November 2023 – What Does This Mean?

Is Christmas Based on a Pagan Holiday?

Encore Post: As we discussed in an earlier post, non-Christian scholars, liberals and some conservative Christians, believe that the church created the celebration of Christmas to displace pagan celebrations. The reason for this conclusion is that Christians did not universally celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th. Yet the Emperor Aurelian did declare that the day be celebrated as the Birthday of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Son). These scholars theorized that the Church decided to replace this pagan holiday with the celebration of Christ’s Birth to keep people out of the temples of this popular pagan god.

When Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar, December 25th fell on the winter solstice. The word solstice means “The Sun stops.” On this day, the northern hemisphere has the least amount of daylight. From this point on until the summer solstice, the Sun would seem to gain strength. So December 25th was celebrated as the beginning of its return.

Most pagan societies worship the sun as a god and Rome was no exception. Beginning with Nero Caesar, Roman emperors associated themselves with the Sun God Sol and its Greek equivalent, Ἕλιος (Helios). This god became a favorite of the Roman armies. As Christianity became more widely believed in Rome, pagan Emperors increased the persecution of the Church. Aurelian promoted the worship of Sol as a kind of pledge of allegiance and promoted December 25th in the same kind of way Americans celebrate July 4th. When Constantine the Great came to be Emperor, he ended the government sponsorship of the worship of Sol.

So, did the Church decide to put Christmas on December 25th to counter the worship of the Sun? Not exactly. There is no reference to the celebration of Sol Invictus in the works of the Early Church fathers related to the date of Christmas. It appears that the reverse is the case, that the Emperor instituted the pagan festival in order to counter the rise of Christianity and the first celebrations of Christmas on the date.

The early church did associate the metaphor of the Sun with Jesus, but not because of the Roman holiday. The Prophet Malachi had prophecies of the Messiah that he would be “The Sun of Righteousness” who would rise with healing in his rays. In the earliest Christmas sermons, this theme was often used. The church did use the occasion to its advantage, but not always successfully. Christians would retain ancient customs, but would pour new meaning into them. Over time, Jesus would become the reason for the season.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

December 25: is the Right Day for Christmas

Encore Post: Every year we Christians are inundated with claims that December 25th isn’t the right day for Christmas, that Christianity co-opted pagan festival dates as their own, that all of the church calendar was a marketing scheme to pull pagans into different celebrations and convert them. These claims are not true. They are manufactured to sow doubt.

December 25th is a very accurate date for celebrating Christ’s birth. Christians initially celebrated the birth of Jesus on the same day as the Easter Triduum. (Triduum means three days, namely Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil of Easter). This stemmed from an early church practice of recognizing a saint’s death date as the same date of their birth. The ancients seemed to like the symmetry of it.

When Christianity began to recognize Christ’s birth as a different day, the dates in December popped up quite quickly. Hippolytus of Rome argued for December 25th, in the early 200s AD. St. John Chrysostom seems to have closed additional discussion, declaring December 25th the right date in the 300s AD. There is a reasonable amount of data that supports the claim.

Zechariah served in the temple with his kinsmen, the sons of Abijah. They served in the 8th month of the Jewish year. Nissan, the 1st month, falls between early March and early April, and identifies the moveable feast of Easter. The 8th month falls between mid-October and mid-November.

Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense… And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” (Luke 1:8-9, 23-25)

After these days, Elizabeth conceived. We’ll assume an earlier date within the window, as the church fathers likely did. So, Elizabeth conceives around October 25th. Now, we leap forward to the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and find this in the text.

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. (Luke 1:35-40)

Mary conceives around March 25th. Then she visits Elizabeth, who is in the sixth month. John the Baptizer will be born around June 25th. Six months more will bring us to the next event.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. (Luke 2:6-8)

Jesus’s birth on December 25th is a thoroughly reasonable estimate. Early Christians’ selection of the date of Jesus’s birth seems to have been primarily influenced by the scriptures and some simple mathematics. Now, the date may not be entirely accurate. There are around 30 days of wiggle room in the start of the calculation. But, December 25th is the right time of year. It’s at least very close to the right day, if not exactly correct, which is also possible.

