The Watchtower's false teaching against Christmas #1: Not celebrated by early Christians

In the lead up to Christmas, I will begin working through the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society's teaching against Christmas

[Above (click to enlarge): The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society's last celebration of Christmas at its Bethel headquarters in 1926: "Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom," WB&TS, 1993, pp.198-199. The picture actually was used on a Christmas card sent by Watchtower President `Judge' Rutherford! So if celebrating Christmas is pagan as the Watchtower maintains (see future part #2 and #3 of this series), then by its own admission the Society indulged in that pagan practice from its founding in 1879 to 1926, i.e. 47 years, or over a third of its total existence!]

in its 2005 book, "What Does the Bible Really Teach?" pp.156-159 (with its words in bold) and show that it is false. Each part-quote is linked to the full quote near the end of this post.

"CHRISTMAS-NOT CELEBRATED BY EARLY CHRISTIANS (WB&TS, 2005, "What Does the Bible Really Teach?," p.156). Even if this were true. so what? There is no Biblical or logical reason why Christians today are bound by what early Christians did or did not do. But in fact neither the Watchtower, nor anyone, knows that Christmas was not celebrated by at least some (or even most) early Christians. And as we shall see, this Watchtower heading is not supported by what is in the section under it.

" ... Christmas supposedly commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, " (WB&TS, 2005, p.156). There is no "supposedly" about it. Christmas does commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ:

"Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday, celebrated on December 25, that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.." ("Christmas," Wikipedia, 16 December 2009).

irrespective of what non-Christians do or do not celebrate Christmas for.

"... and nearly every religion that claims to be Christian celebrates it. " (WB&TS, 2005, p.156). That nearly all Christian denominations celebrate Christmas means there are a minority who, for various reasons, do not. But they are free to do that, since the Bible teaches that "Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind" as to whether "one day [is] more sacred than another" and that Christians are to "not let anyone judge [them] ... with regard to a religious festival":

"One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." (Rom 14:5 NIV).

"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day." (Col 2:16 NIV).

The Watchtower's own New World Translation is substantially the same:

"One [man] judges one day as above another; another [man] judges one day as all others; let each [man] be fully convinced in his own mind." (Rom 14:5 NWT).

"Therefore let no man judge YOU in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath;" (Col 2:16 NWT).

But the Watchtower not only does not celebrate the birth of Jesus, it judges and then punishes Jehovah's Witnesses who do, in clear breach of "what the Bible really teaches in Rom 14:5 and especially Col 2:16! As former Jehovah's Witness elder David Reed recounts, "Participation in Christmas celebrations is not optional for Jehovah's Witnesses" because "judicial committees ... sit in judgment of any who celebrate" Christmas "even in some small way":

"Participation in Christmas celebrations is not optional for Jehovah's Witnesses. The ban is enforced by elders who make up judicial committees that sit in judgment of any who celebrate the holiday, even in some small way. During my 8 years as a JW elder I took part in such enforcement proceedings on a number of occasions.." (Reed, D.A., 1996, "Answering Jehovah's Witnesses: Subject by Subject," p.75).

So the Watchtower is, and has been for decades, in a state of deliberate disobedience of the Bible (even its own translation) in this.

"Yet, there is no evidence that the first-century disciples of Jesus observed such a holiday. " (WB&TS, 2005, p.156). Again, even if this were true, so what? The Bible makes it clear that Christians are free to observe "one day more sacred than another" (Rom 14:5) and that Christians are not to be judged by other Christians "with regard to a religious festival" (Col 2:16). But here the Watchtower is committing the Argument from Ignorance Fallacy, which is "an argument ... against a proposition on the basis of a lack of evidence ... for it":

"An appeal to ignorance is an argument for or against a proposition on the basis of a lack of evidence against or for it. If there is positive evidence for the conclusion, then of course we have other reasons for accepting it, but a lack of evidence by itself is no evidence." ( "Appeal to Ignorance," The Fallacy Files, 30 August 2007).

That is, the Watchtower has fallaciously converted "there is no evidence that the first-century disciples of Jesus observed such a holiday" (which is false - see next) into "Christmas" was not "celebrated by early Christians." But clearly, given that the vast majority of what the early Christians did or did not do has been lost, it is entirely possible that Christmas was celebrated by early Christians and yet there is no surviving evidence of them doing so.

