Santa Claus is not a Christian

And neither is the Christmas tree.

In fact, Christmas is not a Christian festival.

It celebrates the birth of Saturn, who dies and is reborn every year -- thus the old man and the little baby costumes on New Year's Eve.

When the Christian missionaries were converting Europe, they found the people quite unwilling to give up their parties, so they tacked on Christian meanings to the existing festivals.

Another example is St.John's Day, which originally was Samhain (which, for some perverse reason, is not spelled the way it is pronounced -- it is "saw win"),the summer festival.

Easter celebrates the Babylonian fertility goddess Ishtar, who is also called Astarte -- in Egypt she is Isis. The bunny is not a Christian, and neither are the eggs.

So don't get your panties in a bunch about all those "Christian " holidays and symbols -- most of them are pagan, anyway.

Comments: 13

Larry M. Dec 16, 2009, 1:17pm UTC

Well the secular world (business) has taken most of the religious meaning out of the holidays anyway.

Tessa D. Dec 16, 2009, 1:26pm UTC

true
Happy Holidays

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Christopher B. Dec 16, 2009, 1:33pm UTC

Not quite, “Santa Claus” is derived from Saint Nicholas of Myrna, a first century bishop and saint whose feast is December 6th. He has a legend where he gave sacks of gold for a dowry for a poor man’s three daughters. (In one variation of the legend he threw those sacks down the chimney.)

The “Christmas Tree” is also Christian, or at least started by a Christian. St. Boniface apparently got so annoyed at a group of pagans worshiping an oak tree that he chopped down the tree and a fir tree grew up from the roots of the oak tree. Erecting a Christmas tree is, however, a custom that only started at the 16th century at the earliest.

The Yule Log, however, is as pagan as pagan gets. But you didn’t mention that.

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Tessa D. Dec 16, 2009, 1:46pm UTC

"The age-old myth, highly styled by Harper’s Weekly author Thomas Nast, is coming home, but no one seems to realize its origin, which once was an expression of star lore in a long-lost language and worldview. The thread of thoughts and web-patterns of lost cultures are blown about by the winds of change, and there are left only ethereal fairy tale figures, whose images are remodeled by clever marketing strategies to use as subliminal sales tools."

http://www.rkdn.org/alternative/Santa.asp

~~~

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Lydia (part of the solution) Shelley Dec 16, 2009, 2:10pm UTC

Regarding the missionaries being responsible for the holidays being celebrated when they were (i.e. Christmas/Easter) I read that it was because of persecution in the early church... the early Christians were afraid of being jailed and killed for their beliefs so they celebrated their holy days during pagan celebrations to "cover" for what they were really celebrating.

And while Christopher is correct about St. Nicholas, Santa Claus bears little resemblance to the Saint from whom his name was derived. For one thing, St. Nicholas did NOT give toys & junk to greedy rich kids, he gave food and money to the needy. BIG difference, if you ask me!

Lydia (part of the solution) Shelley Dec 16, 2009, 2:11pm UTC

This was the book I read... lent it out a long time ago and it was never returned, but not before I read it:

The Christian Book of Why

Char H. Dec 16, 2009, 2:15pm UTC

Way to get the conversation going, all I thought was it was part of the winter solstice thing. We all know it has nothing to do with Christ's birth, except symbolically. Lambs are born in the Spring!

Christopher B. Dec 16, 2009, 3:48pm UTC

Easter is based on Passover (indeed this was a problem in the early church on whether to continue to use the lunar calendar or the solar one for that date). Christmas is stranger still, as the feast of the Epiphany on January 6 predates it (A.D. 361). (Christmas is mentioned in Rome around A.D. 354 but not in the context of a feast; merely a date which is six months after the conception of Christ believed at the time to be the Spring Equinox: March 25.) Thus the “date” for the holiday is not derived from any pagan reference but with a spiritual conception linking “spring” with the conception of Christ.

Christopher B. Dec 16, 2009, 3:57pm UTC

As for the current traditions of Santa Clause; almost everything is derived from the post Victorian attempt to reform the holiday and from commercialism in attempts to sell products. Prior to “a night before Christmas” the holiday was anything but holy; it was a time when the poor and homeless would go door to door demanding gifts of food and booze. It’s only when you get to the mid 20th century that the Coca-Cola inspired Santa Claus takes full form.

Ian K Dec 17, 2009, 11:49am UTC

Keep in mind that the idea of taking pagan beliefs to avoid persecution (which in and of itself is GREATLY unchristian and the book of Revelations is quite clear about people who do that no matter what persecution you faced) is blatantly wrong. Christian persecution in Rome happened BECAUSE the Christians refused to adopt Roman rites. They didn't adopt pagan practices to avoid it, they just screamed "DO YOU SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE SYSTEM!" when it happened. It was literally their best ad campaign. No, the adopting of pagan customs into Christianity started with Rome after Constantine I made it the official religion of the Roman Empire. At that point, Constantine's previous god (Sol Invictus) was merged forcibly with old christian customs.

Lydia (part of the solution) Shelley Dec 17, 2009, 12:55pm UTC

Now that you put it that way, it does sound much more logical than what I read...

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Kris Jynn Dec 17, 2009, 8:09am UTC

When my friend and foes gather
in the spirit of joy and love
I cant honestly say I care of its origin
or if Santa is winking at me from my Coca Cola.
... Good info tho

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Tessa D. Dec 17, 2009, 1:13pm UTC

the Christians were not hiding from pagans
-- the Christians were in charge
-- the pagans had these annual festivals in which they feasted, got drunk and partied hearty
-- the missionaries overlaid those parties with Christian symbolism in an attempt to convert the pagans
-- Passover, which was developed into Easter for Christians, was calculated by the lunar calendar
-- Easter does not celebrate the birth of Christ, but commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection
-- the egg, a pagan fertility symbol, was made a symbol of the boulder that blocked the entrance to the cave where Jesus was buried
-- Passover, by the way, is not a raucous party
-- Jews celebrate Passover by eating bitter herbs and unleavened bread, and by thanking God that the angel of death passed over their houses when the first-born sons of Egypt were dying
~~~

``

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Santa Claus is not a Christian

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