Is Christmas Pagan Catholic Answers
Regarding any day as holy other than god s seventh day sabbath is an acknowledgment of the authority and an act of homage to whoever consecrated that day and in the cases of sunday and christmas it is the roman catholic church.
Is christmas pagan catholic answers. I do have a few questions. I hear many claim it is a pagan holiday another thing i know many say it s the birthday of jesus although i know it s not literally the exact day we celebrate it at this time. Jon sorenson debunks the popular belief that christmas descends from pagan ritual. What is the origin of christmas.
The various pagan religions all had festivals spanning the calendar. Here are two of the objections you might meet and a helpful way to respond to each. Around christmastime you are likely to hear the objection that christmas is a christo pagan holiday a mash up of pagan beliefs and christian celebration. In more recent years with the popularity of such books as the da vinci code there seems to be a renewed interest in discrediting the origins of christmas.
Firstly merry christmas to all. Most of these issues surround the place that various pagan symbols and dates may have played in forming our current celebration. It is the thesis of the pagan origins of christmas that is a myth without historical substance. In actuality reports of christian holidays coinciding with pagan ones are often inaccurate christmas does not occur on saturnalia for example.
Thus it is wrong to accuse catholics doing some paganism because of celebrating christmas associated with paganism. However there are some who find it misleading and say no to this. How do you explain where christmas comes from. No ancient roman festivals on december 25 the notion that christmas had pagan origins began to spread in the 17th century with the english puritans and scottish presbyterians who hated all catholic things.
As sunday christmas is another child of the papacy. However to the extent the phenomenon occurs at all christian holidays were introduced to provide a wholesome non pagan alternative celebration which thus critiques and rejects the pagan holiday. Whatever month the early christians might have otherwise chosen would still place christmas near some pagan celebration and oppositional theorists would still be making the same claims. First of all christmas is definitely a christian holiday.
In fact the opposite is true.