The History Of Christmas: December 25th Was Never The Birthday Of Jesus But It Sure Is The Birthday Of Dozens Of Pagan Gods

Have you ever thought about why people celebrate a holiday called Christmas?  After all, the word "Christmas" is nowhere to be found in the Bible.  There is absolutely no mention of December 25th in the Bible.  In fact, we know that Jesus was not even born during the winter since the shepherds were still out with their flocks at night when He was born.  So where did this holiday come from?  Do you know the history of Christmas?  The first Christians did not celebrate "Christmas".  In fact, "Christmas" did not become an official Christian holiday until the 4th century.  But December 25th was celebrated as a major holiday for centuries upon centuries long before Jesus was ever born.  It was a very dark occult festival that celebrated the birthday of the "sun god" in all his various forms.  Unfortunately, most Christians have never learned about the pagan origins of Christmas.  Most Christians seem to believe that the history of Christmas began when Jesus was born.  But that is not the truth.  As you will read below, God established an entirely different holiday (that you can find in the Bible) for the birthday of Jesus.  But instead, the Roman Catholic religion latched on to the birthday of the sun god and married it to the birth of Christ.  This birthday of the sun god can be traced all the way back to ancient Babylon.  In fact, most of our "modern Christian traditions" can be traced all the way back to ancient Babylon.  But most Christians don't care.  Most Christians are going to believe what they want to believe no matter what you tell them.    

If you are curious about the real history of Christmas, read on, but be warned - it may "spoil" the Christmas holiday for you forever.

But at least you will know the truth.

In his classic work, "The Two Babylons", author Alexander Hislop explained that the Christian holiday of "Christmas" did not exist until hundreds of years after the time of Jesus....

"Indeed, it is admitted by the most learned and candid writers of all parties that the day of our Lord's birth cannot be determined, and that within the Christian Church NO SUCH FESTIVAL AS CHRISTMAS WAS EVER HEARD OF TILL THE THIRD CENTURY, and that not till the FOURTH CENTURY was far advanced did it gain much observance. How, then, did the Romish church fix on December 25th as Christmas-day? Why, thus: Long before the fourth century, and LONG BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA ITSELF, A FESTIVAL WAS CELEBRATED AMONG THE HEATHEN, AT THAT PRECISE TIME OF THE YEAR, IN HONOR OF THE BIRTH OF THE SON OF THE BABYLONIAN QUEEN OF HEAVEN; and it may fairly be presumed that, IN ORDER TO CONCILIATE THE HEATHEN, AND TO SWELL THE NUMBER OF THE NOMINAL ADHERENTS TO CHRISTIANITY, THE SAME FESTIVAL WAS ADOPTED BY THE ROMAN CHURCH, giving it the name of Christ. This tendency on the part of Christians to MEET PAGANISM HALF-WAY was very early developed" (The Two Babylons, p. 92-93).

In fact, Hislop tells us that the world "Yule" can be traced all the way back to ancient Babylon.  It turns out that the theme of a child being born to the Queen of Heaven was very prevalent throughout the ancient pagan world....

"That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies, with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin. In Egypt, the son of Isis, the Egyptian title for the queen of heaven, was born at this very time, 'about the time of the winter solstice.' The very name by which Christmas is popularly known among us -- Yule-day -- proves at once its pagan and Babylonian origin. 'Yule' is the Chaldee name for an 'infant' or 'little child'; and as the 25th of December was called by our Pagan Anglo-Saxon ancestors, 'Yule-day,' or the 'Child's-day,' and the night that preceded it, 'Mother-night,' long before they came in contact with Christianity, that sufficiently proves its real character. Far and wide, in the realms of Paganism, was this birthday observed." (Hislop, p. 93-94).

