Pagan holidays turned into Christian Throughout history, various pagan holidays have been adapted and incorporated into Christian traditions. This practice, known as syncretism, occurred as a means of transitioning and assimilating pagan cultures into the newly emerging Christian faith. One of the most prominent examples of this is the celebration of Christmas. Originally, Christmas was not observed by early Christians, as the birth of Jesus Christ was not explicitly mentioned in the Bible. However, in an effort to convert pagan tribes in Europe, church leaders decided to superimpose the celebration of Jesus' birth onto existing pagan winter solstice festivals. The date of Christmas, December 25th, coincided with the Roman festival of Saturnalia, a pagan festival honoring the god Saturn.
Is Christmas simply a re-imagining of ancient pagan celebrations?
'Tis the season to be jolly, and, perhaps, to have one's social media inundated with memes about Christmas being nothing more than a co-opted pagan holiday – maybe a winter solstice celebration – repurposed and baptized by Christianity.
"There are dozens of religions in mythology that have had visits by wise men, kings who've killed children to stop the new king being born. there's a great deal of Christianity that is traditional, and however wonderful people think the story is, it's frankly not original," Stephen Fry, an actor and self-proclaimed atheist, said in a mid-2000s Christmas episode of the British comedy show, QI.
In the episode, Fry repeats some popular claims about Christmas and its origins, including that the date of Christmas was stolen from pagan holidays, and that many of Christ's characteristics – that he was born of a virgin, is the son of God, that he and died and rose to save us from sin – were simply borrowed from pagan gods and traditions that pre-date Christ.
Is there any truth to these claims? CNA spoke with several Catholic academics to find out.
Dr. Michael Barber, an associate professor of Scripture and theology at the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colo., said there is some truth to the idea that Christians "'baptize' pagan ideas."
One example, he noted, is the wedding ring, a tradition with origins in ancient Roman, Greek and Egyptian customs that pre-date Christianity. Today, Catholic weddings include the blessing and exchange of wedding rings, as a symbol of the commitment of marriage, even though this did not originate as a Christian idea.
But the questions of pagan links to Christmas in particular are something Barber has spent much time studying, as he is planning to publish a new book entitled "Christmas: What Every Catholic Should Know." It's a part of a series that includes the book "Salvation: What Every Catholic Should Know."
"[T]here are also elements of the traditional Christmas celebration that are borrowed from pagan cultures. We are not quite sure how the tree, for example, became part of the Christmas scene but certainly there is nothing in Scripture that establishes it with Christmas," he said.
Dr. Mark Zia, a professor of sacred theology at Benedictine College in Kansas, said Christianity "recognizes, appreciates, and incorporates into her own 'Christian culture' anything that is good, true, and beautiful, even if these things have their origins in pre-Christian religions or cultures."
However, he added, the Church stands by the historicity of the person of Christ and the events of the Gospels.
"Since the four Gospels are the historical accounts of what Jesus truly said and did while on earth, there is no room for the suggestion that they contain 'myths' or 'embellishments' or 'exaggerations' about the power or identity of Jesus," he said.
"The Gospels clearly teach that Jesus identified Himself as the Son of God, that his audiences understood that he claimed to be God, that eyewitnesses observed his great miracles of power, and ultimately he truly rose from the dead. Unlike all pagan myths, there is nothing mythic or fictitious in the life of Jesus."
The origin of claims linking Jesus to pagan gods
Barber said many of the claims about Christmas being a pagan holiday, and Jesus being compared to pagan gods, come from the 1999 book "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold," written under the pseudonym S. Acharya.
In the book, Acharya argues that Jesus was invented as a culmination of various gods, including the ancient Roman gods of Mithras, Hercules, and Dionysus, in order to unite the Roman empire with one state-sanctioned religion.
"The author is actually D. M. Murdock who never earned advanced degrees and was not an academic," Barber said. "Her work is in some ways like that of certain 19th century writers who also made wild claims that could not be substantiated by evidence. Murdock's book has been roundly dismissed by scholars. Even scholars known for skepticism towards the historical reliability of the Gospels such as Bart Ehrman have dunked the books claims."
