[ozthunder]

CHRISTIANITY

Christmas is only weeks away, and yet the faithful don’t know what the true origins were. The date (December 25th) fell on the Winter Solstice of the old, Julian calendar. That day was obviously the day of the “sun”- thus it became a day for sun god worship- culminating with the celebration Sol Invictus- Natalis Invicti. Nature dictated when the day would be, and it was quite a popular holiday because of such. So naturally, when Christianity needed to settle on a day for Christmas, a past-used holiday may come into play. But why?

Many anthropologists believe Christ to have been born closer to spring- maybe even during Passover. Christmas was selected because it offered many facets; balance (one holiday in the winter, one in the spring), a populous (those who observed the holiday before), and ease of “scheduling”. No really big transitions had to be made; Christ was born- the sun was born; a new rebirth for mankind, a new rebirth for the world through the sun. What more would be needed to legitimize the holiday with regards to the connection to Sol? Natalis Invicti and Christmas show how syncretism is vital within all religions. This theory may seem sound, however the current Pope does not believe it is. Pope Benedict XVI believes that Xmas was arrived at simply by counting nine months after the “conception” date, that being March 25. He theorizes that due to this, it is quite possible that the date was arrived at before the cult of Sol Invictus claimed it. Regardless, it is a stunning example of one culture giving way to another culture- but was this just a cultural phenomenon?

Politics are everything- and that remains true within religions. The canon was decided through politics. The doctrine of the church was decided through politics. And the days of celebration and feasts were decided through politics. Many may believe that to be heresy or blasphemy to say that, but it is true. There are many books written about the first seven great councils of the church- starting with the one that Constantine called to ease relations of “who” or “what” Christ was (which turned out to be of one substance with the Father and the Holy Spirit, thus making official the Holy Trinity). Politics planted Christ onto that date; and why not? It allowed for a great audience, and it further showed the political power of both religion and the Roman state, and how both of them intertwined. We saw through numismatics how religions would spread by coinage; well this is how the empire spread through religion.

The “reborn” figure of Jesus is also quite compelling when looked at with relation to Sol Invictus. The sun was rising, as was Christ from hell and onto earth and then heaven. This idea of resurrection was not new; the sun resurrected every morning, every dawn. With Christ you had man; man was resurrected, and man was promised a final redemption, a final resurrection. We can see that the theology of Sol Invictus can parallel Christ’s from different perspectives. That is not to say that Sol was Christ, or even vice versa, but there are so many acute similarities that there should be a witness to those. We take the idea of Christ for granted, and for believers, He was the truth, the light, the way; because of that, early Christian believes called him “Sol Iustitiae”, which relates him to creator of the Sun, the world, and everything in it.

But we must realize that rarely doesn’t something happen that is entirely “unique” within history. Christ and Sol Invictus are not wholly unique from many different perspectives; Aurelian himself thought they had shared a bit in common. Revelation of the historicity of Christology may deepen the faith of some, and it may question the faith of others. However I believe it is integral to know and understand that there was monotheism before Christ (and not just Judaism), and because of that deity, we have many traditions and religious aspects today.

“The celebration of the birth of the sun god, which was accompanied by a profusion of light and torches and the decoration of branches and small trees, had captivated the followers of the cult to such a degree that even after they had been converted to Christianity they continued to celebrate the feast of the birth of the sun god. The Church Fathers of the Fourth Century saw this as a danger, and shifted the celebration of the birth of Christ to that day and informed the Christians that from then on it would be held in honor of the true Sun god, Sol Iustitiae, who had created the world and everything in it. This change must have taken place between 354 and 360 (A.D.)”- p.175

If you want references, I can copy/paste them too.