{"id":4293,"date":"2009-12-16T16:25:37","date_gmt":"2009-12-16T16:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/?p=4293"},"modified":"2026-01-25T16:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T16:33:18","slug":"origins-of-christ-mass-customs-rituals-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/2009\/12\/16\/origins-of-christ-mass-customs-rituals-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Origins of Christ ‘mass’ – Customs, Rituals, Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Origins of Christ \u2018mass\u2019 Bible Study \u2013 Customs, Rituals, Traditions and Origins<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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The bible study supplement is going to look into the common customs, rituals and traditions that are associated with the Christ \u2018mass\u2019 holiday (holy day).\u00a0 Last year we focused on the origins of the pagan tree that adorns homes all over America and must of the world every winter solstice celebration.\u00a0 This study will be utilizing several sources both that are from historical books as well as available on the internet.<\/h3>\n

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A Savior is born\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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\u201c<\/em>For there is born to you this day in the city of <\/em>David<\/em> a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 2:11<\/em><\/h3>\n

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Yes indeed!\u00a0 Our Savior was born and He fulfilled prophecy, He was born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1<\/em>)\u00a0 and His life, God\u2019s gift to mankind made our Salvation possible.\u00a0 His death on the cross paid the penalties for our sin.\u00a0\u00a0 He is the hope of every Christian.<\/h3>\n

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\u201cNow may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 15:13<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Should Christians celebrate Jesus\u2019s birthday?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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The question must be presented, why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on a specific day?\u00a0 Should His birth, life, death and Resurrection not be celebrated every day in a Christians life?\u00a0 Are birthdays celebrated in the bible?<\/h3>\n

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\u201cAnd it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and of the chief baker among his servants.\u201d\u00a0 Genesis 40:20<\/em><\/h3>\n

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\u201cThen an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday made a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of <\/em>Galilee<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Mark <\/em>6:21<\/em><\/h3>\n

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These are the only two birthdays being celebrated that are mentioned in God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 \u00a0Both of these men who celebrated their birthdays were pagan leaders of the people.\u00a0 If God wanted us to set aside a day each year to celebrate the birth of His Son Jesus, would it not a date have been clearly given?\u00a0 Why is it the bible is silent on the date of Jesus\u2019s birth?\u00a0 We will be discussing the origin of December 25th<\/sup> having been selected as the day that the world\u2019s Christians set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus later.\u00a0 First we are going to take a look at which season Jesus could not have been born in.<\/h3>\n

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Was Jesus born on December 25th<\/sup>?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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While the Holy Scriptures are silent on the date of Jesus\u2019s birth we can determine that Jesus could not have been born in the month of December by using Scripture.<\/h3>\n

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\u201cNow there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 2:8<\/em><\/h3>\n

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\u201cBethlehem has a Mediterranean climate, with hot and dry summers and cold winters. Temperatures in the winter season, from mid-December to mid-March, could be cold and rainy. January is the coldest month, with temperatures ranging from 1\u00a0to\u00a013\u00a0degree Celsius (33\u201355\u00a0\u00b0F).\u00a0 From May through September, the weather is warm and sunny. August is the hottest month, with a high of 27 degrees Celsius (81 \u00b0F). Bethlehem receives an average of 700\u00a0millimeters (27.6\u00a0in) of rainfall annually, 70% between November and January.\u201d1<\/h3>\n

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\u201cKeeping watch – by night – <\/strong>Or, as in the margin, keeping the watches of the night, i.e. each one keeping a watch (which ordinarily consisted of three hours) in his turn. The reason why they watched them in the field appears to have been, either to preserve the sheep from beasts of prey, such as wolves, foxes, etc., or from freebooting banditti, with which all the land of Judea was at that time much infested. It was a custom among the Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts, about the passover, and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain: during the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As the passover occurred in the spring, and the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our October and November, we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole of the summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could he have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact, which casts considerable light upon this disputed point.\u201d2<\/h3>\n

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A very good argument has been made as to why Jesus couldn\u2019t have been born in December.\u00a0 We are going to take a look at another argument against December based off of the Holy Scriptures.<\/h3>\n

