Christmas

Q: I have heard conflicting reports about Christmas being a pagan holiday. I would like some clarification on that.

A: We do not know the exact date of Christ's birth. The December 25 date comes from the position that Jesus died on March 25 coupled with the Jewish belief that a prophet died on the same day he was conceived. Add nine months to the date of conception and you come up with December 25. There were pagan holidays celebrated around that time (like Saturnalia) and, because of that, the assumption is that it was originally pagan. There is some evidence that the Christmas tree was originally used in pagan settings. It appears first in the Christian community in the eighth century and continued to evolve over time. Legend has it that the Reformer Martin Luther began the tradition of adding lights to the Christmas tree. The history can be debated. The essential question is, "Can an object of this world be used for God's purposes and designs even if it was originally used for non-Christian purposes?" I believe the answer is yes. In the first century Christians wondered if it was acceptable to purchase meat from the marketplace since, in many situations, that meat was first offered to pagan gods. Paul said a believer was free to eat it. The Psalmist declares, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." If Christmas was originally pagan, that matters little now for what God redeems is holy.