There is a growing awareness of the fact that Christmas and Easter are pagan in origin. This is not really a question or a matter of serious debate. Even Christian websites and organizations now admit that Christmas is of pagan origin -- such as here.
Here is an article from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association admitting that Easter is pagan in origin.
And the pagan influences/corruptions associated with Christianity do not end there. The fact of the matter is that there are numerous pagan/occult doctrines and practices (which have zero basis in the Bible) that have been adopted into "Christianity" -- perverting and corrupting the true laws, religious practices, and message of God. Most of these pagan practices and doctrines crept in via the Roman Catholic Church -- including worship of Mary, prayer to saints, bowing to statues of saints, the doctrine of "purgatory", etc. The Protestant or Reformation movement only rejected a portion of these pagan and unbiblical corruptions.
What happened is that in the early years of the Roman Catholic Church and as they were seeking to gain converts, the pagans of Europe did not want to abandon their pagan holidays and other practices. Therefore, the Catholic Church just adopted the pagan holidays (as well as other pagan practices) and "Christianized" them by adding a few Christian themes. The name "Christmas" originates from "Christ's Mass" -- referring to the Catholic "mass" ritual.
Easter
What do rabbits and eggs have to do with the death and resurrection of the Messiah? And what does the name "Easter" even mean? The origin of the name "Easter" is from the goddess Astarte, the Greek goddess of fertility -- which was called "Ishtar" by the Babylonians, Ostara or Eostre by the Norse, and "Ashtaroth" by the Hebrews. Ashtaroth is mentioned in in the Old Testament in Judges 2:11-13. The reason that bunny rabbits and eggs are used in the celebration of the holiday is that rabbits and eggs are symbols of fertility -- and Astarte is the goddess of fertility.
Christmas
Did the Messiah ever command us to observe his birthday? No. And what do Yule logs and mistletoe and decoration of trees inside of houses have to do with the Bible or the Messiah? Absolutely nothing. And who exactly is this person known as "Santa Claus"?
Does the Bible say that the Messiah was born on December 25th? No. There is no evidence of this whatsoever. In fact, scholars believe that the scriptures actually indicate that the Messiah was born in the autumn/fall - around the Feast of Tabernacles, which occurs in October. The reason that December 25th is chosen for the date of the "Christmas" celebration is that it is around the winter solstice. This holiday originates from ancient pagan winter solstice celebrations. These pagans worshiped the sun, and believed that at the winter solstice, as the sun was the lowest in the sky and the daylight was the shortest in the entire year, the sun was "reborn" on that day -- ie, after the solstice, the sun rises in the sky and the daylight becomes longer.
In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast. In ancient Rome, a winter festival called Saturnalia was celebrated from December 17th to December 23rd in honor of their god Saturn. It was a once-a-year time to indulge in feasting, drinking, the exchanging of gifts, and merrymaking in general.
By the way, the Roman god "Saturn" is well known to be associated with Satan, and is another name for Satan. There are many Satanic cults today that worship Satan by the name "Saturn". Also, the 7th day of the week, Saturday, is named after Saturn.
Yule or Yuletide is an ancient festival of the pagan Germanic or Nordic peoples. It occurred around the winter solstice and they honored their pagan gods and celebrated "for a fertile and peaceful season", including fertility sacrifices. Trees and other greenery decorated the inside of homes in order to remind people of the soon return of Spring. It was customary to light a candle to encourage the sun god--and the sun--to reappear the following year. Yule was a 12-day festival -- which is the origin of the "12 days of Christmas".
What about the character of Santa Claus? Is this some "innocent" thing? Now, I realize some people will not take this seriously, but "Santa" is actually a symbol of Satan.
The name 'Santa' is an anagram for 'Satan'. The rearranging of letters (called anagrams) to hide secret names or words has long been practiced in the occult. Satan seeks to imitate the most high YHWH and be worshiped like him. Consider the fact that 'Santa' is dressed in red (Revelation 19:13, "And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God"), has white hair and a beard (Revelation 1:14, "His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow"), is omniscient (ie, "knows whether children have been good or bad"), omnipresent (can travel the whole world over in one night), rides the heavens with the help of magical beasts, resides in the North (Isaiah 14:13, "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north"), "brings good gifts", is a carpenter, and asks children to pray to him. "St Nick" is another name for Santa Claus, while "Old Nick" is an epithet-nickname for Satan. In medieval plays, the trademark line or laugh for Satan, or the devil, was "Ho ho ho".
Are all of those characteristics of Santa a "coincidence"? Or is it something more sinister? Much more on Santa here.
This modern-day "world system" (including mainstream television, Hollywood, the music industry, etc) is extremely wicked. They wholly reject anything that is righteous and associated with the law of God, and the true teachings of the Messiah. And yet Hollywood and other "worldly" institutions promote Christmas to the extreme -- with numerous movies on television and Christmas music played on the radio/television for weeks prior to the holiday. Why? How could this be? This is explained by knowing the truth about the Christmas holiday, its pagan/occult origin, how it corrupts and mocks God and the Messiah, and who this holiday truly honors.
Here is an article from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association admitting that Easter is pagan in origin.
