Some Say Christmas Is Not Pagan—Is That True?

Christmas has long been recognized to have pagan origins, and most historical sources have acknowledged the similarities between its customs and traditions and those of pagan festivals. Even more importantly, Christmas and its prominent symbols aren’t taught in the Bible.

But recently, some have tried to refurbish the reputation of Christmas as a Christian festival, arguing that its traditions were not borrowed from pagans but rather the other way around—that it was the pagans who copied Christians.

But is that true? Can Christmas observance be supported by the Bible? Should a Christian celebrate or steer clear of Christmas?

Traditions vs. God’s commanded festivals

Claim: There’s nothing wrong with keeping traditions. Christ Himself did so.

Some point to the Feast of Dedication in John 10:22, arguing that Jesus’ presence at the temple during the festival shows He celebrated a traditional observance. They then conclude that celebrating Christmas and Easter is essentially the same thing. 

It is true that the Feast of Dedication is not a commanded feast of God, but is a memorial commemorating the rededication of the temple after it had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century B.C.

This festival can be compared to modern nations’ annual days of remembrance, such as memorial days for those who died in wars and national independence days. These types of observances simply mark important dates in a people’s history. While not observances God commands, they are, nevertheless, not wrong since they are based on truth, not paganism.

It’s important to note that keeping such traditions does not give anyone licence to ignore God’s direct commands. Jesus kept God’s feasts, including the seventh-day Sabbath (Luke 4:16), Passover (Matthew 26:19) and the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:37), and the early Church did likewise (Acts 13:42; 18:21; 1 Corinthians 5:8).

Christmas is not a valid tradition for Christians to uphold, but even if it were, that wouldn’t justify replacing God’s commands with human traditions. For example, most churches today observe the first day of the week—Sunday—instead of the seventh-day Sabbath, Easter instead of Passover and Christmas instead of the Feast of Tabernacles. They maintain their traditions rather than the commandments of God. They reject God’s commanded festivals as Jewish despite the fact that God calls them the “feasts of the LORD,” “holy convocations” and “My feasts” (Leviticus 23:2).

Jesus warned that the religious people of His time “all too well reject the commandment of God to keep their tradition” (Mark 7:9). These words remain as relevant today as they were then.

Verdict: Misleading and ultimately false claim.

Did early Christians observe Christmas?

Claim: Dec. 25 was kept by early Christians as an observance of Christ’s birth.

One key objective for supporters of Christmas is explaining the origin of Dec. 25 as the date for Jesus’ birth. They argue that this date predates the fourth-century Roman Emperor Constantine, claiming it was celebrated by early Christians.

What do they mean by “early Christians”? Certainly not the apostles or the Church in the first century. No, the earliest of these “early Christians” were some 200 years after Christ.

The Catholic Encyclopaedia states, “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts.”

There are no references to God ordaining Christ’s birthday as an observance. And the Bible doesn’t give a date for Christ’s birth. It does give evidence that it would not have been in winter, since the shepherds were still living out in the fields (Luke 2:8; see “When Was Jesus Born? Part 3”).

The best hint we might have points to Jesus’ being born in August or September. That hint comes from the likely dating of John the Baptist’s birth, based on when the “division of Abijah” served at the temple, and the indication that he was six months older than Jesus (Luke 1:5, 36; see “When Was Jesus Born? Part 1”).

But some point to ancient writers who believed that Jesus was conceived on the spring equinox. These writers accepted the notion that the spring equinox (March 25 on the Julian calendar) was the anniversary of the creation of the world. From that assumption, they concluded that Jesus was conceived on March 25 and born, nine months later, on Dec. 25.

However, nothing in the Bible supports any of those ideas.

The Biblical Archaeology Society website credits Sextus Julius Africanus as being the first to propose in writing a Dec. 25 date for Christ’s birth—using the above theory that He was conceived on March 25 and born on Dec. 25. But note, he wrote about this in A.D. 221, almost two centuries after Christ’s death.

So much effort has been put into defending what the Bible does not say while ignoring what God does teach us to observe. Using such a speculative date for Jesus’ conception to arrive at Dec. 25 seems to be more of an exercise in reverse engineering than a conclusion drawn from historical or biblical evidence. The fact remains that first-century Christians did not keep Christmas, and it is not an observance commanded (or even mentioned) in the Bible.

Verdict: Unsubstantiated and ultimately false claim.

Do historians really believe the pagans copied the growing Roman church?

