Why does the Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas?

This message will take the form of a simulated discussion between a Jehovah's Witness named Joe and a Christian named Chris.
Chris: Joe can you explain to me why Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas?
Joe: Sure, Chris. Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas because we do not participate in pagan celebrations, and we know that Jesus was not born on December 25.
Chris: Why do you call Christmas a pagan celebration? Certainly celebrating God's gift of his son would not qualify as a pagan celebration.
Joe: December 25 is the date of the winter solstice and Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was strong at Rome.
Chris: So what you are saying is that Christians celebrated a pagan celebration and just continued to do so by changing its name. Joe: That's right, Chris.
Chris: Were you aware that this is not what the Watchtower originally taught was the origin of Christmas? Joe: What do you mean?
Chris: In The Time is at Hand, Vol. 2 of the Studies in the Scriptures on page 61 it discusses the date of the birth of Christ. It says "...we could not be certain that the exact day might not be in September about the 27th, but October 1st, B.C. is about correct. Nine months back of that date would bring us to about Christmas time, 3 B.C., as the date at which our Lord laid aside the glory which he had with the Father before the world was made and the taking of or changing to human nature began. It seems probable that this was the origin of the celebration of December 25th as Christmas Day. Some writers on Church history claim, even, that Christmas Day was originally celebrated as the date of the annunciation by Gabriel to the virgin Mary." Joe, the Watchtower at one time agreed with Church history that the origin of Christmas was the celebration of the gift of God's son from his conception. Just because this conception happened around a pagan celebration does not make it pagan. If celebrating the gift of God's son is so wrong, how come God allowed the celebration for so long before the Watchtower ever declared it wrong?
Joe: I know that the Watchtower used to celebrate Christmas but when they learned that it was tied into paganism, they stopped celebrating it.
Chris: In the December 15, 1903 Watchtower, Charles Russell wrote concerning Christmas that even though he did not agree with the date which he said wasn't important, he said "..we may properly enough join with all whose hearts are in the attitude of love and appreciation toward God and toward the Saviour." Both Charles Russell and Joseph Rutherford your first and second presidents celebrated Christmas and even encouraged others to participate in the celebration and to give Watchtower books as gifts. All this was at a time when the Watchtower says that Jesus was inspecting all churches to see which he would pick as the only "faithful and wise servant". How is it that celebrating the gift of God's son was alright back then but now is such a bad thing that a person can lose his everlasting life? How is it that God allowed Christians for almost two thousand years to honor the gift of his Son and then suddenly changed his mind?
Joe: I'm not sure how to answer you. I know that I used to celebrate Christmas as a small child before my family became Witnesses and I never thought it was wrong then. But now I have learned things like the wise men were dupes of Satan, led by a Satanic star. The whole Christmas scene was led by Satan not God.
Chris: I would be interested in talking with you about the star of Bethlehem and the wise men. Could we get together next week to discuss this?
Joe: Sure.
Chris: Joe, can you tell me why the Watchtower believes that the star of Bethlehem was Satan's star and that the wise men were led by Satan?
Joe: I have brought some information from the Watchtower for you to look at Chris. Look at this article in the July 1, 1985 Watchtower. On pages 16 & 17 it says "Who do you think provided the star that moved in the sky to guide the astrologers? Remember, the star did not guide them directly to Jesus in Bethlehem. Rather, they were led to Jerusalem where they came in touch with King Herod, who wanted to kill Jesus. And he would have done so if God had not stepped in and warned the astrologers not to tell Herod. It was God's enemy, Satan the Devil, who wanted Jesus killed, and he used that star to try to accomplish this purpose." You see, Chris the star that led the magi was Satan's star and it was used to try to destroy Jesus.
Chris: That is certainly a very interesting premise Joe, but I have never seen it that way from scripture. I'm wondering if you could answer some questions I have about the story of the star and the wise men found in the Bible.
Joe: I am always willing to answer your Bible questions.
Chris: Look at Matthew 2:1 & 2.
Joe: In the New World Translation is says "After Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, look! Astrologers from eastern parts came to Jerusalem, saying: "Where is the one born king of the Jews? For we saw his star (when we were) in the east, and we have come to do him obeisance." Chris: Joe, according to Matthew 2:1 & 2, where did the wise men see the star?
Joe: It says they saw the star when they were in the east.
Chris: Does it say that the star led them to Jerusalem?
Joe: Well...no, it just says that they saw the star in the east. But it had to lead them to Jerusalem or else how did they get there?
Chris: Obviously they knew something about the Jews and their religion because the Bible says that they knew that the star was connected with the long-awaited king of the Jews. If they were aware of the Jew's belief in a coming king, where do you think that they would look to find the king?
Joe: Jerusalem was the logical choice as it was the capital city and had the throne of king Herod.
Chris: That's right,
Joe. Logically Jerusalem would be the place to start their search for the king. But can you find any verse that says that the star led the wise men to Jerusalem?
Joe: Hmmm. Well, no I guess there isn't any verse. We just assume that the star led them to Jerusalem because Satan wanted Jesus killed.
Chris: You know Joe, there is a verse that talks about the star leading the magi. Have a look at Matt. 2:9. Joe: It says, "When they had heard the king, they went their way; and, look! the star they had seen (when they were) in the east went ahead of them, until it came to a stop above where the young child was."
Chris: Joe, did the star lead the magi to Jesus?
Joe: Yes, it did. But it was Satan's star.
Chris: Look at verse 12. Who gave the wise men direction in a dream?
Joe: It says "However, because they were given divine warning in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another way." Here Jehovah warned the wise men to stay away from Herod but he had to do this or else Herod would have killed Jesus.
Chris: If the star of Bethlehem was Satan's star, then Satan goofed! He should have sent the star to direct Herod not the wise men. You see the wise men were obedient to Jehovah, but Herod obviously was not. Joe: The star couldn't have been Jehovah's star. There is no reason to send pagan astrologers to Jesus other then to stir up Herod to try to kill Jesus.
Chris: Joe, if the magi were pawns of Satan and influenced by him, then they would not have obeyed Jehovah's warning in a dream. The fact that they obeyed Jehovah proves that they were sent by him.
Joe: So, they obeyed him that proves nothing.
Chris: Jehovah could easily have stopped the wise men from finding Jesus just as He stopped Herod from finding Jesus. But the wise men provided something for his Son that was needed because of an important prophecy.
Joe: What do you mean?
Chris: Matthew 2:15 quotes a prophecy from Jehovah about His Son being in Egypt. And verse 18 is another prophecy quoted about the death of the young children that would be killed by Herod. It was no surprise to Jehovah that Herod would cause the death of many children in an attempt to kill Jesus. Jehovah already knew this and gave a prophecy to show that He was prepared for this event. How would Jehovah provide protection for Jesus?
Joe: He would send Jesus and his parents into Egypt.
Chris: If Jehovah already knew that his Son would need to go to Egypt just as Jehovah prophecied, what did He prepare to provide financially for his Son in Egypt?
Joe: I've never thought of that question before. I don't know.
Chris: Just think,
Joe. The wise men brought very expensive gifts to the young child Jesus. These gifts were worth enough to finance the stay in Egypt of God's Son. These men brought Jehovah's financial provision for Jesus and not until after the magi left were Jesus' parents instructed to flee to Egypt.
Now Joe, whose star do you think the star of Bethlehem really was?