All of the ancient pagan religions can be traced back to ancient Babylon.  The "gods" and "goddesses" came to be worshiped under dozens of different names, but when you start analyzing them closely you quickly realize that they all can be traced back to the same origin.  This includes the winter solstice holiday that celebrated the birth (or "rebirth") of the sun god.  All the way back in ancient Babylon, pagans celebrated a festival involving a heroic supernatural figure that visits an evergreen tree and leaves gifts on December 25th long before Jesus was ever born. From its early Babylonian roots, the celebration of the birth or "rebirth" of the sun god on December 25th came to be celebrated under various names all over the ancient world. You see, the winter solstice occurs a few days before December 25th each year. The winter solstice is the day of the year when daylight is the shortest. In ancient times, December 25th was the day each year when the day started to become noticeably longer. Thus it was fitting for the early pagans to designate December 25th as the date of the birth or the "rebirth" of the sun.

The truth is that thousands of years before there was a "Santa Claus", there was another supernatural figure who would supposedly visit a tree and leave gifts every December 25th.

His name was Nimrod.


According to ancient Babylonian tradition, Semiramis (who eventually became known as the goddess Astarte/Asherah/Ashtoreth/Isis/Ishtar/Easter in other pagan religions) claimed that after the untimely death of her son/husband Nimrod (yes she was married to her own son), a full grown evergreen tree sprang up overnight from a dead tree stump. Semiramis claimed that Nimrod would visit that evergreen tree and leave gifts each year on the anniversary of his birth, which just happened to be on December 25th.

This is the true origin of the Christmas tree.

On Bibletools.org, Mike Ford describes this ancient pagan tradition about Nimrod this way....

After Nimrod's death (c. 2167 BC), Semiramis promoted the belief that he was a god. She claimed that she saw a full-grown evergreen tree spring out of the roots of a dead tree stump, symbolizing the springing forth of new life for Nimrod. On the anniversary of his birth, she said, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts under it.

On that same site, John Plunkett describes the ancient pagan myth regarding December 25th in this manner....

From many ancient writings, considerable is learned of this man, who started the great organized worldly apostasy from God that has dominated this world until now. Nimrod was so evil, it is said he married his own mother, whose name was Semiramis. After Nimrod's untimely death, his so-called mother-wife, Semiramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25th was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree.

From this original fable peddled by Semiramis (the "Queen of Heaven") came the tradition for pagans to go out to the holy "groves" and leave gifts for Nimrod (who later came to be worshipped as "Baal") at an evergreen tree.

Does that sound like a "Christian" holiday to you?

In "The Two Babylons", on page 93 Hislop bemoans the fact that the early Roman Catholics adopted this holiday as a way to attract pagan "converts"....

"Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise time of the year, in honor of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven. It may fairly be presumed that, in order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ adopted the same festival. This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism halfway 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."

But even though Christianity adopted this pagan holiday and renamed it, that doesn't mean that the pagans stopped celebrating it.

The truth is that the pagan holiday of "Yule" has been celebrated by the pagans of northern Europe from late December through early January for ages. Yule logs were traditionally lit throughout northern Europe to honor the pagan god Thor. The festival would continue until the Yule log burned out - which could take up to twelve days. This is where we get the so-called "12 days of Christmas".

In fact, Wiccans, neo-pagans and even many witches still celebrate Yule to this day. Many of them think it is incredibly funny when Christians use the pagan word Yule. Yule is one of the most important holidays for them. The following excerpt was taken from a website on witchcraft:

Birthday of the Twins:


Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) holy day. Birthday of the Twins, Heru Sa Aset and Bast, children of Aset [Isis]. Origin of Yule and Christmas. On Winter Solstice Asar [Osiris] dies. Aset [Isis] with the magick help of Nebt Het [Nephthys] creates a Djed Pillar [artificial penis] for Her husband and impregnates Herself. For three full days (December 22-24) Asar lies dead and the Twins grow in Aset’s belly. On this day (December 25th) the Twins are born, the reincarnation or resurrection of Their Father. The green tree is a symbol of the green-skinned Asar, God of fertility and vegetation. The colored lights are symbols of Aset, Goddess of magick and divine light. Red, green, and white are the traditional candle colors of Bast (this was Her birthday alone for several thousand years of early Kemetic history), later being adapted to red for Aset (the color of the Mother’s menstrual flow), green for Asar (the color of vegetation), and white for the Twins (the color of pure light).

