Yes Christmas Has Pagan Roots: Here's Why That Doesn't Matter

The Argument That Misses The Point: 

We established in the article posted last week that origins do not determine meaning.  The question that remains now is how Christians should celebrate Christmas today and Who Christmas is about.  Christians often get stuck debating history, while they are completely missing the heart and theme of the matter: Worship.  Christ.  Salvation.  The Absolute miracle of Jesus’ birth. 

Jesus asked the Pharisees: What think ye of Christ? (Matt 22:42) That question still matters because what you think of Jesus will determine how you approach everything.  Especially and including Christmas. In the passage above, Jesus exposed what we are talking about! Wrong thinking about Him leads to wrong conclusions about everything else. 

What Actually Makes Something Pagan

We’ve already gone over if Christmas isn’t pagan, then what actually is? Here we will discuss and answer that.
Paganism is defined by worship.  Not dates or specific objects.  Anything can become an idol, even something solely in your head.  The Bible defines idolatry/paganism as worshipping something created rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).  There are MANY forms of idolatry that come into Christmas. I have discussed this with many family members, and while they don’t agree, I’m not here to placate or make someone feel good.  This is about the cold, hard truth.  Here are forms of idolatry that creep into our Christmas celebrations: Materialism, Family over Christ, Santa, and Perfectionism.  Just take one example: Santa.  Many parents include Santa in Christmas to create wonder, joy, and excitement for their children. While the intent is good, it’s worth considering what moral and spiritual formation this narrative fosters. He is a functionally symbolic person, showing attributes that Scripture reserves for God alone.  He is presented to CHILDREN as someone who is invisible and always watching them, judges their behavior, and rewards what he considers good, withholds things when they’ve been bad, travels the world in one night, and is someone you write letters to.  This, intentionally or not, assigns a fictional character attributes that Scripture reserves specifically for the godhead.  Santa is often described to children as:

Omniscient - “He knows if you’ve been bad or good.” And Psalm 139:1-4 says: “O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.” Omnipresent - He is able to visit every home in one night.  A direct contrast to Jeremiah 23:23-24 “Am I a God who is near, declares the Lord, and not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see Him? Declares the Lord. Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? Declares the Lord.”

A Judge - Determining worthiness based on behavior.  Contrasting this with Romans 3:23-24, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the Redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

A Provider - he gives gifts and joy.  James 1:17 says this very clearly: “Every Good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” 

These, put together like this, show the divine attributes of God, being given to a fictional figure.  That blurs the categories that God in His Word keeps distinct. 

Santa subtly replaces Jesus in the moral imagination.  Santa rewards obedience with gifts, punishes disobedience with absence. 
Christ saves by grace, not works, lest any man should boast (Eph 2:8-9) and gives because of love, not merit.

Children will internalize a works-based moral system before they even understand the gospel, especially when the main Christmas narrative rewards BEHAVIOR rather than GRACE. The problem here is not imagination.  Children can have imagination and stay within the bounds of scripture.  The problem is displacement.  Scripture never opposed, Jesus never opposed stories, symbolism, or imagination. In fact, Jesus used all of these many, many times through His earthly ministry.  An issue occurs when fictional characters become central, Jesus takes second place, and the story receives more reverence than the Savior.  (“Little Children, keep yourselves from idols.” 1 John 5:21)
This also presents an ethical problem as well.  Teaching children a celebrated untruth that Santa is publicly celebrated, presented as real, and defended by adults (who know the truth), eventually, children will discover it is a lie, their trust can be shaken, and the question may arise if adults lied about this, what else isn’t real? Children are a lot smarter than adults give them credit for.  They may be unlearned in the ways of the world, but they still have thoughts that they may not talk about.  And to be clear, this is in no way accusing parents.  It is about discipleship and helping children.  