A couple news articles discussing the pagan origins of Easter: 1 2Quote:
The origins of Easter can be traced to several pre-Christian cultures. The name Easter is attributed to Eastre, the Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, Astarte the Phoenician goddess, Ishtar the Babylonian goddess, and Oster, the German equivalent. Eastre was celebrated on the day of the Spring Equinox.
And the pagan influences/corruptions associated with Christianity do not end there. The fact of the matter is that there are numerous pagan/occult doctrines and practices (which have zero basis in the Bible) that have been adopted into "Christianity" -- perverting and corrupting the true laws, religious practices, and message of God. Most of these pagan practices and doctrines crept in via the Roman Catholic Church -- including worship of Mary, prayer to saints, bowing to statues of saints, the doctrine of "purgatory", etc. The Protestant or Reformation movement only rejected a portion of these pagan and unbiblical corruptions.
What happened is that in the early years of the Roman Catholic Church and as they were seeking to gain converts, the pagans of Europe did not want to abandon their pagan holidays and other practices. Therefore, the Catholic Church just adopted the pagan holidays (as well as other pagan practices) and "Christianized" them by adding a few Christian themes. The name "Christmas" originates from "Christ's Mass" -- referring to the Catholic "mass" ritual.
Easter
What do rabbits and eggs have to do with the death and resurrection of the Messiah? And what does the name "Easter" even mean? The origin of the name "Easter" is from the goddess Astarte, the Greek goddess of fertility -- which was called "Ishtar" by the Babylonians, Ostara or Eostre by the Norse, and "Ashtaroth" by the Hebrews. Ashtaroth is mentioned in in the Old Testament in Judges 2:11-13. The reason that bunny rabbits and eggs are used in the celebration of the holiday is that rabbits and eggs are symbols of fertility -- and Astarte is the goddess of fertility.
Christmas
Did the Messiah ever command us to observe his birthday? No. And what do Yule logs and mistletoe and decoration of trees inside of houses have to do with the Bible or the Messiah? Absolutely nothing. And who exactly is this person known as "Santa Claus"?
Does the Bible say that the Messiah was born on December 25th? No. There is no evidence of this whatsoever. In fact, scholars believe that the scriptures actually indicate that the Messiah was born in the autumn/fall - around the Feast of Tabernacles, which occurs in October. The reason that December 25th is chosen for the date of the "Christmas" celebration is that it is around the winter solstice. This holiday originates from ancient pagan winter solstice celebrations. These pagans worshiped the sun, and believed that at the winter solstice, as the sun was the lowest in the sky and the daylight was the shortest in the entire year, the sun was "reborn" on that day -- ie, after the solstice, the sun rises in the sky and the daylight becomes longer.
In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast. In ancient Rome, a winter festival called Saturnalia was celebrated from December 17th to December 23rd in honor of their god Saturn. It was a once-a-year time to indulge in feasting, drinking, the exchanging of gifts, and merrymaking in general.
By the way, the Roman god "Saturn" is well known to be associated with Satan, and is another name for Satan. There are many Satanic cults today that worship Satan by the name "Saturn". Also, the 7th day of the week, Saturday, is named after Saturn.
Yule or Yuletide is an ancient festival of the pagan Germanic or Nordic peoples. It occurred around the winter solstice and they honored their pagan gods and celebrated "for a fertile and peaceful season", including fertility sacrifices. Trees and other greenery decorated the inside of homes in order to remind people of the soon return of Spring. It was customary to light a candle to encourage the sun god--and the sun--to reappear the following year. Yule was a 12-day festival -- which is the origin of the "12 days of Christmas".
What about the character of Santa Claus? Is this some "innocent" thing? Now, I realize some people will not take this seriously, but "Santa" is actually a symbol of Satan.
The name 'Santa' is an anagram for 'Satan'. The rearranging of letters (called anagrams) to hide secret names or words has long been practiced in the occult. Satan seeks to imitate the most high YHWH and be worshiped like him. Consider the fact that 'Santa' is dressed in red (Revelation 19:13, "And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God"), has white hair and a beard (Revelation 1:14, "His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow"), is omniscient (ie, "knows whether children have been good or bad"), omnipresent (can travel the whole world over in one night), rides the heavens with the help of magical beasts, resides in the North (Isaiah 14:13, "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north"), "brings good gifts", is a carpenter, and asks children to pray to him. "St Nick" is another name for Santa Claus, while "Old Nick" is an epithet-nickname for Satan. In medieval plays, the trademark line or laugh for Satan, or the devil, was "Ho ho ho".
Are all of those characteristics of Santa a "coincidence"? Or is it something more sinister? Much more on Santa here.
This modern-day "world system" (including mainstream television, Hollywood, the music industry, etc) is extremely wicked. They wholly reject anything that is righteous and associated with the law of God, and the true teachings of the Messiah. And yet Hollywood and other "worldly" institutions promote Christmas to the extreme -- with numerous movies on television and Christmas music played on the radio/television for weeks prior to the holiday. Why? How could this be? This is explained by knowing the truth about the Christmas holiday, its pagan/occult origin, how it corrupts and mocks God and the Messiah, and who this holiday truly honors.