Expert: Brenda Martin - 2/5/2004

Question
Please can you enlighten me on the origine of christmas? I will equally like to know why it is not celebrated by the Jehovah Witnesses.

Answer
Hi Irene, You asked 2 questions, I hope I have answered them to your satisfaction--

1. ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS?

At first it was a “beast” living outside of Christianity. Under the subheading “Relation to the Roman Saturnalia,” The Christian Encyclopedia (in Korean) observes regarding Christmas:

“The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence. The recognition of Sunday (the day of Phœbus and Mithras as well as the Lord's Day) by the emperor Constantine . . . may have led Christians of the fourth century to feel the appropriateness of making the birthday of the Son of God coincide with that of the physical sun. The pagan festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit or in manner.”

The same encyclopedia says: “Christian preachers of the West and the Nearer East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ's birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun-worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival.”  “Yet the festival rapidly gained acceptance and became at last so firmly established that even the Protestant revolution of the sixteenth century was not able to dislodge it,” the encyclopedia notes.

A festival of the sun-god, outside of true Christianity, was brought into the prevailing church. It got a different name—yet its pagan character remained. And it helped to infuse paganism into nominally Christian churches and to corrupt individuals' spirituality. History bears out that as Christendom developed, the original attitude of “love thy enemies” gave way to moral degradations and violent wars.

In time, it was clear that despite its counterfeit name, Christmas reflected its pagan origin with revelry, heavy drinking, merrymaking, dancing, gift-giving, and the decorating of homes with evergreens. For the sake of commercialism's ultimate goal—more sales—Christmas has been exploited in every possible way. The mass media praise it; the public is simply amused.

2. WHY NOT CELEBRATED BY THE JEHOVAH WITNESSES?

Christmas is a prominent religious holiday today. But history shows that it was not a celebration observed by the very early Christians. Jesus told his followers to observe a memorial of his death, not of his birth. (1 Corinthians 11:24-26) The fact is, December 25 is not the date of Jesus' birth. It could not have been, since the Bible shows that at the time of his birth shepherds were still in the fields at night. They would not have been there in the cold, rainy season of winter. (Luke 2:8-12) Actually December 25 was chosen as the date to celebrate Jesus' birth because, as The World Book Encyclopedia explains: “The people of Rome already observed it as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the birthday of the sun.”

M'Clintock and Strong's Cyclopædia says: “The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin. The day of Christ's birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source.”—(New York, 1871), Vol. II, p. 276.

To illustrate--Suppose a crowd come to a gentleman's home saying they are there to celebrate his birthday. He does not favor the celebration of birthdays. He does not like to see people overeat or get drunk or engage in loose conduct. But some of them do all those things, and they bring presents for everyone there except him! On top of all that, they pick the birthday of one of the man's enemies as the date for the celebration. How would the man feel?  This is exactly what is being done by Christmas celebrations.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges-"Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome.”—(1967), Vol. III, p. 656.

Those Magi ( 3 wise men) were actually astrologers from the east. (Matt. 2:1, 2,) Although astrology is popular among many people today, the practice is strongly disapproved in the Bible. Would God have led to the newborn Jesus persons whose practices He condemned?

Matthew 2:1-16 shows that the star led the astrologers first to King Herod and then to Jesus and that Herod then sought to have Jesus killed. No mention is made that anyone other than the astrologers saw the “star.” After they left, God's angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt to safeguard the child. Was that “star” a sign from God or was it from someone who was seeking to have God's Son destroyed?

The practice of Christmas gift giving is not based on what was done by the Magi, they did not arrive at the time of Jesus' birth. Furthermore, they gave gifts, not to one another, but to the child Jesus, in accord with what was then customary when visiting notable persons.

The Encyclopedia Americana states: “During the Saturnalia . . . feasting prevailed, and gifts were exchanged.” (1977, Vol. 24, p. 299) In many instances that represents the spirit of Christmas giving—an exchanging of gifts. The spirit reflected in such gift giving does not bring real happiness, because it violates Christian principles such as those found at Matthew 6:3, 4 and 2 Corinthians 9:7. Surely a Christian can give gifts to others as an expression of love at other times during the year, doing so as often as he wants to.

Is there any objection to sharing in celebrations that may have unchristian roots as long as it is not done for religious reasons?

Eph. 5:10, 11: “Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord; and quit sharing with them in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness, but, rather, even be reproving them.”

2 Cor. 6:14-18: “What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Be'lial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God's temple have with idols? . . . ‘“Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,” says Jehovah, “and quit touching the unclean thing”'; ‘“and I will take you in, . . . and you will be sons and daughters to me,” says Jehovah the Almighty.'”

(Genuine love for Jehovah and a strong desire to be pleasing to him have motivated people  to break free from unchristian practices that may have had emotional appeal. A person who really knows and loves Jehovah does not feel that by shunning practices that honor false gods or that promote falsehood he is in any way deprived of happiness. Genuine love causes him to rejoice, not over unrighteousness, but with the truth. See 1 Corinthians 13:6.)

Compare Exodus 32:4-10. Notice that the Israelites adopted an Egyptian religious practice but gave it a new name, “a festival to Jehovah.” But Jehovah severely punished them for this. Today we see only 20th-century practices associated with holidays. Some may appear harmless. But Jehovah observed firsthand the pagan religious practices from which these originated. It is his view that matters to JW.

For all these reasons JW do not celebrate anything that is of PAGAN origin.

All the best Brenda


HI Irene, thanks for the kind words, it was my pleasure,you will need to copy and paste my answer from here onto a word document, then print it, as I do not have your personal email address. the site sends your question to me and it posts your answer to you.

all the best and look forward to hearing from you again.  brenda