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\u201c<\/em>And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.\u00a0 This census first took place while Cyrenius was governing <\/em>Syria<\/em>.\u00a0 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.\u00a0 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.\u00a0 So it was, that while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to give birth.\u00a0 And she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 2:1-7<\/em><\/h3>\n

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The thought being here is that a census would not be taken during the cold winter months but rather during more favorable weather either spring, summer or early fall.\u00a0 While this can not seemingly be proven as history is often distorted by those who write it and varying contradictions can appear out of alternative historical works this is a common sense argument.\u00a0 Once the origin of the selecting of December 25th<\/sup> is investigated this theory will become even more grounded.<\/h3>\n

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Origin of December 25th<\/sup>,\u00a0 Jesus\u2019s birthday or an ancient pagan holy day?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Now we will divulge the origin of Christ \u2018mass\u2019 and see how indeed this date was well-known and celebrated long before the birth of Christ.\u00a0 We will also look into how it became associated with Jesus\u2019s birth.\u00a0 Here is an excerpt from an old book regarding the origin of Christ \u2018mass\u2019.<\/h3>\n

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\u201cThis festival has been commonly believed to have had only an astronomical character, referring simply to the completion of the sun\u2019s yearly course, and the commencement of a new cycle. But there is indubitable evidence that the festival in question had a much higher influence than this–that it commemorated not merely the figurative birthday of the sun in the renewal of its course, but the birth-day of the grand Deliverer…the Sun-God and great mediatorial divinity.\u201d3<\/h3>\n

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Here we can see that early Christians did not celebrate Christ \u2018mass\u2019, as pointed out in the study regarding the origin of the tree the holiday was banned in the mid 1600\u2019s in Massachusetts Bay Colony.<\/h3>\n

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\u201c…within the Christian Church no such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and…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 honour 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 nominal adherents of Christianity, the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it the name of Christ.\u201d4<\/h3>\n

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Probably one of the main reasons that many so-called Christians would have a very hard time seeing through the matter, though if they are not truly saved they ought to focus on that first and foremost!, is the fact that there is so much ecumenism.\u00a0 Not all who call themselves Christians are indeed truly saved and not all of the Churches are truly New Testament Churches that are honorable and obedient to the Most High.<\/h3>\n

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\u201cFor not all those of <\/em>Israel<\/em> are <\/em>Israel<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 9:6b<\/em><\/h3>\n

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The study is written for Christians or for whomever God desires to read it.\u00a0 The christian world can not readily mark off their Catholic brethren, the root of so-called Christianizing of this pagan holiday.\u00a0 With the amount of ecumenism, one-ness, agreeing to disagree \u2013 but keeping the basics, or whatever title such stuff goes under it is no wonder that biblical Christianity is indeed something found by only the few.<\/h3>\n

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\u201c<\/em>Because narrow is the gate and distressing is the way which leads unto life, and there are few who find it.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 7:14<\/em><\/h3>\n

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Here is the origin of attaching Jesus\u2019s day of birth to December 25th<\/sup>. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

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\u201cMany Roman Catholics would like to point to Pope Liberius, who in 354 A.D. decreed Christmas to be celebrated December 25th<\/sup>.\u00a0 In reality it was the Roman Emperor, Constantine who declared December 25th<\/sup> to be Christ\u2019s birthday in the year 336 A.D.\u00a0 What was his reason for this?\u00a0 It was based on political pressure!\u00a0 Many zealous church members urged the decree.<\/h3>\n

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Why December 25th<\/sup>?\u00a0 That day was already observed as a heathen holiday…\u2019THE FEAST OF SATURN, BIRTHDAY OF THE UNCONQUERED SUN.\u2019\u00a0 This pagan feast began two weeks of festivities which included feasting, drinking, abstention from work, special musical presentations and the exchanging of gifts.<\/h3>\n

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You will remember that Constantine was the first \u201cchristian\u201d emperor of the Roman Empire.\u00a0 As a result of a vision of the cross, (inscribed with \u201cin hoc signo vinces\u201d which in Latin means \u2013 by this emblem shalt thou conquer) in 312 A.D. Constantine gave full support to Christianity and proclaimed it the official religion of the Empire.\u201d5<\/h3>\n

