The Worshippers of the Sun

And hallow my Sabbaths: and they shall be a sign between me and YOU, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. Ezek. 20:20.

The Winter Solstice

Recall the prophecy of Jeremiah.” and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”

Before Man learned to measure time in twelve month cycles time was measured by seasons. They celebrated the seasons with feasts and festivals to make the gods happy. But then Man began to gear the beginning of seasons and cycles to fixed astronomical phenomenon–that is, to the position and movement of the sun, moon, and starts. The heathen did worship the entire solar system.

December 25 is the winter solstice. It is the time when the sun after having been at the lowest point in the heavens, beings to rise over the world with renewed vigor and power. It was the time of heathen festivities in worship of the sun. The vernal equinox is the point where the sun crosses the celestial equator, about March 20, making day and night of equal length everywhere. This was the time of pagan spring festivals.

The day of December 25 acquired a new significance under the rule of Emperor Aurelian. He proclaimed this day as “Dies Natalis lnvicti Solis,” or the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. This was because of a strange Eastern religion, Mithraism, whose god Mithras was identified with the Unconquered Sun. During the Saturnalia work of every kind ceased. Schools were closed.

The Roman Saturnalia was boisterous. But whatever the behavior of some Romans, others were simply merry. They ate big dinners, visited their friends, etc. The halls of the Romans were decked with boughs of laurel and of green trees? with lighted candles and with lamps-for the hovering spirits of darkness were afraid of light. Bonfires were lit in high places to strengthen the reviving sun in his course. Candles and green wreaths were given as presents, the streets were crowded with noisy processions of men and women carrying lighted tapers, and public places were decked with flowers and shrubs. The practice of giving and receiving presents was almost as common then as it is now at Christmas. Our present day “Christmas spirit” is actually the spirit of this old Roman festival.

During the Kalends of January, which lasted for three days, Roman houses were adorned With lights and greenery, and presents were given to friends and children and to the poor.

We can see how that the exchanging of gifts was an important feature of this Roman festival from the writings of Libatiius, an ancient Sophist. He might be writing about Christmas in the ,modem world from the way it reads: The festival of the Kalends is celebrated everywhere as far as the limits of the Roman Empire extend.. The impulse to spend seizes everyone… People are not only generous towards themselves, but also towards their fellow men. A stream of presents pours itself out on all sides… The Kalends festival banishes all that is connected with toil, and allows men to give themselves up to undisturbed enjoyment From the minds of young people it removes two kinds of dread: the dread of the schoolmaster and the dread of the stern pedagogue.. Another great quality of the festival is that it teaches men not to hold too fast to their money, but to part with it and let it pass into other hands.

Emperor Aurelian had proclaimed Mithraism as the official state religion of the Roman Empire, but “Christianity” becomes the new religion under Constantine, and the Catholic Church becomes faced with the struggle to convert the pagans. We will answer these two important questions: (1) Why did the idea of celebrating the birth of Christ arise and how? (2) Why was the date of December 25 chosen for this celebration?

The earliest “Christians” were not interested in Jesus’ birthday, but by the fourth century they had become very much interested. While interested in the Man Christ Jesus, their thought and affection did not as yet include the Child Jesus. But they came to focus their eyes upon Jesus the infant and Mary His mother. Many people were coming to the notion that his birthday should be observed. This idea came about as the “Church” began to regard Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a new light. She had long been revered along with the saints and Apostles, but only along with them. But now in this same fourth century she emerges as the QUEEN OF REA VEN There never would have been a Christmas except the worship of Mary had emerged. They now put her in Heaven, not merely as an intercessor, but a Queen.