Pagan Holidays - Sermons, Bible Studies, Articles, and Essays

Pagan Holidays

Bible Study by Martin G. Collins

The Babylonian world system, which Daniel 7:25 says intends to change times and law, has altered God's Sabbath and holy days, blending them into corrupt worship and setting up counterfeit holidays. God has not sanctioned these pagan holidays, and it is wrong to share in them. Man's thinking is opposite God's (Isaiah 55:8-9), so man

Is New Year's Eve a Pagan Holiday?

'Ready Answer' by Mike Ford

New Year's Eve is pagan to its core, and Christians should not observe it. God marks the New Year in spring (Exodus 12:1-2) simply as a calendar reference, never commanding a celebration. The January 1 revelry descends from the Roman Saturnalia, which featured drunkenness, role reversal, gift-giving, and even human sacrifice. Churc

Satan's Pagan Holy Days

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Kim Myers

Pagan holidays such as New Year's, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, St. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and birthdays trace back to Babylonian sun-worship begun by Nimrod and his mother-wife Semiramis just two generations after the Flood, with Satan deceiving mankind. Easter's eggs, rabbits, Lent, hot cross buns, and ham, along wi

Spirit and Truth

CGG Weekly by David C. Grabbe

Christmas is not a Christian celebration that merely needs Christ put back into it; its timing and trappings long predate Christianity, and December 25th has been a focal point of sun-worship for millennia. The current culture war pits secular humanists against Christians defending Christmas symbols, but this is one of Satan's pair

Celebrating a Lie

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Christmas is a holiday with little basis in truth: no passage in either Testament commands celebrating Christ's birth, and Jesus instead tells His followers to remember His death (Luke 22:14-20; I Corinthians 11:23-26). The December date is wrong, since winter is Palestine's rainy season and shepherds bring their flocks in from the

Cogitations on Christmas

Article by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Christmas is a bundle of contradictions built on paganism. Jesus could not have been born on December 25; the Church merged the Roman Saturnalia and winter solstice sun-worship with a celebration of His birth, and Yule and the Yule log come from heathen midwinter rites. Santa Claus is a blend of Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, and

'Tis the Season: Help for Our Young People

Article by Staff

God's people do not keep Christmas or New Year's Day because Scripture never commands them and God commands His people to have nothing to do with pagan practices, which these holidays contain in great numbers. Jesus was not born on December 25; that date was chosen to conform to the Roman Saturnalia and Brumalia at the winter solst

When Was Jesus Born?

Article by John O. Reid

Christmas rests on the premise that Jesus was born on December 25, and that premise is false, so anyone truly striving to follow the Bible will reject the celebration. Luke's orderly chronology supplies the evidence. Zacharias served in the course of Abijah, the eighth of the priestly courses listed in I Chronicles 24, and John was

The Rea$on for the Season

CGG Weekly by David C. Grabbe

Christmas is indefensible once one looks past the traditions of men and searches the Bible. Rome co-opted the bacchanalia of the winter solstice and inserted the presumed birth of the Messiah. Because no central authority remains to settle the matter, people can only disagree over how it should be kept: whether Santa belongs beside

Syncretismas!

Article by Martin G. Collins

Christmas is a syncretistic blend of pagan rites and Christian themes that God abhors (Deuteronomy 12:29-32; Exodus 32). Its customs trace to ancient Babylon, where Nimrod's wife Semiramis deified her dead husband and her son Horus, with the evergreen tree, December solstice birthday gifts, and Madonna-and-child worship, and where

So You Plan to Keep Christmas Now?

Article by Mike Ford

Christmas, often seen as a beautiful and harmless celebration with dazzling lights and greenery, hides a darker origin tied to pagan customs. When you erect a Christmas tree, hang a wreath, or place mistletoe, you are engaging in practices rooted in ancient fears of darkness and evil spirits. These early people used evergreens to w

The Plain Truth About Christmas

Herbert W. Armstrong Booklet

The celebration of Christmas, often assumed to be a Christian holiday, has deep roots in paganism. It gravitated into the Roman Church from pagan customs in the fourth century, long after the time of Christ and the apostles. Historical authorities, such as the Catholic Encyclopedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica, confirm that Christm

Presumption and Divine Justice (Part One)

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Hardly anything more clearly illustrates the self-deceived perverseness of human nature than its presumptuous additions of the observation of Christmas and Easter to the worship of the God of the Bible. That Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea is indisputable, but He was not born on December 25, nor did anybody exchange gifts on t

Bucking Tradition

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

For most people, it is a difficult undertaking to buck tradition, especially in holiday celebrations. This is particularly evident with religious holidays like Easter and Christmas, where the paganism and inaccuracies inherent in these observances are often ignored. As often and as forcefully as one might proclaim the truth about t

Christmas and Sun Worship

Sermonette by Mike Ford

Christmas, Easter, and Halloween all derive from sex, fertility, and sun worship. Christmas traces to the incestuous relationship of Semiramis and Nimrod.

Valentine's Day and Real Love

Article by Staff

Saint Valentine's Day is an ancient pagan festival covered with a microscopically thin Christian veneer, and God's people should not keep it. History tells almost nothing about the two martyrs named Valentine, whose feast falls on February 14, and gives no link between either man and romance; the stories of secret weddings arose ce

Halloween

Article by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Halloween is the second-most popular holiday. This night not only lacks biblical foundation, but the Bible warns us against participating in such activities.