Barber noted that Ehrman wrote in his 2012 book, "Did Jesus Exist": "In short, if there is any conspiracy here, it is not on the part of ancient Christians who made up Jesus but on the part of modern authors who make up stories about the ancient Christians and what they believed about Jesus."
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One example of a god that Jesus is sometimes compared to is that of Mithra, a pagan god of Iranian origin who was also a popular Roman god until the 4th century. According to multiple sources, Mithra (or Mithras) was considered a god of light (or the sun), justice, and loyalty, and for this reason devotion to him was encouraged by emperors at the time. A popular Mithrain ceremony included the sacrifice of a bull, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
Mithras is often included as one of a number of "crackpot theories" that Jesus was merely an idea that came from pagan gods, Barber said, adding that any parallels that may exist between Jesus and Mithras or other pagan gods are incidental, and historically flimsy.
Christmas and December 25: Which came first, the pagan or the Christian?
There are two major theories as to why Christmas falls on December 25, Barber said, though the long and short of it is that Christians do not know for certain the exact birthday of Jesus.
The first theory dates back to 1905, when German scholar Hermann Usener posited that December 25 was adapted by Christians as the date for Christmas because it had been the birthday of the sun god, Sol Invictus.
According to Barber, Usener claimed that Emperor Aurelian established Sol Invictus "as the official god of the Roman empire in 274 and established his feast day as December 25. Christians took elements from this religion and reinterpreted them, applying them to Jesus."
Usener also claimed that Constantine changed December 25 from a celebration of this pagan god to the celebration of Christmas in order to Christianize the empire.
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However, Barber said, "our earliest evidence for a December 25 feast day of a pagan god dates to the fourth century – and the same document also already mentions December 25 as Jesus' birthday. Indeed, it is just as possible that the Christians' celebration of Jesus' birth was copied by the pagans. In short, the claim that Christianity came out of the feast day of Sol Invictus is without evidence."
Zia noted that some sources even date the celebration of the Christian Christmas on December 25 before any records indicate any pagan celebrations on that same day.
"Historical sources tell us that the pagan festival of Saturnalia in honor of the sun god was celebrated in Rome, beginning in the end of the third century AD, and held on December 25," Zia said.
"Given that the date for the celebration of Christmas was not standardized until the fourth century, the assumption was that the pagan feast came first," he said, and that Christmas was later set on this date to "counter-act" this pagan festival.
But there are reasons to doubt this account, he said.
"The earliest reference to the birth of Christ on December 25 of which I am aware comes from St. Hippolytus (d. 235), whose writings predate by half a century the first celebration of the pagan feast in honor of the sun god," he said.
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St. Hippolytus wrote in a piece that is historically "accepted as genuine that Jesus was born nine months after the creation of the world, a date which the early fathers identified as March 25. Thus we have a clear reference to Jesus' birth on December 25 before there ever was established the cultic celebration of the sun god in Rome," Zia said.
Barber added that there are other reasons to believe that it was in fact the pagans who were copying the Christians, in this and other ways.
"Justin Martyr (in First Apology 66) accuses the followers of Mithras of imitating the eucharistic practice of the Church," he said.
The Church fathers' understanding of March 25 as the date of the creation of the world is also a key to understanding the theological view of why Christmas is on December 25, said Fr. Michael Witczak, associate professor of liturgical studies and sacramental theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
As the understood date of the creation of the world, March 25 is also fittingly celebrated as the feast of the Annunciation, or the day that Mary conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, he said.
"December 25 is related to March 25. So March 25th is the celebration of the feast of the Annunciation. and March 25th is nine months before December 25," Witczak said.
Witczak added that the Church does not know for certain that these were the exact dates on which these events occurred, as these exact dates are not mentioned in Scripture, and we have few early historical documents on them. Even the year thought to be that of Jesus' birth may be off by a few years, he said.
But understanding Jesus as an historical person who actually existed, and understanding him in his divinity, are two different things, he added.
"I don't think any good historian would doubt the historicity of Jesus Christ or Saint Paul," Witczak said, "but knowing that Jesus was a historic figure (versus) believing that he's the second Person of the blessed Trinity. it's a matter of faith."
Even if December 25 as a date for the celebration of Christmas were taken from a pagan tradition, Witczak said, it does not negate the person of Christ.
