The history of Christmas as we know it today, as a religious event, began with greed and was invented to accommodate the pagan converts of Christianity.

In 1 A.D. an apostate Jew and Greek philosopher named Philo began a religion based on the co-mingling of Judaism and the God’s Gospel of Grace.  Philo used a newly formed, ambiguous, and inaccurate term coined by unwary onlookers as the title of his new religion.  He adopted it to give credence to his new religion.  The term or title is Christian.  

Not long after, about 30 years (60 A.D.), Christianity became officially titled as the Catholic Church, or the “Holy Mother Church of God”, with the generic title remaining Christianity.

To accomplish recruitment into his new religion, Philo adopted all of the Hebrews Scripture, lumped together as an undefined package, and commingled God’s Gospel of Grace, which was given by God to Paul, into their religious stew.  To further recruitment, converts to Christianity were allowed to bring rites, rituals, customs, and practices from their old religions, as long as they allowed the Catholic Church to modify them and control the overall practices.

One of the customs brought by converts to Christianity was the worship of their various gods during the winter solstice, as you can plainly see in the rough outline in the previous post.

So, where and how did the ‘Jesus connection’ get into their pagan rituals?  That’s easy.  You can see it in the name … Christ-MASS.

The Catholic Church created a ceremony to tie all of the pagan rituals into a service that they could control.  Let’s see how it unfolds.

Philo creates a new religion, designed to make money, control people, and eventually control governments. This new entity, Christianity, is foretold in Scripture by Daniel and is Israel’s 5th course of judgement; it is the final ruling power on earth before the 2nd advent of Christ that is detailed in the book of Revelation.

In the 2nd century A.D., Constantine, according to the Edict of Milan, began to conquer the world and he forced compliance to Philo’s Catholic Church.

Following Constantine, the Catholic Church, now a major entity, takes a quieter approach and introduces a universal theme that ties pagan rituals to “God” … via the “manger scene” (Jesus Christ, enter stage right). The manger theme is the primary decoration in the Americas and most southern European countries.  Let’s look at some of the problems with this story..

  1. Jesus wasn’t born in December.  If you want to do something for the birth of Christ, you’ll have to do it sometime around August.
    • The Catholic Church through “their Saint”, Saint Francis of Assisi, created the first living nativity in 1224.  He claims to have innocently done it to help explain the birth of Jesus to his followers; it just accidentally happened during their winter ritual?
  2. When Jesus was born there were no “wise men” present; they didn’t find Jesus until he was more than 3-years old, and he was not in Bethlehem when they found him.
  3. There were no angels present.
  4. There were no animals in the barn at the time.

The Catholic Church capitalizes on the quasi-universal pagan ritual of the solstice, naming it Christmas.  Because they create patron saints for various situations, to accommodate the major theme of the prior pagan practices, there are several names for “Santa”

