The propaganda war rages as December 25 grows near. How should we celebrate? What is the role of the civil religion? Should this seasonal holiday be secular, pagan, or Christian? No, I’m not writing about Christmas in the 21st century, but Christmas in the 4th century.
By the beginning of the 4th century the Christian faith was the challenging the ancient religions of the Roman Empire for dominance. Pagan Romans and Christian bishops were engaged in a propaganda war. The Romans were alarmed that the Christian faith was displacing their ancient religions. Some Romans even claimed that the decline of their civilization was due to the displeasure of their ancient gods. The days of persecuting the Christians were gone. With the ascension of Constantine, the Christian religion was legalized and protected.
This 4th century Christmas propaganda war permeated the Empire. Even the Emperor was compelled to get involved. Christians and pagans were struggling for priority in the public celebrations. Within the Church the bishops and theologians were engaged in a great debate, trying to answer an old question first posed by Jesus: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13).
Christmas is about theology. John declared, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-2, 14). These are the words of a theologian. Matthew and Luke have preserved the testimony of the earliest Christians in their nativity narratives. Matthew wrote:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us” (Matthew 1:18-23).
These words provoked a controversy that Constantine saw as a threat to the peace of the Empire. The leaders of the church convened a conference at Nicaea in 325. Arius was suggesting that Jesus Christ was not eternal God, but rather a creature. Athanasius declared that Christ was the eternal Word of the Father. The conference proved to be very contentious. At one point, Bishop Nicholas of Myra (St. Nicholas) accosted Arius and was disciplined by the conference of bishops. In the end, the bishops declared that Jesus is “the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father… who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man…” This intra-church controversy would continue.
While the church was embroiled in its theological debates, another controversy between Christians and pagans was brewing. Who do we celebrate on December 25? In the ancient world, December 25 was a significant pagan holiday. It was the birthday of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), the official sun god of the Roman Empire. December was also the time of the Feast of Saturnalia, a festival honoring the Roman god Saturn. Early Christians had speculated that Jesus was born on December 25 (click here for more). The public controversy was political and religious.
The Christians followed the example of Paul at Mars Hill. There, in the center of pagan idolatry using a pagan altar to an unknown god, Paul preached Christ (Acts 17). Likewise, the Christians of the 4th century used the symbols of paganism to preach Christ. Christians proclaimed Jesus Christ as the “sun of righteousness… with healing in its wings” (Malachi 4:2) and the “light of the world” who gives life to all men (John 8:12; cf. John 1:4-5). Eventually, December 25 became Christmas – the festival of the Incarnation.
The Christmas propaganda war continues in our age. Christ continues to provoke controversy. If the message of Christmas is to prevail, Christians must purge our celebrations of cartoonish myths and recover our incredible story. Christians should view the Christmas holiday season as an evangelistic opportunity. We must tell our story and sing our story with abundant joy. The story prevails throughout the centuries because it is “good news of great joy… for all the people…there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