So where did the word "Christmas" come from?

Well, the truth is that the word "Christmas" is not actually found anywhere in the entire Bible.

In fact, the word "Christmas" was not even invented until about a thousand years after Jesus left this earth.

The Catholic Encyclopedia even admits this....

"The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038."

But Jesus was not even born on December 25th.

The reality is that it would have simply been far too cold for shepherds to be out with their sheep at night in Israel on December 25th.

The vast majority of Christian scholars now acknowledge this.

So when was Jesus actually born?

Well, using the clues given to us in the Scriptures and by following the chronology given in the gospel of Luke, we can determine that Jesus was very likely born during the Feast of Tabernacles.  In fact, it seems most likely that He was born on the very first day of the Feast of Tabernacles.



Now why in the world would God have His people do that?

Well, it was a "prophetic picture story" of what would happen in the future.


In the gospel of Luke there are clues that we can use to calculate the approximate time that Jesus was born.

Starting with calculating the time of the year when John the Baptist's father served in the Temple, we can come up with a Scriptural timeline that ends in the birth of Christ. The following video will break down all of the specific details for you....



Now, it must be noted that it cannot be proven with 100 percent certainty using the Scriptures that Jesus was born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, but that seems to be the most logical conclusion when you consider all of the facts.

You see, as noted earlier, God always does the "big things" on his high holy days. If Jesus was born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles (which is a High Sabbath), then He would have been circumcised on the 8th day of the Feast of Tabernacles (which is also a High Sabbath).

In addition, it would better explain why there was no room for Mary and Joseph to stay anywhere. Bethlehem is only about 5 miles from Jerusalem, so the entire area around Jerusalem would have been absolutely packed with visitors who had come in for the festival.

But perhaps the biggest clue is the festival itself. You see, during the Feast of Tabernacles, God had His people live in humble temporary shelters which perfectly foreshadowed how His Son would come into the world some day.

In essence, God had His people go up to Jerusalem (which is about five miles from Bethlehem) every year, at the exact time when His Son would be born and He had them live in humble temporary shelters ("manger scenes" if you will) in order to foreshadow the circumstances of the birth of the Messiah.

For even more videos that show why there is incredibly strong evidence that Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, please see the following article: Jesus Was Born During The Feast Of Tabernacles.

So why are Christians still not celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles today?

Why are Christians celebrating "Christmas" instead?

Well, in the centuries following Jesus, there was a tremendous amount of anti-Semitism throughout the Roman Empire.  Jews came to be deeply hated, and anything associated with the Jews was looked down upon.

Christian converts in areas of the Roman Empire outside of Israel started to find it very convenient to forget about anything that looked like "Jewish tradition" and many of them would even openly celebrate the pagan holidays that everyone else was celebrating just to "fit in".

By the time the Roman Empire legalized Christianity in the 4th century, most of the other religions in the empire were celebrating the birth of their gods on December 25th.

Leading up to December 25th in ancient Rome, a festival known as Saturnalia was one of the biggest celebrations of the year. Saturnalia was a festival during which the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of their god Saturn. This holiday began on the 17th of December and it would last for an entire week until the 23rd of December.

Saturnalia was typically characterized by gift-giving, feasting, singing and lots and lots of debauchery. The priests of Saturn would carry wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession throughout the pagan Roman temples.

Later on, the Romans also started holding a festival on December 25th called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, which means "the birthday of the unconquered sun." Basically it was a way for the empire to consolidate all of the December 25th "sun god" birthdays throughout the empire into one holiday.

In the year 350 A.D., Pope Julius I declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on December 25th from then on. There appears to be little doubt that Pope Julius was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans to convert to Catholicism.

However, the new holiday did not really take off with Christians at first. The widespread celebration of December 25th by Christians did not really get going until 378. It was apparently then dropped in 381 and then resurrected in 400.

But the truth is that December 25th was celebrated as the birthday of scores of pagan gods long before it was ever associated with Jesus.

