[An engaging article written by a Christian minister, Minister Shone Bagley. ~ Claire]
Why do we go on believing in a lie? We know that Christmas is not Jesus’ Birthday. Anybody who has been taught in religion studies would tell you that we may not know when Jesus was born but it was not December 25th.
In fact the majority of you may not even know that a festival that began with the Romans called the Saturnalia was a festival or holiday that took place to celebrate Saturn as a harvest god.
It was celebrated from the 17th until the 25th of December. This is the time where the Roman people were to indulge in food, drink and gift giving. It was within this festival’s conclusion, December 24th where the Romans believed they were destroying the forces of darkness, their enemies. On December 25th they did not eat or drink. On the 26th is where they exchanged their gifts to each other.
In the 4th century CE, the high Popes of Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival by choosing the 25th day as Jesus’ birthday – a new life of hope and everything that Jesus stands for– in hopes of drawing the pagan masses to join with them. It was within the Council of Nicaea where the church was in the process of legalizing Christianity with the authority of the Roman Emperor Constantine, for the sole purpose of unifying into the one religion of Rome.
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