Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? Sorting Fact from Fiction

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Hello, friends. Today's podcast question says, "We have some family friends who do not celebrate Christmas because they say it is a Pagan holiday. My children are confused about this and asking if we should not celebrate Christmas. How should I go about talking with them about this?"

This is a really interesting question, and I know it's one we've actually received before here on the Foundation Worldview Podcast. I did a video or podcast last year on this topic, and people said, "Thanks for your thoughts, but you didn't actually answer the question." So I'm going to share some of my thoughts that are similar to what I covered in last year's episode, and then I'm going to make sure I actually answer the question. That's what we're diving down deep into today on the Foundation Worldview Podcast, where we seek to answer your questions so that you can equip the children that God has placed in your care to carefully evaluate every idea they encounter and understand the truth of the biblical worldview.

I'm your host, Elizabeth Urbanowicz, and I'm thrilled that you've joined me for this episode today.

Three Questions to Evaluate Strong Claims

Anytime we encounter a very strong claim—such as "Christians shouldn't celebrate Christmas because it's a Pagan holiday"—I think there are three questions we can walk our kids through to help them evaluate this claim:

First question: What is the claim? We want to make sure we're clear on what this person is saying.

Second question: What is the conclusion? So they've just made this claim, and then therefore, what are they concluding from it?

Third question: Does the conclusion follow from the claim?

Now, as we think about this claim that Christmas is a pagan holiday and Christians shouldn't celebrate it, let's walk through these three questions.

Question 1: What Is the Claim?

We can ask our kids, "Okay, so what is this family claiming is true?" They're claiming that Christmas isn't actually Christian—it's Pagan. They're saying that this holiday isn't a Christian holiday, it's a Pagan holiday.

Question 2: What Is the Conclusion?

We can say, "Okay, so what conclusion are they drawing from this? What are they saying that we should or shouldn't do based on the claim?" Their conclusion is that Christians should not celebrate Christmas because celebrating Christmas means you are worshiping a pagan God.

So let's summarize: The claim is that Christmas isn't Christian, it's pagan. The conclusion is therefore Christians shouldn't celebrate Christmas because celebrating it means you're worshiping a pagan God.

We need to get those things clear in our minds, and we want to walk our kids through this process because asking these questions can be helpful in many different situations. It can help us think clearly, think critically, and think biblically in a world that is often just shouting so many different claims our way.

Question 3: Does the Conclusion Follow from the Claim?

Now that we know the claim and the conclusion that they're saying follows from that claim, we want to ask: Does the conclusion follow from the claim? And in this case, the answer is no.

Understanding the Genetic Fallacy

The conclusion this person is drawing is a version of the genetic fallacy—saying that because something started a certain way, it can't possibly be true or good. In this case, the conclusion is drawn from the false belief that because something may have started in a certain way, it is continuing in a certain way.

For example, let's say that your family has dinner together around the table every night. And let's say that this tradition started when you were a child, that your dad—your kids' grandfather—made sure that your family had dinner together every night. But every night your dad used this dinner time to go around the table and tell all of you, all of the children and your mom included, what you did wrong that day, and he used it as a time to embarrass you and shame you.

I think we can agree that this is a terrible way to have a family dinner. So your family dinner that you have with your kids really does stem from the fact that you had family dinners when you were growing up, and those family dinners were terrible because your dad used it as a way of shaming your family members. However, you now continue these family dinners, and you continue them in a different way. You use them as a time to talk, to connect, to have everybody share about their day, as a time of reading Scripture together.

Now, are your family dinners morally wrong because they started out by your father shaming his family? No. You have taken what was morally wrong out of the equation, and you have turned this tradition around for good.

Applying This to Christmas

Now let's think about the claim and the conclusion in question. In this case, the person is claiming that certain Christmas traditions—I would imagine traditions such as celebrating Christmas on December 25th and bringing a Christmas tree into your home—that these elements were part of pagan rituals. They're claiming that therefore continuing this, celebrating on the 25th and having a Christmas tree, that because these had pagan origins, they continue to be pagan.

Now, even if it were true that December 25th was a pagan holiday and a Christmas tree was originally a pagan object of worship, when you celebrate the incarnation of Jesus on the 25th of December and you set up your Christmas tree, are you actually worshiping pagan gods? No, you're not. You're not thinking about pagan gods and trying to honor them on December 25th. You're not worshiping your Christmas tree.

In our modern celebrations of Christmas, there are many secular things that are trying to pull our hearts and our minds away from thinking about and meditating on the incarnation, but we are not worshiping pagan deities on the 25th. We are not worshiping our Christmas tree. So this claim is completely false. The conclusion does not follow from the premise—it doesn't follow from the claim.

Now, if you're thinking, "Well, Elizabeth, that makes a lot of sense, but I'm not exactly sure how you did that," I highly recommend that if you have children who are 10 and older, you check out our Careful Thinking curriculum here at Foundation Worldview. What I just walked us through is exactly what we do in that curriculum—we walk kids step by step through looking at how do we think well whenever we encounter a claim that someone is making.

