Did the Church institute Dec 25th to replace Pagan Festivals with a Christian Theme? Is there recorded history of these discussions or meetings or edicts? Was it Saturnalia or Mithraism that they were attempting to compete with? Or all of the pagan festivals during this time of the year (winter soltice.)
Much is said about this every year, and articles from Google searches are posted but I am under the impression that to much is being said about Saturnalia that is not in the historical record as the reason given for choosing this day.
Is there early Christian writings explaining any of these decisions. When was there a council or an edict or a recorded decision. Posting information about what Pagans did no Dec 25 is not helpful in answering my question.
Where did the church officially discuss it? I am assuming there is something before the middle ages where it does show up in church discussions.
If the discussions as to why the early church chose Dec 25th do not appear until the middle ages after it had already been observed since the 5th century then how credible are those middle age explanations.
The best explanations I have heard so far have been about the influence of Mithraism that they were battling in the first 200 years. Below is an example, but I have read better ones in the past that go deeper into the temptation it had for Christians who wanted to have influence in business and society. And this influence of Mithraism was what the early church was combating when it chose Dec 25th, to destract Christians from celebrating Mithric feasts. I am sure that the side benefit would be to distract them from all of the other winter soltice pagan feasts as well, but what was the most popular among the pagans was not really the main target, it was combatting what Christians were falling into, the mithraism cult that was mixing with chrisitanity in teachings and practice.
https://postbarthian.com/2018/11/02...-the-sun-god-mithra-feat-wolfhart-pannenberg/
In Wolfhart Pannenberg's essay "Myth in the Biblical and Christian tradition", he explains that Christianity has reappropriated pagan and Jewish myths throughout history in order to demythologize them. Many evangelicals today try to prove that Jesus was born on December 25th, and deny that Christmas has any pagan origin or identification with the winter solstice pagan feasts. On the contrary, Pannenberg argues that Christmas is a deliberate commandeering of the pagan winter solstice festival
Sol Invictus, that celebrated the birth of Mithra, the unconquered sun god worshiped in mystery religions throughout the Roman empire. As Christians completed with sun god worship, they chose to celebrate the birth of Jesus, in place of the birth of Mithra on December 25th, which was the winter solstice according to the Julian calendar. After all, Jesus was the greater Mithra, and the true light that was coming into the world, so it was appropriate to celebrate Jesus with similar light metaphors. Pannenberg argues that pagan myths like Mithra cult represent ready made cloaks that were applied to Jesus as part of demythologizing Pagan and Jewish myths. Christianity did not have a traditional day for celebrating the birth of Jesus until the fourth century, when it assumed December 25th from Mithra.
The same evangelicals I mentioned continue this same synchronistic praxis when they celebrate fall parties on halloween or thanksgiving, or have special services to celebrate memorial day or independence days today. Ultimately the goal in reappropriating the winter solstice festival was not to synchronize with mystery religions, but to demythologize those pagan myths that competed with Christianity.
Wolfhart Pannenberg ends his essay "Myth in the Biblical and Christian tradition" (available in
The Idea of God and Human Freedom) with this commentary on the origin of Christmas:
