| And when they had come into
the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.
And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense,
and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11(NKJ)
The first people who brought gifts in honor of Christ’s
birth were the wise men from the East who visited the Savior and His parents in Bethlehem
two thousand years ago. They worshipped the new-born King, gave their hearts and lives to
Him, and presented Him with the most valuable offerings their homeland could provide,
gifts worthy of His exalted station. But a lot of history has intervened since that day in
the Judean village, and things have changed considerably. Today gifts are given to each
other rather than to Jesus, and in most of the celebrations in our country the central
figure is not Christ at all, but a fat, jolly little fellow known as Saint Nicholas, or
Santa Claus.
Where did St. Nick come from, and how did he get associated
with the day of our Savior’s birth? He doesn’t enter the biblical story at
all—in fact, he seems almost in opposition to it. He’s become a sort of deity to
millions of children who seek to be good and please him instead of Jesus, the Son of God.
Actually he is a god, a Greek myth from centuries before
Christ. You see, according to the old tales the Greek god Cronus had three sons: Zeus,
Hades, and Poseidon. Each was given a domain to rule over. Zeus was given the world, Hades
the underworld, and Poseidon the sea. Poseidon—or Neptune, as the Romans called
him—became the patron god of sailors, among others. If they were good and pleased
him, he would give them safe travel, and also bless them with his bountiful gifts. Temples
were built to honor him, especially in prominent seaports.
One of them was in a city called Myra. Hundreds of years
later, when Emperor Constantine had established Christianity as the state religion of the
Roman Empire, a beautiful church was built on the ruins of the old temple of Poseidon.
Soon afterwards, the bishop who presided there was rumored to have inherited the powers of
the ancient god of the sea. He was said to be able to manipulate nature and do all sorts
of miracles because the spirit of Poseidon was with him. He was also a benevolent man who
would go out secretly at night on his white horse and leave gifts in people’s homes.
His name was Nicholas, and he dressed, of course, in the traditional red bishop’s
outfit, trimmed in white ermine, the pointed bishop’s hat atop his head.
Over the years the legend spread, and in time the Roman
Catholic church canonized him as St. Nicholas. The legend made its way throughout most of
the European nations—Santa Claus is a variation of his Dutch name, Sintaklaas—and
a few new twists were added over the years. Somewhere along the way his white horse was
traded in for a team of reindeer, and in Twentieth Century America his hat was made a
little more fashionable, but there is little doubt that Santa Claus is Nicholas, Bishop of
Myra.
An interesting footnote is that the Catholic church found
itself unable to prove the existence of St. Nicholas, and so in 1969 he was dropped from
the official calendar—he had been honored on December 6th, the day dedicated to
Poseidon by the ancient Greeks and Romans. His association with Christmas is probably due
to the proximity of the two holidays... over the years they became celebrated as one.
Santa Claus also provides a very convenient way for the more secular-minded people in our
culture to direct the attention of the holiday season away from Jesus Christ and onto
something less controversial.
The Winter Solstice
Just when was Jesus born? Nobody knows. The Bible doesn’t
say the day or month, and it’s impossible to really determine it by any other means.
Experts now believe that He was actually born four to six years B.C. It seems the church
of the Middle Ages, when computing the year of His birth, failed to take some variables
into consideration and ended up miscalculating a bit!
How then did we come up with December 25th? Well, it was the
climax of the five-day celebration of the Winter Solstice, the greatest holiday on the
Roman calendar. The solstice is the shortest day of the year, and there have always been
various pagan festivals associated with it... the sun god is defeated, but starts making
his come-back at this time, etc. The Roman holiday was known as Saturnalia, and
since it was already a holiday, and since all the slaves and servants had the day off, as
the empire became slowly Christianized so did Saturnalia—until it was declared
Christ’s Mass, or the day of the year dedicated to Christ above all others. In many
traditions this day was also connected with a madonna and child myth, as
well—Egyptian, Babylonian, and ancient Roman legends all have references to a
"queen of heaven" giving birth to a son at the time of the winter solstice, so
the shift to a more Christian theme was a natural development.
Saturnalia was originally Saturn’s day. Saturn was the
Roman name for Cronus—yes, Cronus the father of Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades. In Rome it
was celebrated by a huge city-wide party. Slaves were freed for a few days and there was
dancing and drinking in the streets. Cronus was held to be a good natured god, so it
seemed appropriate to engage in unbridled revelry.
Cronus had a wife named Rhea, by the way, and the roots of
these parents of the gods can be traced, not just from Rome to Greece, but actually back
to Babylonian legends. (It is astonishing, but the mythology of nearly every major culture
in the world—from the Celts to the Hindus, the Romans to the Egyptians—all seem
to spring forth from the same place, ancient Babylon.) Cronus and Rhea were known to the
ancient Babylonians as Nimrod and Semiramis. Nimrod is mentioned in the Bible as the
great-grandson of Noah, and the builder of the first city, Babel or Babylon... "Cush
begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the
Lord...And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel..." (Gen.10:8-10).