As we discussed earlier, the celebration of December 25th goes all the way back to Nimrod (who eventually came to be worshipped as Baal).

Baal worship spread throughout the known world and provided the basis for all other pagan religions. The following are just some of the pagan gods that had "birthdays" on December 25th....

Mithras

Horus

Attis

Dionysus the son of Zeus

Tammuz

Hercules

Osiris

Perseus

Helios

Bacchus

Apollo

Jupiter

Sol Invictus - (The "Unconquered Sun")

When the Roman Catholics decided to make December 25th a "Christian holiday" in the fourth century, they simply "adopted" a pagan holiday and kept most of the same pagan traditions.

By adopting pagan holidays, the Catholic authorities hoped to make it easier for pagans to turn into "Christians".  The following is a quote from the 2000 Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 11; page 390....

"During the later periods of Roman history, sun worship gained in importance and ultimately led to what has been called a 'solar monotheism.' Nearly all the gods of the period were possessed of Solar qualities, and both Christ and Mithra acquired the traits of solar deities. The feast of Sol and Victus (open unconquered Sun) on December 25th was celebrated with great joy, and eventually this date was taken over by the Christians as Christmas, the birthday of Christ."

For example, the ancient Babylonian "Christmas tree" became known as a symbol of fertility throughout the ancient world. The pole, balls, and tinsel (phallus, testes, semen) represented various aspects of male fertility, while wreaths were always fashioned in a circle to represent female fertility.

In "The Two Babylons", Hislop describes some of the ancient traditions surrounding the Christmas tree on page 97....

"The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm-tree; in Rome it was the fir; the palm tree denoting the Pagan messiah, as Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as Baal-Berith. The mother of Adonis, the sun-god and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been recognized as the 'Man the branch.' And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas Eve, and the appearance of the Christmas tree the next morning."

That sure puts a different spin on Christmas traditions, now doesn't it?

Most Christians don't even realize that God warned us about such things in the Bible.

In Jeremiah 10:1-4, God warns us against putting up these decorated trees like the pagans were doing....

Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter."

But we love our "Christmas trees" don't we?

In the Scriptures, God solemnly warns us not to adopt the practices of those who worship other gods. Deuteronomy 12:29-31 state the following....

The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.”  You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

The Puritans understood this. It comes as a surprise to most Americans to learn that the Puritans once banned Christmas trees in many areas of the United States because they were considered so pagan.

According to ancient Babylonian tradition, the springtime fertility festival of Ishtar (Easter) was a time when the "Queen of Heaven" was believed to become impregnated. Nine months later the sun god would be "born" or "reborn".

To the ancient Babylonians, these holiday trees came to be worshipped as the "Queen of Heaven", and gifts were brought to the "groves" of trees that had been grown in her honor and placed beneath them as offerings.

The Babylonians also used wreaths to represent the nativity of the sun, since they were objects that depicted the "womb" of the Earth mother.

Early Christians completely rejected these traditions. In the 3rd century, Tertullian wrote the following about these pagan celebrations....

"On your day of gladness, we [Christians] neither cover our doorposts with wreaths, nor intrude upon the day with lamps. At the call of public festivity, you consider it a proper thing to decorate your house like some new brothel. We are accused of a lower sacrilege because we do not celebrate along with you the holidays ..."

The truth is that the celebration of December 25th and most of the accompanying traditions have always been pagan.

But many Christians will protest and say that it is okay for them to celebrate December 25th because to them it is all about Jesus.

That was the same excuse that Aaron used when he and most of the rest of the people of Israel worshipped the golden calf while Moses was up on the mountain getting the Law of God. Aaron actually said that the worship of the golden calf was being done to the Lord as we read in Exodus 32:5....

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD."

But we know how that turned out.

God was not pleased.

At all.

In fact, He was furious.

In the same way, God is not pleased when we celebrate pagan holidays and keep traditions that have been pagan for thousands of years.

For even more on the pagan origins of Christmas, check out the following YouTube video....



Now, for something that will totally blow your mind....