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In order to put this matter to rest regarding the historical truths of December 25th<\/sup> and the winter solstice we are going to briefly review a snippet about the dating of the winter solstice and then go over some historical documentation regarding Christ \u2018mass\u2019 and the origins.<\/h3>\n

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\u201cSince 45 BCE, when the 25th of December was established in the Julian calendar as the winter solstice of Europe, (Latin: Bruma<\/em>), the difference between the calendar year (365.2500 days) and the tropical year (365.2422 days) moved the day associated with the actual astronomical solstice forward approximately three days every four centuries until 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar bringing the northern winter solstice to around December 21. Yearly, in the Gregorian calendar, the solstice still fluctuates slightly but, in the long term, only about one day every 3000 years.\u201d6<\/h3>\n

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Here we can see that the winter solstice was celebrated on December 25th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Now moving right along\u2026<\/h3>\n

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Historical Documentation<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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\u201cIn pagan Rome and Greece, in the days of the Teutonic barbarians, in the remote times of ancient Egyptian civilization, in the infancy of the race East and West and North and South, the period of the winter solstice was ever a period of rejoicing and festivity.\u00a0 Even the Puritanism of the Anglo-Saxon has not been equal to the task of defending Yule-tide from a triumphant inroad of pagan rites and customs…\u201d7<\/h3>\n

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\u201cThe wild revels, indeed, of the Christmas period in olden times almost stagger belief.\u00a0 Obscenity, drunkenness, blasphemy, — nothing came amiss.\u00a0 License was carried to the fullest extent of the licentiousness.\u201d10<\/h3>\n

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\u201cMerrie (sic) old England was the soil in which Merrie Christmas took its firmest root.\u00a0 Even in Anglo-Saxon days we hear of Alfred holding high revelry in December, 878, so that he allowed the Danes to surprise him , cut his army to pieces, and send him a fugitive.\u00a0 The court revelries increased in splendor after the Conquest.\u00a0 Christmas, it must be remembered, was not then a single day of sport.\u00a0 It had its preliminary novena which began December 16, and it ended on January 6, or Twelth-Night.\u00a0 All this period was devoted to holiday-making.\u201d11<\/h3>\n

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\u201cWe have frequently\u2026had occasion to remark on the numerous traces still visible in popular customs of the old pagan rites and ceremonies.\u00a0 There, it is needless here to repeat, were extensively retained after the conversion of Britain to Christianity, partly because the Christian teachers found it impossible to wean their converts from their cherished superstitions and observances, and partly because they themselves, as a matter of expediency, ingrafted the rites of the Christian religion on the old heathen ceremonies, believing that thereby the cause of the Cross would be rendered more acceptable to the generality of the populace, and thus be more effectually promoted.\u201d14<\/h3>\n

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Taking a moment aside to mention just how telling this really is.\u00a0 Understandably much European literature, as the above, was written by Catholics or those who only saw the Catholics as the means of Christianity.\u00a0 So much of history dealing with Christianity has a very heavy or predominant Catholic slant.\u00a0 The above is quite telling as it not only is what is happening today with the churches who will have rock concerts, other worldly sponsorships and events as well as their \u2018come-as-you-are\u2019 type settings to even relates it to the fact that the teachers or proselytizers themselves were unwilling to give up worldly things for the cause of Christ.<\/h3>\n

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\u201c<\/em>Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?\u00a0 And what agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?\u00a0 And what agreement has the <\/em>temple<\/em> of <\/em>God<\/em> with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.\u00a0 As God has said: I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.\u00a0 Therefore, Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.\u201d\u00a0 2nd<\/sup> Corinthians 6:14-17<\/em><\/h3>\n

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\u201cBut Jesus said to him, No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the <\/em>kingdom<\/em> of <\/em>God<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 9:62<\/em><\/h3>\n

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As if that were not telling enough it gets even more obvious.\u00a0 In fact this historical source simply explains it as it is\u2026<\/h3>\n

