Every year, the same claim resurfaces:
“Christmas is pagan.”
“It was borrowed from pagan festivals.”
“Christians just rebranded a heathen holiday.”
For some, this idea feels like a revelation. For others, it creates confusion or doubt. But before accepting or rejecting the claim, it deserves something often missing from the conversation: careful historical thinking.
What the Claim Usually Means
When people say Christmas is pagan, they usually mean one of three things:
- December 25 was once associated with pagan festivals
- Certain Christmas traditions existed before Christianity
- Early Christians adapted cultural elements
None of these claims automatically prove Christmas is pagan. The question is not whether parallels exist—but what they mean.
Was December 25 a Pagan Holiday First?
This is often overstated.
The most commonly cited pagan festival is Sol Invictus, a Roman celebration of the “Unconquered Sun,” officially promoted in the 3rd century AD.
Here’s the critical detail:
➡️ Christians were already celebrating Christ’s birth before Sol Invictus became prominent.
Early Christian writings show that believers calculated Jesus’ birth based on Jewish traditions linking a prophet’s conception and death to the same calendar date. Many early Christians believed Jesus was conceived around March 25—placing His birth nine months later, on December 25.
This means December 25 was not chosen to replace a pagan festival; it emerged from internal theological reasoning, not cultural borrowing.
What About Pagan Symbols Like Trees or Lights?
It is true that symbols like light and greenery existed in many ancient cultures. But symbols do not belong exclusively to one religion.
Light is not pagan.
Trees are not pagan.
Feasts are not pagan.
What matters is meaning, not material.
Christians did not worship trees. They used symbols to point to theological truths:
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
— John 1:5
Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly takes common human elements—water, bread, wine—and fills them with redemptive meaning. Christianity does not fear culture; it redeems it.
Did Early Christians Intend to Deceive?
This accusation collapses under scrutiny.
Early Christians were not culturally powerful. They were persecuted, marginalized, and often killed. They did not control society or rewrite history for influence. If anything, openly celebrating Christ was dangerous.
People do not fabricate religious systems, endure persecution, and die for what they know is a lie.
A Biblical Pattern: Redemption, Not Replacement
Scripture shows God consistently reclaiming what was distorted:
- Pagan altars were repurposed (Exodus 20:24)
- Pagan calendars were reoriented around God’s acts (Leviticus 23)
- Pagan people were invited into covenant, not erased
The gospel does not flee culture—it transforms it.
The Real Question Beneath the Argument
Often, the claim that Christmas is pagan is not about history—it’s about authority.
If Christmas is discredited, then the story it proclaims is easier to dismiss.
But the truth remains:
Jesus existed. He was born. He lived. He was crucified. He rose.
No argument about dates or decorations can erase that.
Christmas Is Christian Because Christ Is Its Center
Christmas is not holy because of a calendar date.
It is holy because of who is remembered.
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
— Luke 2:11
Strip away every tradition, and the core still stands:
God entered history in the person of Jesus Christ.
That truth is neither pagan nor borrowed.
It is revelation.
Christmas comes every yea