Origins of Christmas.

William Branham.

Read the full account in...
The Falling Apart Of The World.

Now, Christmas... I wish that really the people would--could understand in this world, what really Christmas is. Now, the first word Christmas is a--a kind of a Catholic expression. It means "Christ's..." C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s," (See?) "Christ's mass." See? It was ordained or was begin with the Roman church. And Christ was no more borned on the twenty-fifth day of December than I was. Huh. It's just a complete conglomeration of dogma. That's all there is to it. "The whole world," as the prophet said, "has become a putrefied sore." That's right. Just it's just no clean thing nowhere. Every holiday is backed up by an... Why, Santa Claus took Christmas' place, the birth in the manger. The rabbit, and chicken, and new hats took the resurrection. And where does God appear in all of this at? See? The reason of this is because that man and commercial...Why, they started buying Christmas present months ago, and what is it but a heathen trait. There's nothing about it godly. Oh, they try to say, "Give gifts, to the wise men." That's just a--a oasis for a devil's excuse. You want to give something, it's your life to Christ. Don't give to one another; give it to Him. That's what He died for. That's His purpose of coming. See?

But it's got to be a place where it--it's--it's a curse to little children. Some little neighbor down the street can have plenty, and the other little fellow don't have nothing, and they look. And it's--it's just the whole thing is altogether wrong. That's all. And merchants raise their merchandise at these places. They... Why, my wife went in to get something for some little fellows, and about three weeks ago, said, "Oh, we done sold out all the stock. We made a double order of stock this year, done sold it all out." Three or four weeks 'fore the time to start shopping. Oh, what a big commercial setup it is.

And after all, do you know how Christmas ever begin, this what we call Christmas, "Christ's mass"? Here's the story of it, just a little jot I got wrote down here on a page. I've just completed in the last year, before I had the seven church ages, taught them here, I took the "Nicaea Council," and the "Pre-Nicaea Council" and the "Post-Nicaea Council," and "Nicene Fathers," and Hislop's "Two Babylons" and Foxe's "Book of Martyrs," and all, because I've heard ministers quote it. But I wanted to read it myself to see, so that I--I would know when I read it or said to my people, because God's going to make me answer at the day of the judgment what I say to the people. So I've just got to not say what someone else said that they read; I want to read it myself (See?) and know.

Now, really, Christmas, Christ, I believe and almost can prove... Like the resurrection can be proved by looking at the Creator, how that He created all this botany life, and how everything serving His purpose must die, and if it dies, it lives again 'cause it's got perpetual life. But the only way it can live again, is a germitized seed. See? Now, God expresses Himself in that creation, and it shows that all these pagan gods and things we have are not right. See, they're just philosophy and imaginations. But the--the One Who created the heaven and earth expresses Hisself back through His creation, what He is in His program. And then if...

Did you ever think, when Christ was born, that the Son of God, why was He born in a manger in a barn, and laid in a manger? Because He was a Lamb. Couldn't be born in houses, lambs are not born in houses. And then did you notice, when they took Him to Calvary, and how He couldn't run away. He had this cross laid on Him. He was beat till His back was bleeding. And--but they led Him; they led the Lamb to the slaughter. See? He was a Lamb. Well, and if all these testimonies of nature, what He was... When is lambs born in December or in April? Certainly. See, it's just nonsense (See?) to think such a thing.

This was done by the Roman Catholic church before it become the Catholic church in Rome, about 86, 106, somewhere along in there, or 306, rather. Now, we find out that the Roman pagans worshipped Jupiter, which is the sun god; and they worshipped Ashtoreth, which was the moon god, or otherwise the mother of the--the mother of heaven. Well, to bring this down, they said that Ashtoreth, or god's mother of heaven was no more, and reflected herself in Mary. So it still remained idolatry, connecting Christianity to idolatry.

Then also, and they suffered, or worshipped and respected the birthday of their sun god, which was Jupiter. It's when the sun from December the first until December the twenty-fifth, it doesn't change, it's passing its Capricorn.

And by the way, I got a piece out of the paper I want to read to you sometime, just shock you. You talk about what happened down here on the river that day; I want to show you the finding in Jerusalem to confirm that, just a few weeks ago out of a newspaper. Something they found in Jerusalem just a few weeks ago will positive confirm that Angel appearing down here at that very same time and sending the ministry forth. Yes. See? Now, never knew it till just a few weeks ago, and here it is in the newspaper.

Now, notice when it crossed that, it's--it's in that... See, now, after December the twenty-first, the days will start getting just a little shorter each, or a little longer each day, until it comes down around in July. Then it starts shortening up again till it gets right... And that's just the relaxing time. And the Roman pagans said that was the sun god's birthday. From December the first--or December the twenty-first till December the twenty-fifth, they had the--the Roman circus, the chariot races and so forth was on that, during that time.

Well then, when the Christians or the Roman Christians, adding their dogma to get both sides, both the pagan and the Christian, they said, "If it's the sun god's birthday, let's just make it altogether the Son of God's birthday." There's your twenty-fifth day of December for your mass: Christ's mass. Oh, what a terrible thing. See?

Now, to connect... Why, you say, "Wouldn't any other day do?" Yes, but connect Christ with pagan... The very thing He come to abolish, they connect Him back with it again. See? That's the thing that's wrong.

And Santa Claus, some old man in Germany, named Kriss Kringle, would go around giving kids presents on Christ's mass day; he was a Catholic, and they made him a saint; now it's Saint Nicholas. See? Oh, I better just... They'll... That... You know that anyhow. See, we got them in the church ages.

But this morning, what I want to say is this, that this coming Christmas day finds the world in no better condition than it was nineteen or twenty hundred years ago when Christ come. It's not any different. Just about the same condition as it was then, so is it now. They... If I would draw a conclusion from what, or a text from what I'm going to say, would be: "The Falling Apart Of The World."

When Christ came on Christmas nineteen hundred years ago, the world was falling apart; everything had come to pollution. The religious world had been polluted. The Roman world, morally, was on its lowest ebb. Oh, the immorality of the world... The Jews had forsaken their God and taken their sacred solemn feasts and had made it a ritualistic tradition. God had departed from them. And they knew that there was something had to happen; the whole world did; because to keep it together... It was falling apart. And the something to keep it together, every nation in their own way was looking for something or someone to come to hold it together.

If that isn't the picture today, I don't know the world. It's looking for something to hold it together. It's just like it was two thousand years ago. The world two thousand years ago was looking for a Messiah to hold the thing together. But two thousand years ago, God gave the world a Messiah. Because if we're expecting something and looking for something, God will send it to us. And now, the world after two thousand years, has got back into the same condition it was two thousand years ago. She's dropping apart, nations... There's no--there's no foundation nowhere. Communism, Catholicism, Protestantism, politics, moral, everything has fallen apart.

And they're praying for a Messiah. But here's what I want to say: If He would come, would we receive Him, or would we do like they did? Would we refuse Him? Do we know what we really need? Sometimes we want--we pray for our desires, and sometimes our desires is not our need. We must realize that we do not understand what we need; we think we do. But God promised to supply our needs, and that He'll do.

Read the full account in...
The Falling Apart Of The World.

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Matthew 1:20-23