problems that people have with Constantine’s supposed salvation is in the area of how he handled Rome’s pagan festivals. Rather than outlawing those festivals, Constantine, with the help of the bishops of the church in Rome, “Christianized” them. A prime example of this is what happened with Saturnalia and the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. Rather than forbidding the observance of those days of pagan celebration, Constantine and the bishops simply changed the meaning of the days. The festival of Saturnalia, which ran from December 17th through December 24th, went from being about the birth of the sun to be about the birth of the Son. Likewise, December 25th changed from being the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun to being the birthday of the Son of God.

Please don’t think that December 25th is our best guess for the actual date of Christ’s birth. The Bible doesn’t tell us the exact date of His birth, but we can say with virtual certainty that it wasn’t December 25th. We can say that because the Bible does tell us that those shepherds and their sheep were out in the fields that night. In Israel the month of December is usually cold and rainy. During that month, shepherds normally keep their sheep penned up in sheepfolds. Furthermore, Luke chapter two says that Joseph and Mary made their trip to Bethlehem to register for the purpose of paying taxes to the Roman government. Such registrations weren’t usually decreed during the cold winter months because travel was just too difficult. Nevertheless, despite these Biblical roadblocks, Constantine and the bishops of Rome went ahead and made December 25th the official date that was given to Christ’s birth.

So what am I saying? I’m saying that the very idea of a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus was really just a way to claim Saturnalia and December 25th for Christianity. I’m saying that the idea of the world annually celebrating December 25th as the date of Christ’s birth came from the mind of Constantine and the bishops of Rome. I’m saying that it was Constantine and those bishops who linked the celebration of Christ’s birth up with days off from work, parties, evergreen wreaths, and the exchanging of gifts. And that’s where I’ll leave the story until my next post. 

　

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The Winter Solstice & Saturnalia

December 3, 2009 Leave a comment

(Post 1 of a series of 4)

Let’s face it, Christmas is a weird holiday. What does the baby Jesus have in common with a fat man in a red suit who rides a sleigh pulled by reindeer? What does a virgin named Mary have in common with a green Grinch who lives in a cave? Why do we cut down trees, bring them into our homes, and cover them with lights and ornaments? Why do we buy presents, wrap them in beautiful paper, and give them to people? How did shepherds get linked up with a snowman named Frosty? How did a little boy with a drum end up at the manger scene? This is odd stuff.

The truth is, it takes many circumstances, cultures, and centuries to create this strange hodgepodge that we call Christmas. So, I’m going to devote my next few posts to explaining the origins of the traditions of the holiday. For this first post, I want to talk about the worship of the sun. I need to begin with this subject because this is where our Christmas holiday really gets its start.

Historically speaking, one of the classic trademarks of mankind has been sun-worship. Reaching far back into man’s history, many civilizations have studied the sun and devised times of celebration based upon the sun’s alignments with the earth. To those ancient peoples, one of the most important times of the year was the winter solstice. You ask, “What is the winter solstice?” Follow with me and I’ll give you the answer.

It takes the earth 365 days to make one full orbit around the sun. This is where we get the concept of a year. But as the earth continually goes about its orbiting of the sun, the orbiting alters where the sun appears on the earth’s equator. The earth’s equator is that imaginary line that divides the planet into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere.

The day of the summer solstice is the day of the year that the sun appears farthest north from the earth’s equator. On that day, the time from what we call sunrise to what we call sunset is longer than it is on any other day of the year. That’s why we call that day the longest day of the year. The summer solstice is usually June 21.

After that day, though, the earth’s orbit causes the sun to increasingly appear farther and farther south from the equator. The day of the winter solstice, then, is that day of the year when the sun appears farthest south from the equator. On that day, the time from what we call sunrise to what we call sunset is shorter than it is on any other day of the year. That’s why we call that day the shortest day of the year. The winter solstice is December 21st or 22nd.

Ancient civilizations ingeniously figured out how to calculate when the winter solstice would take place, and they took that time of the year very seriously. To them, the sun decreasing in visibility as the days of the year moved forward spoke of the dying of the sun. They believed that at the time of the winter solstice the sun actually needed to be reborn so that it could live another year. That’s why, in their religious superstition, they organized annual festivals that were held during the days just before and after the day of the winter solstice. These festivals were celebrations dedicated to the sun god, whatever name that god went by in any given civilization.

The specifics of these festivals differed depending upon the civilization. Some civilizations threw parties during the days close to the winter solstice. Some lit candles. Some decorated their towns with bright, pretty decorations. But the basic motivation for the festivals was always the superstitious idea that the sun had grown weak to the point of death and needed to be reborn.

Well, the Roman empire eventually became the world’s dominant empire, and Rome’s version of these winter solstice celebrations was called Saturnalia. It lasted from December 17th through December 24th. December 25th, then, was celebrated with a feast to commemorate the birth (rebirth) of the sun.

That feast day was known as the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. During the days of the Saturnalia festival and the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun everyone in the Roman empire was excused from work. Mardi-Gras like celebrations took place in the streets. Bonfires were lit. Evergreen wreaths were brought into homes. Gifts were even exchanged. Authority figures received gifts such as urns, jewelry, coins, or gold, while common people received gifts such as wax candles and little clay dolls. In other words, in the Roman empire, December 17th through December 25th looked a lot like our modern-day Christmastime.

 

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