Christmas Traditions were Pagan originally - historical facts to consider

Nor has the tree always been a part of the Christian Christmas. I found out last year at religioustolerance.org that,

In 1851, Pastor Henry Schwan of Cleveland OH appears to have been the person responsible for decorating the first Christmas tree in an American church. His parishioners condemned the idea as a Pagan practice; some even threatened the pastor with harm.

Wow. All the way back to 1851? Really?

Along with those Heathen trees, we mustn’t forget burning and highly Heathen Yule logs and Heathen Yule-singing, Heathen holly, Heathen mistletoe, and, especially, Heathen wassailing. Yes, when you wassail, you are participating in the ancient drink-sacrifice.
Don’t forget Santa: a Pagan god, Odin, and his eight-legged horse Sleipnir (eight reindeer anyone?), turned into a Christian Saint. Who better to preside over a Pagan-turned-Christian holiday than a Christianized Pagan God.

One noted Christian author, Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis 1.21; 145.6; 1146.4), even went so far as to say curiosity about the date of Jesus’ birth was “gratuitous curiosity.” When possible dates were mentioned, they most certainly did not include December 25th. Instead, we find mention of March 28, April 2 or 20. [1]


January 6th was the date on Christmas was originally celebrated. Epiphanius (ca 310-403), tells us so (Pan. LI.22.3-7 and 29.4-7). On around 428 CE John Cassianus (Collationes X.2) reported that Epiphany in Egypt is ‘by ancient tradition’ believed to be the time for both the baptism and the birth of Jesus.”[2] As it happens, January 6th is still Christmas Day in the Orthodox Church.
We have the testimony of Dionysius Bar-Salibi, twelfth century bishop of Amida, for example:

The reason, then, why the fathers of the church moved the January 6th celebration [of Epiphany] to December 25th was this, they say: it was the custom of the pagans to celebrate on this same December 25th the birthday of the Sun, and they lit lights then to exalt the day, and invited and admitted the Christian to these rites. When, therefore, the teachers of the church saw that Christians inclined to this custom, figuring out a strategy, they set the celebration of the true Sunrise on this day, and ordered Epiphany to be celebrated on January 6th; and this usage they maintain to the present day along with the lighting of the lights.

As Ramsay MacMullen remarks, “By similar inventions other popular pagan celebrations were directly confronted with a Christian challenge.” [4]



http://www.politicususa.com/2013/12/11/christmas-pagan-holiday.html