Once a year the majority of professing Christians join hands with their fellow inhabitants of the nominally Christian countries to celebrate Christmas. These celebrations take many different forms, but there is much common ground between believer and unbeliever in giving presents, sending cards to friends and relations, decorating houses with fir trees, holly and mistletoe and paper garlands, and in eating and drinking special food, particularly on the date of December 25th.
Nearly all Christians have accepted this tradition without question from their earliest childhood and seek to make the occasion a remembrance of the birth of the Jesus. They have misgivings about the commercialising and overeating that characterise the season, but have never examined the whole subject in the light of scripture to know the mind of the Lord.
Almost everything relating to Christmas is heathen in origin.
Was Jesus born on December 25th? Definitely not! Three separate arguments lead us to believe that Jesus was born in the month of October.
John 1:14 says: ‘The word was made flesh and tabernacled among us.’ This suggests that Jesus was born at the festival of Tabernacles. Jesus perfecty fulfilled the law. If he died at Passover, it makes perfect sense that he was born at Tabernacles. This would also explain why both Joseph and Mary went up to Bethlehem. Mary would go for a festival, but not just for taxation. It would also explain why there was no room in the guest room, as large numbers of pilgrims converged on Jerusalem requiring accommodation. In 1 BC the Festival of Tabernacles fell on October 29th and that date is found to harmonise perfectly with intricate patterns of other dates.
Two students of Bible chronology, Arthur Ware and Frank Paine, show almost conclusively that Jesus was born on October 29th in the year 1 BC. Their proof is based on the discovery of perfect time patterns connecting all the major events of Scripture. They assume (as others have done) that Jesus was born at the Festival of Tabernacles. John 1:14 says: ‘The word was made flesh and tabernacled among us.’For more on this see Bible Chronology.
We can obtain independent confirmation of an October date if we compare Luke 1:5 with 1 Chronicles 24:10. In Luke we see that Zechariah served in the division of Abijah, and in Chronicles we see that the division of Abijah was eighth out of 24 in the year. This would place it in the fourth month. If John the Baptist was conceived in the 4th month, he must have been born nine months later in the 1st month. Jesus, being six months younger, was born in the seventh month in which the Festival of Tabernacles fell.
Jesus perfectly fulfilled every aspect of the law. What then could be more appropriate than for him to be born at the Festival of Tabernacles and die at the Passover?
Also Bethlehem nights would be too cold for shepherds in December, but October would be fine.
Where does the Bible say that Jesus was born in a stable? Nowhere!
In Luke 2:7 we read, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom”. (The Greek word καταλουμα (katalouma) translated inn in most Bible versions actually means a guestroom.) Absolutely no mention of a stable or cowshed, or any other animal accommodation. In fact, no animals present!
For a full explanation of this visit Jesus was not born in a stable.
Luke plainly tells us that shepherds came to visit Jesus at his birth (Luke 2:8-18).
But what about the wise men? or was it kings? Matthew describes them with the Greek word μαγοι or magi in English which relates to the word magician. To call them wise men is misleading and to call them kings is plain wrong. They were probably magicians or astrologers.
How many were there? They brought 3 gifts, but the Bible nowhere says that there were 3 of them.
Matthew writes: “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh” (Matt 2:11). He describes Jesus as a child (παιδιον) whereas Luke describes him as a baby (βρεφος) (“They went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger” (Luke 2:16)). Matthew talks about a house rather than a stable. It is very probable that the magi actually went to Nazareth rather than Bethlehem and arrived there when Jesus was 2 years old. Herod enquired of them exactly when the star had appeared and then killed all the children in Bethlehem up to the age of 2. He did not know where they went when they left Jerusalem.
The Date of Christmas: Jesus was almost certainly born in late October at the Festival of Tabernacles. The date of 25th December comes from the Roman Saturnalia, which were celebrations of the Roman god Saturn.
Mother and Child Worship originated in Babylon with the mother goddess Semiramis and her child Tammuz. From there mother and child worship passed into many other religions. Mother and child worship came into the church in the time of the emperor Constantine.
Christmas Decorations were also part of the Roman Saturnalia.
Carol Singing also had its origins in the Roman Saturnalia.
Holly and Mistletoe were both used in pagan ceremonies. Holly berries were sacred to the sun god. Mistletoe was used by the druids.
Christmas Trees: decoration of Christmas trees came into Christmas celebrations much later probably coming from Germany in the 16th century; but bringing branches into houses in winter goes back to Egyptian and Roman customs.
Easter also has heathen origins. The name Easter goes back to the goddess Astarte of Nineveh. Hot cross buns and Easter eggs go back to ancient heathen ceremonies.
Alexander Hislop in his book The Two Babylons gives a wealth of tedious detail illustrating that every festival in the church’s calendar goes back to ancient heathen worship.