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THE TRUTH ABOUT

Is Christmas a Christian Holiday? There are many Christians who have been conditioned to believe that Christmas is a "Christian Holiday," nothing can be further from the truth! Although this holiday has been adopted into the core of as a so called Christian Holiday, this does not change the fact that this holiday, is, has always been, and will always be a pagan celebration. There is a saying that goes something like this, "A Rose by any other name would still smell as sweet." The gist of this saying is that no matter what you call a rose, you cannot take away it's qualities and characteristics. The same can be said about Christmas only in the opposite direction. No matter what you call it, even if you used a name that is actually found in the Bible, at the end of the day it would still be a pagan celebration. Just because we put our savior in the mix does not mean that he accepts it as an acceptable practice. In fact, although our Savior's name is invoked during this holiday, he is actually a very small piece of the larger picture. Gift giving during , which is a pagan practice, Christmas trees, which is also a pagan practice, Santa Clause, which is an outright lie, and many other Christmas decorations, practices and/or objects of Christmas, compose the largest part of this pagan day.

Santa Clause (more important than our Savior) Comparably our Savior is a very small piece of Christmas, the larger piece is often given to Santa Clause...kids are told to be good because Santa knows whether they are good or bad. Again an outright lie. By teaching the kids this, Santa Clause has a higher level of influence over the children because they are taught to yearn for Santa's return so that he can bring them presents. In other words, they are actually expecting the return of Santa Clause rather than the return of our Savior. In essence, the fact that Santa Clause is tangible to them makes Santa more important to them. Isn't it odd, that a Jolly fat man, in a red suit, who does not even exist is more important to some kids then our Savior? Certainly our Savior is such a small part of Christmas that he is hardly ever mentioned during most news telecast or morning news shows. You will hear more about how to decorate Christmas trees, how to plan holiday parties, how to buy the perfect and how shoppers are affecting the economy then the name of our Savior. Next time that you watch a news telecast or morning news show count the amount of times that our Savior is mentioned...recently I sat and watched a 3 hour morning news show and he was not mentioned once. Truly even though this holiday is presented as a Christian holiday and even though social pressure has been put on people to celebrate it. Christians must wake up to the fact that Christmas is nothing more then an ancient winter pagan celebration that was simply renamed. Christmas not sanctioned by our Heavenly Father! So the question is, "would a skunk smell like a rose if you called it such?" The original Christians did not and would not have celebrated Christmas; the later Christians eventually did as a means to convert the pagans. Unfortunately the opposite has occurred, many Christians have accepted Christmas as a religious holiday when it really isn't. It is time that Christians stand up for truth as their predecessors did, they must not whirl in the mud and uncleanness of paganism. Christians must adopt the Judeo way of life that was common during the time of our Savior. They must wake up and realize that our Heavenly Father does not and will not ever sanction pagan practices, no matter what emotions are stirred up within us. Let us educate ourselves and stand up for righteousness, walk in the ways supported by the Bible and avoid all appearance of paganism. The and the Bible It goes without saying that is easier to convince people of something when they see things with their own eyes. Due to the fact that most people including many Christians do not read their Bibles it is easy to see how a recreated scene can cause them to believe something that is not necessarily true. Take for example the nativity scene; the scene of a little baby in a manger resting on hay or straw with animals and three wise men looking down on him is a very common scene during this particular time of year. Many people and obviously children since they are more impressionable, believe that what they see being mimicked is actually scriptural and that it validates the celebration of Christmas. Looking into things however one has to draw a line between believing what is actually true and what is essentially a lie. What we have been taught! The Nativity Scene depicts a winterized scene of three wise men carrying gifts, a newborn baby, the parents of the baby and a couple of barnyard animals; all of whom were rejoicing before the baby. What the Bible says! The actual timing of this scene was probably in the fall as the Shepherds were living out in the fields tending their flocks (Luke 2:8-20). In addition it is common knowledge that the census which had been ordered by the king would have occurred in the fall not the middle of winter. In fact Joseph and Mary went to to register for that very thing; a census (Luke 2:1-5). We are told that it was the shepherds to whom the angels had appeared that went to the manger to see the baby not the wise men (Luke 2:15-20). We are also told in the story that the shepherds that went to visit the baby spread the news like wildfire. Undoubtedly the news spread far and wide until it eventually reached the wise men who had been studying the signs of the sky. Since they would have noticed the eastern star and since they would have heard about what the shepherds saw and heard, this news would have aroused their interest enough to go on a fact finding journey. So eventually about 2 years after the birth of the Messiah the wise men went on a journey to find this child and to seek out the source of the eastern star. In the process of their journey they fooled the king and he, the king, ordered the killing of male children who were two (2) years old and younger. The King had figured out the child would have been about 2 years of age at this point. The story indicates that the wise men actually visited the child in a house not the manger; and that the child was a toddler not a baby! The mentions three gifts that were presented to the child but the number of wise men is not given. Historically we know that these men who were scholars and astronomers could have easily traveled in caravans of hundreds (Matthew 2). So as you can see there is a vast difference between what we have been conditioned to believe and what the Bible actually teaches. The Truth and Nothing But: There comes a point in which every believer has to make a decision, either we continue to believe lies or we follow the truth. Our Heavenly Father does not give us the freedom to entertain both. The decision that we make is very serious and it has it's own set of consequences. If we follow lies, we become like everybody else who willingly or ignorantly walk in darkness and who follow and practice ancient pagan rituals. On that road we will go shopping for gifts with the masses. We will spend much of our hard earned money on gifts that will soon be forgotten. Our joy will be temporary and although we will say that the day (24 hours) belongs to or Savior we will only spend about an hour in church. We may opt to teach our children about Santa Clause, a non-existent person, while we sit around a decorated tree; a practice which the Bible forbids (Jer 10:3)! If we decide to follow truth, we stand on a gap where few people are willing to stand. We will abstain from anything that is remotely connected to paganism and that is not sanctioned in the Bible. Our friends and family will think us crazy and may accuse us of being in a cult or of being religious freaks. In addition they will label us or make us out to be what they call Scrooges; they will consider us to be unhappy and angry and they will assume that we must not love our kids and/or families. All of these are pressure tactics to shut us down as people do not want to hear the truth! However we will remain firm because our joy is not guided by marketing tricks of the media but by the sound doctrine of the Bible. We look for gifts from above not material gifts from this world. Our children look forward to the return of our Savior not a fabled jolly old man. We seek to obey the commandments of our Father in Heaven and not the customs of this world. We study the Scriptures, we love our families and we are grounded on moral behaviors and love for all humanity! As you ponder your decision and it's own set of consequences, we recommend that you educate yourselves on this matters and that you follow the truth! The following is some readily available information which proves that Christmas is and has always been a pagan celebration: ------This information was posted on Yahoo home page on 12/22/07: What is or the ? Best Answer - Chosen by Asker Winter Solstice/Yule is the longest of the year. It is a Pagan holiday, when the return of the is celebrated, as the days are about to get longer. At this time, there is a battle between the Holly King & Oak King, in which the Oak, representing lighter times, will win. Also in the Celtic/Druidic calendar, this would be the Nameless Day. This is the day in between the old year and the in the Druidic tree calendar, represented by . Many common Christmas symbols actually came from Winter Solstice when the Christians were trying to convert the Pagans in the Middle Ages. (Evergreen tree, mistletoe, yule logs, etc.)