But in fact there is evidence in the Bible that some 1st century Christians were considering "one day more sacred than another" (Rom 14:5) and observing a "religious festivals." (Col 2:16). And since Paul would not have condoned the Christian observance of pagan sacred days or religious festivals, they must have been either Jewish or Christian. And since in the early Church the celebration of Jesus' death and resurrection (Easter) then was the Jewish Passover, it is highly likely that Paul is including what later became Easter in his referring to Christians considering "one day more sacred than another" (Rom 14:5) and paying "regard to a religious festival" (Col 2:16).

And since the Bible specifically mentions angels celebrating the day of Jesus' birth, i.e. "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you":

Lk 2:8-14. 8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

it is highly likely that at least some (if not most) early Christians were celebrating, at least in the sense of commemorating, the day of Jesus' birth, which they would know given that Jesus' mother Mary and his brothers (Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3) were members of the first church in Jerusalem :

Acts 1:13-15. 13When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Also, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah which Jesus celebrated:

Jn 10:22-23. Then came the Feast of Dedication [Hanukkah] at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.

may occur at any time from late November to late December ":

"Hanukkah ... also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar." ("Hanukkah," Wikipedia, 18 December 2009).

was actually on December 25 in 4BC, the year that Jesus was probably born:

"It has been determined that ... due to the timing of the death of Herod ... Y'shua [Jesus] was born around Hanakkuh of 4 BC .... This places the First Day of Hanukkuh (24th day of the 9th month) ...if we use Your Sky - we see that Astronomical New Moon of the Ninth Month occured precisely on November 29th, 4 BC ... thus making December 1, 4 BC to be the First Day of the Ninth Month and that would place the First Day of Hanukkuh - the Twenty Fourth Day of the Ninth Month - to have occured, literally, exactly on December 25th, 4 BC .... Thus, Y'shua ben Y'hava [Jesus] was born precisely on December 25, 4 BC on the First day of Hanakkuh ...." (Theoferrum, 2009, "The First Noel: The Last Chronology").

Which fits with there being no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn (Lk 2:7), Bethlehem being only 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Jerusalem.

If so, it is highly likely that Paul was also including in Rom 14:5 and Col 2:16 1st century Christians disputing about whether to celebrate Hanukkah on the movable Jewish day "from late November to late December" or on the fixed December 25 which was Jesus' birthday.

Moreover, as I pointed out in my post, "Was Jesus born on December 25? #4: The case for," there is evidence that the early church commemorated Jesus' birth on December 25:

Hippolytus (ca. 165-235) wrote "The earliest record supporting the December twenty-fifth birth of Jesus":

"The earliest record supporting the December twenty-fifth birth of Jesus was written by Hippolytus (ca. 165-235 CE) in the early third century:

The first coming of our Lord, that in the flesh, in which he was born at Bethlehem, took place eight days before the Kalends of January, a Wednesday, in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus, 5500 years from Adam. Commentary on Daniel 4:23.

The eighth day before the Kalends of January is December 25." (Doig, K.F., 2009, "Doig's Biblical Chronology).

Sextus Julius Africanus (ca. 180-250) in AD 221, identified December 25 as the date of Jesus' birth:

"December 25 was first identified as the date of Jesus' birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221 and later became the universally accepted date." (Hillerbrand, H.J., "Christmas," Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, 17 December 2009).

He assumed that the date of Jesus' conception was the then Spring Equinox on March 25, and therefore Jesus' birth was 9 months later on December 25:

"A second view suggests that December 25 became the date of Jesus' birth by a priori reasoning that identified the spring equinox as the date of the creation of the world and the fourth day of creation, when the light was created, as the day of Jesus' conception (i.e., March 25). December 25, nine months later, then became the date of Jesus' birth."." (Hillerbrand, 2009, Ibid.).

But Sextus may merely have been proposing additional evidence to support an existing tradition of commemorating the birth of Jesus on December 25.

Chrysostom (347-407) in 386 stated of December 25 that "from long ago" it had been "a festival that was very well known and famous to those who dwell from Thrace [Turkey] to Gades [Spain]:"

"On the day itself, namely Dec 25 of the year 386, Chrysostom delivered the second sermon. ... He states that it was not yet ten years that the festival had been known to them. It was, however, transmitted to them as from long ago and from many years .... From long ago it was known to those who dwell in the West .... And from long ago it was a festival that was very well known and famous to those who dwell from Thrace to Gades ..." (Finegan, J., 1964, "Handbook of Biblical Chronology," p.256).