Santa is a cultural idol, not a historical pagan god. Santa is not pagan in his origin, but he functions as an idol when he eclipses Christ, dominates the attention of the season, and becomes the reason for Christmas. This is not an attack on parents who let their children believe in Santa; this is not saying that Santa is inherently sinful.  This is, however, a call to examine who we stand in awe of, who we give the anticipation of the season to, and who receives the glory.  If something fictional quietly and unknowingly to a lot of people takes on the role that belongs to Christ, then the issue is not pagan history; it is misplaced worship.  You can obsess over pagan origins and miss Christ entirely.  Just as the Pharisees knew the scripture, but misunderstood (willingly or not) the Savior standing RIGHT next to them.
God cares about WHY we celebrate, not WHEN (Romans 14:1, 5–6, 10, 22–23). Our whole life should be devoted to worshiping Christ. Not just a season (Colossians 3:17).  God Himself gave the Israelites feasts and remembrances.  They shared the same thing we do, when Christmas is celebrated for Christ. Christmas functions the same way these feasts did, if Christ is the focus. We need to be mindful that we don’t celebrate as an empty ritual (Is 1:13) or heartless worship (Matthew 15:8). The problem is never about celebration; the problem is celebration without Christ. 

Redirecting Christmas to Christ
Again, we ask the question: What Think Ye of Christ?
Does this elevate Him? Does this obscure Him? We have traditions that have been redeemed and are used as a remembrance to elevate Him.  A Christmas Tree means life in Christ.  The Lights of Christmas mean the Light of the World.  If we focus our entire season on gifts, aesthetic perfection, mythology, then we are making traditions of remembrance idolatry.  We need to detox cultural idolatry.  One way to do this is to replace excess with intention.  Instead of giving children tons of toys they’ll never use before they grow out of them, let’s give them one or two things they will enjoy for a long time.  Same with adults.  Another way is to guard our focus.  Make it about Christ and keep it that way.  Advent, prayer, scripture, music surrounding Christ, not Santa.  

Christmas is About the Incarnation of Jesus.  Our Savior.  Not just a baby being born.  Jesus came to save, not to just be cool and stand there.  John 1:29 and Philippians 2:8 show us this. Christmas is the beginning of the gospel.  It’s the beginning of everything in the New Testament.  The Birth of Christ, His life, His Crucifixion, leading to the Resurrection. The cradle points to the Cross, while His birth shows us God’s humility taking flesh. This separates Christmas from pagan festivals because pagans celebrated repeating cycles, and Christians celebrate God entering History to save sinners. If Jesus is reduced to a sentiment rather than the SAVIOR, Christmas becomes shallow and indistinguishable from any other celebration. If, however, He is seen as Lord and Savior, Christmas becomes worship. 

Why Pagan Roots Really Don’t Matter: The Theology of Redemption.

God redeems what was meant for evil for good. Genesis 50:20. God redeems people, cultures, symbols, and days.  NOTHING is too broken for God to reclaim or fix. Early Christians reclaimed Culture for Christ.  The incarnation conquers darkness, including paganism. The better questions to ask instead of asking Where did Christmas come from? Is to ask “Where does it point to now?” “Who do I worship through it?” 

We can make Christmas Holy in our Homes.

We can sanctify the season.  Reading scripture, giving to emulate Jesus giving His life for our sins, service, worship, reading the Bible before doing gifts on Christmas day, etc. 

We can also make sure our hearts are in alignment with the Lord.  Have quiet time every day, be in the Bible, pray, spend time with Jesus, not compare ourselves to others.  Teach children who Jesus is.  The Messiah who came to save is not a myth.  Be a home that testifies and points to Christ. 

Don’t make Christmas Legalistic

Some people or families choose to abstain from the celebrations.  And that’s ok (Romans 14:5-6).  Adding rules God didn’t command, however, is dangerous. Legalism will always shift focus away from Christ.  Celebrating Christmas is optional, but worshipping Jesus is not.  Don’t let your conscience replace the doctrine of the Bible. 

What Think Ye of Christ?
Pagan roots do not define Christmas.  Christ does.  Your view of Christ will determine your view of Christmas.  Christmas celebrates God being with us, the veil between heaven and earth being torn, Light overcoming darkness, death being defeated, Salvation ENTERING THIS WORLD.  Wow, that just gives me chills.  Do you have chills? 

Christmas belongs to Christ because Christians give it to Christ.  Because HE IS LORD, NOT HISTORY.  

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas

https://www.gotquestions.org/Christmas-pagan-holiday.html

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iv.i.html

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/is-christmas-too-pagan-for-christians

https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/should-we-celebrate-christmas

Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries — MacMullen

The Early Church and the Roman Empire — Ferguson