Christmas is a blending of Christianity and paganism

Constantine the Great was born around A.D. 275. Just like his predecessors he worshipped the Roman gods. However, as he was traveling to battle his most powerful rival in Italy, Maxentius, at the Tiber River in A.D. 312, he had a vision. In THIS vision he saw the cross of Christ superimposed (placed) on the sun with the words “in hoc signo vinces” (Translated into English: “In this sign you shall conquer.”) After winning the battle, he became a STRONG champion of Christianity, to honor Christ for his victory. At that time, two prominent pagan winter festivals were celebrated. The first started on December 17 and lasted for seven days. During this festival the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn, was honored. The second festival started on December 25 and lasted until January 1; the birthday of the Persian god of light, Mithras, was commemorated during this festival. Constantine merged many of the traditions from these festivals with the Biblical story on Christ’s birth, and Christmas was born. Although Constantine didn’t COMPLETELY leave his pagan roots and wasn't baptized until his deathbed in A.D. 337, he did A LOT to promote the growth of the church. A few years later Pope Julius I officially declared the birth of Y’shua as 25th December; the day on which Christmas would be celebrated. Just like in the Roman and Persian festivities gifts were exchanged and families and friends gathered to feast. Santa Claus and the reindeers, drunkenness, debauchery and other anti-Biblical practices diametrically oppose the teachings of Christ. They are pagan traditions that are 4000 years old and have NOTHING to do with the birth of Y’shua haMashiach OR Christmas (The celebration of Christ) for that matter. In1 Corinthians 10:21 the apostle Paul WARNED the Christians in Corinth NOT to drink of the cup of the Lord AND the cup of demons too. They mixed idolatry with the worship of the true God. Thousands of pagans, while outwardly converting to Christianity, refused to give up the rituals and ceremonies of their former religious experiences. It would be blasphemy to partake in both the Lord’s Table AND that of demons. It’s time for Christians to return to the TRUE Biblical perspective of the birth of Christ…the cross; NOT Santa Claus. It’s NO longer sustainable to blend our religion with paganism. In fact, the early church and its leaders should NEVER have ALLOWED this compromise. The modern church is SUFFERING as a DIRECT result of this compromise, because it has split Christianity into the true faith AND a blend of Christianity and paganism.