What does the Bible say about Christmas?

Answer

It doesn't. Technically, there are many traditions that have been introduced into Christianity from the many traditions of old European religions. Christmas is the "Winter Festival", at which time many of those religions celebrated the Sun starting it's journey back north. Christmas is just a couple days after Winter Solstice, just enough time for ancient observers to notice that the Sun was starting north again.

Answer

It doesn't say anything about the celebration of the birth of Christ or of holding a festival or commemorating it in any way but it does tell the story of his birth and that, as Linus said, "is what it's all about, Charlie Brown."

Answer

Way of the Heathen

Jeremiah 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

10:3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

Answer

"There is a theory that Christians in the fourth century assigned December 25th (the Winter Solstice on the Julian calendar) as Christ's birthday (and thus Christmas) because pagans already observed this day as a holiday. This theory is much disputed, as the dates of Saturnalia are not coincident with Christmas. A more refined argument is that Christmas was set on the feast of Sol Invictus, which was on December 25, and which had supplanted Saturnalia. However, others claim that early Christians independently came up with the date of December 25th based on a Jewish tradition of the "integral age" of the Jewish prophets (the idea that the prophets of Israel died on the same dates as their birth or conception), and a miscalculation of the date of Jesus' death. [1] A theory has been advanced that the establishment of the feast of Sol Invictus on December 25 was an attempt by Aurelian to co-opt the day already celebrated by Christians for a pagan festival.[2]" for full text, see weblink "Saturnalia" on right..

Answer

"The Romans held a festival on December 25 called Dies 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 Aurelian (AD 270-274); and Mithras, a soldiers' god of Persian origin.[1] Emperor Elagabalus (218-222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday.[2]

December 25 was also considered to be the date of the winter solstice, which the Romans called bruma.[3] It was therefore the day the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered" despite the shortening of daylight hours. (When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar in 45 BC, December 25 was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21 or 22.) The Sol Invictus festival has a "strong claim on the responsibility" for the date of Christmas, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia."

For full text, see weblink "Sol Invictus" on right..

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