If December 25 was originally a festival of a sun god, for example, "as a Christian, I would say, but the divinity is not the sun, the divinity is the creator God who created the world and everything in it. This is revelatory of the presence of God in our life and in our world," he said.
"When Pope Gregory The Great sent St. Augustine to England to bring the faith to the British people, he gave him advice about how to consecrate pagan temples to use as a Christian Church," Witczak said.
"In Mexico, there are some aspects of the way that they celebrate All Souls Day, the Dia de los Muertos, that are reminiscent of Aztec customs. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, she's dressed in Aztec clothes and the belt that she wears is the belt that a pregnant woman would have worn in pre-Christian days in the Aztec world," he said.
"So this dynamic of taking over things from a previous culture and then using it for Christian purposes. it's kind of part and parcel of the way that the Church operates," he said.
Zia said the claims of strong links between Jesus and paganism tell of a lack of catechesis among believers, and a lack of faith among non-believers.
In reality, "there is ample room to include pre-Christian elements in the celebration of our Christian holidays" Zia said, and "the core purpose of each specific Christian holiday is utterly new and not a borrowing from pagan holidays."
Zia encouraged anyone who was really interested in the parallels between Jesus and any number of pagan gods to do their own research, and not rely on the claims of books such as Acharya's.
"(D)epending on how much time and effort one puts into the task, one can find occasional parallels between Jesus and just about any pagan deity from any culture," Zia said.
"Yet such comparisons are too few and too weak to suggest that Jesus is simply the 'Christian' version of these former pagan beliefs. When we look at the entire context of the identity, life, mission, and teachings of Jesus, then it becomes abundantly clear that he is utterly unique in the history of the world," he said. "It is for this reason that Jesus – and only Jesus – could boldly proclaim, 'Behold, I make all things new!'"
Mary Farrow worked as a staff writer for Catholic News Agency until 2020. She has a degree in journalism and English education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The Pagan and Christian origins of Halloween
The date of Christmas, December 25th, coincided with the Roman festival of Saturnalia, a pagan festival honoring the god Saturn. By adopting this date, Christians were able to merge the meaning of Saturnalia with the birth of Jesus, making it easier for pagans to accept and understand Christianity. Similarly, the celebration of Easter also has ties to pagan traditions.
The holiday’s evolution from an ancient Celtic tradition to a night of frightful merriment is over 2,000 years in the making.
By Angeli Gabriel Source FOX Weather- Copy Link
Samhain was celebrated throughout the British Isles. Here, modern celebrants of take part in a sunset Samhain ceremony in England.
(Matt Cardy / Getty Images)
‘Tis the season for costumes, ghost stories and all sorts of delightfully frightful trickery.
But what we know as a fun holiday season today is actually the latest iteration of an ancient, holy day once celebrated in Ireland.
Morphed and massaged by time, the celebration slowly incorporated new cultural elements that shifted it away from its spiritual origins to a more secular form celebrated around the world.
Despite its transformation, the spirit of the ancient holiday lives on, inspiring everything from the costumes we wear to the ghosts we fear — and everything in between — on Halloween.
Potent precursors
Drombeg Stone Circle in County Cork, Ireland. Built by the Celts, the circle of standing stones dates back to between 153 B.C. and 127 A.D.
(Geography Photos / Universal Images Group / Getty Images)
Over 2,000 years ago, an indigenous people called the Celts (pronounced "kelts") lived in an area that would one day be named Ireland.
The Irish Celts had many traditions, one of which being the precursor to Halloween: Samhain (pronounced "SAH-wen").
"Samhain is a word that means ‘end of summer’," said Clodagh Doyle, Keeper of the Irish Folklife Collection at the National Museum of Ireland.
Fall sets on the Irish countryside.
(DEA / V. Giannella / De Agostini / Getty Images)
According to Doyle, the Celtic calendar year was divided into two halves. The first began on November 1 and was filled with dark days (winter), whereas the second half began on May 1 and was filled with bright days (summer).
Samhain, which occurred on the night before November 1, held particular importance to the Celts because it served as a bridge between the end of the bright days and start of the dark days.
"There is a real belief that this is a time that's not quite one season, not quite the other," said Doyle. For the ancient Celts, this in-between time was found to have great potential with the supernatural.