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\u201cIn the early ages of Christianity, its ministers frequently experienced the utmost difficulty in inducing the converts to refrain from indulging in the popular amusements which were so largely participated in by their pagan countrymen.\u00a0 Among others, the revelry and licence (sic) which characterized the Saturnalia called for special animadversion.\u00a0 But at last, convinced partly of the inefficacy of such denunciations, and partly influenced by the idea that the spread of Christianity might thereby be advanced, the church endeavoured to amalgamate, as it were, the old and new religions, and sought, by transferring the heathen ceremonies to the solemnities of the Christian festivals, to make them subservient to the cause of religion and piety.\u00a0 A compromise was thus effected between clergy and laity, though it must be admitted that it proved anything but a harmonious one, as we find a constant, though ineffectual, proscription by the ecclesiastical authorities of the favourite amusements of the people, including among others the sports and revelries at Christmas.<\/h3>\n

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Ingrafted thus on the Roman Saturnalia, the Christmas festivities received in Britain further changes and modifications, by having superadded to them, first, the Druidical rites and superstitions, and then, after the arrival of the Saxons, the various ceremonies practiced by the ancient Germans and Scandinavians.\u00a0 The result has been the strange medley of Christian and pagan rites which contribute to make up the festivities of the modern Christmas.\u201d19<\/h3>\n

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Continuing on a historical aspect of the origins\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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\u201c\u2026the festivities of which, originally derived from the Roman Saturnalia, had afterwards been intermingled with the ceremonies observed by the British Druids at the period of the winter-solstice, and at a subsequent period became incorporated with the grim mythology of the ancient Saxons.\u201d15<\/h3>\n

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\u201cSir Isaac Newton, indeed, remarks in his Commentary of the Prophecies of Daniel<\/em>, that the feast of the Nativity, and most of the other ecclesiastical anniversaries, were originally fixed at cardinal points of the year, without any reference to the dates of the incidents which they commemorated, dates which, by the elapse of time, had become impossible to be ascertained.\u00a0 Thus the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary was placed on the 25th<\/sup> of March, or about the time of the vernal equinox; the feast of St. Michael on the 29th<\/sup> of September, or near the autumnal equinox; and the birth of Christ and other festivals at the time of the winter-solstice.\u00a0 Many of the apostles\u2019 days \u2013 such as St. Paul, St. Matthias, and others \u2013 were determined by the days when the sun entered the respective signs of the ecliptic, and the pagan festivals had also a considerable share in the adjustment of the Christian year\u2026Though Christian nations have thus, from an early period in the history of the church, celebrated Christmas about the period of the winter-solstice or the shortest day, it is well known that many, and, indeed, the greater number of the popular festive observances by which it is characterized, are referrible to a much more ancient origins.\u00a0 Amid all the pagan nations of antiquity, there seems to have been a universal tendency to worship the sun as the giver of life and light, and the visible manifestation of the Deity.\u00a0 Various as were the names bestowed by different peoples on this object of their worship, he was still the same divinity.\u00a0 Thus, at Rome, he appears to have been worshipped under one of the characters attributed to Saturn, the father of the gods; among the Scandinavian nations he was known under the epithet of Odin or Woden, the father of Thor, who seems afterwards to have shared with his parent the adoration bestowed on the latter, as the divinity of which the sun was the visible manifestation; whilst with th ancient Persians, the appellation for the god of light was Mithras, apparently the same as the Irish Mithr, and with the Phoenicians or Carthaginians it was Baal or Bel, an epithet familiar to all students of the Bible.\u201d17<\/h3>\n

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\u201cOthers have derived it from some one or other of the Roman festivals held in the latter part of December, as the Saturnalia, or the Sigillaria which followed them, or the Juvenalia established by Nero.\u00a0 A more striking parallel, however, than any of these is to be found in the Brumalia, or the Natalis Invicti (Solis), when the Sun, then at the winter solstice, was, as it were, born anew\u2026Mr. King (Gnostics and their Remains, p. 49), who derives the Roman festival from the Mithras-worship of the Sun.\u00a0 Then as Mithraicism gradually blended with Christianity, changing its name but not altogether its substance, many of its ancient notions and rites passed over too, and the Birthday of the Sun, the visible manifestation of Mithras himself, was transferred to the commemoration of the Birth of Christ.\u201d22<\/h3>\n