Earlier we discussed how the celebration of Christmas goes back to an ancient Babylonian ruler named Nimrod.

So exactly who was Nimrod?

Genesis 10:8-12 tells us the following....

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth.  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.”  The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar.  From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

Nimrod was basically the first great "world ruler" after the Flood.  According to legend, he married his mother (Semiramis) and after Nimrod's death Semiramis had a child named Tammuz which was supposedly Nimrod "reborn".

This story is the original source of the art all over the ancient world that depicts the "goddess" holding the holy child.  For example, the whole mythology of Isis giving birth to Horus after the death of Osiris is a good example of this.

In fact, Osiris is a good example of a "god" that can be traced back to Nimrod.  In Genesis it tells us that Nimrod was the first great ruler of Assyria, which many scholars believe was originally pronounced "Osiria".

The truth is that virtually all of the male deities of the ancient world can be traced back to Nimrod or his son Tammuz.  In his wonderful article entitled "The Giza Discovery", author Peter Goodgame explains that the Greek god "Apollo" can also be traced back to Nimrod....

"And just who is this Greek god Apollyon who makes his strange appearance in the book of Revelation? Charles Penglase is an Australian professor who specializes in ancient Greek and Near Eastern religion and mythology. In his book, Greek Myths and Mesopotamia: Parallels and Influence in the Homeric Hymns and Hesiod, Penglase carefully and methodically demonstrates that the Greek myths and legends of Apollo were simply Greek retellings of the Babylonian myths involving the rise to power of the god Marduk, which were themselves based on earlier legends of the Sumerian hunter/hero known as Ninurta. Furthermore, according to David Rohl, the original name for Ninurta was in fact Nimurda, whose historical identity can be traced back to King Enmerkar of Uruk, the very same figure who is known in the Bible as Nimrod."

From Nimrod and his "son" sprang virtually all of the "gods" of the ancient world - Baal, Apollo, Osiris, Mithras, Adonis, Dionysus, Hercules, Perseus, Helios, Bacchus and Jupiter.

But there "gods" were not just worshipped in ancient times.

The truth is that secret societies throughout the world worship them today.

In fact, as Tom Horn documented very thoroughly in his excellent book entitled "Apollyon Rising 2012", many of these secret societies are obsessed with the belief that Apollo/Horus will return one day to head up a New World Order.

Not only that, but the Scriptures seem to tie in Nimrod/Apollo with the Antichrist.

There are many passages in the Old Testament which seem to refer to the Antichrist as "the Assyrian".  In fact, in Micah 5:5-6, it not only mentions "the Assyrian" but it even calls Assyria "the land of Nimrod"....

And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.  And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

In the book of Revelation, there is a reference to "Apollyon" which is a modified version of "Apollo".  In Revelation 9:11, it says the following....

They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

But isn't the Antichrist supposed to be someone new?

Not necessarily.

The book of Revelation says that the inhabitants of the earth will be amazed that the person who will be known as the Antichrist has returned. Revelation 17:8-14 tells us the following....

The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.


“This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.


“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Many Bible scholars are now talking about "the return of the Antichrist" instead of "the coming of the Antichrist". Many believe that the Antichrist will be tied to Nimrod is some profound way.

So exactly what will that mean?

Nobody knows for sure.

But if the coming Antichrist is going to represent "the return of Nimrod" in some fashion, and if Nimrod's birthday is December 25th, then those celebrating Christmas may actually be celebrating the birthday of the Antichrist!

Just think about that for a moment.

Someday millions of people around the globe may be celebrating "Christmas celebrations" led by the ultimate false Christ - the Antichrist himself.

Do you really want to be celebrating the birthday of Nimrod/Apollo/Osiris?

Do you really think that it is appropriate for Christians to be indulging in deeply pagan practices?  Just because we have slapped the name of "Jesus" on them does that make them okay?

It is time for Christians to wake up and to learn the real history of Christmas.

No Christian should be celebrating this pagan holiday.

Before you had an excuse because nobody has ever taught you these things.

But now you know.