Many fundamentalist Christians refuse to celebrate Christmas because they believe it is merely a pagan celebration of the winter solstice dressed up with Christian trappings, but the actual origins of Christmas were based on the conversion of Germanic pagans to Christianity, not necessarily a celebration of the literal day of Christ’s birth on the winter solstice:
The story of the Christmas tree begins in England, where the very young Winfrid decided to enter a Benedictine monastery over the objections of his parents. Winfrid grew in holiness and piety but yearned to leave the monastery and bring the light of Christ to the pagan Germans just as the monks had brought the Faith to England a century earlier. Winfrid heard reports that Pope Gregory II (r. 715-731) had sent missionaries to Bavaria in 716 and decided to travel to Rome to become a missionary to the Germans. Pope Gregory was delighted at the arrival of the eager Winfrid and after a period of time commissioned him to preach the Gospel in the regions of Thuringia, Bavaria, Franconia, and Hesse. In recognition of his special missionary commission the pope also changed Winfrid’s name to Boniface.
The newly named monk traveled to Hesse (central Germany) in 721 and “with his tireless activity, his gift for organization, and his adaptable, friendly, yet firm character” achieved great success, including the conversion of the twin chieftains Dettic and Deorulf.[2] Boniface also established Benedictine monasteries throughout his area of evangelization, including the great monastery of Fulda in 744.[3] News of his great achievements reached Rome, where he was recalled by Pope Gregory to provide a status report. Impressed and pleased with Boniface’s efforts, Gregory consecrated him archbishop for all Germany east of the Rhine (without a specific episcopal seat) and placed his territory under the pope’s jurisdiction. Imbued with this new authority and pontifical mandate, Boniface returned to Germany in 723.
Boniface spent the rest of his life evangelizing the areas of modern Germany and parts of the Netherlands. He also became a friend of the Frankish court and helped reform and reorganized the Church in that area. From his missionary travels, Boniface knew that in winter the inhabitants of the village of Geismar gathered around a huge old oak tree (known as the “Thunder Oak”) dedicated to the god Thor. This annual event of worship centered on sacrificing a human, usually a small child, to the pagan god. Boniface desired to convert the village by destroying the Thunder Oak, which the pagans had previously boasted the God of Boniface could not destroy, so he gathered a few companions and journeyed to Geismar.
His fellow missionaries were scared and fearful that the Germans might kill them, so they balked when they reached the outskirts of the village on Christmas Eve. Boniface steadied the nerves of his friends and as they approached the pagan gathering he said, “Here is the Thunder Oak; and here the cross of Christ shall break the hammer of the false god Thor.”[4] Boniface and his friends arrived at the time of the sacrifice, which was interrupted by their presence. In a show of great trust in God and born from a desire to enkindle the fire of Christ in the German pagans, Boniface grabbed an axe and chopped down the Thunder Oak of mighty Thor.
The Germans were astounded. The holy bishop preached the Gospel to the people and used a little fir tree that was behind the now felled oak tree as a tool of evangelization. Pointing to it he said,
“This little tree, a young child of the forest, shall be your holy tree tonight. It is the wood of peace… It is the sign of an endless life, for its leaves are ever green. See how it points upward to heaven. Let this be called the tree of the Christ-child; gather about it, not in the wild wood, but in your own homes; there it will shelter no deeds of blood, but loving gifts and rites of kindness.”[5]
Awed by the destruction of the oak tree and Boniface’s preaching, the Germans were baptized.
Boniface continued his missionary efforts into old age when in 754, he left for a trip to Frisia with fifty monks. Their work was successful and many pagans agreed to receive baptism. When the appointed time came to celebrate the sacrament, a large armed crowd of pagans approached the missionaries. Knowing his time to die was at hand, Boniface discouraged his followers from fighting and said, “Cease my sons, from fighting, give up warfare for the witness of Scripture recommends that we do not give an eye for an eye but rather good for evil. Here is the long awaited day; the time of our end has now come; courage in the Lord!”[6] The ferocious pagan attack left Boniface and his fellow companions dead and celebrated as martyrs for the Faith.
Whatever one may think of the Catholic religion, the fact of the matter is that it was the only version of Christianity in Europe until the Reformation, and virtually all the original Christians were at one time pagans who converted to Christianity with the Catholic Church as the vehicle.
Of course, the Catholic Church was compromised and subverted from its very beginnings, but that doesn’t negate the fact that it was an essential part of the creation of Christian Europe, otherwise known as Christendom.
And the conversion of the Germanic people to Christianity was an immensely important event in European history, and it is truly an event worth celebrating, as all Europeans owe much to the German contribution to civilization as we know it.
