The True Meaning of Christmas!

I was lucky in that my children just never believed in Santa so we didn't try to convince them. If we had pushed the issue it would have turned into a full blown lie. More recently, however, I have been studying Christian and secular history and have found that Christmas is a pagan celebration more closely resembling Mardi Gras than anything holy. It was a pagan holiday celebrating a festival known as Saturnalia, after Saturn, the goddess of nature and fertility. The early Roman-Catholic church decided to include it's traditions in the story celebration of "Christ's birth" in order to increase attendance. Deuteronomy 6:14-15 (NKJV) states, "14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; 15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth." Furthermore, deuteronomy 12:29-32 warns, "29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying , How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth , have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."

In point of fact. Jesus was likely born in early fall based on the pregnancy timelines for Mary and Elisabeth as outlined in the book of Luke. December 25th was the day of Saturnalia, not the birth of the Messiah. Reading the "Christmas story" in the first and second chapters of Luke one finds that the Magi, or wise men were not present at the nativity scene, it is evident that they didn't find Jesus until he was 2-3 years old in Nazareth, not Bethlehem. Much of the same is true of Easter and good Friday- neither of which were celebrated in the Bible, nor are they celebrations originating with Jesus. Easter and Christmas are not even mentioned in the bible which covers a period of several hundred years AFTER Jesus' ascension to Heaven. To celebrate most of our modern "holidays" is not supported by the Bible, and is further conflicted by adding in worship of saints. Saint Nicholas was indeed a real person, but not the jolly old elf that we celebrate today, and most people would be amazed at what they would find if they would simply look him up (Saint Nicholas). Actually reading the Bible would reveal how much of our Christian customs are falsified in order to make celebrating this pagan holiday seem fun and innocent. It is very important to know what's in the Bible, but just as vital is to know what's NOT in the Bible.