Do You Know the "Myths of Christmas"?

  We celebrate Christmas for many reasons, many of them stemming from man-made traditions. However, you may be surprised that a lot of what we think Christmas is never actually happened. And many of our fondest "beliefs" and traditions are based in fiction and misunderstandings of Scripture. For example:


Tradition: Jesus was born on December 25.
Truth: Nope. Probably the Spring. And the Christian church didn't even celebrate Christmas until about mid-4th century, and then only as an alternative to a pagan festival based on the Julian calendar and based on the cult of Mithra. Addtionally, Jesus was born about 4 B.C.


Tradition: Mary gave birth the night she arrived in Bethlehem
Truth: Nowhere in the Bible does it say that. It could have happened a week or more after the couples' arrival (read Luke 2:1-6 carefully).


Tradition: Jesus was born in a stable
Truth: The Bible never mentions a stable, though it says Mary laid him in a manger. In that area and culture, caves we more common places to keep animals, and sometimes lean-to's attached to houses. The couple probably stayed with relatives afterwards, but no one knows. If it was a cave, how ironic that He was born in a cave and later would rise from the dead out of one.


Tradition: Mary rode to Bethlehem on a donkey.
Truth: Seriously? About 60 miles and 9 months pregnant? Unlikely Joseph would have allowed this. She probably rode in a cart or a wagon.


Tradition: Angels sang to the shepherds.
Truth: "Hark the herald angels sing" is a Christmas song someone made up. There is no mention of singing or angelic choirs. In fact, there is no mention of music at all. Angels don't sing. They proclaim. the word 'angel' means 'messenger", not 'singer'. And instead of a choir, there was an "army" of angels (check out Luke 2:8-14)


Tradition: The angels announced world peace and good will towards all men.
Truth:  The angels announced the glory of God in the highest heaven and peace to those people upon whom God's favor rests.


Tradition: Three Kings visited Jesus on that Christmas night.
Truth: #1 There were no kings mentioned. Instead, they were astronomers. Modern-day storm-chasers. Truth-seekers. Possibly wealthily. And there was probably a caravan of them. Jesus was close to 2 years old when they arrived (compare Matthew 2:1-11)


So is your beliefs about Christmas grounded in sentimental tradition and manger scenes, or in the truth of what Scripture actually records?


Bottom line: You should never base your faith on folklore or tradition, but in something much more reliable.


Christmas means God became a man so we could know our Creator and have an eternal relationship with Him. Now that's something you can believe in!