Regardless of whether Christmas has some pagan remnants in its pageantry, it is still an essential part of our shared Christian heritage, and also a reminder how dark and backward Europe was prior to its conversion to Christ as its King.
Christmas was originally a negation of paganism, regardless of what it has become today.
Originally posted last year, we’re running this again for 2019.
Christmas was celebrated by Christians long before 8 century ad. It is a Christian celebration with all deeply Christian roots. Catholic Church has never been subverted and has fought evil more than anyone including defeating Muslim invasions and atheistic Jewish communism. Catholic Church created modern human rights and western civilization through the power of christ.
Sally, yes, the OLD Catholic Church- the REAL Catholic Church did all that. But since the Schism (1054A.D.) Rome has increasingly turned her back on her own foundations. The Orthodox acknowledge that, as do all the Reformers. Sadly, now we have the Bergoglian ‘anti-Church’. And THAT’s ‘Rome’- today. So while your point has merit, it does not apply today.
And, as far as Christmas is concerned, has not Christ’s Resurrection made us RULERS OVER ALL CREATION? It has. And that includes how we use the calendar year, since the Old Covenant’s ‘times and seasons’ have ceased with Christ’s Incarnation. And, just to point out the obvious, it was LUTHER who gave us all our traditions re: Christmas. https://christianindex.org/martin-luthers-influence-christmas-traditions-atmospheric-christmas-markets/
Ultimately, the moral of this story is that Christmas is the last visibly Christian holiday that hasn’t been completely hi-jacked from Christ. We as Christians allowed the jews to take our feasts of remembrance away from us, and we’ve allowed the pagan feast of Esther to take over the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
So what other reason do Christians have to publicly gather and celebrate our Lord? Our enemies are laughing all the way to the bank as they await the opportunity to rid the earth of the last reason for a public display of adoration for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ – by allowing us to diminish it ourselves.
Sadly, most Christians could care less about the true origins of Christmas which is why at this point it really doesn’t matter when the fate of this last Christian holiday is at stake . We need to be encouraging Christmas with “Christ is the reason for the season!”
I’ve read Tacitus’ account of Germania and I disagree that pre-Christian Europe was dark or backwards. These people had great morals, no usury, and strict monogamy, and their tribes were governed with few laws.
I agree with Tacitus’ account. However, there is nearly a 700 year difference between Tacitus and Boniface. A lot can change tribally within that time. Does that validate the Catholic “baby sacrificing” account or validate some regression to a ‘Dark Age’? No, but possible. Just saying. We should be able to see past such propagandist posturing and see the history for what it is. Like God said, we do not need to lie for His sake…
Since you do such good work, I hate to disagree with you.
It was ours and then co-opted and no, we didn’t chop children up. We used to enjoy peace at our hearth, often carving something nice like a toy. Time to spend with your loved ones away from the snow outside. This will shock your pure sensibilities, but often, the whole family slept in one bed like mice.
There are hardly any of us left anymore. Save your energy for the ones who want to destroy you.
When it comes to Christmas, if you insist on being so literal minded, you will always find something to disagree with. It’s a foundational myth. Enjoy the message even if you disagree with the messenger.
Yes, the child sacrifice might be Catholic propaganda, but it might not be either. While I appreciate your modern testimony to your own pagan history, the same can be said about Christianity today. There is plenty that modern ‘Christianity’ believes and is subsequently taught that is NOT supported by the Scriptures – and you don’t get better witnesses than the Old and New Testaments to what they should know.
Regardless, I don’t see this as a direct attack against white paganism, just a one-sided historical perspective – which most are. Besides, your paganism was derived from the same source as Christianity, it just took your people longer to get there. Some longer than others 😉
As for the obviously fallible Catholic Church, it was the vehicle Christ used to spread the message. It is the inevitable development by man to do the same with the words of Christ as our ancestors did with the words of Moses – to codify them into a system of man’s governance devoid of the spirit of that same law so that men may rule over other men.
People are trying to apply the same principle to the founding of the United States: that its purpose was to further this current global government. Simply throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We can berate both the Catlick church and Uncle Stupid for what they became – but only if we point the fingers at those responsible for manipulating these well-meaning institutions into the bloated monsters they have become.
One of the great ironies of European paganism is that it has its historical roots not in Europe but rather in ancient Babylon, which is where the ancient ancestors of Europeans learned of these occult practices, and when they eventually migrated up into Europe, they brought Babylonian mystery cults with them, and merely changed the names of their gods to suit their particular cultures/tribes.
This is ironic because that’s also where Judaism came from, which means that European pagans have a lot in common with today’s Jews, and perhaps that explains why the jewish media promotes neo-paganism so heavily.