Was Jesus born on December 25?

Was Jesus born on December 25? There is no evidence for this date. So then, who decided that Jesus' birth would be celebrated on that date? The early Christian church did not celebrate Jesus' birth. It wasn't until A.D. 440 that the church officially proclaimed December 25 as the birth of Christ. This was not based on any religious evidence but on a pagan feast. Saturnalia was a tradition inherited by the Roman pagans from an earlier Babylonian priesthood. December 25 was used as a celebration of the birthday of the sun god. It was observed near the winter solstice.

The apostles in the Bible predicted that some Christians would adopt pagan beliefs to enable them to make their religion more palatable to the pagans around them. Therefore, some scholars think the church chose the date of this pagan celebration to interest them in Christianity. The pagans were already used to celebrating on this date.

The Bible itself tells us that December 25 is an unlikely date for His birth. Palestine is very cold in December. It was much too cold to ask everyone to travel to the city of their fathers to register for taxes. Also the shepherds were in the fields (Luke 2:8-12). Shepherds were not in the fields in the winter time. They are in the fields early in March until early October. This would place Jesus' birth in the spring or early fall. It is also known that Jesus lived for 33.5 years and died at the feast of the Passover, which is at Easter time. He must therefore have been born six months the other side of Easter - making the date around the September/October time frames.

Other evidence that December 25 is the wrong date for the birth of Jesus comes from early writings. Iranaeus, born about a century after Jesus, notes that Jesus was born in the 41st year of the reign of Augustus. Since Augustus began his reign in the autumn of 43 B.C., this appears to substantiate the birth of Jesus as the autumn of 2 B.C. Eusebius (A.D. 264-340), the "Father of Church History," ascribes it to the 42nd year of the reign of Augustus and the 28th from the subjection of Egypt on the death of Anthony and Cleopatra. The 42nd year of Augustus ran from the autumn of 2 B.C. to the autumn of 1 B.C. The subjugation of Egypt into the Roman Empire occurred in the autumn of 30 B.C. The 28th year extended from the autumn of 3 B.C. to the autumn of 2 B.C. The only date that would meet both of these constraints would be the autumn of 2 B.C.

John the Baptist also helps us determine that December 25 is not the birth of Jesus. Elizabeth, John's mother, was a cousin of Mary. John began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar. The minimum age for the ministry was 30. As Augustus died on August 19, A.D. 14, that was the accession year for Tiberius. If John was born on April 19-20, 2 B.C., his 30th birthday would have been April 19-20, A.D. 29, or the 15th year of Tiberius. This seems to confirm the 2 B.C. date, and, since John was 5 months older, this also confirms an autumn birth date for Jesus.

Another interesting fact comes from Elizabeth herself. She hid herself for 5 months and then the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary both Elizabeth's condition and that Mary would also bear a son who would be called Jesus. Mary went "with haste" to visit Elizabeth, who was then in the first week of her 6th month, or the 4th week of Dec., 3 B.C. If Jesus was born 280 days later it would place his birth on Sept. 29, 2 B.C. Some scholars interpret the 6 months to be in line with the Hebrew calendar or the August-September time frame. Since Mary's pregnancy commenced a little before the sixth month around July, Jesus would be born somewhere around March-June. But does it matter if Jesus was born on the spring, the fall, or on December 25? Does it matter, theologically, when Jesus was born? What do you think, does it matter what day we celebrate His birth?