"The book Sacred Origins of Profound Things states: `For two centuries after Christ's birth, no one knew, and few people cared, exactly when he was born." (WB&TS, 2005, p.156). The Watchtower's here is again scraping the bottom of the barrel to find someone (anyone!) who agrees with it on a particular point. The Society is also being dishonest in concealing the name of the author of this book, "Sacred Origins of Profound Things: The Stories Behind the Rites and Rituals of the World's Religions" (1996). That is because he is Charles Panati, a former physicist, not a historian or a theologian, nor apparently even a Christian. The above quote is from page 216 of his book which is viewable online, That page reveals that Panati gives no references for the above quote and he just regurgitates the usual fallacies that Christians borrowed December 25 from the Roman pagans when in fact, as we shall see (again), the Roman pagans borrowed December 25 from the Christians!

A review in the New York Times of Panati's book, notes that Panati had not "actually read the New Testament" in his claim that "`Money is the root of all evil' is directly attributable in that very form to I Timothy 6:9-10" and for "falsely tracing the correct wording ('The love of money is the root of all evil') to ... J. P. Morgan!" The reviewer also accuses Panati of "breathtaking ignorance" in "that he believes Timothy was the author of I Timothy" when "as almost everybody knows" it "purports to be a letter to Timothy from the apostle Paul." The reviewer concludes with a warning to readers that "anything you would care to believe in `Sacred Origins of Profound Things' requires far more careful checking than Mr. Panati has been able to do":

"Previous reviewers of Mr. Panati's books have sometimes blamed him for silly mistakes on subjects concerning which they themselves were well informed. The pleasure of such superiority is now available to anyone who has actually read the New Testament. For example, Mr. Panati tells us that the expression `Money is the root of all evil' is directly attributable in that very form to I Timothy 6:9-10. .... Mr. Panati continues, falsely tracing the correct wording ('The love of money is the root of all evil') to a cynical wisecrack by J. P. Morgan! .... It is fearfully clear that anything you would care to believe in `Sacred Origins of Profound Things' requires far more careful checking than Mr. Panati has been able to do." (Ferrell, T., 1997, "Sacred Origins of Profound Things." Review, New York Times, January 12).

Another example of Panati's "breathtaking ignorance" in Christian things is evident on the very page the Watchtower's quote is on, where Panati writes that the words "Christ's Mass" originated in "274 CE":

"By the year 274 CE .... The Church, then, needed a December celebration. .... And to offer head-on competition to the sun worshippers' popular feast, the Church located the Nativity on December 25. The mode observance would be characteristically prayerful: a Mass; in fact, Christ's Mass. " (Panati, C. 1996, "Sacred Origins of Profound Things," p.216).

when in fact the term "Christ's Mass ... is derived from the ... Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038:

"The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038" ("Christmas: Etymology," Wikipedia, 16 December 2009).

To summarise this part #1, the Watchtower:

1. commits the Argument from Ignorance fallacy in converting its claim, "there is no evidence that the first-century disciples of Jesus observed" Christmas" into "Christmas" was not "celebrated by early Christians";

2. makes a false claim that "there is no evidence that the first-century disciples of Jesus observed" Christmas when there is evidence that Christians in the New Testament were disputing over considering "one day more sacred than another" (Rom 14:5) and were judging each other "with regard to a religious festival" (Col 2:16), these being highly likely to include the date of Jesus' birth (Christmas) and His death (Easter). Moreover, there is evidence in the 2nd-3rd centuries that Christians had not only been celebrating the date of Jesus' birth but they were doing it on December 25; and

3. quotes for support of its position an unsubstantiated statement in a book, "Sacred Origins of Profound Things," dishonestly not giving the author's name, Charles Panati, who is not a historian or a theologian, and who the New York Times in its review of that book, accused of not having "actually read the New Testament," "breathtaking ignorance" of 1Tim 6:10, and concluded by warning readers that "anything you would care to believe in" Panati's book, "requires far more careful checking than Mr. Panati has been able to do"!

Continued in "The Watchtower's false teaching against Christmas #2: Celebration of anyone's birth is pagan."