Sort of like putting lipstick on a pig and calling it a horse! Christ Mass is catholic and if you are Christian you should not be celebrating in. Masses are said for dead people , but Christ is risen from the dead so no mass needs to be said.
In the interest of truth, and hopefully the CFT team realizes that what I’m taking issue with is the original source article done by Catholic.com
“This annual event of worship centered on sacrificing a human, usually a small child, to the pagan god.”
-CITATION NEEDED! Otherwise am calling B.S. on it.
“Boniface grabbed an axe and chopped down the Thunder Oak of mighty Thor.”
Uh, wait a minute. No one’s actually buying this, are they? This ridiculous story is like something right out of a fairytale. The wording is ambiguous. It can either be interpreted that he chopped it down in a normal, unsupernatural way, or that it is meant to imply that something like one stroke of the ax felled an old oak tree. Either way, this is obviously a fable. As to chopping it down in a normal way, this would have taken hours and the German festival goers would not just have stood around and watched him do it.
“The holy bishop preached the Gospel to the people and used a little fir tree that was behind the now felled oak tree as a tool of evangelization. Pointing to it he said, “This little tree, a young child of the forest, shall be your holy tree tonight. It is the wood of peace… It is the sign of an endless life, for its leaves are ever green. See how it points upward to heaven. Let this be called the tree of the Christ-child; gather about it, not in the wild wood, but in your own homes; there it will shelter no deeds of blood, but loving gifts and rites of kindness.”
This is so obviously a retcon of the pre-Christian fir tree tradition that it insults the intelligence. It’s clearly Catholics attempting to coop the tradition in the same way that the winter solstice holiday was to form Christmas. The evergreen tree tradition predates the 8th century setting of this story and the explanation for it is the most straightforward imaginable…in the grips of winter when all other growing stops and greenery disappears, the evergreen tree stays green and thus was a symbol of life in an otherwise threatening season (no crops can be grown).
The original article by Catholic.com is badly written and badly sourced and it should be obvious for what it is. I’m not sure why they seek with this poorly written article to hide the fact that Christmas coopted the winter solstice celebration, unless they believe that would be a source of shame due to their false belief that it was some evil tradition. These are Catholics behaving more like Jehovah’s Witnesses.
It’s common knowledge that the Catholic Church co-opted many aspects of European paganism to promote Christianity, which was a winning strategy to say the least. We shouldn’t allow our cynicism to stand in the way of enjoying a foundational Christmas story for what it is.
The year of Christ’s birth was first fixed by Dionysius Exiguus, a monk of Scythia, who lived in Rome at the beginning of the 500’s A.D. Thus all of the years since then have been designated as years A.D., that is, “anno Domini,” the Latin for “the year of the Lord,” such as 2019 A.D.
The observance of Christmas on December 25 was not introduced until 353 A.D. The chief pastor at Rome, Julius I (336-352), had the imperial archives of Rome searched for the exact date of the birth of Christ. A subsequent pastor of Rome, Liberius (352-366), then fixed the celebration of Christmas for December 25.
Justin Martyr (died 150 A.D.) writes: “Christ was born in Bethlehem, as may be gathered from the census records.” Another writer, Tertullian (155 or 160-220 or 230 A.D.), testifies that in the census of Augustus the Roman archives have provided the most reliable testimony of the birth of the Savior (outside of Scripture).
Thus it has been a fallacy to contend that Christians had set the date of Christmas for December 25 merely to counteract either the Roman festival of Saturnalia on December 17, or the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti on December 23, in order either to upstage them, or to keep their people from participating in them. If this were true, they would not have set the date of Christmas for two days later, after both these festivals were over.
Furthermore, why would the Christians have waited until 353 A.D. to counteract these two festivals? By that time the heathen influence throughout the Roman Empire had been weakened considerably by Christianity.
Therefore, in spirit, join the shepherds who said, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass.”
Gene Urtel – The Rivertown Press
Many ancient folkways and customs were ‘baptised’ when the pagan populations of the Europe were baptised as nation. This civilised and civilising protocol of the Church is one of the reasons why we know so much about our pagan ancestors.
For example, in England – the burning of the Yule log to mark the Winter Calends and all the traditions associated with the running of deer, the hanging of the greens. These customs to not make the Feast of the Holy Nativity holy (Christ’s Mass on Dec 25) – but they do make it traditional according to the folkways. And they do make it beautiful. The pagan sacrifice of the Oak King , however, the Church definitely frowns upon that. But every village in England had its Wassail and its Yule festivities – one of the most beautiful of which is the hanging of the seeds and cones on the fir trees for the birds, sleigh bells and carols.