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\u201cIn the West it (Christmas) has been celebrated on 25 Dec since 336 AD, partly in order to replace the non-Christian sun worship on the same date.\u201d28<\/h3>\n

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Customs, Rituals and Traditions<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Now that we have taken an exhausting look into the roots of Christ \u2018mass\u2019 it should be more than suffice for even the hardest skeptic to acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ and the celebration of christmas have nothing in common.\u00a0 Let\u2019s turn our attention to some of the other customs, rituals and traditions that go along with the celebration of this pagan holiday and see that despite common misconceptions the true origins of these things are indeed pagan.<\/h3>\n

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Holly and Mistletoe<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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\u201cYet the holly and the mistletoe are a survival of ancient Druidical worship\u2026\u201d8<\/h3>\n

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\u201cTwo popular observances belonging to Christmas are more especially derived from the worship of our pagan ancestors \u2013 the hanging up of the mistletoes, and the burning of the Yule long.\u00a0 As regards the former of tehse practices, it is well known that, in the religion of the Druids, the mistletoe was regarded with the utmost veneration, though the reverence which they paid to it seems to have been restricted to the plant when found growing on the oak \u2013 the favourite tree of their divinity Tutanes \u2013 who appears to have been the same as the Phenician (sic) god Baal, or the sun, worshipped under so many different names by the various pagan nations of antiquity.\u00a0 At the period of the winter-solstice, a great festival was celebrated in his honour, as will be found more largely commented on under our notice of Christmas Day.\u00a0 When the sacred annivery arrived, the ancient Britons, the sylvan deities during the season of frost and cold.\u00a0 These rites in connection with the mistletoe, were retained throughout the Roman dominion in Britain, and also for a long period under the sovereignty of the Jutes, Saxons, and Angles.<\/h3>\n

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The following legend regarding the mistletoe, from the Scandinavian mythology, may here be introduced: Balder, the god of poetry and eloquence, and second son of Odin and Friga, communicated one day to his mother a dream which he had had, intimating that he should die.\u00a0 She (Friga), to protect her son from such a contingency, invoked all the powers of nature \u2013 fire, air, earth, and water, as well as animals and plants \u2013 and obtained an oath from them that they should do Balder no hurt.\u00a0 The latter then went and took his place amid the combats of the gods, and fought accompanied by their priests, the Druids, sallied forth with great pomp and rejoicing to gather the mystic parasite, which, in addition to the religious reverence with which it was regarded, was believed to posses wondrous curative powers.\u00a0 When the oak was reached on which the mistletoe grew, two white bulls were bound to the tree and the chief Druid, clothed in white (the emblem of purity), ascended, and, with a golden knife, cut the sacred plant, which was caught by another priest in the folds of his robe.\u00a0 The bulls, and often also human victims, were then sacrificed, and various festivities followed.\u00a0 The mistletoe thus gathered, was divided into small portions, and distributed among the people, who hung up the sprays over the entrances to their dwellings, as a propitiation and shelter to without fear in the midst of showers of arrows, Loake, his enemy, resolved to discover the secret of Balder\u2019s invulnerability, and, accordingly, disguising himself as an old woman, he addressed himself to Friga with complimentary remarks on the valour and good-fortune of her son.\u00a0 The goddess replied that no substance could injure him, as all the productions of nature had bound themselves by an oath to refrain from doing him any harm.\u00a0 She added, however, with the awkward simplicity which appears so often to characterize mythical personages, that there was on plant which, from its insignificance, she did not think of conjuring, as it was impossible that it could inflict any hurt on her son.\u00a0 Loake inquired the name of the plant in question, and was informed that it was a feeble little shoot, ftowing on the bark of the oak, with scarcely any soil.\u00a0 Then the treacherous Loake ran and procured the mistletoe, and, having entered the assembly of the gods, said to the blind Heda: \u2018Why do you not contend with the arrows of Balder?\u2019\u00a0 Heda replied: \u2018I am blind, and have no arms.\u2019\u00a0 Loake then presented him with an arrow formed from the mistletoe, and said: \u2018Balder is before thee,\u201d\u00a0 Heda shot, and Balder fell pierced and slain.\u201d16<\/h3>\n

