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Neither Easter, nor Christmas, nor any other Christian holidays that I am aware of are mentioned in the Bible. Many of the traditions we adhere today are, indeed, pagan in origin. There's plenty of material on the web to support this. ChristianAnswers.Net discusses the origin of the name Easter, as well as the Easter Hare (the original Easter Bunny), ...

Well, there certainly isn't anything in the Bible about it, for the simple reason that there isn't anything in the Bible about celebrating Christmas in the first place. (Not to mention electricity!) However, hanging or holding up lanterns to provide festive illumination after dark for festivals or celebrations is an ancient custom in many cultures, dating ...

One theory: It's not the easiest thing to follow, but http://bethlehemstar.net has a very interesting hypothesis on the subject. The information is all there, especially in footnotes, but unfortunately it's not presented very clearly on the site itself... they want you to get the video.* The upshot is that the date is most likely 3BC, and maybe 2BC. You ...

Signs in tradition and scripture, can have two basic senses. In the first sense, they are often miraculous indicators of the speaker's trustworthiness, which encourage the listener to believe. In the second sense, they embody or represent a larger or more transcendent truth. The general formula for signs in my first sense is that the speaker first delivers a ...

Because both the Gospel of Mathew and Luke agree that the birth took place before the death of Herod (who died in 4 BC), historians generally assume Jesus was born around 5 BC or slightly before. Source: WikiPedia

The exact day for the birth of Jesus is not known. You can find a lot of info on Wikipedia, with references. The most interesting for this question might be: The precise day of Jesus' birth, which some historians place between 7 and 2 BC, is unknown. In the early-to-mid 4th century, Western Christianity first placed Christmas on December 25, a date ...

She was probably between 13 and 14 years old according to the Catholic Encyclopedia in the section entitled "Mary's pregnancy becomes known to Joseph": From the age at which Hebrew maidens became marriageable, it is possible that Mary gave birth to her Son when she was about thirteen or fourteen years of age. No historical document tells us how old she ...

I've heard a few different things. You're right though: it's not in canonized scripture. The idea of "three" wise men is only (mostly unimportant, but interesting) tradition. The enumeration of three specific gifts contributes to the "trio" of persons. Their alledged names even appear in writings later in history. Dr. Talmage remarks on this in his ...

The origin of the Christmas tree is very well documented elsewhere, including Wikipedia. There are some Christians that disapprove of the use of a Christmas tree (one reason documented also at wikipedia, and further discussed (with rebuttal) here). There are some groups that do not use Christmas trees, for various reasons. Some Amish do not use Christmas ...

St. Nicholas of Myra predates the Great Schism by over 600 years. His feast day traditionally was December 6th, but has been taken off the Catholic calendar recently. Orthodox celebrate the feast of the nativity on the same day Catholics do, but their celebration with gifts, etc... is 12 days after (like it is in Spain and parts of Louisiana) on 3 kings day ...

Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate Christmas because of the pagan origins of many of our current customs. They cover this in several articles on their site. A search of their site returns many, but here is the first. They also reject several other holidays, citing similar reasons. Several other denominations have similar beliefs, and even within ...

In Persia is the city called Saveh, from which the three Magi set out when they came to worship Jesus Christ. Here, too, they lie buried in three sepulchres of great size and beauty. Above each sepulchre is a square building with a domed roof of very fine workmanship. The one is just beside the other. Their bodies are still whole, and they have hair and ...

Part of the reason seems to have been wanting to minimize the drive to direct the Messiah toward worldly goals. Many people wanted a worldly king, e.g., John 6:15 (NIV): Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again into the hills by himself. and there was a desire for "bread and circuses" (well full stomachs and ...

The Bible is not clear, and these questions have never been answered definitively. the best we can do is repeat the theories of those who have tried to answer this before us. Most people assume there were three, based on the fact that there are three gifts, but this isn't conclusive. The Huffington Post put out an article that examines this question. It ...

