Two False Theories about Christmas

We have all the children going to Sabbath school. They always enjoy that and learn a lot.

And we have adult Sabbath school here, left over.

As I've mentioned many times, we ministers are restricted by what we can preach because Christ said in Matthew 24-45, who is the faithful servant who will give his household meet in due season? And so we provide meet in due season. We're supposed to not just be talking about whatever a person thinks. What is the season? What is going on? Well, we know about Christmas coming up, the mad rush, the mad traffic, everything going on around us. And through the internet, we know it has changed so many things, for good as for bad.

Now there is more information at our fingertips than ever before. You have a vast library of information available on just about every topic you can imagine.

And so it is around this time that some people search about the history of Christmas, and they are surprised to learn about its origins and the pagan background that it was set up. They start asking questions to their ministers, pastors, and priests. Well, why are we keeping something that has a pagan background to it? And so these ministers complain to their offices, to their administrators, and say, well, we're getting all of this flack. We're getting all of this reaction. And it makes us uncomfortable when we have to try to explain why it can be kept. And so the administrators go to some of the scholars in their churches and say, well, we need information about this. We need people to be calm because we can't rely on people's ignorance as before. Because now through the internet, people have vast resources, especially like you can go into Christmas and you can find so much information about it. So scholars are pressured for answers to justify Christmas as being Christian and why on December 25th.

And lately I've read two new theories of how December 25th can be sustained about Christ's birth at that time. So the scholars have come up with new explanations about it, and here are two theories that have begun to circulate. You might be aware of these two theories, and we're going to be talking about them because it's important to understand the argument behind this and weigh it and see both sides of the story and see how reputable and genuine and authentic it really is. So we go to this principle in Proverbs 1817. I'll read it from the New Living Translation. It says, the first to speak in court sounds right until the cross-examination begins, until the other side of the story is heard. And so it is with the story of Christmas. And as we study this, let's keep in mind what Samuel Bakkioki, the Adventist church historian, warned about when we study this. He said in his article, The Date and Meaning of Christ's Birth, he said, the adoption of the 25th of December for the celebration of Christmas is perhaps the most explicit example of son worship's influence on the Christian liturgical calendar. It is a known fact that the pagan feast of the birthday of the invincible son was held at that date. Do Christian sources openly admit the borrowing of the date of such a pagan festivity? He answers, generally not. They're not going to be candid and open about it.

He goes on to say, to admit borrowing a pagan festival, even after reinterpretation of its meaning, would be tantamount to an open betrayal of the faith.

This the church fathers were anxious to avoid.

The commemoration of the birth of the sun god was not easily forgotten by Christians. Augustine in the fifth century and Leo the Great, later than that, strongly reprimanded those Christians who at Christmas worshiped the sun rather than the birth of Christ. Therefore, it is well to keep in mind that in the investigation of the influence of the sun cults on the Christian liturgy, the most we can hope to find are not direct but indirect indications. This warning applies not only for the date of Christmas but for that of Sunday as well. And we can add Easter, too. So there were three things that were changed during the time of Constantine. The change from the Sabbath to Sunday as an official date that would be followed by Roman Catholics. Secondly, would be that from the Passover date, it would be changed to Easter Sunday. So you have the first day of the sun, now you have the feast of the sun, which is Easter Sunday, and you have the birth of the sun on December 25th, being now portrayed as the birth of Christ.

So let's begin with the first modern justification for December 25th as Christ's birthday. We can call this theory number one, the temple sheep theory. Has anybody ever heard of the temple sheep theory? No, wonderful. I've got a captive audience. Everybody wants to know about the temple sheep theory. It's out there. Scholarly circles are promulgating this. They're trying to spread it for people to believe it. Now, this theory appears on the latest magazine of Bible and Spade, an archaeology magazine that I received, fall of 2017 edition, and it's called the archaeology of Christmas by Brian Wendell, who is a church pastor. Now, this is on the internet. You don't have to get the magazine. You can access this article I did. I just copied it and put it in my file. He says, here's the theory. Listen closely. Just north of Bethlehem was a place called Meghdul-Eder, or Edder. The Tower of the Flock is what it is in English. While its exact location is uncertain today, it used to be where certain shepherds grazed special flocks of sheep that were for sacrifices at the temple.

This place is mentioned in Micah 4-8 as the watchtower of the flock. Interestingly, just a few verses before Micah's prophecy of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem, Micah 5-8. Then he quotes this writer, Alfred Eddershine, in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.