Replying to Chesterton @ December 23, 2018 at 10:33 am:
“According to Jewish belief, on Christmas Eve (“Nittelnacht” as the Jews call it), Jesus has to roam through all the latrines of the world, crawling through excrement. If he hears the words of the Torah being recited, he gets a momentary respite from his torture. For that reason, to maximise his pain, Jews do not recite the Torah on Christmas Eve. They also avoid going to the toilet unless they meet Jesus there. They do things like play chess instead.”
https://diversitymachtfrei.wordpress.com/2018/12/24/as-christians-celebrate-christmas-with-their-families-jews-fantasise-about-their-saviour-crawling-through-excrement/
“What does the word ‘gentiles’ actually mean? The English word ‘gentile’ comes from the Latin word gentilis. It means one who is not a Roman citizen. That is the real meaning of the word ‘gentile’! And this is the word they’ve fooled us into calling all non-jews today! The enemy preys upon our ignorance and in the process, has put us in bondage to many lies.”
http://identityfaith.org/node/21
Gentile comes from gentilis you are correct. However the definition is clansmen, relative, of the same race etc., Gentiles are simply Israelites outside of the law. Look at the root word ‘Gen’; genetics, genes, genealogy, genos, generation etc.
This is a great article. Thanks, and Merry Christmas to CFT and to all our good White men, women and children.
Christmas is no longer celebrated in Germany nearly as it once was, thanks to non-White immigration. We are watching the destruction of the German people as Christianity dies in Germany:
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/changing-culture-increasing-number-of-people-in-germany-dont-celebrate-christmas/
Great article! Great site!
Enlightening and encouraging indeed! Thanx for posting – learned something today.
You correctly cast aspersion upon catholicism ; it has indeed been perverted from almost the beginning, as Paul warns us in the first century against those teaching many tenets of catholicism. Every pope since the early 1100s has been a jew, and we see that today, the catholic ‘church’ is as antiChrist as the jews who run it and support it. But as stated, in the beginning, the organisation was crucial to the spread of the Gospel among our European people. Highly recommend the book ‘The Drama of the Lost Disciples’ for more insight and fact about the true Church and its spread across the world.
Merry Christmas all.
addendum…. amazingly, even back then, people misunderstood and misinterpreted Scripture, especially the ‘do good for evil’ and ‘turn the other cheek’ ; this is NOT, and never has been, intended to be used in reasoning like Boniface does here – no where and no way does God expect us to just lay down and be murdered by our enemies.
Both passages are speaking to dealing with brothers or in civil matters, NOT against mortal enemies. We are NOT, in ANY manner, instructed to allow ourselves or our countries to be overrun, murdered, raped – physically, socially or economically – by those who want to murder us, hate us and hate our God. In fact, the exact opposite is true; read the Bible -all of it – and understand what our King is saying!
You are right to point out that the Catholic Church went wrong when it universalized the Christian message to the non-White races for whom it was never intended. But because the Church allowed jewish converts into the Church, it had no choice but to universalize Christianity, despite there being no Scriptural support for doing so.
The Jews would love nothing more than having Christ completely removed from Christmas, as they slowly morph it back into a generic, truly pagan “winter holiday” where people continue to spend inordinate amounts of money on material gifts. Celebrate Christmas if you wish, but just don’t enrich the jewish merchants when you do it. Christmas is pagan in as much as it has become jewish.
What an enlightening and uplifting article 🙂
Merry Christmas!
Are you catholic? If you aren’t then why are you celebrating Christ Mass? It is winter Solstice!
Well, we celebrate Christmas for a few reasons : one, its part of OUR traditions and folkways. Two, it is an opportunity to easily discuss the coming of Christ to this world as a man. Three, each day is the Lords – we can celebrate Jesus’ birth any and every day – many choose to do so on this day as a body politick, so participation is our choice.
Remember what Paul said, I believe in Romans, but won’t look it up this second, about one day being special to one brother and just like any other to another… so if you don’t wish to celebrate Christmas, fine! Your call and I for one won’t condemn you. But I/we would expect the same courtesy…
The best guess for the actual birth date of Jesus is about the 3rd week of September on our calendar – much would tend to support this. However… the likelihood is very high that He was ‘conceived’ at the winter solstice – the darkest night of the year/ darkness in the world bringing forth the Light – so somewhere in this range of time would still be a valid time to commemorate His birth.
Besides, its the one time a year that many even consider God, so it cant be all bad!
Don’t be a Pharisee and a Scrooge, Peter. Read the comment by Gene U. above. And take heed of the words of Charles Dickens from “A Christmas Carol”:
“But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round–apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that–as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle [Scrooge], though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”