I believe that Dr. Richard P. Bucher provides an excellent analysis of this question. Luke 2:1-3 specifically states the purpose of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem (Roman census ordered by Caesar Augustus). And, from extra-biblical sources, we know that Augustus ordered a census in 27 BC, 8 BC, and 14 AD. So 8 BC seems the most reasonable answer ...

This is a good recent blog post covering Pope Benedict's thoughts on the matter. The key is the date set for the annunciation (March 25th): Traditionally held to be the first day of creation Traditionally held to be the date when Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac after a 3 day journey to Mount Moriah Extrapolated to be the date of Jesus' annunciation (when ...

For a God who always seeks to woo and not to overwhelm, this is exactly what you would expect. God could, if he chose, bring more power to bear than any of us could handle. He could force himself into everything, if that were His nature. But, as a person (not a force) who seeks to love and be loved for who He is, this makes perfect sense. As King Henry ...

Potential dup (or near question) Christmas on December 25th Regardless, the information there (and in its sources) help form an answer to your question. December has carried significant "spiritual" weight throughout humanity, probably attached to the Winter Solstice. In addition to the things that you've mentioned, the traditional date for the purification ...

If Christians were left to celebrating sacred events on days where no other pagan celebration has ever occurred, there would be no days available for Christian celebrations. So, on a day where some people at a certain time celebrated the birth of a god that never existed, Christians (Catholic and Protestant) choose to celebrate the birth of Jesus the ...

We Armenians do informally celebrate the birthday of Christ on December 25th, but to celebrate his birth on the 6th of January is religiously accurate. The historical reasoning behind this is that until the fourth century, Christ's birth was celebrated on January 6th across all Christian faiths, but for most was moved to December 25th in order to cleanse ...

It has it's origins in the reformation. One German legend claims that Martin Luther was responsible for introducing the use of Christmas trees in the home, in Germany. According to the legend, on his way home one evening, Martin Luther was so overcome by the beauty of a fir tree and stars in the sky, he wanted to tell his family about it. However, upon ...

He means the same thing as "the old covenant" (Judaism), but stated in the language of dispensationalism, which classifies the different timeline "slices" of God's plan. We tend to think of it as old covenant/new covenant but if you start getting really anal about it and analyzing "what about before Moses" and "what about after the Rapture" you get a bit ...

Just a Christmas treat for those who enjoy this sort of thing. Of course finding the infant, as lead by the star shining over the animal house, wrapped up and placed in a feeding-trough (φάτνη) is a striking thing to see. The contrast of this earthly, helpless child to the heralding angelic glory announcing his birth is breathtaking to say the least. But ...

This is a question which has plagued me for many decades. I am truly shocked that a similar question received such little response during this season. In other discussions here, we all can agree that no one can answer the question directly. No one knows the actual date of Christ's birth. To know what one does not know is a sign of scholarship. ...

We Three Kings The verses to 'we three kings' are pretty wonderfully theological and wrap across most doctrines. The gifts symbolize aspects of Jesus' ministry and purpose. Born a King on Bethlehem's plain Gold I bring to crown Him again King forever, ceasing never Over us all to rein Gold is the gift to honor a King. It is offered in ...

Taking a step back from Christmas and Easter holiday celebrations in particular, it should be noted that there were several celebratory feasts (and trust me, as a former Baptist, feasts are crucial to Baptists too) that the Jews undertook. In fact Deuteronomy 14 records an obligatory feast in which Jews were required to take a tenth of their possessions, ...

From Wikipedia: The Christmas season immediately follows Advent. The traditional Twelve Days of Christmas begin with Christmas Eve on the evening of December 24 and continue until the feast of Epiphany. The actual Christmas season continues until the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, which in the present form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on the Sunday ...

My response if focused from the Catholic perspective. Are there any church calendars that include Advent as Christmas, or is Christmas always supposed to follow December 25th? The Day From the Catholic Church, Christmas Day ("The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord") starts on Christmas Eve, December 24th as sundown. The Season According to the ...