Every December, videos circulate claiming Christmas is pagan, especially the viral “Christmas History: Bible & Pagans – The Truth” by Truth Unedited. The video argues that Christmas comes from Nimrod, Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, and pagan tree worship.
These claims sound spiritual… but they collapse under Scripture and real history.
Below is a documented, fact-checked response with footnotes and recommended sources.
1. Claim: “Christmas comes from Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tammuz.”
This is the foundation of the video — that Christmas is built on a Babylonian pagan triad: Nimrod (father), Semiramis (mother), and Tammuz (son).
Fact-check:
There is no ancient evidence for any of this.
- The Bible never identifies Semiramis.
- Nimrod is called a “mighty hunter” (Gen 10:8–12) — not a sun-god.
- There is no ancient text linking Nimrod or Tammuz to December 25.
- The entire “mother–child religion” theory comes from Alexander Hislop’s 1858 book, The Two Babylons, which modern scholars (including conservative Christians) reject as deeply flawed.¹
Conclusion:
This claim rests on Victorian-era speculation, not Scripture or archaeology.
2. Claim: “Christmas comes from pagan winter solstice festivals like Saturnalia.”
The video argues that Christians borrowed from pagan solstice events.
Fact-check:
Saturnalia was celebrated December 17–23 — never on December 25.²
No Roman festival fell on the 25th until centuries after Christians were using that date.
And the church fathers — who wrote extensively against paganism — never mention Saturnalia as the origin of Christmas.
Conclusion:
Pagan winter festivals existed, but none of them developed into Christmas.
You May Like: Did Christmas Come From Saturnalia? A Historical Deep Dive
3. Claim: “December 25 is the birthday of Sol Invictus; Christians copied it.”
This is the most common modern claim.
Fact-check:
The earliest reference to Dec 25 as “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun” appears in the Chronography of 354, written well after Christians were already using the date.³
Meanwhile, Hippolytus of Rome (c. 180–235 AD) explicitly identifies December 25 as the birthday of Jesus.⁴ This is 120+ years before the Roman calendar mentions Sol Invictus on that date.
Modern historians — Christian and secular — agree:
**There is no evidence Christmas was derived from Sol Invictus.**⁵
Conclusion:
Christians used December 25 before pagan Rome did.
You May Like: Why Sol Invictus Did Not Come Before Christmas
4. Claim: “Christmas trees come from Jeremiah 10 and pagan tree worship.”
Truth Unedited quotes Jeremiah 10:2–4, saying:
- a tree is cut
- decorated with gold and silver
- fixed upright
Fact-check:
The passage describes carved wooden idols, not holiday decorations:
- The tree is “shaped by a craftsman” into an idol
- It is worshiped (Jer 10:5–6)
- It is carried in processions
Every major conservative commentator agrees Jeremiah is describing idolatry, not Christmas trees.⁶
Modern Christmas trees originate in Christian Germany (1500s–1600s), symbolizing eternal life in Christ.⁷
Conclusion:
Jeremiah 10 has nothing to do with Christmas trees.
You May Like: Does Jeremiah Say Having A Christmas Tree Is A Sin?
5. Claim: “Early Christians didn’t celebrate Christmas, so we shouldn’t either.”
Early Christians emphasized the Resurrection more than the Nativity, yes.
But does “they didn’t do it” mean “we must not”?
If so, we would reject:
- church buildings
- youth ministry
- Bible translations
- Christmas hymns
- pews, pulpits, devotions
- Good Friday services
- Sunday School
- Christian music
- microphones, livestreams, projectors
The NT never teaches:
“If the early church didn’t practice it, it’s sinful.”
Instead, Scripture teaches freedom in observance (Colossians 2:16-17; Romans 14:5).
Conclusion:
Not doing something in AD 100 does not make it sinful in AD 2025.
6. Claim: “The Puritans banned Christmas because they knew it was pagan.”
Fact-check:
The Massachusetts Bay Colony did ban Christmas… but not because they thought it was pagan.
Puritan writings show they banned it because:
- drunkenness and disorder were associated with its celebration
- it was a non-biblical holy day
- they rejected all “church calendar” feasts except the Lord’s Day
Historians agree: Christmas was banned for moral and liturgical reasons, not because Puritans believed in a Nimrod/Semiramis conspiracy.⁸
You May Like This Video By Biblical Roots: Testing Claims Against Christmas made by @Truthunedited
Conclusion: The Evidence Is Clear
- ❌ No ancient link to Nimrod
- ❌ No link to Saturnalia
- ❌ No link to Sol Invictus
- ❌ No biblical ban on Christmas trees
- ❌ No historical record of “pagan Christmas”
- ✔ Christmas grew out of Christian devotion to the Incarnation
- ✔ December 25 appears in Christian writings before pagan ones
- ✔ Scripture allows freedom to celebrate Christ
- ✔ Christmas is not Babylon — it is Bethlehem
Christmas is not a pagan conspiracy. It is the Church remembering the moment the Word became flesh for our salvation.
Footnotes
- Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (1858); for scholarly critiques, see Ralph Woodrow, The Babylon Connection?
- H. H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic, 205–213.
- Michele Salzman, On Roman Time: The Chronology of the Chronograph of 354.
- Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel 4.23.
- Steven Hijmans, “Sol Invictus and the Origins of Christmas,” Mouseion (2003).
- J. A. Thompson, NICOT: Jeremiah, pp. 285–287.
- Joseph F. Kelly, The Origins of Christmas.
- Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas.
Sources for Further Study
- Andrew McGowan, “How December 25 Became Christmas”
- Joseph F. Kelly, The Origins of Christmas
- Bruce Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History
- Adam C. English, The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus
Leave a Reply