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Christ \u2018mass\u2019 Carols <\/strong><\/h3>\n

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\u201c\u2026the Christmas carol is a new birth, purified and exalted, of the hymns of the Saturnalia\u2026\u201d9<\/h3>\n

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\u201cThe Puritans, indeed, denounced not only the singing of Christmas carols, but the observance of the festival of Christmas itself, as pernicious an unscriptual, and to their influence has been ascribed much of the seriousness characterizing this department of popular poetry in later times.\u201d20<\/h3>\n

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Christ \u2018mass\u2019 Lights and Candles<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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\u201cThroughout Northern Germany the tables are spread and light left burning during the entire night, that the Virgin Mary and the angel who passes when everybody sleeps many find something to eat.\u00a0 In certain parts of Austria they put candles in the windows, that the Christ-Child may not stumble in passing through the village.\u201d12<\/h3>\n

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\u201cAn Arabh geographer quoted in the tenth century a tradition that trees and flowers blossomed on Christmas and in the thirteenth century a French epic tells of candles appearing of the flowering trees.\u201d25<\/h3>\n

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\u201cThe candles were lighted by the pagans on the eve of the festival of the Babylonian god, to do honor to him, for it was one of the distinguishing peculiarities of his worship to light wax candles on his altars.\u201d30<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Presents<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cA similar custom prevailed among the Romans (giving of gifts),\u2026on the Calends of January offered to the emperor or their patrons presents called strenae\u2026the custom of the strenae as an offshoot of heathenism, did not find much favour in the eyes of the early Church.\u201d23<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe giving of presents on January 1 by the Romans has survived as the giving of Christmas remembrances, or as it is sometimes called the exchange of presents.\u201d 24<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Miscellaneous Christ \u2018mass\u2019 Decorations<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of wreaths at Christmas time is believed by authorities to be traceable to the pagan customs of decorating building and places of worship at the feast of the winter solstice.\u201d29<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Note:<\/u>\u00a0 Common sense after completing this study would seem to point to wreaths representing the sun, or worship of the sun.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe custom of decorating the houses with greens is derived from\u2026(the) belief in the blossoming of trees and plants at Christmas.\u00a0 Yet one archbishop forbade the use of greens on the assumption that the custom was of heathen origin.\u00a0 The use of mistletoe is without doubt traced to the Druids, who regarded it with reverence long before the Christian era.\u00a0 In celebration of the winter solstice the Druid priests gathered mistletoe and piled it on the altar of their god and burned it in sacrifice to him\u2026whenever enemies met under the mistletoe they would drop their arms, forget their enmities and embrace.\u00a0 It is believed that the custom of kissing under the mistletoe grew out of this ancient practice.\u201d25<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe decking of churches, houses, and shops with evergreens at Christmas, springs from a period far anterior to the revelation of Christianity, and seems proximately to be derived from the custom prevalent during the Saturnalia of the inhabitants of Rome ornamenting their temples and dwelling with green boughs.\u00a0 From this latter circumstance, we find several early ecclesiastical councils prohibiting the members of the church to imitate the pagans in thus ornamenting their houses.\u00a0 But in process of time, the pagan custom was like others of a similar origin, introduced into and incorporated with the ceremonies of the church itself.\u201d21<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