Nimrod & Semiramis
Nimrod and Semiramis, according to the Bible and other ancient
records, built several cities and an entire civilization based in the land of Shinar or
Chaldea, where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed. They also started their own
religion, the first known departure from
 the worship of the true God (that’s what the
tower of Babel was all about, by the way—a rebellious move away from the God who had
judged the earth with a flood). In time the husband and wife team were themselves regarded
as gods, and ultimately, the father and mother of all the gods. Their religion and the
dark arts practiced in connection with it became called the Babylonian Mysteries—or,
in the language of the Apocalypse, "Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots
and Abominations of the Earth," (Rev.17:5). Semiramis became Astarte, or Ashtoreth;
and Nimrod was known simply as "the Lord" — or translated into the language
of the Canaanites, Baal.
And so, dear friend, today we find ourselves honoring the
birth of Christ on Saturnalia, the high holy day of Saturn, or Cronus, or Nimrod, or Baal,
whichever you prefer. It almost makes you think there’s a conspiracy
afoot—especially when you see what has happened to other holidays—like the
resurrection of Jesus being known as Easter, the Gaelic form of Astarte or
Ashtoreth, and Mary being known as the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of God, titles once
reserved for the consort of Baal. I believe it is a conspiracy. Not a Romish or a New Age
plot, as some would suggest, but one hatched by the same clever individual that has been
resisting the kingdom of the Living God since the Garden of Eden, Satan himself.
There’s Still More...
We could go on and upset a few more cherished American
traditions, too. The Christmas tree, for example, did not originate with Martin Luther, as
many Protestants have been taught. The practice was around in Medieval times, when folks
used to hang red apples on them in honor of Adam and Eve Day, December 24th. But it goes
back even further than that, I’m afraid. Evergreens were also a big part of the
Saturnalia celebration—they were paraded down the streets decorated with lit candles.
The Egyptians used a date palm in their celebrations of the winter solstice, which
commemorated Isis, the "queen of heaven" giving birth to Osiris. Early
Scandinavians worshipped the oak tree as their god Woden, but were persuaded by Catholic
missionaries to transfer their homage to the evergreen.
If this is the first you’ve heard about these things your
mind is probably reeling by now. Christmas Day is really Baal-day, Santa Claus is none
other than Poseidon, and even the Christmas tree has dark origins. Mistletoe,
incidentally, was the sacred plant of the Druids, who ruled pre-Christian Britain, and
worshipped Baal and Astarte, among others. With the exception of the manger in Bethlehem
and the biblical account, all of our traditions date back to the days before our ancestors
embraced Christianity and the truth of the Gospel.
The early Puritan fathers of our country refused to observe
Christmas at all. They reasoned that they had a chance to start all over in a new world,
and to establish a truly Christian country for the first time ever, and they didn’t
want to start introducing the old pagan practices and personages into it at all. But their
dreams of a commonwealth of God were lost as more and more people from all sorts of
backgrounds moved into the American colonies.
What's A Saint To Do?
Today, for the born-again Christian, it’s not as clear a
call as the Puritans were able to make. Christmas is well established, and the
traditions—both Christian and pagan—are dear to the hearts of our families and
friends. To refuse to be involved at all in the festivities would be to risk permanently
offending the very people we’re trying to reach.
And there are good things about the season, too. I think
Christmas cards, for example, are wonderful. They allow you to reaffirm your love and
friendship for those who you may not have seen for a long time due to the busy-ness of
life. Presents aren’t such a bad idea either—our tradition of exchanging gifts
makes us stop to consider and appreciate our loved ones. (I do think, however, that we
should get back to the precedent set by the wise men as well, and give our best gifts to
Jesus during the Christmas season.)
So perhaps the Christian can rejoice during the holiday
season, knowing that he or she is not honoring some false god, but rather giving thanks to
the true God and His only begotten Son who died for us. And we can take the opportunity to
engage those around us in deeper, more meaningful conversations about life and Jesus
Christ during this season when their hearts are already turned towards things like peace
and goodwill. But it’s best to stay clear of Santa Claus, Christmas trees, mistletoe,
and the other purely pagan practices around us. These actually should have been
discontinued long ago by those who claim to be believers in Christ. Let’s glorify the
Lord instead of the competition.
If you have not yet taken the time to seriously reflect about
God and Jesus and eternal life, there’s no time like the present to sit down and do
it. You may never be as close to making the right decision, or as sensitive to the things
of the Spirit, as you are right now after reading this pamphlet. Anything might happen
before you get around to thinking about your spiritual life again. You may not even be
here next Christmas. So why not give your heart and life to Jesus Christ today? Confess
your sins, and ask Him into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior. Give Him the best
gift you possibly can—the gift of yourself. Then get into the Bible, and join a
church that really preaches what it says. You’ll never regret it. Have a blessed
Christmas.
Copyright © 1998 Kim
Harrington, Masterbuilder Ministries. All rights reserved.
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