While a different day could be plausible, I’d suggest that a theoretical discussion is fruitless. A claim against December 25th needs to pass three bars. Name a day. Without a particular day in place of December 25th, the discussion is moot. Having named a day, back it up in the calendar calculations. If the alternate day suggested doesn’t fit the calendar math, we’re not getting anywhere. With a day in mind and calendar back-up, cite the opinions of Church fathers. The fathers were less than a quarter of the time away from events of Christ’s life compared to us. Without the backing of more Church fathers than the Christmas Day we know, it’s just and argument for argument’s sake.

Dear Christians, let us prepare our hearts and rejoice at our Savior’s birth.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church
& Preschool
La Grange, TX
and
Mission planting pastoral team:
Epiphany Lutheran Church
Bastrop, TX

There Isn’t a Generic Christianity

In speaking of a song or a book, we might say, “well, it’s Christian.” Or, we might say of a potential spouse for our child, “at least they are a Christian.” Perhaps we might glorify a church down the road, in a neighboring town, or a neighboring county, “it’s a Christian church.” We speak as if there’s a thing, visibly, tangibly Christian without more specificity.

Dear Christians, there is no generic “Christian” church, teaching, or publishing source for books or songs. Every church, teaching, or published work produced by Christendom flows from a sectarian root. [Sectarian – member or adherent of a sect or division within a larger, generic whole]. Since no later than 1054 A.D., there is no unified, generic Christian whole. In that year, the six patriarchs of the Eastern Christian church and the Patriarch (Pope) of Rome parted ways.

There were certainly schisms before that too. Since that day though, the history of Christianity is schism. Even within the Eastern Orthodox church, Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Christians and their governments will have nothing to do with each other. We would be hard pressed to discern a difference from outside. Even in the Roman tradition we see divisions between Eastern rite and Western rite Catholics; between pre-Vatican II and post-Vatican II parishioners and priests.

Still, American non-Catholic Christians have grown nose-blind to the reality that we “protestants” are not the same either. Even within Martin Luther’s lifetime the radical reformers rejected images, vestments, hymnody, and the sacraments. Both Luther and the Lutheran reformers who followed him charted an initially narrow path between Rome and the Reformed Christians.

Cue the Jeff Foxworthy meme commonly shared in October and November: “If your Roman Catholic friends think you’re a Baptist, and your Baptist friends think you’re Catholic, you might be a Lutheran.” Comedically, that meme draws attention to a glaring sectarianism within Christianity. This may or may not be a good thing. But, it is unavoidable. On this side of the eschaton, we will not see a unified Christianity. [Eschaton – end of the world, last things, end of days]

Flashing forward into the current age, all “Christian” churches come from a sectarian root. The root does indeed matter. A Pentecostal rooted church will look for divine revelation apart from the Scriptures and a concurrent experience of the divine to back it up. A Calvinist Reformed rooted church will reject Jesus’ atoning death for the sins of all. A Baptist rooted church will reject Baptismal regeneration, infant faith, the verbal absolution, and the bodily presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper.

Each of those groups may produce a church calling itself “Christian.” We should always ask, “what kind of Christian do you mean?” Their position on the sacraments, speaking in tongues, the atonement, and the like will identify their sectarian root.

It’s good to be honest. We are better neighbors to each other when our churches say what they are and from whence they come. “Who are you and who’s your daddy?” We all have God as our Father. Still, our Earthly Fathers color our beliefs and teachings as grown folks.

Each town, city, and county in this nation is littered with confusingly named churches. Whether it’s a Christian Fellowship, Cross Community Center, just Christian Church, Point of Grace Church, or any place claiming nondenominationality, know that’s just not so. The church has a root from which they spring. Their intent maybe to be welcoming or inclusive. The result is a sheep-stealing mess that doesn’t say what it is.

When you see books, bible studies, and songs published by Zondervan, Eerdmans, Moody, IVP, Vladimir Press, CPH, Tyndale, Lifeway, or Ave Maria, know that they have a firmly held theological position. The books, studies, and music they publish must fit that theological ethos.

When you engage with Christians of other sorts, know that they fervently hold beliefs contrary to your own. In Christian love, you ought to be trying to convince them of their error. They will certainly be doing the same with you, if they have love for you. The scriptures are clear in their teachings. We have the pure doctrine from the Word of God right here in the Lutheran Church.

Until the day when the Lord returns, hold fast to what you have learned.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX
And
Mission Planting Pastoral team
Epiphany Lutheran Church, Bastrop, TX