Stephen E. Jones.
My other blogs: CreationEvolutionDesign & The Shroud of Turin.

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"The earliest record supporting the December twenty-fifth birth of Jesus was written by Hippolytus (ca. 165-235 CE) in the early third century:

The first coming of our Lord, that in the flesh, in which he was born at Bethlehem, took place eight days before the Kalends of January, a Wednesday, in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus, 5500 years from Adam. Commentary on Daniel 4:23.

The eighth day before the Kalends of January is December 25. However, in 5 BCE December 25 fell on Sunday, not Wednesday. In 4 BCE it fell on Monday, in 3 BCE on Tuesday, in 2 BCE on Wednesday and in 1 BCE on Sunday. The dating of Augustus would be from August of 44 BCE and his forty-second year would fall in 3 or 2 BCE, depending on how Hippolytus reckoned. It would appear that Hippolytus' date for the nativity was Wednesday, December 25, 2 BCE. The difficulty with Hippolytus' dating is that it is unknown if part or all of his date is from an earlier tradition or from his own calculation. A common conclusion is that December 25 is not based on a historical tradition but on wrong calculations and a pagan festival on that day. However, such a conclusion is no more valid than the assumption that December 25 does have a historical basis independent of any existing festivals. Here the Wednesday in 2 BCE is the miscalculation." (Doig, K.F., "Doig's Biblical Chronology: Exact Dating of the Exodus and Birth and Crucifixion of Jesus," Chapter 9, December 5, 2009).

"Why are there 12 days of Christmas? What are the seven deadly sins, and who says so? Why don't Jews kneel to pray? Charles Panati, the author of `The Browser's Book of Beginnings' and `Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things,' is eager to raise and then to answer these and a great many more interesting questions about world religions and why their adherents believe and behave as they do. There's a lot of instructive stuff here; it had not occurred to me before that when I Chronicles attributes to Satan the temptation of King David to take a census of Israel -- a provocation II Samuel attributes to God -- we are well on the way to the quasi dualism so conspicuous in the New Testament. However: Previous reviewers of Mr. Panati's books have sometimes blamed him for silly mistakes on subjects concerning which they themselves were well informed. The pleasure of such superiority is now available to anyone who has actually read the New Testament. For example, Mr. Panati tells us that the expression `Money is the root of all evil' is directly attributable in that very form to I Timothy 6:9-10. This is a popular error, but not a forgivable one in a writer with access to Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Mr. Panati continues, falsely tracing the correct wording ('The love of money is the root of all evil') to a cynical wisecrack by J. P. Morgan! (modern scholars gravely doubt that the real Paul wrote it). It is fearfully clear that anything you would care to believe in `Sacred Origins of Profound Things' requires far more careful checking than Mr. Panati has been able to do." (Ferrell, T., "Sacred Origins of Profound Things." Review of Sacred Origins Of Profound Things By Charles Panati. Penguin Arkana. New York Times, January 12, 1997).

"On the day itself, namely Dec 25 of the year 386, Chrysostom delivered the second sermon. Theodoret (A.D. c.393-453), bishop of Cyprus, later made two quotations from this sermon, saying that they were taken from the "birthday discourse" ... Herein Chrysostom says that it would be wonderful if the sun could come down from heaven and send forth its light on earth, and it is more wonderful that in the incarnation the sun of righteousness does in fact send forth its light from human flesh. With `the sun of righteousness' he is doubtless referring to Mal 4:2. Then he tells how long he had desired not only to experience this day but to do so in the company of a large congregation. He states that it was not yet ten years that the festival had been known to them. It was, however, transmitted to them as from long ago and from many years .... From long ago it was known to those who dwell in the West .... And from long ago it was a festival that was very well known and famous to those who dwell from Thrace to Gades ..." (Finegan, J., "Handbook of Biblical Chronology: Principles of Time Reckoning in the Ancient World and Problems of Chronology in the Bible," Princeton University Press: Princeton NJ, 1964, p.256).