----- This is what Wikipedia says about Christmas: Pre-Christian origins Main article: List of winger A winter was traditionally the most popular festival of the year in many cultures. Reasons included less agricultural work needing to be done during the winter, as well as people expecting longer days and shorter after the winter solstice in the . In part, the Christmas celebration was created by the early Church in order to entice pagan Romans to convert to Christianity without losing their own winter celebrations. Certain prominent and goddesses of other religions in the region had their birthdays celebrated on 25, including Ishtar, Invictus, and Mithras. Various traditions are considered to have been syncretised from winter festivals including the following: Main article: Saturnalia In Roman times, the best-known winter festival was Saturnalia, which was popular throughout Italy. Saturnalia was a time of general relaxation, feasting, merry-making, and a cessation of formal rules. It included the making and giving of small presents (Saturnalia et Sigillaricia), including small dolls for children and candles for adults. During Saturnalia, business was postponed and even slaves feasted. There was drinking, gambling, and singing, and even public nudity. It was the "best of days," according to the poet Catullus. Saturnalia honored the and began on December 17. The festival gradually lengthened until the late Republican period, when it was seven days (December 17–24). In imperial times, Saturnalia was shortened to five days. Natalis Solis Invicti Main article: The Romans held a festival on called ' Natalis Solis Invicti', "the birthday of the unconquered sun." The use of the title 'Sol Invictus' allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including 'Elah-Gabal,' a Syrian sun god; 'Sol,' the god of Emperor (AD 270–274); and Mithras, a soldiers' god of Persian origin. Emperor (218–222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday. December 25 was also considered to be the date of the winter solstice, which the Romans called bruma. It was therefore the day the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered" despite the shortening of daylight hours. (When Julius Caesar introduced the in 45 BC, December 25 was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on or 22.) The Sol Invictus festival has a "strong claim on the responsibility" for the date of Christmas, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. Several early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of "O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born . . . Christ should be born", Cyprian wrote.

Main article: Yule Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. Yule logs were lit to honor Thor, the god of thunder, with the belief that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year. Feasting would continue until the log burned out, which could take as many as twelve days. In pagan Germania (not to be confused with Germany), the equivalent holiday was the mid-winter night which was followed by 12 "wild nights", filled with eating, drinking and partying. As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan celebrations had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the Germanic word Yule is synonymous with Christmas, a usage first recorded in 900. Christian origins It is unknown exactly when or why December 25 became associated with Christ's birth. The New Testament does not give a specific date. Tertullian does not mention it as a major feast day in the Church of Roman Africa. . In 245, the theologian Origen denounced the idea of celebrating Christ's birthday "as if he were a king pharaoh". He contended that only sinners, not saints, celebrated their birthdays. Sextus Julius Africanus popularized the idea that Christ was born on December 25 in his Chronographiai, a reference book for Christians written in AD 221. This date is nine months after the traditional date of the Incarnation (March 25), now celebrated as the Feast of the . March 25 was considered to be the date of the vernal and therefore the creation of ; early Christians believed this was also the date Christ was crucified. The Christian idea that Christ was conceived on the same date that he died on the cross is consistent with a Jewish belief that a prophet lived an integral number of years. Thus, the date as a birthdate for Christ is traditional, and is not considered to be his actual date of birth. Although the identification of the birth date of Christ is debated, liturgical celebrations of the Nativity were celebrated from at least A.D. 200 in the Christian East. The earliest reference is found in St. 's writings in reference to a celebration of the Nativity and the . Another reference is found in the Chronography of 354, an illuminated manuscript compiled in in 354. In the East, early Christians celebrated the birth of Christ as part of Epiphany (January 6), although this festival focused on the baptism of Jesus.