It says, This Meghdul-Eder was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheep ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town on the road to Jerusalem. So here's this tower that the shepherds used to watch over the flocks.

A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion that the flocks which pastured there were destined for temple sacrifices and accordingly that the shepherds who watched over them were not ordinary shepherds. The latter were under the ban of rabbinism or the rabbinic teachings on account of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances and their manner of life which rendered strict legal observance unlikely, if not absolutely impossible. So these shepherds were selected and the rabbis oversaw them because they were the ones that provided the temple sheep. The same Mishnaic passage also leads us to infer that these flocks lay out all the year round since they are spoken of as in the fields 30 days before Passover, that is, in the month of February when in Palestine or Israel the average rainfall is nearly greatest. There is no way of knowing conclusively that this is the exact place of the shepherds where watching their flocks. It is interesting that there was likely a group of shepherds near Bethlehem tending their passhaw sheep from Passover sheep that were bound for sacrifice in Jerusalem the night that Jesus was born. That's from page 94.

So at first glance, this might sound convincing, but let's take a closer look at the evidence. Remember Proverbs 1817. The first presentation, the first side of the story, might sound plausible, but let's look at it more carefully. Let's cross-examine this evidence. First of all, Alfred Erichim was a Jew that converted to Presbyterianism. So he went from one extreme, being taught in rabbinic schools, he adopted Christianity and became a Presbyterian minister and scholar. And so he kept Christmas.

And he brings this elaborate story from the Mishnah.

Number two, notice the terms that are not very precise. He says this account in Mishnah leads to the conclusion. It's not saying it points directly. No, it kind of leads to it. So it can point maybe to that conclusion. And then he says the same Mishnah passage also leads us to infer, to suppose So it's not direct evidence. It's just something possible.

Now you have to go, then what? You go to the Mishnah and you can go to the internet. Put down Mishnah section 7 paragraph 4 and it will give you what the Mishnah says. This is what the Mishnah section 7 paragraph 4 says. Quote, an animal that was found between Jerusalem and Magdal Eddar, or a similar distance in any direction, the males are considered burnt offerings. The females are considered peace offerings. Rabbi Jehuda said those which are fitting as a pisash or the Passover offering are considered Passover offerings, pisah offerings, if it is 30 days before the festival. So this is the information that Eddersheim now concludes that there were special shepherds, that these were taking care of the temple sheep, and that they were there the whole year around. So, now you can go and see the explanation of what this is in the Mishnah 7-4 by Rabbi Dr. Joshua Kope. In his teaching to the Jews about this section, he says, first, the Mishnah deals with the beasts or cattle found in the proximity to Jerusalem. So, okay, this has to do with the animals found around the proximity of Jerusalem. Since many animals around Jerusalem may be escaped sacrifices, he puts here in quotes probably lost, but escape sounds more interesting. In other words, these are animals that were destined for the sacrifices and they got out. They escaped and they're in the proximity. He says, we must treat them as if they were for sacrifices.

He goes into each part of this section. He divides it up into four parts. Section 1, the exact location of Migdol Eddar is no longer known. So, we don't know if it's close to Bethlehem or not. Bethlehem was approximately four miles from Jerusalem.

It is mentioned in Genesis 35 21 and Micah 4 8. It is very close to Jerusalem. So, wherever this watchtower was thousands of years ago, it was close to Jerusalem.

Section 2 of this Mishnah 7.4. Males, male animals found in this area are treated as burnt offerings. In other words, to be offered in sacrifice. Notice, found. This is the most stringent of the offerings that the male animal might be. It is also true that the majority of male animals are burnt offerings. The Talmud, Jerusalem, explains that there was a special decree in Jerusalem that all lost male animals are to be treated as burnt offerings. That these are to be brought back and be offered. Section 3. Female animals are treated as peace offerings, since they cannot be offered as burnt offerings. Most female animals in Jerusalem are peace offerings, which were purchased with second-tide money, which is feast money. And Section 4, Rabbi Judah explains that if the animal was fit to be a Passover offering, that is, it is a year-old goat or sheep. So now it's not just sheep, it's also goats. And it is found within 30 days before Passover, it is to be treated as a Passover offering.

