There is not a word in the Scriptures about the precise day of Jesus Christ's birth, or even the time of year when He was born. What is recorded there implies that whatever time His birth took place, it could not have been on the 25th of December.

At the time that the angel announced His birth to the shepherds of Bethlehem, they were feeding their flocks by night in the open fields. In the land of Israel, from December to February, the cold of night is very piercing, and it was not the custom for the shepherds of Judea to watch their flocks in the open fields later than the end of October.

At the birth of Christ every woman and child was to go to be taxed at the city whereto they belonged, whither some had long journeys; but the middle of winter was not fitting for such a business, especially for women with child, and children to travel in. Therefore, Christ could not be born in the depth of winter. Again, at the time of Christ's birth, the shepherds lay abroad watching with their flocks in the night time; but this was not likely to be in the middle of winter. And if any shall think the winter wind was not so extreme in these parts, let him remember the words of Christ in the gospel, 'Pray that your flight be not in winter.' If the winter was so bad a time to flee in, it seems no fit time for shepherds to lie in the fields in, and women and children to travel in. -Joseph Mede

Long before the Christian era, a festival was celebrated among the pagans at this precise time of the year, in honor of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven. This festival was eventually adopted by the Roman Church, which gave it only the name of Christ.

In Egypt it was the son of Isis (queen of heaven) who was born at this very time, "about the time of the winter solstice." The very name by which Christmas is popularly known, Yule-day, proves at once its Pagan and Babylonian origin. "Yule" is the Chaldee name for an "infant" or "little child." Our ancestors called the 25th of December "Yule-day," or the "Child's day," and the night that preceded it "Mother night" long before they came in contact with Christianity.

The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt,...saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them, because of their wickedness which they committed so as to provoke Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and to serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, 'Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.' But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness...

Therefore My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a desolation as it is this day. "Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? But they have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am going to set My face against you for woe, even to cut off all Judah.

Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, "As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you! But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune. "But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine. And," said the women, "when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?"

Then Jeremiah said to all the people, "As for the smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them and did not all this come into His mind? So the LORD was no longer able to endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. Because you have burned sacrifices and have sinned against the LORD and not obeyed the voice of the LORD or walked in His law, His statutes or His testimonies, therefore this calamity has befallen you, as it has this day." -Jeremiah 44

Far and wide in the realms of Paganism was this birthday observed. This festival has been commonly believed to have had only an astronomical character, referring simply to the completion of the sun's yearly course, and the commencement of a new cycle. But there is evidence that the festival of Christmas had a much higher reference than this; that it commemorated not merely the figurative birthday of the sun in the renewal of its course, but the birthday of the grand Deliverer.

This same period of the year was observed as the birth festival among the Sabeans of Arabia, who regarded the moon, not the sun, as their favorite visible symbol of idolatry. Thus we read in Stanley's Sabean Philosophy, "On the 24th of the tenth month," that is December (Decem = ten) according to our reckoning, "the Arabians celebrated the birthday of the Lord - that is the Moon."

The birthday of the Arabians' Lord Moon on the 24th of December implies that the birth which they celebrated at this time of year had no necessary connection with the course of the sun. It is also worthy to note, that Christmas day among the ancient Saxons was observed to celebrate the birth of any Lord of the host of heaven. The case may be precisely the same here as it was in Arabia; after all, the Saxons also regarded the Sun as a female divinity and the Moon as a male.

But ye are they that forsake my holy mountain, that prepare a temple for Gad, and that furnish the drink-offering unto Meni. -Isaiah 65:11

Gad is a name for the solar deity and Meni is an ancient name for the Lunar deity. Where the sun was the favorite object of worship at this festival, he was worshiped not merely as the orb of day, but as God incarnate. When Tammuz was worshiped as God incarnate, it implied that he was an incarnation of the life-giving sun. This comes out very distinctly in Hindu mythology, which is admitted to be essentially Babylonian. There, Surya, or the sun, is represented as being incarnate, and born for the purpose of subduing the enemies of the gods, who, without such a birth, could not have been subdued.

It is not yet ten years since [Christmas] day was made known to us. Among those inhabiting the west, it was known before from ancient and primitive times, and to the dwellers from Thrace to Gadeira [Cadiz] it was previously familiar and well-known. -John Chrysostom, 380 A.D.

The tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism half-way was very early developed; and we find Tertullian, even in his day (about the year 230) bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of the disciples of Christ in this respect, and contrasting it with the strict fidelity of the Pagans to their own superstition.

By us who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals, once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia, are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year's day presents are made with din, and sports banquets are celebrated with uproar; oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians. -Tertullian

Upright men would strive to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy grew until the church (with the exception of a small remnant) was submerged under Pagan superstition.

That Christmas is and always was a Pagan festival is beyond doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin.

Saturnalia

The festival at Rome was called the feast of Saturn, a chief Pagan deity who was known to devour his own children, and the mode in which it was celebrated in Rome showed where it had derived from.

