Doxa Deo Wilgeheuwel

How do you know if someone is lying to you? I think that’s a questions that moms should help us with. Because they seem to have a special gift in this regard. I could never lie to my mom and get away with it.
For the men, we need modern technology to help us. Like in this video clip.

We’re busy with a series called “Lie to Me” where we want to expose the truth behind the lie. The purpose of the series is to show you how to work with the Bible because some people will use a scripture verse to support an idea that is not entirely true.
And then it causes tension in our spiritual journey because it confuses us. Who’s right and who’s wrong?
So we took a few controversial topics to see if we can discover the truth and today we are talking about Christmas. The question is, is Christmas evil?
Because many people believe that it is wrong to celebrate Christmas. Here are the reasons:

1. Christmas has pagan roots
· The sun god: 25 December is devoted to the son god because it marks the end of winter in Europe when the days become longer again.
· There was a Roman feast called Saturnalia that was celebrated between 17 – 23 Des, in honour of the Roman god Saturn. All sorts of bad stuff happened on this feast.
· In fact there is a list of pagan gods that apparently was born on the 25th of December:
Mithras, Horus, Attis, Dionysus the son of Zeus, Tammuz, Hercules, Perseus, Helios, Bacchus, Apollo, Jupiter, Sol Invictus – (The “Unconquered Sun”)

2. Jesus was not born on the 25th of December, so we are celebrating a lie
One argument is that the shepherds would not have been out in the open field during winter times.

3. The Apostles never celebrated Christmas
Nowhere in the Bible do we read of the Apostles or other Christians celebrating the Birth of Jesus.

4. Scripture:

For the customs of the peoples 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. (Jer 10:3-4)

But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. (Gal 4:9-10)


1. Pagan roots
Actually many of our modern day customs and traditions have pagan roots.
Names of our week days:

Sunday: named after the sun, a goddess named Sunna or Sol
Monday: named after Mani, the Norse personification of the moon (Sol’s brother)
Tuesday: Norse god of war Tyr
Wednesday: named after the Norse god Wodan (Odin).
Thursday: Norse god of thunder Thor
Friday: Norse goddess Frigga (wife of Odin).
Saturday: Roman god of fun and feasting Saturn

Also the names of our months:

January: Roman god of beginnings and endings Janus
February: the old-Italian god Februus or else from februa, signifying the festivals of purification celebrated in Rome during this month.
March: Roman god of war, Mars.
May: Maiesta, the Roman goddess of honor and reverence.

Here are other things that also has pagan roots:
i. To put your hand in front of your mouth while you yawn.
ii. The wedding ring: is the pagan symbol for continuity
iii. Brides maids was used to confuse evil spirits that wanted to attack the bride. In fact most of the our wedding traditions today has a pagan background.
iv. To celebrate your birthday including the gifts, the birthday cake with candles, all pagan. It was done to appease and honor the gods.
v. The crucifixion was a pagan custom and the early Christians didn’t use the cross as a symbol of their faith until after Constantine banned crucifixion in the 4th century.
vi. The symbol the early Christians used was the fish but that also has pagan roots in ancient Babylon. It was the symbol of Ichthys the son of Atargatis the ocean goddess.
vii. Even Baptism was used by pagan religions, long before Jesus, as a cleansing ritual. Especially by the Egyptians and the Babylonians.

So if I want to use the “pagan origin” theory to debunk Christmas I’ve got a problem because my life would have to change drastically unless I’m not consistent. I would also have to accept that the early Christians sinned when they adopted certain pagan customs and gave them new meaning, because that was what happened.

2. Jesus wasn’t born on the 25th of December
The reality is we don’t know when Jesus was born. The reason why this date was chosen was because it was devoted to so many false gods and Constantine wanted to introduce the One true God to the people.

Paul did the same thing when he walked into the pagan city Athens:

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; "for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:
(Act 17:22-23)

3. The Apostles didn’t celebrate Christmas
Actually the Jews didn’t celebrate anybody’s birthday, it wasn’t part of their culture back then. That’s the reason why we don’t know when Jesus was born. Your date of birth just wasn’t a big deal. But there is no law against birthdays anywhere in the bible, it just wasn’t done.

The Apostles also didn’t use any musical instruments during worship.
“Neither Paul nor any other apostle, nor the Lord Jesus, nor any of the disciples for five hundred years, used instruments.

They also didn’t celebrate Mother’s day and they didn’t brush their teeth or bath every day.

4. Scripture

For the customs of the peoples 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. (Jer 10:3-4)

The context here, is that Jeremiah did warn the people not to follow a pagan custom. But it had nothing to do with a Christmas tree. He was referring to idols that they carved from wood. Notice that he is referring to the work of the hands of the workman. He would chop down a tree, carve out a statue then decorate it with silver and gold and then worship it.

Look at verse 11

Thus you shall say to them: "The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens." (Jer 10:11)

This chapter literally talks about idols that the pagans worshipped and believed in like we believe in Jesus. It did not refer to a nice tree that was decorated and placed in their homes.
So if you are praying to your Christmas tree and placing your hope and your trust in it, then you are guilty of what Jeremiah was warning them about.

Let’s look at the 2nd scripture:

But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. (Gal 4:9-10)

The Context of Galatians is about believers that wanted to go back to the laws of Moses. Paul addresses the problem.

"I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." (Gal 2:21)

Verse 21 sums up what Paul wanted to say to the Galatians.

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Gal 4:4-5)

There were people in the church that told the others that they had to up hold the Jewish laws and feasts. In verse 9 and 10 where Paul refers to: “You observe days and months and seasons and years.” he is talking about the Jewish feasts not Christmas.

Here’s a scripture that can help us when we think about Christmas:

Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. (Rom 14:1-3)

Paul is talking about meat that might be unclean according to Jewish law. Rome was a pagan land and there could be many things that would make the meat unclean. So some of the believers only ate vegetables in fear of breaking the law.

Paul says to the mature believers who understood the freedom they had n Christ not to look down on the “weaker” believers, those that still held on to the law. But to the “weaker” believers he said don’t judge the other believers.

Then:

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. (Rom 14:5-6)

There are many things during the Christmas season that are wrong in my opinion. People that makes debt to pay for expensive gifts and party’s. People getting wasted, people dying on the roads. The commercial sector that shift the focus away from Jesus, and many more. The reality is that all these things also happens during the rest of the year.
Christmas for me is like that moment when Paul steps into Athens and says to the people: “Good people of Athens, I want to talk to you today about the One true God. It gives us the opportunity to talk to the world around us about Jesus.

Christmas to me is a reminder of the miracle when God became man and lived among us. Christmas to me is an opportunity to show the people around me that I also have something to celebrate but that my reason for celebration is so much more significant. So much so that come January I don’t stop celebrating. Someone once said: “Jesus is not just the reason for the season. He is the reason for my entire existence!”

May I challenge you, that if like me you have the freedom to celebrate Christmas. That you will consider to share your Christmas joy with others. Perhaps giving someone who don’t have, a plate of food to eat or new clothes to wear. Or maybe buy a present for a child in need. Or maybe bless someone with a good chair to sit on during a service like this, that will make his/her experience a bit better.