Directions: Is Christmas Pagan?
Long before Constantine, Christians found ways to redeem local cultures and salvage those elements that naturally pointed to Christ.
Bruce L. Shelley | posted 12/06/1999 12:00AM
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The whole creation proclaims,
The Magi proclaim,
The star proclaims:
Behold! the king's son is here!
This impulse to sing the praises of Christ's birth did not come from paganism. It was a result of Christians reflecting on the fact that God became man in Jesus Christ and condescended to our lowly estate.
Many in the fourth-century church viewed Constantine's conversion as the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy: In the day of the Lord, the "Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in his wings" for those who fear the Lord's name (4:2).
In a Christmas sermon, Bishop Ambrose in Milan spoke for many Christians of that day when he said, "Well do Christian people call this holy day, on which our Lord was born, the day of the new sun; and they assert it so insistently that even Jews and pagans agree with them in using that name for it. We are happy to accept and maintain this view, because with the day spring of the Savior, not only is the salvation of man kind renewed, but also the splendor of the sun. … For if the sun withdrew its light when Christ suffered, it must shine at his birth with greater splendor than ever before."
Bruce L. Shelley is senior professor of church history at Denver Seminary.
Copyright © 1999 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
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