Is Christmas pagan? This claim — that Christmas was borrowed from pagan celebrations like Saturnalia or the Roman Sol Invictus — circulates widely online and among Christians with concerns about the holiday's origins. The historical claim is more complex than popular accounts suggest, and the biblical question is different from the historical one.
The claim that December 25 was borrowed from the Roman festival of Sol Invictus (celebrated December 25) was the dominant scholarly view for a century. However, more recent scholarship — including Andrew McGowan's research — argues for a different origin: early Christian theologians calculated Jesus's conception on March 25 (the date of the spring equinox and, they believed, the date of his death). Nine months later falls December 25. This "calculation hypothesis" predates the Roman Sol Invictus festival and suggests the date was independently derived by Christians rather than borrowed from paganism.
The Saturnalia comparison is also weaker than often presented. Saturnalia ran December 17-23 and involved role reversal and gift-giving — sharing a season but not a date with Christmas. The overlap is real but the borrowing claim is not as clean as popular accounts suggest.
Even granting some cultural borrowing, Paul's framework in Romans 14 and Colossians 2 is directly applicable: "Therefore do not let anyone judge you... with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day" (Colossians 2:16). Christians are free to observe or not observe days, and the Christian conscience sanctifies what it uses for the worship of Christ. The real question is not whether Christmas has any pagan antecedents but whether a Christian observing it is worshipping Christ or worshipping something else. For virtually all Christians who celebrate Christmas, the answer is clear.
Christians who choose not to celebrate Christmas on grounds of pagan origin concerns are exercising a legitimate conscience (Romans 14). Christians who celebrate Christmas as the Incarnation of Christ are also exercising legitimate freedom. Both should not judge the other (Romans 14:4-5). The cultural excess associated with consumerist Christmas — the commercialization, the materialism, the displacement of Christ from the holiday's center — is a more pressing concern for Christian families than the historical origin question.
Rate any movie, show, song, or channel for spiritual alignment.
Visit GodlyScore.com →