When death and darkness love us
A family is silhouetted by a bonfire on Halloween night. Bonfires relate to death in Samhain tradition.
(Shay Murphy / Moment Editorial / Getty Images)
"A lot of our traditions around Samhain relate to death and the dead," said Doyle.
This is largely because, to the ancient Celts, death was not a final farewell for loved ones who passed away.
According to Doyle, "It wasn't that people died. They just actually went to another world."
During Samhain, the barrier between the world of the dead and the world of the living was thought to be at its thinnest.
An October moon above Dublin, Ireland.
(Brendan Moran / Sportsfile / Getty Images)
"These times are always seen as liminal times," said Doyle. "When you're in that liminal time, anything's more possible — you're much more in touch with the supernatural."
Because of this connectedness, there was a belief that the spirits and the living would be able to move between the two worlds in the dark of Samhain night. Mythical creatures such as fairies were said to roam this night, as well.
This movement of the supernatural made Samhain a scary time of year, according to Doyle, and some people took advantage of it. For instance, people began wearing masks and costumes to frighten and delight their neighbors, hoping to get a treat from the household.
Halloween masks made and worn by children in Co. Wicklow, Ireland in 1951. One mask is made from a rectangular piece of unbleached calico with eyes and nose cut out. Coconut fibres have been used in bunches and sewn on with white thread to represent thick eyebrows and a moustache. Wool, hair and straw were used on fabric and cardboard masks in the area.
(National Museum of Ireland)
Harvest for the living
Samhain was associated with death and darkness. But since it occurred during fall and the end of the harvest season, it was also a time associated with life and feasting.
"This is the time of the year where you've reaped everything that the land can give you," said Doyle. "Everything in all of your harvest is in every berry that you could pick, every apple that you could pick, anything that's foraged from the land. "
"This is a time associated with the darkness and settling in and hibernating for the winter."
Saving the harvest in the Caher mountains of Ireland in the 19th century.
(DEA / ICAS94 / De Agostini Editorial / Getty Images)
According to Doyle, Samhain’s timing with the end of the harvest is the reason why apples, nuts and berries feature so strongly in traditions around Halloween. For example, the game of bobbing for apples has been a part of this celebration for hundreds of years.
While some traditions inspired by the harvest were intended to be fun, others had a more divine component due to our proximity with the spiritual world at this time.
One practice involved early Irish carving demonic faces into turnips to scare away evil spirits. The turnips, a vegetable harvested during this time, were then hollowed out and used as lanterns. [Learn how jack-o'-lanterns were inspired by a mythical trickster]
Scary lanterns were made using potatoes and turnips. This is a model of a Hallowe’en ‘ghost turnip’ taken into the Collection in 1943 from Fintown in Co Donegal.
(National Museum of Ireland)
People also thought they could determine their future on this night. According to Doyle, one way they’d do this is to throw a long apple peel over their shoulder, and the letter formed by the peel would be part of the initial of one’s future spouse.
"We talk about the supernatural world," said Doyle. "And I think when you have very dark things and there is little communication, you are looking to signs about how life will be."
"You are believing in a supernatural world because there's no explanation for some things."
O holy Halloween night
A traditional Celtic cross stands in the cemetery beside St. Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny, Ireland. The Christian faith folded in elements of Celtic traditions, such as Samhain.
(Robert Alexander / Getty Images)
Samhain continued to incorporate new traditions. One of which made a significant impact on the holiday: Christianity.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the earliest known date of Christianity in Ireland is the 5th century. In the centuries that followed, the ancient Celts were converted to the Christian faith.
To facilitate this, the Christians incorporated methods that allowed some aspects of the Celtic faith to coexist with the Christian faith.
"Because we were pagan," said Doyle. "Christianity knew that it would never really take off, if it wasn't made easy for us."
Saint Patrick, the national apostle and patron saint of Ireland. In the 5th century, he played a significant role in converting the indigenous Irish to Christianity.
(VCG Wilson / Corbis / Getty Images)
According to Doyle, the Church incorporated the traditions of Samhain into the Christian holidays of All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2. These two days honored the saints and the souls of those who have passed away.
Samhain was set on the night before these holy days.
