Some people claim that 25 December is really the birthday of Tammuz, Nimrod, Tammuz son of Nimrod, or various other people. From this they conclude that Christmas is really a celebration of Tammuz or Nimrod or someone other than Jesus.
The 25 December link to these people is simply anti-Catholic and anti-Christian myth that some have adopted to mould their own special or unique expression of Christianity. They believe this, despite lack of evidence, and then allow their perception of Tammuz or Nimrod to shape how they worship Jesus.
Allowing paganism to restrict our worship of God is bizarre, and not Christian at all.
Another argument is that something bad happened on 25 December, and therefore we shouldn’t use that date. It doesn’t matter what was bad – various people cite various events. Tammuz/Nimrod’s imaginary date of birth being one. But there are many pagan gods, and many terrible events, and only 365 days in a year. Every day of the year can be associated with something you don’t like. Does that mean we must cease all celebration of Jesus’ life?
The timing of Christmas was determined by early Christians early on by using biblical evidence. In short: 25 Tishri (around September) was the conception of John the Baptist; 6 months later (25 March) was the conception of Jesus; 9 months later was the birth of Jesus (25 December).
And so what if we got it wrong? The date is nobody’s dogma. Getting the date exactly right is not a pre-requisite for the celebration of the Incarnation of Christ. That is a bizarre idea.
Romans 14:6 (KJV) – He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
I wish the Christians who don’t want to celebrate Jesus’ life would stop criticising those who do celebrate Jesus’ life. They are spiritually weak (if you consider the rest Paul says about days and food in Romans 14), yet think they are spiritually strong, so they should remain silent. We should help them, but not be affected by their weaknesses and false information.
Just as we don’t let pagan gods place restrictions on our worship of God, so we shouldn’t let these people place restrictions on our worship of God. We don’t need their permission to offer up our joyful celebration of Jesus’ life.
Further reading:
Christmas is Christian … this blog
Adam, Eve and the Christmas Tree … by Margaret Rose Realy
Yes, Christ Was Really Born on December 25 … by Taylor Marshall
How December 25 Became Christmas … by Andrew McGowan
Christmas, Pagan Romans, & Frodo Baggins … by Fr Dwight Longenecker
Christmas Was Never a Pagan Holiday … by Marian T Horvat
Why Christmas is not Pagan … Good Shepherd Orthodox Church