30 days is the period of time before Passover in which the sages began to teach the laws of Passover, and hence at this time people began to set aside animals for use as a Passover offering. One who finds such an animal may use it as his own personal Passover sacrifice. If the owners come and claim the animal, then he must pay them its value, but he may keep the animal. So this is talking about something entirely different. It's not talking about the shepherds taking care of some special sheep. It's talking about what to do, because of course there were thousands of these offerings during the Holy Days, and sometimes they broke the pens where they were being held, and they wandered off. And if somebody found them, then instead of keeping them, they were to be brought back so that they could be a burnt offering. And if it was an owner that his sheep had just strayed, and then somebody said, oh, I'm going to use this one now as a Passover offering, if that person identifies his sheep, that is not to be just given away, because the owner is the one that needs to be paid for it. And so you see how convoluted some of these things are, how they twist, just to try to get this idea that, well, how can we explain that the shepherds were out in December at that time? Oh, it's the Passover sheep. And so these shepherds would be working overtime at night in the freezing cold because of this. Well, this is the wrong source, because this is talking about lost sheep and what to do about it. It doesn't say anything about some special group of shepherds. And by the way, what the priests did for these Passover sacrifices was that Jerusalem was a big city, and they already had their pens, and they had to supervise the sheep to be properly conditioned for the sacrifices. And around Jerusalem, not miles away, but around Jerusalem, they had their own area where they kept the sheep because it was very easy to have them stolen. You're not going to have this just miles and miles of wandering sheep or a specialized sheep.

So this passage in the Mishnah does not refer to animals being bred for the sacrifice.

But those that were lost, it doesn't mention any special shepherds or that they were out in the open.

Sheep were very valuable. They were bred for many purposes, for their wool, for their meat, for their milk.

Feta cheese is made from the sheep milk. And also, they were used as a commodity of value. They could be traded for other things. So to think that everybody was just dedicated to supplying the sheep for the temple sacrifices, that's not the case. Most people brought their sheep from wherever they came. They had been preparing themselves for it. Shepherds kept their sheep in pens from November to March. The temperature was very cold, wet, and sometimes with frost. Notice Sarah Rubin, Chief of the Israeli Weather Service in the 1990 press release, mentioned the following. The temperature in the area of Bethlehem in December can drop to well below freezing, especially at night. The area has three months of frost, and in December, has 29 degrees Fahrenheit. I looked up what the temperature is going to be the 25th of December, and in Jerusalem it's 41 degrees. So do you think shepherds are going to be out at night taking care of their flocks? I doubt it. Notice the Scripture in Ezra, chapter 10 verse 9, talking about this area of Jerusalem. So here we have a photo of during Ezra's day around 440 BC or so.

What the temperature was in Jerusalem around December. We actually have this biblical verse and I'm going to read it from the New Living Translation. Ezra chapter 10, 9, and then 13. It says, Within three days all the people of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. This took place on December 19th. It says there in the ninth month. Remember March is the first month, so you just go nine months, you get into December. That's what the translation says. On December 19th, and all the people were sitting in the square before the temple of God. They were trembling both because of the seriousness of the matter and because it was raining.

Verse 13, it says, Then they added, This isn't something that can be done in a day or two, for many of us are involved in this extremely sinful affair. And this is the rainy season, so we cannot stay out here much longer. They couldn't stay outdoors very long. It's very cold. A lot of people think Israel is always warm. A lot of tourists come in and they bring their shorts and Bermuda's on December, and then they have to go out and buy sweaters and coats because it is cold out there. It's like a northern California or Oregon weather during the winter.

Now let's look at what the Bible says. Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2, in verse 1, you see how this all concocted theory about special shepherds and that would be out in the winter time because somehow they had to be during the whole year. Even if they were taking care of special lamps, they wouldn't be out at night. You can take care of the sheep while the sun is out, but then you put them back in the pens at night. Notice in Luke chapter 2 verse 1, Luke says, and it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This census first took place while Kirinyas was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. The term inn is wrongly translated.

The Greek term means guest house or guest room. It's the same word used in Luke for Christ when they met in the upper room with his disciples for the Passover. The same word. He wasn't going into an inn. He was going into a house where a room had been rented. And what was going on here was that Joseph had many relatives in Bethlehem. Here's a descendant of David by both sides. Do you think they're going to say, well, go out there and deal with the situation? No, but the guest house was already occupied.