The winter-solstice \u201cby the Romans, this anniversary was celebrated under the title of Saturnalia, or the festival of Saturn, and was marked by the prevalence of a universal license and merry-making.\u00a0 The slaves were permitted to enjoy for a time a thorough freedom in speech and behaviour, and it is even said that their masters waited on them as servants.\u00a0 Every one feasted and rejoiced, work and business were for a season entirely suspended, the houses were decked with laurels and evergreens, presents were made by parents and friends, and all sorts of games and amusements were indulged in by the citizens.\u00a0 In the bleak north, the same rejoicing had place, but in a ruder and more barbarous form.\u00a0 Fires were extensively kindled, both in and out of doors, blocks of wood blazed in honour of Odin and Thor, the sacred mistletoe was gathered by the Druids, and sacrifices, both of men and cattle, were made to the savage divinites.\u00a0 Fires are said, also, to have been kindled at this period of the year by the ancient Persians, between whom and the Druids of Western Europe a relationship is supposed to have existed.\u201d18<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIn Germany the decoration of the house begins as early as the morning of the 24th<\/sup>.\u00a0 One room, from which all save \u201cdie Mutter\u201d is rigidly excluded, contains the Christmas-tree and all the presents, set in a shining row upon the table.\u00a0 Greens are hung from window and door, and garlands upon the walls\u2026The children\u2019s eyes are glued to the sliding doors, which are presently to open and disclose the tree.\u00a0 Six o\u2019clock, — a bell rings.\u00a0 Back swings the portal, and there it stands, resplendent with lights and tinsel.\u201d13<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus; it is engraved on the tablet of the heart and on the horns of Your altar with the point of a diamond; while their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees on the high hills.\u00a0 O My mountain in the field, I will give your wealth and all your treasures for plunder, and your high places for sin, throughout all your borders.\u00a0\u00a0 And you, even yourself, have let go of the inheritance which I gave you; and I will cause you to serve your enemies in a land which you do not know. For you have kindled a fire in My anger, which shall burn forever.\u00a0\u00a0 Thus says Jehovah, Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart departs from Jehovah.\u201d\u00a0 Jeremiah 7:1-5<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another tidbit on the Puritans.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a time during the Puritan ascendancy in England when the observance of Christmas was forbidden.\u00a0 A law was passed in 1644 making December 25 a market day and ordering that the shops be kept open.\u00a0 The making of plum puddings and mince pies was forbidden as a heathen custom.\u00a0 This law was repealed after the Restoration, but the Dissenters ridiculed the celebration of Christmas by calling it \u201cFooltide\u201d in burlesque of Yuletide.\u00a0 The General Court of Massachusetts passed a law in 1659 making the observance of Christmas a penal offense.\u00a0 This law was later repealed as the English law had been, but it was many years before there were any general Christmas celebrations in New England.\u201d26<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Final Thought<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

While it is clear that Christ \u2018mass\u2019 has been celebrated for well over a millennia it should be noted that time does not make evil not evil or sin not sin.\u00a0 Some of the things that we are used to in America are not as old as they seem.\u00a0 Here is a great example:<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cEarly in the present century the custom of setting up a Christmas tree in a public place and decorating it with colored lights was adopted in many American cities.\u00a0 In 1909 the people of Pasadena, Calif., instead of setting up a tree in the city, selected a tall evergreen on Mount Wilson, decorated it with lights and tinsel and loaded it with gifts which were distributed on Christmas day. \u00a0In 1912 a tree was set up in Madison Square in New York and on the Common in Boston for the first time.\u00a0 And in 1914 a tree was placed in Independence Square in Philadelphia.\u201d27<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

So you see what we perceive to having always been done in fact hasn\u2019t hardly been done a hundred years, in many cases several years less than that.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

What then should a Christian do in regards to this information?\u00a0 Should a Christian still celebrate Christ \u2018mass\u2019 or not?\u00a0 What about ones friends and family, what will they think?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Most High hates idolatry and this is what Christ \u2018mass\u2019 is all about.\u00a0 Christians should not partake of the Catholic mass, which is the origin of the name of this pagan holiday.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.\u201d\u00a0 1st<\/sup> Corinthians 10:14<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou shall have no other gods before Me.\u00a0 You shall not make for yourself a carved image; any likeness of anything in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them; for I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous Mighty God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.\u201d\u00a0 Deuteronomy 5:7-10<\/em><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

