Authoritative educational books, such as encyclopedias, give us the truth. In the Holy Scriptures, long before the virgin birth, the Creator speaks of Christmas being celebrated, as Jeremiah 10:1-5 indicates.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume II, under Christmas, says:
   In the Roman world, the Saturnalia was a time of merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. December 25th was also regarded as the birthdate of the Iranian Mystery god, Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness.
  On the Roman New Year houses were decorated with greenery and lights and gifts were given to children.
  To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites...Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian.
In A Book of Christmas, by William Sansom, McGraw-Hill, pages 28-39, we find the following information:
  To get green food for his beasts and later for himself when the first corn was planted, primitive man needed rain and sun. So, with their primitive eyes on the great and mysterious sky...the first religious instincts prayed to the sun! The moment of the Sun's Annual rebirth in late December was one of the vital religious times of the year. This time of year was also the least laborious. There was time to make merry. Early Northern people, who had no exact astronomical findings began their Winter festivals earlier...in November... when the signs of the sun's recession... (dying) and the scarcity of animal food made the slaughter of the increase of the herd necessary. Later, the ceremonies moved forward to mid-December and the anticipation of the Saturnalia...that wonderful, heartwarming, emotional festival introduced by the Romans by their occupation of the then-known world.
  In Roman Times...a Pre-Christian Message of 'peace and god's will' to all men accompanied the Saturnalia. The Saturnalia was within the solstice and Saturnalia-Kalendae period...starting December 17 and going through January 1st. The Roman Saturnalia is recorded in writing and was the function of a highly civilized people. The first period of feasting was generally for seven days. The god celebrated was Saturn...farmer of a former gold age and eater of his own children.
  The giving of presents...particularly candles and dolls called Sigillaria also derives from the insistent origin of human sacrifice at this time of year.
  Directly following the Saturnalia was the Kalendae...more mathematically concerned with the date of the new Roman year...and the celebration of the god Janus, god of doors (as a two-way engine) who looks back on the past and forward to the future.
  One may think of the Saturnalia as 'Roman in Rome'...but the truth is: The Roman Empire was a World-Ruling Empire at that time. The customs of Rome were spread to all the known world. Britons and Celts, Indians and Egyptians were all called part of the Roman Empire at one time. These nations brought their own Sun Worshiping Cults to join into the Saturnalia Celebrations. It was an Empire-Wide Celebration. All the people in this Empire, save only a few...gathered in their homes to drink wine...to dance and sing...to light their candles and exchange presents...giving their children the little clay dolls that represented their former sacrifices.
   The Feast of Fools and the Lord of Misrule derived directly from the Saturnalia. Many other customs have become engrafted into the ancient celebration occurring at this time of year. Mummers and Wild Men roam the British Isles and Europe. The Mari Lwyd ritual in Wales is reviving. The evergreen tree is an ancient custom incorporated. The Vikings gave their Yule...the druids donated their magic mistletoe...the Father Christmas in Briton and the Santa Claus of German origin were all donated and incorporated into the holidays known worldwide as Christmas and New Year.
  It was not until the middle of the fourth century c.e. that the 'Birth' of the Messiah was officially celebrated at the time of year when the lighting of fires...the praising of the new sun...relaxation and feasting was set on the very same date as that of the birth of the sun god...Mithra.
MITHRAISM: The worship of Mithra shared many similarities with the newer Christian ceremonies. There was baptism, a sacramental meal, and observance of Sunday, and the god himself was born on December 25th.
In the earliest millennium, the great mother goddess was a symbol of procreation and fertility and was worshiped in every corner of the world. This mother goddess was pictured as the sun and earth and her consort as the moon and the natural elements.
The Babylonians worshiped a goddess mother and a son, represented in pictures and images as a mother with her son in her arms. From Babylon this worship of the mother and her child spread to the ends of the earth.
In Egypt, Osiris, the Sun God, the son/husband of Isis was born on December 25th. In the Syrian Mystery Religion, Astarte—Semiramis wept over Adonis—Nimrod. The birthday of Adonis, the Sun God of Syria, was December 25th. The festival of Mithras, the Sun God of Ancient Persia, was celebrated on December 25th. Tree worship and celebrating a birthday on December 25th did not start in the Christian Era.
Mithraism, or Persian Sun God worship was a well known religion in Yahusha's day. The Romans became acquainted with this religion about 200 b.c.e., by the year 200 c.e., it was popular in the Roman armies. Mithras was a manifestation of the power of the sun. The emblem of Mithras read: Sol Invictus—the Invincible Sun. The cult of Mithras ennobled fighting as a manly virtue and was especially attractive to the Roman soldiers.