Saturn, the old man who lives at the north pole, and brings with him to the children of men a sprig of evergreen (the Christmas tree), is familiar to the little folks under the name of Santa Claus, for he brings each winter the gift of a new year. -Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages

The feast originally lasted five days, as regulated by Caligula, however the number of days of the Saturnalia was subsequently increased to seven. During this time loose reins were given to drunkenness and revelry, slaves had a temporary emancipation and enjoyed many freedoms with their masters. According to Berosus, this was precisely the way in which the drunken festival of Bacchus during the month of Thebeth (answering to our December) was celebrated in Babylon.

It was the custom during the five days it lasted, for masters to be in subjection to their servants, and one of them ruled the house, clothed in a purple garment like a king. -Berosus

This purple-robed servant would be called "Zoganes" or the "Man of sport and licentiousness," and answered to the "Lord of Misrule." In the dark ages, this Lord of Misrule was chosen in all Popish countries to head the Christmas festivities. The wassailing bowl of Christmas had its precise counterpart in the drunken festival of Babylon; and many of the other observances still kept amongst our own families at Christmas come from the very same.

The Christ-Mass Ritual

The Gothic Mysteries were carried Northward from the East, by Odin; who, being a great warrior, modeled and varied them to suit his purposes and the genius of his people. He placed over their celebration twelve Hierophants, who were alike Priests, Counselors of State, and Judges from whose decision there was no appeal. He held the numbers three and nine in peculiar veneration, and was probably himself the Indian Buddha. Every thrice-three months, thrice-three victims were sacrificed to the try-une God.

The Goths had three great festivals; the most magnificent of which commenced at the winter solstice, and was celebrated in honor of Thor, the Prince of the Power of the Air. That being the longest night in the year, and throne after which the Sun comes Northward, it was commemorative of the Creation; and they termed it mother-night, as the one in which the creation of the world and light from the primitive darkness took place. This was the Yule, Jitul, or Yeof feast, which afterward became Christmas. At this feast the initiations were celebrated.

Thor was the Sun, the Egyptian Osiris and Kneph, the Phoenician Bel or Baal. The initiations were had in huge-intricate caverns, terminating, as all the Mithriac caverns did, in a spacious vault, where the candidate was brought to light. -Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma

The candles which are lit on Christmas eve, and used for as long as the festive season lasts, were equally lighted by the Pagans on the eve of the festival of the Babylonian messiah, to honor him; for it was one of the distinguishing peculiarities of his worship to have lighted wax candles on his altars.

The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Egypt. In Egypt the tree was a palm tree (denoting the Pagan messiah as Baal-Tamar), in Rome it was a fir (resembling him as Baal-Berith). The divine child born at the winter solstice was a reincarnation of the great god which had previously been cut into pieces. The great god, cut off in the midst of his power and glory, was symbolized as a huge tree stripped of all its branches and cut down almost to the ground. But the great serpent, the symbol of the life restoring Asclepius, twists itself around the dead stock, and at the side of it sprouts a young tree of an entirely different kind, which is destined never to be cut down by hostile power. The Christmas tree in Rome was the fir, but the very same idea was implied with this tree. The fir symbolized the newborn god as Baal-Berith, "Lord of the Covenant,"* and thus shadowed the perpetuity and everlasting nature of his power, since after having fallen before his enemies, he had risen triumphant over them all. Therefore, the 25th of December, was declared "Natalis invicti solis," or "The birthday of the unconquered sun."

*Baal-bereth, which differs only in one letter from Baal-berith, "Lord of the Covenant," signifies "Lord of the fir-tree."

Today's symbols consist of the Yule log as the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun-god but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas tree is Nimrod redivivus - the slain god come to life again, adorned with a coiled serpent and bearing its gifts to mankind.

We know that the Egyptians worshiped the Sun under the name of Osiris. The misfortunes and tragic death of this god were an allegory relating to the Sun...and the recital of these events was but an allegory veiling a higher truth. Horus, son of Isis, and the same as Apollo or the Sun, also died and was restored again to life, and to his mother. The priests of Isis celebrated these great events by mourning and joyous festivals succeeding each other.

In the Mysteries of Phoenicia, established in honor of Tammuz or Adonis, also the Sun, the spectacle of his death and resurrection was exhibited to the initiates. As we learn from Meursius and Plutarch, a figure was exhibited representing the corpse of a young man. Flowers were strewed upon his body, the women mourned for him and a tomb was erected for him. And these feasts, as we learn from Plutarch and Ovid, passed into Greece. God was lamented and his resurrection was celebrated with the most enthusiastic expressions of joy. A corpse was shown to the initiates, representing Mithras dead; and afterward his resurrection was announced; and they were then invited to rejoice that the dead God was restored to life and had by means of his sufferings secured their salvation. Three months before, his birth had been celebrated, under the emblem of an infant born on the 25th of December, or the eighth day before the Calends of January.

In Greece, in the mysteries of the same God, honored under the name of Bacchus, a representation was given of his death, slain by the Titans; of his descent into hell, his subsequent resurrection... In the islands of Chios and Tenedos, his death was represented by the sacrifice of a man, actually immolated.

