"Fact no. 2:- Christ wasn't born on 25th December.

"So why do Christians celebrate Christmas if the above is true?"

I hope to start with 'Fact' No.2: The uncertainty of Jesus' actual D.O.B.

To me, this objection is irrelevant to any effort to remember the birth of a loved one, especially one as dear and gracious as our Lord.  Surely we believe that the main thing about such celebrations is not the date per se, but the relationship i.e. the mutual compassion, warmth and joyful interaction between persons.

If my friend's family suddenly discovered that his birthdate is not the currently accepted one (and let's just assume that no one can remember it!), would this 'invalidate' or make less significant a single birthday party he's had for the past years?!
Should the absence of any real certainty in the date diminish the joy of remembering the occasion of the birth of this person whose friendship you've been privileged to share?
A real example is the case of my friend's dad who apparently has two birthdates in his I.D. and no one is entirely sure which the correct one is!  This mild 'problem' (if it can be called that!) in no way reduces the love and happiness of the family getting together and simply enjoying the love, the cake(!) and the fellowship involved in the process of affirming his 'genesis', *grin*

What more the birth of the One who came to earth to die for us!

So it isn't the details of the birth (date, place, etc.), but the fact that it DID occur, coupled with a worshipful heart which are the important things here.  Even if Christ's birth was some time in July (or August? or February?), there should be no problem whatsoever in celebrating that joyous occasion in December (or September, or March - you get the picture).  We remember the Person, His Work and His Love; we can pick a date, any date (smile).
 

Now let's move to 'Fact' No.1: 25th December traditionally being a pagan holiday

It's true that Christmas as a celebration was 'copied' from a pagan one but here before we put back our Christmas trees and recall our cards, we have to ask : Are the pagan associations which Christmas (almost certainly) contain sufficient to stop us from dedicating the day to a special remembrance of the birth of our Lord?

Let's look at this deeper.

Assume that December 25th has always been a day when Satanists all over the world get together to declare Satan's 'dominance' over the universe.  Just ask:

• Does this therefore compel us to change our celebration dates?
• Is Christ somehow obliged to step aside and make way for demonic rituals?
• Should the Body of Christ be soooo 'diplomatic' as to move over and let the Satanists get on with their celebrations whilst we reschedule ours?

So, the mere fact that demons used to celebrate on the 25th of Dec doesn't mean that we don't have the right to perform our own celebrations - and just look at which celebration has lasted longer!  How many people can remember what was originally the holiday in Rome?  MANY of these pagan associations have been lost and will pose no danger or 'influence' even if recalled - I myself had no idea until last week.  But note that the whole world (even the non-believers) knows of Christmas!  (My heart is in doxology now even as I reflect on the steady dominion of God over Satan even in matters of public holidays...)

The above would actually be my main argument, but there are a few more issues you can think about:

1.  Pagan 'associations' are potentially everywhere (e.g. 'Tuesday' stood for 'Tiw', the god of war; 'Wednesday' is derived from 'Woden' the chief God; 'Thursday' for the god of sky/thunder; Friday comes from 'Fria' the goddess of love; 'Saturday' is from Saturnus and Sunday and Monday were related with sun and moon worship!).  Almost ANY cult leader can and have declared various days as 'sanctified' for demonic-worship, and God only knows how many of the year's 365 days have been 'consecrated' for some public Satanic festival over the centuries.  Needless to say, it would be rather absurd to go around making sure that our Christian festivities don't coincide with these.

2. All our (originally pagan) Christmas symbols may be used to remind us of Christ's gifts; no reason why we can't, again, 'transform' these into something Scriptural and/or christ-remembering.  E.g. the tree could remind us of the eternal tree of life in Rev 22:2,14;  the presents could teach us of how gracious God is in giving spiritual gifts, the gift of the Holy Spiritor or perhaps just gifts in general (James 1:17 and Matthew 7:11!).
 

In conclusion, I believe that there's just so much good that can arise from the global joining together of the Body of Christ in remembring His birth, that any 'bad' which may exist can be easily outwhelmed.  Many of us may need such a time and season to specially reflect on God's Baby-boy gift to the world, and I'm sure our Lord has used MANY a Christmas Evangelistic Dinner or Meeting or Church Service or Party to bring hearts nearer to Him, some even to the joyous point of surrender.

All in all, we can be assured that our Lord will use many things - even a public holiday - to strengthen His Body on earth, convict sinners, and simply pour our His wondrous light of love on all who would come to Him with open hearts.

I wish you a blessed Christmas indeed.
 

Warmly,
AL
November Y2K

Appendix:
a)  Regarding Fact No.1, the point of pagan associations is there, but I suspect you'll have to be clearer on your history as I really doubt that Caesar Augustus initiated ANYTHING 'in remembrance of Christ's birth' (it may have been an national ruler, but not Augustus) or that 'Christmas was a pagan holiday', etc.  At the very least the last phrase should be reworded to be, "Christmas stemmed from a celebration which had pagan origins", and not that Christmas itself WAS a pagan holiday.

(Also, go here for something about Luke's mistake about Quirinius)

b)  The sources I've looked at tell me that in early Rome the Feast of Saturnalia (which has 'links' with the god Mithras) was celebrated for 7 days from the 17th to the 24th of December and:

"... was marked by a spirit of merriment, gift-giving to children and other forms of entertainment.  Gradually, early Christans replaced the pagan feast with the celebration of Christmas; but many of the traditions were assimilated and remain to this day a part of the observance of Christmas..." (Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible).