Episode 6 - No, Christmas Isn’t Pagan (And the Early Church Wasn’t Confused)

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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