Diocletian, who brought the most severe persecution forward, worshiped Mithras. His successor, Constantine, who was named the savior of the Christian religion, also worshiped Mithras.
Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 9, page 431, says:
As social and economic conditions became worse, the Roman masses turned more and more to the colorful, strongly emotional, and superstitious mystery religions imported from the East. The cults of the Great Mother, of Isis, and of Mithras were the most popular. They all emphasized spiritual salvation and a future life—in a word they offered comfort.
Constantine was a pagan worshiper of Mithra. He used religious toleration for the Christians as a political ploy to strengthen his own power as the pagan emperor of Rome.
The Last Two Million Years, by The Readers Digest Association, pages 217-218, says:
   By a stroke of tactical genius the Church, while intolerant of pagan beliefs, was able to harness the powerful emotions generated by pagan worship. Often, churches were sited where temples had stood before, and many heathen festivals were added to the Christian calendar...
   By harnessing the emotions generated by pagan religions, one can truthfully say that the pagan religions are a part of Christianity.
  The most popular pagan festival was the birthday of the Invincible Sun on December 25th. The Mithraic and Roman religions were already celebrating the rebirth of the sun. It was not a hard task to place the mask of Christianity over this pagan birthdate and call it the birthday of Jesus.
Strange Stories Amazing Facts, by The Readers Digest Association, pages 283-284, says:
  Christmas and Easter, although the greatest festivals in the Christian calendar, are celebrated with customs that originated in superstition and heathen rites hundreds of years before Christ was born.
  Even the dates owe more to pagan practices than to the birth and resurrection of Jesus. It was not until the fourth century that December 25 was fixed arbitrarily as the anniversary of the Nativity—because the pagan festivals from which so many Christmas customs spring were held around that time.
  Although Christianity has swept the world in a relatively short time, as the histories of great religions go, the early missionaries faced an uphill task. The pagans were reluctant to give up their false gods and ancient practices.
  So the missionaries, unable to convert them easily to an entirely new code of worship, did the next best thing. They took the pagan festivals as they were and gradually grafted the observances of the new faith onto these festivals and the rites and customs surrounding them.
 December 25 was not called Christmas until the ninth century. Until then it had been the Midwinter Feast, a combination of the Norse Yule Festival and the Roman Saturnalia, both of which took place in late December.
Holidays Around The World, by Joseph Gaer, page 133, says:
The Old Winter Solstice
Christmas is a very old holiday.
   It clearly started as a celebration of the passing of the winter solstice, and the start of the sun's return journey from the north to the south.
  All the early nations of the earth joyfully celebrated the arrival of this season in the sun's journey. The ancient Romans observed this time with a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and it was called Saturnalia. This festival was observed with great merriment and abandon. Gifts were exchanged.
   When Emperor Constantine decreed Christianity as the new faith of the Roman Empire, early in the fourth century, the Christians gave the holiday an entirely new name.
  They called the holiday the Mass of Christ, or Christ Mass, which was shortened to Christmas. And they declared that Christmas was the birthday of Jesus of Nazareth. Though the exact day and year when Jesus was born are not known.
All of the practices of Christmas have come from paganism. They are merely the modern practices of the same worship that Yahuah says is an abomination to Him.
Regardless of the fact that these pagan festivals are covered with the mask of Christian respectability, they are still the ancient worship of Nimrod, the mighty one of the earth who opposed Yahuah.
Holidays Around The World, by Joseph Gaer, page 137, says:
A Happy New Year! The date we celebrate as New Year's, like the date of Christmas, is an inheritance from the Romans.

Bah! Humbug!
Christmas and New Year go together like hand and glove today, just as they have from ancient ages. The ancient birth of the male moon was modernized as Christmas, which the whole world is celebrating today.
Spreading a feast of luxuriant lucky foods and toasting drink offerings to 'good luck' still takes place today. The Feast of Hogmanay is still celebrated with special foods and hard liquors, on the evening before New Year's day, 'for good luck.'
Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 6, 1980, page 404, tells us:
During the Saturnalia Roman citizens used to give "good luck'' gifts (strenae) of fruits, pastry, or gold to their friends on New Year's Day.
These good luck gifts are in honor of the Gods of fortune and destiny.
Jeremiah7:18—
How the children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, while the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, and how they pour out drink offerings to the hinder gods (elohim), so they may act defiantly against Me?
