Many ancient religions conducted festivals at that time of year, the time of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, when days are the shortest, to appease the various gods to restore the sun and bring an end to winter. Paul clearly warns people to avoid having anything to do with pagan religious customs, labeling such actions 'fellowship with demons'!įamiliar to early Christians was the Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival celebrated during the last days of December in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture.

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons.' You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.Īmerican King James Version ×: 'What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. The apostle Paul writes to the Church members there in 1 Corinthians 10:19-21 1 Corinthians 10:19-21 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? Its customs included temple prostitution and priests who performed sacrifices to the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods. In fact, as late as the third century the early Catholic theologian Origen declared that it was a sin to celebrate Christmas, viewing it as pagan.įirst-century Corinth was a Greek city filled with polytheistic religions. Nowhere in the New Testament do we see Jesus' disciples observing His birthday. 25 has more to do with the ancient Roman Saturnalia celebration than with Jesus. He shows that mistletoe was adopted from Druid mystery rituals and that Dec. In his 1997 book 4,000 Years of Christmas: A Gift From the Ages, Episcopal priest Earl Count enthusiastically relates historical connections between the exchanging of gifts on the 12 days of Christmas and customs originating in ancient, pagan Babylon. Every year, signs in front of neighborhood churches remind people to put Christ back into Christmas-or proclaim 'Jesus is the reason for the season.' OL4240556W Page_number_confidence 96.28 Pages 486 Pdf_module_version 0.0.18 Ppi 300 Republisher_date 20190624210138 Republisher_operator Republisher_time 421 Scandate 20190624122029 Scanner Scanningcenter cebu Scribe3_search_catalog trent Scribe3_search_id 0116301766626 Tts_version 2.It's called the spirit of Christmas-the ringing of sleigh bells on a snowy night, Tiny Tim turning the heart of Scrooge in Charles Dickens' famous novel A Christmas Carol, Santa Claus and flying reindeer.įor many, it seems, the birth of Jesus takes a backseat to mythology, packed shopping malls and greed. Urn:lcp:saturnaliaappara0001macr:lcpdf:b777d2e4-729e-430e-8e1e-6fcfda47a381 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier saturnaliaappara0001macr Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t8gf8hw2p Invoice 1652 Lccn 75022665 //r852 Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 (Extended OCR) Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.20 Ocr_module_version 0.0.16 Old_pallet IA13569 Openlibrary_edition 1970 Bookplateleaf 0010 Boxid IA1276617 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set trent External-identifier Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 10:10:46 Associated-names Willis, James Cicero, Marcus Tullius.

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