Crazy or Christmas

Sermonette by

When we worship God, we must worship in spirit and truth. Is there any truth in Christmas? There is no truth offered in Harper's Bible Dictionary to support the observance of Christmas, and certainly no command in the Bible to support it either. This should tell us which spirit Christmas comes from, and it's not God's. Christmas, d

Christmas, Syncretism, and Presumption

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Christmas, a festival not mentioned in the Bible, serves as a striking example of the perversity of human nature, as many who claim Judeo-Christian roots celebrate it despite its pagan origins. Its global appeal, seen even in non-Christian nations like Japan with extravagant holiday decorations, highlights a commercial rather than

Does Paul Condemn Observing God's Holy Days?

'Ready Answer' by Earl L. Henn

Galatians 4:9-10 is a favorite crutch of those who claim Christians no longer need to observe God's holy days. However, Paul's meaning is quite different.

For the Love of the Truth

Sermonette by Ryan McClure

Christ has never been in man's holidays, which are built on lies, and which teach children they cannot trust the veracity of their own parents.

The Resurrection Was Not on Sunday

Herbert W. Armstrong Booklet

The Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition is unproven human tradition that conflicts with the Bible, and Jesus warned against making God's word of none effect through tradition (Mark 7:13). Easter and Christmas have a pagan origin, and nowhere does the Bible sanction either holiday. Scripture is the only dependable authority, since n

Truth-Based Worship Vs Spiritual Confusion

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

Many people, even after leaving God's church, return to celebrating Christmas, despite its well-known pagan origins. They willingly refuse to believe the truth, choosing instead to follow traditions rooted in lies, as their pleasure in unrighteousness blinds them to the reality of its deceptive nature. Christmas, a holiday flourish

Is Valentine's Day Really About Love?

Commentary by Martin G. Collins

Valentine's Day is a pagan festival with roots older than Christianity, not a saintly observance. It descends from the Roman Lupercalia, a sensuous February festival honoring Lupercus (akin to Pan and Baal) and tied to Nimrod, with goat sacrifices, scantily clad priests, and licentious behavior, later linked to Venus and Cupid. As

Was Jesus Resurrected on Easter Sunday?

'Ready Answer' by Staff

Easter and Palm Sunday are traditional Christian holy days that have no command from God behind them. The Bible never instructs anyone to worship on Easter Sunday, and the claim that Jesus instituted a new day of worship by rising on a Sunday morning is used to excuse breaking the seventh-day Sabbath commanded in Exodus 20:8 and De

Halloween Rising

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Halloween, a modern descendant of the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain, holds a significant place in American culture, ranking second only to Christmas in economic impact. Its origins trace back to Samhain, a kind of New Year's holiday on November 1, when the Celts believed the boundary between this world and the spirit world

Appointments

Sermon by Clyde Finklea

Many professing Christians anticipate Easter and Christmas as significant holidays, yet neither is found observed in the Bible. In contrast, the Bible highlights holy days, referred to as the Lord's appointed times, which are observed in both Testaments and by the early church, including Gentile congregations. These appointed times

The Plain Truth About Easter

Herbert W. Armstrong Booklet

Easter, far from being a Christian name, derives from the ancient pagan goddess Ishtar, also known as Astarte, the consort of Baal, the sun god. This name, a slight variation of the Assyrian and Babylonian deity, is rooted in old Teutonic mythology as Ostern, revealing its idolatrous origins as the queen of heaven, a figure condemn

Something Fishy

Sermonette by

Catholics eat fish on Friday as a form of penance, commemorating Christ's supposed death on 'Good' Friday. During pagan Lent, eating fish on Friday is mandatory.

Truth (Part 1)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

In our day, people are enamored with holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Lent, Mardi Gras, Good Friday, Holy Sunday, and Ascension Day. They cherish these celebrations, often ignoring the truth about their origins. Despite stumbling upon information that reveals the pagan roots of these days, such as Halloween's connecti

Be My Valentine?

Article by Mike Ford

Valentine's Day is a continuation of the ancient Roman rite of Lupercalia, a fertility festival held each February 15 in honor of the god Lupercus. During this observance, goats and a dog were sacrificed, and young men, wearing goatskin, ran around striking women with goatskin strips to ease labor for the pregnant and make others f

Hosea's Prophecy (Part Four)

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

Both Israel and Judah during Hosea's time adopted paganism from the surrounding nations. Syncretistic religion blends paganism and Christianity.

A Day of Lust, Not Love

Article by Martin G. Collins

In stark contrast to true worship of God in spirit and truth, many in this world celebrate holidays rooted in fleshly practices and lies, with Saint Valentine's Day steeped in lust and sexual immorality, directly opposing God's commandments. Historical evidence shows that Valentine's Day predates Christianity, originating from paga

'After Three Days'

Booklet by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The world, without the revealed understanding of the holy days, has little idea what God is working out on this earth. After careful study and observance of these days, we find that within the annual holy day cycle, God unveils His awesome plan of salvation for all mankind. To summarize these festivals, the Passover reminds us of C