Is Christmas pagan? Brenda Lewis Apologetics in Manchester 27 th November, 2010

King Arthur Gawain and the Green Knight: The late medieval writer has King Arthur celebrating Christmas for 15 days But King Arthur lived (if he did) before Augustine was sent to replace pagan rituals with Christian ones He would not have celebrated Christmas - it’s pure anachronism – isn’t it? When did we start celebrating Christmas?

Answers to the Arthurian problem Arthur was British, ruling before the Germanic tribes invaded Britain Britain had Christian churches before the pagan Anglo-Saxons arrived Arthur may have been pagan (look at Merlin), but he could have been a Christian in the days when Britain hovered between Christianity and paganism Augustine re-Christianised the south of Britain after the Anglo-Saxons invaded

Christmas Not instituted in the New Testament Tertullian (late 2 nd century) and Origen(early 3 rd century) believe celebrating birthdays is a Roman, pagan custom Christmas is not in Origen’s list of festivals – ‘such as the Lord’s Day, Preparation, Passover, Pentecost’ (Contra Celsum, Bk8, Ch22)

Saturnalia Festival to Saturn, from 17 th – 23 rd December, around the Winter Solstice Saturn, god of agriculture, linked to death and gloom Untying of his statue signal for licence – tomfoolery and debauchery Introduced in 217 BC to raise morale after a crushing defeat Attempts by Augustus and Caligula to reduce its length led to massive revolts

Saturnalia Master of ceremonies elected Sacrifices Public and school holidays Special market Present giving Gambling Limited role reversal of master and slave Dissipation, noise and insolence

First evidence of Christmas Early inconclusive hints 1 st certain evidence, Clement of Alexandria in c200AD said: Some Egyptian theologians were giving a date to Christ’s birth – 20 th May, 28 th year of Augustus (AD1 – too late) and Some gnostics celebrated the Feasts of Epiphany and (probably) Nativity on 10 th January and Others celebrated them on 6 th January

Early practice In the Eastern church, there was one feast in early January celebrating the manifestation of Jesus’ glory: 1.At his birth 2.To the shepherds 3.To the Magi 4.At his baptism. Some people added the miracle of water into wine (John 2.13) Others added the Transfiguration Mostly the emphasis was on Baptism

Two feasts Armenian Church still celebrates Epiphany and Nativity as one Feast In the West (Rome), Christmas was celebrated before 350AD Gregory of Nazianzus preached on 25 th December 380 AD that they had just witnessed Christ’s birth, soon would see him baptized. He preached on 6 th and 7 th January 381 AD that they had celebrated the Nativity and the Magi, next would celebrate Christ’s baptism Epheria’s account in 385 AD of 8-day Feast of Epiphany in Jerusalem includes 3 days of processions to Bethlehem Prudentius wrote separate hymns for Nativity and Epiphany in c390AD Cassia seems surprised that Egyptian monasteries still celebrated both feasts at same time in 420 AD

Summary 1 Christians probably began to celebrate Christmas widely as a solemn feast between AD Christians were still being persecuted then They were therefore careful to keep Christian feasts separate from pagan Roman festivals Origin unlikely to be Saturnalia – dates different Roman Feast of Lights/Natalis Invicti, celebrated 25 th December, was introduced in 271 AD, after Christians had begun to celebrate the Nativity (others say it was not introduced until 354 AD)

Are Christmas Trees Pagan? Boniface, born Crediton, Devon, 672 AD, missionary to the Germans Earliest biography by Anglo-Saxon monk, Willibald, who worked in his Metropolitan district, and wrote about 10 years after Boniface’s death: In 723 AD, Boniface cut down the Donar oak - extremely important and sacred - to demonstrate Christ’s power over pagan deities The Germans believed anyone touching the oak would die, so when he didn’t they were ready to convert. Boniface built a chapel with the wood, where the cathedral of Fritzlar now stands Germans say he later found a fir tree growing in its stump which became a symbol to him of everlasting life.

Christmas Trees In 13 th century people suspended fir trees upside down from the rafters as part of their Christmas decorations Martin Luther is said to have championed them Introduced into Britain in early 19 th century by German members of the Royal Family.

Did Arthur celebrate Christmas? He could have, if he lived after c250 AD The Feast of the Nativity did not resemble Roman licentious festivals It was a solemn and reverent feast of the Church Nativity was celebrated for 12 days, ending on 5 th January, Epiphany was celebrated for 8 days, starting on 6 th January – 20 days altogether People may have celebrated 12 days for Nativity and 3 for the Nativity part of Epiphany – 15 days He did not have a Christmas tree, but Christmas trees celebrate the evangelisation of Germany by an English monk