As the legend of Hiram Abiff is based upon the ancient Egyptian Mystery ritual of the murder and resurrection of Osiris, it is natural that the sprig of acacia should be preserved as symbolic of the resurrection of Hiram. The chest containing the body of Osiris was washed ashore and lodged in the roots of a tamarisk, or acacia, which, growing into a mighty tree, enclosed within its trunk the body of the murdered god. This is undoubtedly the origin of the story that a sprig of acacia marks the grave of Hiram. The mystery of the evergreen marking the grave of the dead sun god is also perpetuated in the Christmas tree. The Pagans set aside the 25th of December as the birthday of the Solar Man. They rejoiced, feasted, gathered in processions and made offerings in the temples. The darkness of winter was over and the glorious son of light was returning to the Northern hemisphere. -Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma

In the light reflected by the above statements on ancient customs which still linger among us, let the reader now consider a new look at the practice, still reserved only for Christmas time, of kissing under the mistletoe bough.

The mistletoe in the Druidic superstition (derived from Babylon) was a representation of their messiah, "The man the branch." Since mistletoe has no roots in the ground, it was regarded as a divine branch which came from heaven, to grow upon a tree that sprung out of the earth. By the engrafting of this celestial branch into the earthly tree, heaven and earth (which sin had originally severed) were now joined together. Thus kissing beneath the mistletoe bough became a popular Pagan superstition of divine pardon and reconciliation.

Jolly Ol' St. Nick

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: "I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place - unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." -Revelation 2

Who were the Nicolaitans?

History tells us they were a gnostic sect in the early Christian church, described by Irenaeus as leading lives of "unrestrained indulgence." Their doctrines closely paralleled the Pagan rites of Poseidon worship.

Their doctrines and lives were equally corrupt. They allowed the most abominable lewdness and adulteries, as well as sacrificing to idols; all of which they placed among things indifferent and pleaded for as branches of Christian liberty.” - John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament

When the Nicolaitans were rebuked with scripture, they would proudly reply, "We are not under the law, but under grace."Today there is a universal belief amongst Catholics and Protestants alike, that St. Nicholas of Bari was a true historical figure. They say he was probably born in Patara in the province of Myra in Asia Minor, and died in either 345 or 352 CE. He is even alleged to have attended the first council of Nicaea, however, his name does not appear on the list of attendees.

This man is honored as a patron saint all over the world; most notably the patron saint of children and sailors. Many legends and miracles are attributed to this great man, for example:

• -When he was an infant, his mother only nursed him on Wednesdays and Fridays; he fasted the remaining days of the week.
• -He once calmed a storm at sea to save the lives of drowning sailors.
• -He was especially known to adore children; when his father left him with a great fortune, he used it to help the poor, and would secretly leave gifts in the children's homes.
• -And yes, there are even legends of this mighty St. Nicholas resurrecting children from the dead.

There is no real evidence, however, that this man ever truly existed. In fact, his life story appears to be recycled myths and legends of ancient Pagan gods, most notably those of the Greek god Poseidon, or the Roman Neptune. Even the temples and shrines which were once dedicated to these ancient gods of the sea, eventually became shrines to St. Nicholas.

And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: "I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth." -Revelation 2

God may have commended the early church in Ephesus for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans, but He also left a warning in His message to the church in Pergamos. He warned that the corrupt doctrines of the Nicolaitans would infiltrate the church of later generations. The Puritans of the 16th and 17th century outlawed the Christmas festivals, making it unlawful even to utter the name St. Nick, or Sinterklaas, as it had become known through much of the world in their time.

Nevertheless, the Roman Saturnalia festival remains today as the pinnacle of every year, and it is merely an innocent custom of ours to teach our children the myth of Santa Claus, this magical man from the North Pole who is omniscient, who holds the scales of good and evil, and judges us each year according to our deeds. But there is only one Judge, and that is the creator, Jesus Christ. By the time our children reach adolescence, they've learned that this Santa Claus, whom they had so zealously adored as a child, was in fact only a fable - that they had been deceived by their own mother and father. This is all reminiscent of what took place at the very beginning. The serpent told Eve that her own Father and creator had deceived her by not permitting her to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If we cannot trust the word of our own mother and father, then whose can we trust? We are taught from a young age to reconcile the myth of Santa Claus with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and when we eventually learn the truth of the matter, the seeds of doubt are inevitably planted in our minds, that perhaps the story of Jesus Christ is nothing more than a myth as well.

We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. -Charles Spurgeon, December 24, 1871

When it can be proved that the observance of Christmas, Whitsuntide, and other Popish festivals was ever instituted by a divine statute, we also will attend to them, but not till then. It is as much our duty to reject the traditions of men, as to observe the ordinances of the Lord. We ask concerning every rite and rubric, "Is this a law of the God of Jacob?" and if it be not clearly so, it is of no authority with us, who walk in Christian liberty. -Charles Spurgeon, Treasury of David on Psalm 81:4

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And [the LORD] said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations." Then He brought me to the entrance of the court...And He said to me, "Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here." So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'" And He said to me, "Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing." Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these." Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them." -Ezekiel 8