  1. Turkey – The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas.  It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey.  Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends.  It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick.  Over the course of many years, Nicholas’s popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors.
    • His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6.  This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married.
    • By the age of the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe.  Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.
  2. Sweden – ‘God Jul!’ – Lucia lived in Syracuse during the fourth century when persecution by the Catholic Church was common.  Most people in Scandinavian countries honor St. Lucia (also known as St. Lucy) each year on December 13.
    • The celebration of St. Lucia Day began in Sweden, but had spread to Denmark and Finland by the mid-19th century.  According to one common legend, Lucia lost her eyes while being tortured for her Christian beliefs by a Diocletian.  Others say she may have plucked her own eyes out to protest the poor treatment of Christians.  Lucia is the patron saint of the blind.
    • Originally, the oldest daughter in each family would rise early and wake each of her family members, dressed in a long, white gown with a red sash, and wearing a crown made of twigs with nine lighted candles.  For the day, she is called “Lussi” or “Lussibruden (Lucy bride).”  The family then eats breakfast in a room lighted with candles.
    • Any shooting or fishing done on St. Lucia Day was done by torchlight, and people brightly illuminated their homes.  At night, men, women, and children would carry torches in a parade.  The night would end when everyone threw their torches onto a large pile of straw, creating a huge bonfire.
    • In Finland today, one girl is chosen to serve as the national Lucia and she is honored in a parade in which she is surrounded by torchbearers.  Light is a main theme of St. Lucia Day, as her name, which is derived from the Latin word lux, means light.  Her feast day is celebrated near the shortest day of the year, when the sun’s light again begins to strengthen.
  3. Norway – ‘Gledelig Jul!’ – Ever wonder why the family fireplace is such a central part of the typical Christmas scene?  This tradition dates back to the Norse Yule log.  It is probably also responsible for the popularity of log-shaped cheese, cakes, and desserts during the holidays.
  4. Finland – ‘Hyvää Joulua!’ – It is customary to visit the gravesites of departed family members.  Many Finns visit the sauna on Christmas Eve.  Families gather and listen to the national “Peace of Christmas” radio broadcast.
  5. Germany – ‘Froehliche Weihnachten!’ – Decorating evergreen trees had always been a part of the German winter solstice tradition.
    • The first “Christmas trees” explicitly decorated and named after the Christian holiday, appeared in Strasbourg, in Alsace in the beginning of the 17th century.
    • After 1750, Christmas trees began showing up in other parts of Germany, and even more so after 1771, when Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited Strasbourg and promptly included a Christmas tree is his novel, “The Suffering of Young Werther”.
    • After Germany’s Prince Albert married Queen Victoria, he introduced the Christmas tree tradition to England.  In the 1820s, the first German immigrants decorated Christmas trees in Pennsylvania.
    • In 1848, the first American newspaper carried a picture of a Christmas tree and within a few years the custom had spread to nearly every home in America.
  6. England – ‘Happy Christmas’ – In the late 1830s an Englishman named John Calcott Horsley helped to popularize the tradition of sending Christmas greeting cards when he began producing small cards featuring festive scenes and a pre-written holiday greeting.  New and efficient post offices in England and the United States made the cards nearly an overnight sensation.  At about the same time, similar cards were being made by R.H. Pease, the first American card maker, in Albany, New York, and Louis Prang, a German who immigrated to America in 1850.
    • Celtic and Teutonic peoples had long considered mistletoe to have magic powers.  It was said to have the ability to heal wounds and increase fertility.  Celts hung mistletoe in their homes in order to bring themselves good luck and ward off evil spirits.  During holidays in the Victorian era, the English would hang sprigs of mistletoe from ceilings and in doorways.  If someone was found standing under the mistletoe, they would be kissed by someone else in the room, behavior not usually demonstrated in Victorian society.
    • Plum pudding is an English dish dating back to the Middle Ages.  Suet, flour, sugar, raisins, nuts, and spices are tied loosely in cloth and boiled until the ingredients are “plum,” meaning they have enlarged enough to fill the cloth.  It is then unwrapped, sliced like cake, and topped with cream.
    • Caroling also began in England.  Wandering musicians would travel from town to town visiting castles and homes of the rich.  In return for their performance, the musicians hoped to receive a hot meal or money.
  7. In the United States and England, children hang stockings on their bedpost or near a fireplace on Christmas Eve, hoping that it will be filled with treats while they sleep.  In Scandinavia, similar-minded children leave their shoes on the hearth.
    • This tradition can be traced to legends about Saint Nicholas.  One legend tells of three poor sisters who could not marry because they had no money for a dowry.  To save them from being sold by their father, St. Nick left each of the three sisters a gift of gold coins.  One went down the chimney and landed in a pair of shoes that had been left on the hearth.  Another went into a window and into a pair of stockings left hanging by the fire to dry.
  8. France – ‘Joyeux Noël!’ – In France, Christmas is called Noel.  Noel comes from the French phrase les bonnes nouvelles,” which means “the good news” and refers to the mis-tranlation of gospel.  In southern France, some people burn a log in their homes from Christmas Eve until New Year’s Day.  This stems from an ancient tradition in which farmers would use part of the log to ensure good luck for the next year’s harvest.
  9. Italy – ‘Buone Natale!’ – Italians call Christmas Il Natale, meaning “the birthday”, which refers back to the great nativity lie instituted by Christianity.
  10. Ukraine – ‘Srozhdestvom Kristovym!’ – Ukrainians prepare a traditional twelve-course meal.  A family’s youngest child watches through the window for the evening star to appear, a signal that the feast can begin.  A variation of the nativity lie … Shepard and the star?