"The precise origin of assigning December 25 as the birth date of Jesus is unclear. The New Testament provides no clues in this regard. December 25 was first identified as the date of Jesus' birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221 and later became the universally accepted date. One widespread explanation of the origin of this date is that December 25 was the Christianizing of the dies solis invicti nati ('day of the birth of the unconquered sun'), a popular holiday in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice as a symbol of the resurgence of the sun, the casting away of winter and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer. Indeed, after December 25 had become widely accepted as the date of Jesus' birth, Christian writers frequently made the connection between the rebirth of the sun and the birth of the Son. One of the difficulties with this view is that it suggests a nonchalant willingness on the part of the Christian church to appropriate a pagan festival when the early church was so intent on distinguishing itself categorically from pagan beliefs and practices. A second view suggests that December 25 became the date of Jesus' birth by a priori reasoning that identified the spring equinox as the date of the creation of the world and the fourth day of creation, when the light was created, as the day of Jesus' conception (i.e., March 25). December 25, nine months later, then became the date of Jesus' birth. For a long time the celebration of Jesus' birth was observed in conjunction with his baptism, celebrated January 6." (Hillerbrand, H.J., "Christmas," Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, 17 December 2009).

"By the year 274 CE, Mithraism was so popular with the masses that Emperor Aurelian proclaimed it as the official state religion. In the early 300s, the cult seriously threatened Christianity, and for a time, it was unclear which faith would emerge victorious. Church fathers debated their options. It was well known that Roman patricians and plebians alike enjoyed festivals of a protracted nature. The Church, then, needed a December celebration. Thus, to offer converts an occasion in which to be pridefully celebratory, the Church officially recognized Christ's birth. And to offer head-on competition to the sun worshippers' popular feast, the Church located the Nativity on December 25. The mode observance would be characteristically prayerful: a Mass; in fact, Christ's Mass. " (Panati, C., "Sacred Origins of Profound Things: The Stories Behind the Rites and Rituals of the World's Religions," Penguin: New York, 1996, pp.215-216).

"Participation in Christmas celebrations is not optional for Jehovah's Witnesses. The ban is enforced by elders who make up judicial committees that sit in judgment of any who celebrate the holiday, even in some small way. During my 8 years as a JW elder I took part in such enforcement proceedings on a number of occasions. I recall that we elders even summoned for discipline a newly-married young man whose non-Witness wife hung an evergreen wreath on their apartment door. We told him that he had to take down the decoration or face punishment since God held him responsible as head of the house." (Reed, D.A., 1996, "Answering Jehovah's Witnesses: Subject by Subject," Baker: Grand Rapids MI, Second printing, 1998, p.75).

"Now, lets take this all a little further. It has been determined that Y'shua had to have been born between 4 and 3 BC due to the timing of the death of Herod and, therefore, we can know that Y'shua was born around Hanakkuh of 4 BC (3BC would be too late) making him 33 Years old in 30 AD precisely, when he started his ministry. This places the First Day of Hanukkuh (24th day of the 9th month), according to one Site, on December 13, 4 BC. Now, however, if we use Your Sky - we see that Astronomical New Moon of the Ninth Month occured precisely on November 29th, 4 BC , and the actual sighting of the New Moon of the Ninth Month would have occured the next night, thus making December 1, 4 BC to be the First Day of the Ninth Month and that would place the First Day of Hanukkuh - the Twenty Fourth Day of the Ninth Month - to have occured, literally, exactly on December 25th, 4 BC and that, my friends, is just about the most incredible piece of Chronological Work I have ever seen in my entire life. Thus, Y'shua ben Y'hava was born precisely on December 25, 4 BC on the First day of Hanakkuh and he would have been circumcised on the Eighth Day of Hanakkuh." (Theoferrum, "The First Noel : The Last Chronology," Theologyweb, .December 7, 2009).

"CHRISTMAS-NOT CELEBRATED BY EARLY CHRISTIANS A person's worship could be contaminated by false religion as it relates to popular holidays. Consider Christmas, for example. Christmas supposedly commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, and nearly every religion that claims to be Christian celebrates it. Yet, there is no evidence that the first-century disciples of Jesus observed such a holiday. The book Sacred Origins of Profound Things states: `For two centuries after Christ's birth, no one knew, and few people cared, exactly when he was born." (WB&TS, 2005, "What Does the Bible Really Teach?," Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York: Brooklyn NY, p.156. Emphasis original).

"Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday, celebrated on December 25, that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The date of commemoration is not known to be Jesus's actual birthday, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived, a historical Roman festival, or the winter solstice. Christmas is central to the Christmas and holiday season, and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days." ("Christmas," Wikipedia, 16 December 2009).