Christmas and Easter
Seek the Truth with all your heart.
The true facts
Emperor Constantine instigated the blending together of Paganism and Christianity in AD 321.
The occasions of Christmas and Easter are actually based on Pagan festivals and ceremonies, and during the time of, and under the influence of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, these occasions were deceptively and wrongly designed, confusingly blended, and instigated, in very compromised ways to keep the Pagans and the Christians content that each of their main festivals / celebrations were being recognized, even though in very wrong ways.
Christmas was set up by Constantine as celebration of the birthday of Nimrod, a Pagan festival.
Similarly, ‘Father Christmas’ and holly and ivy, and other symbols used as representations of the celebration of Jesus birth, do not have anything to do with Jesus or His birth.
It is based on the pagan celebration of the northern hemisphere winter solstice.
Easter is not a biblical celebration at all; it is derived from pre-Christian pagan celebrations of springtime fertility, devoted to pagan goddesses with names such as Ishtar, Astarte, Ashtoreth, and Ostara, from which the name ‘Easter’ is derived. Ishtar was considered to be the Queen of Heaven. Ashtoreth was a Babylonian ‘goddess.’
Eggs and rabbits do not have anything to do with Jesus.
Rabbits do not lay eggs; they are noted for their reproductive rate, and eggs are considered to be a symbol of fertility.
Historian Will Durant wrote: ‘Christianity did not destroy paganism it was forced to adopt it’
Pagan ideas also infiltrated into it from Greece, Egypt, Phrygia, and Syria.
The Roman Catholic Church claim authority for having changed the day to Sunday, because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (ca. 364 AD) transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday (3rd ed., p 50.) and people blindly followed in acceptance. When in 321AD Constantine made the first day of the week a holiday, he called it ‘the venerable day of the sun’ = Sunday.
The Christian church, without informed awareness, took over many pagan ideas and images. The day of sun-worship led to the pagan celebration of the birthday of the sun which was considered to be during the winter solstice on 25th December, which then became the celebration of Christ’s birthday, to keep the Christians happy. Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival of 17-21 – December, which included merriment, gift-giving, and the rest of the paraphernalia, became typical of Christmas. Constantine was almost certainly a Mithraic = a sun-worshipper.
The Vatican’s claim to have received the people’s approval of accepting Sunday as the Sabbath, after Constantine had already converted it to be the ‘new’ Sabbath, to suit his own compromising plans.
Such a change, or any variation at all to any of the commandments, is an absolute contradiction to GOD’s command and is not authorised or justified anywhere in the Bible. GOD’s instructions are unchangeable.
The true Apostolic Church of the first century observed the biblical festivals:
The New Testament Passover.
Days of Unleavened Bread.
Pentecost.
The Feast of Trumpets.
The Day of Atonement.
The Feast of Tabernacles.
The Last Great Day.
John 7:37-38 ‘On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Galatians 1:8 ‘But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.’
Luke 2:8 ‘Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.’
Jesus was not born in December; shepherds were not in the field in December. The cold, rainy season began long before December 25, when the sheep were kept under shelter. He was probably born sometime between late August and early October, as most reputable Bible commentaries acknowledge.
In Rome, December was the time of the celebration of the pagan Saturnalia as well as the ‘holy days’ of worshippers of Mithra and Sol Invictus. As pagan ‘converts’ changed their original teachings of Christianity to suit their old habits, they continued to observe their end-of-December festivities, merely changing their object of worship.
Jeremiah 10:3-4 ‘For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.’
Jesus never observed His birthday, and neither did the Apostles. There is no instruction in the Bible to celebrate His birth.
We are to be always aware of His having died for us, his body was laid in a tomb, and three days later GOD’s mighty Holy Spirit raised Him back to life for us. Jesus is the One Who will resurrect us to immortal - eternal life - in His, and our FATHER’s kingdom.
In the year 245 AD the noted scholar Origen ‘Repudiated as sinful the very idea of keeping the birthday of Christ.’ (Ref. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed.)
The Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on ‘Christmas’ in its 15th edition, states: “According to a Roman almanac, the Christian festival of Christmas was celebrated in Rome by AD336.” It further states “The Fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Epiphanius, contended that Christmas was a copy of a Pagan celebration.” Set-up by the Catholic church.
The book of Acts, in the Bible, shows that the Apostolic Church of the first century, the New Testament Church, never observed Christmas or the birth of Christ.
Christianity is guilty, too often, of following counterfeit and false traditions. They do it with good intentions but also in ignorance and lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6 ‘My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.’
Job 36:12 ‘But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge.’
Proverbs 29:18 ‘Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.’
Jesus birth on Earth was foretold centuries before in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Isaiah 7:14 ‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.’
Isaiah 9:6-7 ‘For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty GOD, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD ALMIGHTY will accomplish this.’
Luke 1:26-33 ‘In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s (mother of John the Baptist) pregnancy, GOD sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured. The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with GOD. You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you are to call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord GOD will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever, His kingdom will never end.’
Luke 2:4-21 ‘So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth ion Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising GOD and saying.
“Glory to GOD in the highest heaven, and on Earth peace to those on whom His favour rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Lets go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising GOD for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.’