And so she had to finally go downstairs where there was a manger for the animals. And that's where they had the baby Jesus. But here is one of the proofs that it wasn't the 25th of December because the census that the Romans took never did it in wintertime. This was very cold. It was the rainy season. And throughout the Mediterranean, this was the cold time of the year where the roads, many times they were mostly made of mud. You had the Roman roads, but those were for the Roman couriers and Roman troops.

And so people had to use the other roads. And there was mud and it was cold. So that's not when you're going to have a census. You have it after the harvest, the fall harvest. That's when the people have money, they can travel, and be registered by the Romans. And then let's go to verse 8 because this talks about the shepherds. It says, now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Now they only did that again from basically the end of April to the end of September.

Then October started getting quite cold and maybe a part of October, but November, December, January, February, March, that was the rainy season. That's the winter there. And yet here it says they were living out in the fields. So that means they weren't in their homes. This was a time when it was warm enough that they could just stay outdoors at night.

So it has to be basically about the eight months from the time of late March, all the way maybe into mid-October. Verse 9, And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign in you that you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, Let us now go to Bethlehem. So they were staying out in the fields that night.

And they went into Bethlehem to see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And so you see here, it was a time when the weather was mild, where the shepherds could stay out, not just for a short time. They were living out there in those fields.

All right, so we've covered theory number one. Let's go to theory number two.

This theory we can call the same day of conception and death theory.

The same day of conception and death theory. Anybody heard that one?

Nobody. Okay, good. More information. That's new. This I found in the latest, well, the biblical archaeology magazine has a website, and they put this on their website. The article is called, How December 25th Became Christmas. And also, I get a newsletter from Dr. Eli Sysorskin, who is a Jewish and Messianic person. His article is, Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday? And so Dr. Eli writes, How did the early Christians arrive at this dating of December 25th? Surprisingly, the early church followed a very Jewish idea that the beginning and the end of important redemptive events often happen on the same date. And he cites here the Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah, section 10b through 11a. So Dr. Eli continues, In the beginning of the third century, Tertullian, a church writer, reported that since he knew precisely when Jesus died, the 14th of Nisan, or March 25th, he also knew exactly when he was conceived. He was most likely wrong in his conclusions, but at least we can now see how they arrived to the date of Christmas. So here he's giving an explanation. How do you get to December 25th? The logic went as follows. If Jesus was conceived on March 25th, then counting forward to the nine months of Mary's pregnancy would place his birth on December 25th. This is especially intriguing because January 1st used to be celebrated as the Day of Christ circumcision. It is very important to note that it was not until the fourth to the sixth centuries that Christians began to, quote, Christianize the local pagan celebrations of the peoples they sought to evangelize. There is no doubt that it was at this time, but not before, that Christmas began to acquire some of its pagan traditions.

So again, he says, oh well, Tertullian kind of figured out when Christ died and this Jewish tradition that some events happened when a person was conceived and died on the same day.

Well, again, thanks to the internet, you can go and see what exactly does this Babylonian Talmud say. And you find here in section 11a two rabbis debating several points on the calendar. Rabbi Eliezer said, in Tishri, the world was created. Tishri is the seventh month. It's the month of Rosh Hashanah, the month of the first day that is a holy day, a day of trumpets. He says, in Tishri, the patriarchs were born. So he says, all the patriarchs were born. In Tishri, the patriarchs died. So all of the patriarchs, all 12 of them died on that month. On Passover, Isaac was born. On Rosh Hashanah, Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered by God and conceived.

On Rosh Hashanah, Joseph came out from prison. In Rosh Hashanah, our forefather, slavery in Egypt ceased. In Nisan, the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt. And in Tishri, in the future, the Jewish people will be redeemed in the final redemption with the coming of the Messiah. So they're trying to play with all of these dates and how, oh, this month, the seventh month is the most important. So all these things had to happen at that time. Well, the other rabbi, Rabbi Yehoshua, disagrees with him and says, in Nisan, the world was created. In Nisan, the patriarchs were born. So he said, no, no, not the seventh month. The first month is the most important. In Nisan, the patriarchs died. So he says, oh, you see, they all died. On Passover, Isaac was born. Not as he says here, talking about Isaac. Yeah, well, they agree on Isaac being born on Passover. On Rosh Hashanah, Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered by God and conceived sons. On Rosh Hashanah, Joseph came out from prison. On Rosh Hashanah, our forefather's slavery in Egypt ceased. In Nisan, the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt. So again, they're arguing over things that are not mentioned in the Bible. They can't even agree among themselves. So they say the Jews sometimes talk about rabbis and how they can just argue endlessly. They say, you have two rabbis and you have three opinions. Because they never really come to an accord.