I just think that if more families took their kids through our Careful Thinking curriculum, we would have so many fewer children getting caught up in the cultural craziness and confusion of our day. We would have so many fewer children deconstructing the faith in college and young adulthood because they would be equipped to think critically and to cut through false ideas.

Does Christmas Actually Have Pagan Origins?

Now, I told you at the beginning of this podcast that I recorded a similar one last Christmas, and people were like, "Yeah, but Elizabeth, you never actually answered the question: Does Christmas have pagan origins?" And you're right—I still have not answered that question, which is what I'm going to do right now.

We want to look at: Is it true? Is it true that the Christmas holiday began as a pagan holiday?

Just as a disclaimer upfront, in the show notes, we are going to include links to two different videos. One video is produced by Wesley Huff, another one produced by Mike Winger, and these videos that we link to are going to cover this topic much more thoroughly. Both Wes and Mike have a lot more knowledge about ancient cultures than I do, so their responses are much more thorough. I highly recommend you hop over and check those out.

What I'm going to do here is give you the CliffNotes version answer.

The Historical Evidence on December 25th

So is it true that Christmas is actually rooted in a Pagan holiday? Does it have pagan origins? The short answer, which I will provide some brief evidence for, is no—Christmas does not have pagan origins. When you look at the historical record, there is not sufficient evidence to support the claim that December 25th was a standard pagan holiday.

Now, some out there in random YouTube videos are claiming that the Roman holiday of Sol Invictus was celebrated on December 25th. However, it isn't until the middle of the fourth century where we find any link to this holiday, to Sol Invictus and December 25th. And here's the interesting thing: The first time we find the connection between Sol Invictus and December 25th is in the middle of the fourth century, but we have documentation that Christians had already identified December 25th as the day they thought Jesus was born decades before we have any claim that Sol Invictus was celebrated on December 25th.

So it is possible that the Pagan communities actually took December 25th from Christians.

There's also other evidence and other inscriptions that we find that place this Roman holiday on other days and months throughout the year. So there's evidence that this holiday took place at other times. Again, I highly recommend you check out Wes Huff's video—he goes into much, much, much, much more detail on this.

What About Christmas Trees?

Now, some people claim that Christmas trees were used in pagan worship. This, again, is a claim that is unfounded. There is no early evidence for bringing a tree into your home and decorating it as a form of pagan worship. However, there is evidence of trees being brought into the home being a distinctly Christian tradition from the 16th century on.

The Jeremiah 10 Objection

Now, some who claim the name of Christ say that no matter how this tradition started—whether it was a pagan origin or a Christian origin—it's still wrong to have Christmas trees because Jeremiah 10 forbids this practice. But this claim is based on a faulty interpretation of Jeremiah 10.

Let's go through Jeremiah 10:2-5 right now:

"Thus says the Lord: Learn not the ways of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold. They fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, nor can they do any good."

As we read this passage, we see that it's clear it's talking about crafting an idol out of wood and then overlaying it with silver or gold. It's not talking about cutting down a tree, bringing it into your house, and putting decorations on it. It's talking about crafting an idol.

And even if what people did back then was cut down trees, decorate them with silver and gold tinsel and worship them, bringing a tree into our house and lighting it up to remind us that Jesus is the light of the world—that is not idol worship.

Conclusion

So I hope with this podcast I have answered the question and also linked to some other helpful resources. Again, the video by Wes Huff will go way more in depth on the December 25th debate, as well as the Christmas tree, and the Mike Winger video is going to go in depth on that Jeremiah 10 passage. I highly recommend that you check out those videos for a more thorough treatment on this topic.

As we close off our time together, here are some conclusions:

Let's help our children think well. Our children are going to continually encounter different claims both from within the Christian community and from outside of it. We need to help them to think well. Again, I highly recommend you check out our Careful Thinking curriculum if you have children who are 10 and older.

The claim that Christmas is pagan is false. There simply is not evidence to support that.

Even if it were true, the conclusion doesn't follow. Even if it were true, the conclusion that we shouldn't celebrate Christmas doesn't follow from that claim. Celebrating the incarnation on December 25th is not something that's required for Christians—we're not commanded in the Bible that we have to celebrate on December 25th. Yet as those who have been redeemed by Jesus, who have been reconciled to God and have been adopted into his family, we should celebrate wholeheartedly what God has done for us in the incarnation.

Ready to equip your children with critical thinking skills? The cultural confusion around holidays like Christmas is just one example of the many claims your kids will face. Our Careful Thinking curriculum teaches children ages 10 and up how to evaluate any claim they encounter—helping them cut through false ideas and stand firm in their faith. Don't let another year pass watching your children struggle to answer challenges to what they believe. Explore Foundation Worldview's Careful Thinking curriculum today and give them the tools they need to think clearly, biblically, and confidently in every situation they face.

Well, that's a wrap for this episode. But as we leave our time together, my prayer for you is the same as always: No matter the situation in which you and the children God has placed in your care find yourselves, may you trust that God is working all things together for your good by using all things to conform you more into the image of His Son. I'll see you next