We are called by God to live holy and righteous lives before Him.\u00a0 We are to be separate from the world.\u00a0 What the world does in celebrating Christ \u2018mass\u2019 is not for us.\u00a0 Just as rock music has crept into many churches around the country we mustn\u2019t dismiss this error just because it is far older.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cJust as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love.\u201d\u00a0 Ephesians 1:4<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and without blemish, and above reproach in His sight.\u201d\u00a0 Colossians 1:21-22<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cTherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also become holy in all conduct, because it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.\u201d\u00a0 1st<\/sup> Peter 1:13-16 <\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cIf you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who produces righteousness is born of Him.\u201d\u00a0 1st<\/sup> John 2:29<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cFor the righteous Jehovah loves righteousness; His face beholds the upright.\u201d\u00a0 Psalms 11:7<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cThe righteous shall inherit the earth, and dwell in it forever.\u201d\u00a0 Psalms 37:29<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cAnd do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 12:2<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cDo not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.\u201d\u00a0 1st<\/sup> John 2:15<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cCome out of her, my people, so that you not share in her sins, and so that you not receive of her plagues.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 18:4b<\/em><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Our walk with Christ is an individual walk.\u00a0 While we may very well have the fellowship of other Believers we might otherwise be alone.\u00a0 Each one of us individually will give an account of himself before our Creator.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

\u201cBut why do you judge your brother? Or why do you treat your brother as being of no account? For everyone shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 14:10<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cSo then each of us shall give account concerning himself to God.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 14:12<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

There are times when taking a stance for Christ can mean the loss of friends and family members.\u00a0 <\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cHe who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 10:37<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cAnd everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 19:29<\/em><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

But nonetheless keep these verses in mind\u2026<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my father and my mother forsake me, then Jehovah will gather me up.\u201d\u00a0 Psalms 27:10<\/em><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYet I have left in <\/em>Israel<\/em> seven thousand, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.\u201d\u00a0 1st<\/sup> Kings 19:18<\/em><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amen!<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

References:<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

All Scripture is taken from the VW Edition.\u00a0 www.a-voice.org<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. \n

    http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bethlehem#Climate<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n

    Adam Clarke\u2019s Commentary on the Bible (Luke 2:8)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n

    Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons or The Papal Worship<\/em>, Loizeaux Brothers, 1916, pp. 94, 97.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  4. \n

    pp.93<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  5. \n

    Logos Communication Consortium, Christmas \u2013 What makes it important?, Brochure<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  6. \n

    http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Winter_solstice<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  7. \n

    Curiosities of Popular Customs, Walsh, 1897<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  8. <\/li>\n
  9. <\/li>\n
  10. <\/li>\n
  11. <\/li>\n
  12. <\/li>\n
  13. <\/li>\n
  14. \n

    The Book of Days, Chambers, 1879<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  15. <\/li>\n
  16. <\/li>\n
  17. <\/li>\n
  18. <\/li>\n
  19. <\/li>\n
  20. <\/li>\n
  21. <\/li>\n
  22. \n

    Unknown<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  23. \n

    Unknown<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  24. \n

    Unknown 2<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  25. \n

    Unknown 2<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  26. \n

    Unknown 2<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  27. \n

    Unknown 2<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  28. \n

    MacMillan Compact Encyclopedia<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  29. \n

    gilead.net*<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  30. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/h3>\n

    *Please note this website is part of the SDA church and I do not recommend it.<\/h3>\n

    <\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Origins of Christ \u2018mass\u2019 Bible Study \u2013 Customs, Rituals, Traditions and Origins   The bible study supplement is going to look into the common customs, rituals and traditions that are associated with the Christ \u2018mass\u2019 holiday (holy day).\u00a0 Last year we focused on the origins of the pagan tree that adorns homes all over America […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1328],"tags":[175,488,906,739,1350,1349,191,192,1330,1351,1352],"class_list":["post-4293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holiday","tag-all-will-stand","tag-allwillstand-org","tag-book","tag-christmas","tag-customs","tag-december-25th","tag-holidays","tag-holy-days","tag-origin","tag-rituals","tag-traditions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4293"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4297,"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4293\/revisions\/4297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allwillstand.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}