LDS Freedom Forum

Merry Christmas everyone! I love this time of year but I've had this question in my head for so long so I thought I'd throw it at you all. It's not like you can ask this to just anyone because everytime I've thrown it out there to someone they look at me like I'm weird.

So here it goes...why would we celebrate Christmas on Dec 25th, which used to be a Pagan holiday to the Sun god Mithra? The scriptures tell us to destroy anything pagan but it seems we have taken something with pagan roots but switched Mithra with Christ. Howard W Hunter wrote an article entitled "The Real Christmas" and said, "Gradually Christianity gained a victory over Mithraism, which had been its strongest rival, and the festival day celebrating the birth of Mithra was used by the Christians to commemorate the birth of Christ. The pagan worship of the sun, deeply rooted in Roman culture, was replaced by one of the greatest festivals among Christians."

Most comments in the past have been, who cares? My thought process is why celebrate His birth on this day? Many people actually think Jesus was born on Dec 25th. Don't get me wrong I love the holiday but I have a hard time with the pagan roots & wonder...what does Christ think of it all? Any thoughts?

For Christmas, are we celebrating Christ, the Sun, or Santa Clause?

If birthday parties or other holidays are "pagan," or any human activity, should we not celebrate them? Should we remove anything that is not fun? True Christmas is probably very non-Christian compared to previous times, but such a holiday was never religious. Bigger concern is when pagan practices enter church traditions, like South American culture did with the Catholic church 100's of years ago.

J-Dub wrote: ↑December 21st, 2010, 12:22 pm ...why would we celebrate Christmas on Dec 25th, which used to be a Pagan holiday to the Sun god Mithra?

... Any thoughts?

Really there is no completely new religion. Each borrows from the ones before it. Mormonism is based on Catholicism, which is based on Christianity, which is based on Judaism & Hellenism (Greek influence), which is based on Hinduism, Egyptian etc... Yet, the god Mithras is not very similar to Christ, nor are others who some claim are, like Horas and Zoroastro. Still, Christ is very similar to Krishna. Both born of immaculate conception, both parents went to be taxed, both attempted to be killed by having babies killed, both considered shepherds. But that doesn’t negate the truth, but rather strengthens it.

It’s pretty much all symbolic. Think of it this way: About December 21st is the winter solstice - the darkest day of the year. A few days later, the Son/Sun becomes strong again - kind of like being born again into light. When it’s bright, a little light seems insignificant, but when it’s dark, that light can be a God-send in being the agent by which all is seen.