So no biblical passage is cited for this. It is baseless speculation. It doesn't have anything to do with the biblical teaching on things.

And how about Tertullian? Well, Tertullian was not dealing with birthdays. He was just dealing with the death of Christ. He said, this is where quoting Tertullian, he said, and the suffering of this extermination or death was perfected within the times of the 70 weeks, talking about the prophecy, under Tiberius Caesar in the month of March at the time of the Passover on the eighth day before the Calens of April. So Tertullian was just saying Christ died on the Passover on that day and that it was a march that would be equivalent to March the 25th. Now again, Clement, who was a companion of his, wrote and said, no, Christ actually was born in March or April. So they had all kinds of different calculations going on. Tertullian doesn't say any more, nothing about his conception. It was baseless speculation.

And this article says that, oh, Tertullian knew when the conception took place. But no, the death of Christ doesn't have anything to do with when he was born. So we have the biblical evidence. We have the census. We have the shepherds living at night with the flocks. There's no mention of the day or the month at all about this. And so this idea that, yes, later on they started coming up with this theory that, well, if Christ died on the 25th, he was then conceived on the 25th. Well, the problem is that in the Mishnah, where it talks about things, it says this is where the patriarchs were born and where they died. But they're not talking about when Christ was born, but when he was conceived in the womb of Mary. So how are you going to calculate that? To the very day. There's no way. So you see what they're doing is they chose December 25th, and now they're going back and setting up a false situation of saying, well, that March 25th has to be when he was conceived, because if he was born the 25th, well, they haven't proved he was born December 25th, but they're already trying to get the conception down. You don't do that in scholarly circles. You have to show the evidence, the facts. You can't show this baseless speculation that there's no place in the Bible where it says a man's conception and death are related at all. In the Bible, we read in Ecclesiastes 7.1, it says, a good name is better than good oil, and the day of death is better than the day of birth. And so the Bible focuses on Jesus Christ's Passover sacrifice, His death. About a third of the Gospels cover the last week of Christ's life. There, they tell us specifically when He died. We know He died on the Passover of that year. We have many details on that, but as far as when Christ was born, that's something God did not want to reveal. He didn't want people to venerate and to focus on that at all. And what has mankind done? Well, they've changed the calendars. They quit keeping Passover. Now they're keeping Easter and Christmas as an artificial date that has no biblical backing. In Matthew 7, verses 21 through 23, I'll read it from the New Living Translation in 1996 version of it. It says, not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as Lord, but they still won't enter the kingdom of heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. That's what's important. On Judgment Day, many will tell me, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and perform many miracles in Your name. But I will reply, I never knew You. Go away. The things You did were unauthorized. They were not authorized by God. People in their vain imagination have set up these traditions of men.

Now, let me give you an illustration. What if you had a special guest and you wanted to invite him in your home and you prepared a fine meal and you invited guests for that day. This special guest comes to your home and everybody has presents and gifts, but instead of giving it to the honored guest, they start exchanging gifts among themselves and leave the honored guest out of it. Then people start drinking too much. They start overdoing it, reveling, and start getting drunk. And here's this honored guest that you're supposed to respect. Do you think that honored guest is going to be happy with that? And then finally, you say, well, in Your honor, for having come here, we're setting up a memorial, but we're naming it for Your rival, an enemy. We're going to name them after the God of the Son. And I hope you're pleased, having come and eaten here with us. How many people would think that's a good festival to keep?

We know, reading in Zechariah, let's go to Zechariah to finish Zechariah chapter 14. When Christ comes back, what feast is He going to keep?

Zechariah 14.

It says in verse 16, And it shall come to pass, that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts. So all the people that survived this period, three and a half year period of the Great Tribulation, those people that are the survivors, that were able to survive the plagues. And then when Christ comes back, and what are they going to do? It says they will come and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 17, And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth, each person has a family, whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain, there will have a drought, they will die in their hunger. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain, they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment. This shall be the punishment. Here in the margin it says the sin of Egypt and the sin of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. So what do we see in the Bible? When Christ comes back, they're going to be keeping the Feast of Tabernacles. And brethren, not Christmas.