Mithras, Saturn, and Jesus

This year, as every year, we will come together in late December to celebrate the birth of Mithras, the bull-slaying Roman god of Middle Eastern origin. We will also take time to honor the Roman god of agriculture; however, we might add a bit of a Norse spin to that festival. Does this sound like a party you haven’t been invited to? What if this depiction is not that far from the truth? What if Christmas is not as Christian as it seems?

Christmas and other Christian traditions have become huge drivers of the economy and staple dates on every calendar. But what is the purpose of these traditions? Are they well-founded celebrations or hoaxes created to sell toys and cover up other religions and their competing holidays?

We all know that Christmas is said to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus. While many historical authors have tried to calculate the exact day that happened, no contemporaries wrote it down, and no witnesses commemorated the date. In fact, selecting the 24th or 25th as Jesus’ date of birth goes back to pagan holidays. In the centuries after Christ, the Middle Eastern god Mithras was becoming increasingly popular in the Roman Empire. His birthday was celebrated on the 25th. The Saturnalia, which also took place in December, made the Winter a jolly time in general. It is possible that Christmas was an attempt to Christianize this pagan holiday season.

If you take Mithras’ birthday, add the gift giving of the Saturnalia and the evergreen tree decorations of Northern European cultures, you could very easily end up with a festivity much like our Christmas. Today, Christmas is a holiday thought to celebrate the birth of Christ, while many of its rituals and traditions are based on a wide variety of ancient European and Middle Eastern religions.

This leaves me wondering: How Christian are other Christian traditions? I think about our easter celebration, our churches, Sunday worship, communion; how many of these go back to the actual teachings of Jesus? How would Jesus react if He were to walk among us today as he did back then? What would he say if He saw us sitting around a Christmas tree opening presents? Would He participate in the easter egg hunt? Would He marvel at the grandeur of our churches?

These are important questions that must be dealt with carefully. We will dig deeper and search for answers in future essays. For now, we will focus on one thing: Is there any harm in such traditions? How did Jesus deal with a religion that had begun incorporating more and more traditions?

During Jesus’ time as a teacher, the Jewish leaders had to deal with heavy criticism from Him. Jesus was not one to stray from conflict if He saw things were going against God’s will. At the time of Christ, Judaism was a sprawling religion that had strayed farther and farther from the Law given to Moses. Jesus saw this and confronted those in charge. He let them know that they were not living or teaching according to the word of God.

Are these new traditions a danger?

Two fundamental challenges seem to arise with the advent and spread of man-made traditions. First, they can mislead and keep one from asking the right questions. Let’s look at an example: Christ’s birth is celebrated on December 25th. Now, it’s quite common knowledge that the 25th is a made-up date and not Jesus’ actual date of birth. “Well, what is the big deal with celebrating on the wrong day?” – Maybe that is the wrong question to be asking. “How should Christmas be celebrated?” – I’m not sure that question is much better. “Why are we celebrating a day that Jesus never told us to celebrate and never celebrated himself?” This sounds much better. Jesus never designated His birthday as a special day, and He certainly didn’t preach that He wanted it to be celebrated. Even more, no Christian holidays that are so widespread today were ever celebrated by Jesus.

The point I’m trying to make here is that as we are overrun by Christian traditions, it is crucial to be able to differentiate between Jesus’ original teachings and man-made alterations or additions. The second danger is that one’s faith can become bound to these traditions instead of Jesus’ teachings, making a person a member of a religion instead of a student of Christ.

Finally, why are traditions so powerful and long-lasting? The short answer is probably that they appeal to human nature. Many traditions make many people rich; they give an excuse to celebrate and splurge on vacations and festivities; not participating could result in ostracism from a community; and then there is also the comforting feeling of partaking in a ritual one grew up on.

I know this essay contains more questions than answers. It’s something I’ve been thinking about.