Information Related to "Christmas Before Christ: The Surprising Truth!"
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When I was a young boy, I looked forward to Christmas every Dec. 25. Shortly before one particular Christmas, while still in grade school, one of my schoolmates laughed me to scorn for believing that Santa Claus existed. I was mortified.
When I returned home that evening, I asked my mom whether Santa was real. She said he wasn't. Privately I thought, "Well, if Santa Claus isn't real, what is?"
Years later I learned that Christmas actually predated Christianity by about 2,000 years. Many ancient nations created their own midwinter festivals and celebrations-which later morphed into Christmas-to honor the sun and other gods around the time of the winter solstice. I also learned that the origins of Christmas contradict true Christianity.
It's commonly assumed that Christmas is celebrated because it's the birthday of Jesus Christ. But biblical scholars overwhelmingly admit that Jesus was born nowhere near Dec. 25. There are sound reasons for this conclusion. Luke's Gospel tells us that Joseph and Mary were traveling to Bethlehem to register during a Roman census when Jesus was born, and also that shepherds still had their flocks out in the open fields at that time (Luke 2:1-8).
But the Holy Land in December is cold, rainy and sometimes snowy. No sound-minded shepherd would have been so foolhardy as to leave his flock in the fields at night at that time of year. And no intelligent ruler would compel people to travel many miles to register for a census when the likelihood of bad weather would have made such an effort self-defeating.
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