Christmas

So where in the bible does it say Jesus was born on Dec. 24th?

also where in the bible does it tell you to decorate a tree?

As for Christmas trees:

Isaiah 14:8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.

Isaiah 41:19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

Isaiah 55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 60:13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

None of those say anything about decorating trees.

The Prophet Jeremiah condemned as Pagan the ancient Middle Eastern practice of cutting down trees, bringing them into the home and decorating them. Of course, these were not really Christmas trees, because Jesus was not born until centuries later, and the use of Christmas trees was not introduced for many centuries after his birth. Apparently, in Jeremiah's time the "heathen" would cut down trees, carve or decorate them in the form of a god or goddess, and overlay it with precious metals. Some Christians feel that this Pagan practice was similar enough to our present use of Christmas trees that this passage from Jeremiah can be used to condemn both:

But during the Roman celebration of the feast of Saturnalia, Pagans did decorate their houses with clippings of evergreen shrubs. They also decorated living trees with bits of metal and replicas of their God, Bacchus. Tertullian (circa 160 - 230), an early Christian leader and a prolific writer, complained that too many fellow-Christians had copied the Pagan practice of adorning their houses with lamps and with wreathes of laurel at Christmas time.

A group of Christians in Egypt were celebrating the birth of Christ by 200 AD, but the date used was in May, not December. And by the time Tertullian died around 222 Christmas was still not a major Christian holiday. A December 25 date was around by the middle of the 4th century, but even then Christmas was overshadowed by other celebrations and it would remain overshadowed well into the Middle Ages.

Actually, December 25th was originally the birthday of the Iranian virgin born/crucified/spent 3 days in Hell/resurrected on the 3rd day savior god, Mithras, the Saturnalia was also celebrated from 17th to 25th of December, later the Roman festival Natalis Solis Invicti (birth of the unconquered sun) was created to glorify all the Sun Gods of the Empire (both Mithras and Jesus were considered Sun Gods)

Well what you think is irrelevant to what the pagans thought because they have different beliefs than you. Just because you think it's silly doesn't mean they did.

I see you watched Zetigerist****...:ban:

So where in the bible does it say Jesus was born on Dec. 24th?

also where in the bible does it tell you to decorate a tree?

The date is actually unknown... However, people settled on Dec. 24th as a day to 'universally' celebrate the birth of Christ.

And is it a coincidence that it just happens to be on winter solstice of the Julian calendar?

And is it a coincidence that it just happens to be on winter solstice of the Julian calendar?

Hmm... You made me make a false assumption, thats cruel. Christmas is December 25th, not the 24th which is the Winter solstice. So your argument is out the window because it isn't on the Winter Solstice, it is coincidently the day after it. :peace:

No, now the winter solstice would be on about December 21st or 22nd

but Since 45 BCE, the 25th was established in the Julian calendar as the winter solstice of Europe.