Claim: The Christians didn’t copy the date of the pagan Sol Invictus celebration—it was the pagans who copied the date of Christmas.

In his post “Christmas Isn’t Pagan,” Wes Huff admits there is a connection between Christmas and the pagan celebration of Sol Invictus. However, he points to an author who proposes it was the pagans who changed the date of their celebration to compete with the growing group who came to be known as Roman Catholics:

“It is true that Sol Invictus, the festival commemorating the Roman sun God, fell on December 25th. However, our earliest inscriptions concerning this festival place it at the beginning of December not at the end. In his work The Origins of the Liturgical Year, historian Thomas Talley argues that ‘[i]t is more likely that the Roman Emperor Aurelian moved Sol Invictus to December 25th to compete with the growing rate of Christianity’ (The Origins of the Liturgical Year, 88-91).”

We could not find that quote in Professor Talley’s book, so perhaps Mr. Huff intended it as a summary of those pages. Either way, the idea is provocative and attractive to those who want to rehabilitate Christmas, but does history support it?

Britannica notes that Aurelian did promote Sol Invictus: “He sought to subordinate the divergent religions of the empire to the cult of the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus) and so create the kind of religious unity that came only later with Constantine.”

But Britannica also explains the origin of the Dec. 25 date this way:

“In the 3rd century, the Roman Empire, which at the time had not adopted Christianity, celebrated the rebirth of the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus) on December 25th. This holiday not only marked the return of longer days after the winter solstice but also followed the popular Roman festival called the Saturnalia (during which people feasted and exchanged gifts). It was also the birthday of the Indo-European deity Mithra, a god of light and loyalty whose cult was at the time growing popular among Roman soldiers.

“The church in Rome began formally celebrating Christmas on December 25 in 336, during the reign of the emperor Constantine. As Constantine had made Christianity the effective religion of the empire, some have speculated that choosing this date had the political motive of weakening the established pagan celebrations.”

And Joseph F. Kelly, professor of History of Christianity at John Carroll University, wrote in his article “The Birth of Christmas” about the effects of Aurelian’s persecution of Christians:

“Did their challenge to the Unconquered Sun push the Christians toward utilizing December 25 as Christ’s birthday? No Christian author said so explicitly, but it is probable because, where feasible, Christians would replace local pagan traditions with Christian ones, substituting veneration of a local martyr for that of a mythical hero.”

This syncretism is well documented, but it goes against the teachings of the Bible. See more in our post “What Is Religious Syncretism? Does God Accept It?”

More can be said about Christmas trees, holly, mistletoe and Santa Claus, none of which are taught in the Bible. (See the historical evidence in our online resources “Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?” “‘Origin of Christmas’ on Trial” and related articles.

So much effort has been put into defending what the Bible does not say while ignoring what God does teach us to observe. The fact remains that many respected historical sources, both religious and secular, have long recognized that the Roman festival of Sol Invictus predated and influenced the selection of late December as the date for celebrating Jesus’ birth.

Ultimately, the debate over Dec. 25 is secondary to what the Bible does and does not command. Even if someone could prove beyond a doubt that the date had no pagan connection, Scripture still provides no command, suggestion or example that Christians should celebrate Christ’s birth as an annual holiday.

Verdict: Unsubstantiated and ultimately irrelevant claim.

A matter of the heart?

Claim: God looks at the heart, so I keep Christmas to honor God and Jesus my Savior.

Some argue that observing Christmas is acceptable because it is a matter of the heart. But this overlooks the problems with Christmas, including its pagan associations, and focuses only on personal motives.

But how does God view it?

God warns us to not worship Him the way others worshipped their gods (Deuteronomy 12:29-32). God defines what is clean and unclean, holy and not holy, and He expects Christians to discern (Leviticus 10:10; Ezekiel 44:23). On top of all the nonbiblical customs, it’s ironic that even a traditional food like Christmas ham is what God considers unclean (Leviticus 11:7).

God does look on the heart, but He also warns us that our hearts are “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). So God seeks those who seek His will, not their own (Matthew 6:10; compare Matthew 26:42).

Verdict: Only partly true. God does look at the heart, but that means we should strive to do the things the Bible says honor Him. Christmas is not one of them.

Are you willing to abandon these traditional religious customs and follow God? God is looking for those who turn their hearts toward Him and put Him first (Matthew 6:33; 10:34-39)!

Learn more in our free biblical booklet From Holidays to Holy Days: God’s Plan for You.