Samhain’s incorporation also led to its rebranding. According to Doyle, since Samhain now occurred on the eve of these holy or "hallow" days, Samhain became known as "All Hallows Eve", "Hallow Evening" and "Hallow Even".
Eventually, its new name was shortened to "Hallowe’en" or "Halloween".
Thriller night
Boy dressed in a skeleton costume picking pumpkins in Belfast, Ireland.
(Liam McBurney / PA Images / Getty Images)
Over the years, the holiday that became known as Halloween continued to evolve.
Costumes became less frightening, jack-o’-lanterns became forms of art and fewer apple peels were used to determine romantic prospects.
The holiday has transformed into a night of entertainment.
But as we see in the ghost stories we tell, the horror movies we watch and the haunted houses we visit, the spiritual element initiated by Samhain lives on in our modern interpretation of this spooky holiday.
Is Christmas Really Rooted in Pagan Origin?
The origin of Christmas is not found in pagan traditions as the true origin of Christmas is only found in Jesus who was born into the world to save us from our sins. There were many pagan traditions surrounding Christmas, but Christmas never found its roots in these traditions.
Contributing Writer Updated Dec 04, 2023There has been much debate surrounding the origin of Christmas traditions. Many people believe the origin of Christmas is rooted in pagan traditions outside of Christianity. The origin of Christmas is not truly rooted in pagan traditions as the origin of Christmas is found in the advent of Christ into the world — not in various pagan traditions found throughout the world.
The timing of Easter is determined by the spring equinox, which traditionally marked the end of winter and the beginning of new life in pagan cultures. The early Christian church incorporated this symbolism into the celebration of Jesus' resurrection, which is believed to have occurred during this time. Even the concept of the "Christmas tree" has pagan origins. The use of evergreen trees as decorative elements during the winter season has been a longstanding pagan tradition, symbolizing fertility and eternal life. Early Christians, in an effort to convert pagans, began incorporating this practice into their own festivities, decorating trees with ornaments as a way to celebrate the birth of Christ. These instances and many others demonstrate how pagan holidays were assimilated and transformed by Christianity. They serve as a reminder of the complexities of cultural assimilation and the ways in which religious traditions evolve and adapt over time..
Reviews for "The Cultural Appropriation of Pagan Festivals by Christianity"
1. John - 2 stars: The idea of turning pagan holidays into Christian ones sounds interesting in theory, but in practice, it feels forced and disingenuous. It seems like a desperate attempt to gain more followers rather than truly embracing the pagan roots of these holidays. It feels like a betrayal of the original meaning behind these celebrations. I would have preferred if Christians had embraced these holidays for what they were, rather than trying to rewrite their history.
2. Sarah - 3 stars: While I appreciate the effort to find common ground between pagan and Christian traditions, I can't help but feel that turning these ancient holidays into Christian ones dilutes their original significance. It feels like an attempt to assimilate pagan practices into Christianity rather than truly understanding and respecting their cultural and spiritual significance. I would have preferred if Christians had honored the pagan origins of these holidays while still maintaining their own unique Christian traditions.
3. Mike - 1 star: As someone who values authenticity and historical accuracy, the concept of turning pagan holidays into Christian ones just doesn't sit right with me. It feels like a manipulation of history and an attempt to erase the pagan roots of these traditions. It's important to preserve and respect the origins of different cultures and religions, rather than trying to assimilate everything into one belief system. I find this approach to be disrespectful and insensitive to the diverse beliefs and histories of different cultures.
4. Emily - 2 stars: I understand the intention behind turning pagan holidays into Christian ones, but it feels like an appropriation of pagan culture rather than a genuine effort to bridge the gap between two religions. It seems like a way for Christianity to claim ownership over these ancient celebrations and strip them of their original significance. I would have preferred if Christians had found a way to respectfully acknowledge and honor the pagan origins of these holidays while still incorporating Christian beliefs and traditions.
5. David - 1 star: The concept of converting pagan holidays into Christian ones feels deceitful and undermines the authenticity of both religions. It seems like an attempt to homogenize and control different belief systems rather than respecting their unique history and practices. The true beauty of religion lies in its diversity and the different ways people choose to worship and celebrate. Trying to merge pagan and Christian traditions feels like a disservice to both.