There is no question that the first day of the pagan New Year is spent in acquiring `good luck' from the Gods of Luck—Fortune and Destiny.
There is also no question that the ancient festivities of Saturnalia—Brumalia—Chag Meni are nothing more than the Christmas—New Year of today. Christmas and New Year is still the ancient pagan worship of the ancient pagan Gods Yahuah tells us is an abomination to Him.
Holidays Around the World, by Joseph Gaer, pages 138-139, says:
   A great temple with immense gates was built to Janus. And when Rome was at war, the gates of the temple of Janus stood open. But when peace was declared, the gates were closed with great rejoicing.
  There was also great rejoicing before the gates of the temple of Janus on New Year's Day when the people gathered to do homage to the god of all beginnings. Gifts were exchanged among friends. Resolutions to be friendly and good to each other were made. And the entire day was given to festivities.
   When the Romans under Constantine accepted Christianity as their new faith, they retained the Festival of Janus as their New Year's Day.
Janus, the God that the month of January is named for was the Father of the Gods, and at the same time the mediatorial divinity. He is identified with Bacchus or Adonis (the Sun God) and was invoked in the Religion of Mystery as Satur, Saturn, Mystery.
A Dictionary of Non-Christian Religions, page 246, says:
Saturn, Saturnalia. Saturn was a Roman god... identified with the Greek Kronos. His festival, the Saturnalia, was on 17 December. There was a Lord of Misrule and presents were exchanged. Some of this was transferred into Christmas and New Year festivities. Saturn was also a planet from which Saturday is named.
Strange Stories, Amazing Facts, by The Readers Digest Association, pages 283-284, tells us of some of the customs that were transferred to Christmas and New Year:
Weeklong feast: The seven days of Roman feasting were an occasion for exchanging presents__one of the pagan customs that was gladly incorporated into Christmas.
 In the centuries that followed the Norman Conquest, as Christianity gained a firmer hold, carols and the Nativity play were added. And Father Christmas evolved as a mixture of the red-robed Lord of Misrule and St. Nicholas (Santa Claus), the patron saint of children.
  The mistletoe: Mistletoe, a plant sacred to the Druids, was hung outside Viking homes as a sign of peace and welcome to strangers.
  The custom of kissing under the mistletoe has been traced to the Roman Saturnalia. It has also been associated with certain primitive marriage rites.
It is a proven fact that the festivities of Christmas and New Year are the same worship to the same pagan Gods which Yahuah tells us is an abomination to Him. Yahuah also says to us in:
Jeremiah 10:2-5—
2 This is what Yahuah says: Do not learn the way; religious practices, of the heathen; Gentile nations; and do not be deceived by the signs of heaven; though the heathen are deceived by them; using them to set their feasts.
3 For the religious customs of the peoples are vain; worthless! For one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, so that it will not move; topple over.
5 They are upright, like a palm tree, but they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not give them reverence! They cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do righteousness!
Yahuah has told us emphatically, "Do not learn the way of the heathen!'' The way of the heathen is written in the chapters of man's customs and traditions that have come down from Nimrod—Semiramis—Ninus—mother—son—husband adoration—worship.
Satan makes the emotional holidays at this time of the year seem so right. But to know these customs and traditions are the worship of pagan Gods and then to still willfully participate in them is an abominable sin.
To know that these Christian holidays of Christmas and New Year are nothing more than the worship of the ancient pagan Gods is to also know that to bow down and worship them is breaking the first two of the Ten Commandments.
What is Yahuah's Word on this pagan worship?
Deuteronomy 12:30-32—
30 Be careful not to be ensnared into following them by asking about their gods (elohim), saying: How did these nations serve their gods (elohim)? I also will do the same.
31 You must not worship Yahuah your Father in their way, for every abomination to Yahuah, which He hates, they have done to their gods (elohim). They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods (elohim).
32 Whatsoever I command you, be careful to observe and do it, you shall not add to it, nor take away from it.
Yahuah also shows us the judgment of the religious system of Mystery Babylon the Great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.
Revelation 18:2,8—
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of demons, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
8 Therefore, her plagues will come in one day__death, and mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for strong is Father Yahuah Who judges her.
To those of Yahuah's House whom He has called or is calling in these Last Days, to all who would enter into His Kingdom, Yahuah says:
Revelation 18:4
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Come out of her, My people, so that you do not partake in her sins, and so that you do not receive of her plagues.
Yahuah promises to His servants, those who obey every Word that proceeds from His mouth:
Revelation 22:14
Blessed are those who keep His Law, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

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