
Episode 6 - No, Christmas Isn’t Pagan (And the Early Church Wasn’t Confused)
From The Orthodox Brew by Fr. Michael Sorial
December 31, 2025 · 5 min · Episode 6
About this episode
The episode discusses the origins of Christmas and argues against the notion that it is a pagan holiday, emphasizing the early Church's intentions.
Every year this comes back around:“Isn’t Christmas just a pagan holiday?”Short answer: no.Long answer: the early Church knew exactly what she was doing.December 25 (and January 7) weren’t borrowed from paganism — they were chosen as a bold theological statement connecting the Nativity to the Cross and Resurrection.#Advent #Christmas #Nativity #Orthodox #Coptic #copticorthodox Christmas: December 25 or January 7? https://youtu.be/q-9mt6K1NRY?si=f-WXLXSGwkO_WG1_
People in this episode
Host: Fr. Michael Sorial
Topics covered
- Christmas
- paganism
- early Church
- theological statement
- Nativity
- Cross
- Resurrection
Keywords
- Christmas
- pagan holiday
- early Church
- December 25
- January 7
- theological statement
- Nativity
- Orthodox
- Coptic
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Orthodox, Coptic, copticorthodox
Books & works: Advent, Nativity
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- Episode 5 - The Secularization of Christmas · December 15, 2025 · 12 min
- Episode 4 - Returning from the Mountaintop (7-12) · June 26, 2025 · 9 min
- Episode 3 - Returning from the Mountaintop (1–6) · June 20, 2025 · 13 min
- Episode 2 - Finding Peace in a Noisy World · June 3, 2025 · 27 min
- Episode 1: What Really Went Down on Campus? · May 20, 2025 · 38 min
- Episode 1 Trailer: What Really Happened on Campus? · May 15, 2025 · 3 min
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