Is Christmas related to Saturnalia? | GotQuestions.org

In today's video I'll answer your question, is Christmas related to Saturnalia?

Then afterward, as always, I'll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the.

End.

Christmas, the day on which Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, is sometimes linked to the pagan festival

known as Saturnalia.

There may be an ancient connection, not, however, for the reasons some skeptics assume.

Christianity has always been aware that December 25th is almost certainly not the actual date

of Jesus' birth.

The early church did not celebrate December 25th as a day of any significance, and it wasn't connected

to the birth of Jesus until sometime during the reign of Constantine, several hundred years later.

Saturnalia was a week -long Roman festival honoring the god Saturn.

Since it started on December 17th, it fell within what we now call the Christmas season.

Interestingly, historical accounts differ about whether Saturnalia celebrations were examples of debauchery

or charity.

Some accounts mention the rich paying rent for the poor, masters and slaves exchanging clothes, and so

forth on Saturnalia.

Yet for most of history, debauchery seems to dominate celebrations of the holiday.

In fact, the word Saturnalia became synonymous with immorality and carousing.

To modernize, some Saturnalia customs come across as hedonistic perversions of Christmas traditions.

For instance, singing from house to house naked, feasting excessively, eating baked goods shaped

like people, and exchanging body gifts.

In reality, there's some historical evidence suggesting that these events were reformed, absorbed, and

transformed over time as a result of Christmas' popularity overtaking that of Saturnalia.

Christians May Have Redeemed Portions of the Celebration.

The early motive for celebrating Jesus' birth on December 25th may have been akin to that which

inspires modern churches to hold fall festivals or Bible costume parties on October 31st.

That is, Christians desire to provide a spiritually positive alternative to what they perceive as a pagan

celebration.

Over time, as the Roman Empire was Christianized, customs associated with Saturnalia were cleaned up and absorbed

into the celebration of Christmas.

There is another Roman holiday, Sol Invictus, that seems to have been gradually absorbed by Christmas

too.

Sol Invictus, which means invincible sun, celebrated on December 25th the renewing of the sun

king and was linked to the winter solstice, although the solstice itself never falls on December 25th.

Constantine, the first Christian emperor, was raised in this cult of the unconquered sun god, and he had

a hand in turning Roman culture toward Christ and away from paganism.

The first reliable historical evidence of Christmas being observed on December 25th dates from his reign.

So, Christians readily and comfortably acknowledge that the date and some of the history of

Christmas might have a connection to the pagan holidays of Saturnalia and Sol Invictus.

But the meaning of any cultural custom, including a Christmas celebration, is determined by

current usage, not origin.

Like a family celebrating a Bible costume party on October 31st, it's the people celebrating who

decide what the celebration means.

Christians of centuries past chose December 25th as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus

Christ, the true unconquered king.

The use of this date continues today.

Christmas and Saturnalia could be historical neighbors with indirect connections, but they are not the same

holiday.

And they never were.

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