“In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.”       – Mark Twain

With Christmas approaching and the geese getting fat, let us take a look at how much we really know about this event.

Is Christmas day the actual day that of Jesus’s birth?

There are a number of views regarding this but what is of particular interest is that not a single view agrees with 25 December being the birthday of Jesus.

Some hold the view that he was born in April, while others suggest it could be August or September.  So whatever day is was, it definitely was not 25 December.

How did 25 December then come to be regarded as the birth of Jesus Christ?

Once again a number of views are expressed; some of the most popular being that this day was reputed to be the birthday of the Sun god, Horus. Another view is that Tammuz, the son of Nimrod was born on this day. There is also the view that Tammuz is the same as Adonis, Osiris, Hercules, Quetzalcoatl (in turn aka Kukulcan) and Krishna.

It seems that nations, since their beginning have subjected themselves to the movement of heavenly bodies and change of seasons probably out of fear that their very existence was under siege. I suppose this was triggered by natural events such as drought, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, diseases and so forth were frightening events and something outside the control or influence of human intervention.

So in order to survive it was necessary to placate or calm down the terror within nature. The way in which this was done was rather brutal to say the least and I will touch on this in a later article.

For purposes of trying to get to grips with the Christmas event, it appeared to have its origins during the winter solstice. It was a time of celebration

Christmas therefore appears to have had its roots in pagan festivals such as Saturnalia (December) and Deus Sol Invictus (birthday of the Sun – December 25). The Christians church initially opposed to such celebrations, decided to incorporate these festivals and declaring December 25 as the birthday of Jesus Christ

What about Santa Claus?

Santa Clause is acknowledged to be based on a real person, St. Nikolas, who lived in in Turkey (Myra), during the fourth century.

The Dutch refer to St. Nicholas’ story as Sinterklaas. He was apparently a bishop who traveled from house to house to deliver treats to children.

It was Washington Irving who first depicted Santa Claus as a chubby, bearded man smoking a pipe and entering houses through the chimney.

There is no connection between Saint Nicholas and Jesus Christ except the in fables handed down from one generation to the next.

You may say that if you do believe in Santa Claus, the worst that can happen is that you find out you were wrong, and what’s the harm there?”  Well to me that is a r problem because with the Santa fable comes all the other noise about Christ’s birthday and the Christmas carols with its emotional hooks and fiction. Does this contribute to the blind belief in religion? I shall leave that to you to decide

So what sense do we make of this?

The one thing I have realized is that in the absence of evidence there is an abundance of interpretations on the same topic. Besides the differences between the religions there are also a multitude of differences within religious groups (for e.g. within the Christian faith, how many different religious views are there?). Now in the presence of evidence, such a large array of differences would not exist, surely.

So if kids are taught the Christmas carols based on untruths does this not lead to confusion about what is actually truth and what is not?

It is one thing celebrating Christmas just like one would Halloween, it is another to introduce illusions and treat them as factual.

So the next time you sing a famous Christmas Song like this one,  take the lyrics with a pinch of salt:

Mary’s boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day.
And man will live for evermore because of Christmas Day.

Long time ago in Bethlehem so the Holy Bible said
Mary’s boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day.

Hark now hear the angels sing a king was born today
And man will live for evermore because of Christmas Day.
Mary’s boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day.

etc         …………………………………………………………………….

 

Vincent Surics