"A Very Pagan Christmas" (SHAMELESS REBUTTAL)

[@JustDee7]

I can’t tell you how many times when I was a neo pagan that I would watch these kinds of videos and believed them , thank you Jesus for opening my eyes ❤

[@shamelesspopery]

Welcome home!

[@harrygarris6921]

None of these critics ever seem to be informed enough to realize that the Nativity was originally celebrated on January 6th, and was moved to December 25th not to supplant some pagan holiday but because the the council of Nicea set the date for the feast of the annunciation to March 25th. The date of the birth of Christ is celebrated when it is because it's exactly 9 months after the date of His conception.

[@Quincy_Morris]

The date of His perceived conception because there’s a tradition that prophets die on the day they were conceived. Not a Christian teaching but sort of a Jewish old wives tale that comes from the fact that prophets ages were listed as round number of years without months so people were like “must have died on the date he was conceived.” Point is: not pagan.

[@romualdandrzejczak4093]

Btw, as the professor with whom I had classes on Tolkien last semester said, in Britain Good Friday was traditionally on 25th of March(hence why Frodo and Sam reach Mount of Doom on that date).

[@felesamabilis]

​@@Quincy_Morristhe date of Jesus' conception is calculated from Jewish calendar of priestly turns. 6 months after Zacharias turn is either end of September or end of December

[@NickyMetropolis1313]

Jesus Christ was born six months after John the Baptist who was born on June 24th. Christ being born on December 25th at 12:00 a.m..

[@b00g3rs21]

@@NickyMetropolis1313 yea I mean that adds up but ultimately I don't think it matters whether it's the actual date or not. Rather holding to the tradition and participating in the liturgy are what matter. I don't think Jesus is gonna chastise us in Heaven for not knowing the exact date and time haha, we do our best.

[@DavidOmaha1]

Thank you for addressing this. Michael Jones at "Inspiring Philosophy" has been debunking this stuff for several years, but the people behind "A Very Pagan Christmas" didnt get the memo.

[@FrJohnBrownSJ]

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

[@DrChaunceyBlevins]

Nu-pagans will always refer to “Paganism” as an unbroken whole to give it some sort of power or validity, the same way they do Native American tribes, as if there was peace and unity among them and their beliefs were all basically the same.

[@josephantony603]

The problem is even some Christians fall into the trap of calling Christmas pagan

[@isaacrobson4192]

They are though when you look deep enough. The differences are only cosmetic, the metaphysics remain the same, the archetypes remain the same, the view on the cosmos is largely the same

[@fnsdjkovnsdkvn]

To be fair that was Chesterton's assessment of them. There are only like 5 meaningfully distinct "kinds" of pagan and its not especially hard to imagine how some devolve or develop into each other. No reason to imagine if Rome was left alone and Christianity went to China we wouldn't have populations of Pythagoreans, Stoics, and Roman pagans today and look at them the way we do look at buddhists, Confucians, and Taoists.

[@John-ng8fx]

@@isaacrobson4192Wow, you mean the abstractions we extrapolated out of the collective body of pagan myths are the same? That’s crazy! It’s almost like that’s what abstractions are! Their religions are not the same. Not only do they vary dramatically by region, the ancient pagans themselves certainly would have told you they were not the same, they fought innumerable wars to assert the fact they were not the same. You’re equivalating in a similar manner to suggesting all governments are basically the same because they’re comprised of people, some corrupt and some just, that exercise power and authority over their populace, and do everything to maintain and expand their control. Welcome to the human condition, most things are similar, nothing is identical.

[@John-ng8fx]

@@fnsdjkovnsdkvnGeneral categories of religious and societal expression don’t preclude extreme individual differences or circumstances that starkly distinguish the peoples. Most wars were fought by people against very similar people over smaller differences than whose gods were true. The point he is making isn’t that there is no abstract, universal cohesion, but that the differences which separated their civilizations far outweighed the similarities that could unite them.

[@joelancon7231]

How DARE you release a new video during my finals week. I'll listen to this on Spotify tomorrow nothing but love Joe!

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

It's worth the wait. Hope you do well on finals!

[@IG88AAA]

Making up facts seems to be a major foundation of the “Christmas is pagan” myth. Thank you Joe for putting in the time to find the facts.

[@FonkyMonk3359]

It really bothers me when people say "hey! Did you know that every single one of your holidays, practices, and religious beliefs don't come from your religion, but other religions that your religion condemns".

[@BalthasarCarduelis]

it shouldn't bother you. Compare it to the adolescent who knows better than his parents about everything and anything. If junior thinking he knows better than pops is bothersome, then pops is insecure.

[@justinbeale5672]

@@BalthasarCarduelisit bothers pops because junior thinking he knows everything could hurt junior and pops cares about junior, it’s not because pops is insecure.

[@BalthasarCarduelis]

@@justinbeale5672 In that case, just wait until Junior is bothered by the same thing with the Third, and by then pops won't be so bothered, amused more probably.

[@iohannesfactotum]

Yuletide is a rip off of Festivus

[@geraldhill7547]

It shouldn't bother you. God commanded to spread the Gospels. What better way than take over other peoples Holidays. You couldn't use the Jewish ones like Jesus did.

[@tomgrelinger5636]

I had to stop listening to the Apple Podcasts app for this episode and switch to KZbin just to see the ChatGPT image of Odin-influenced Santa. It was well worth it and put me into a much better mood. Thanks Joe

[@PuzzlesC4M]

Peak humor for this audience. I loved that part! 😂 I kept waiting for him to say, “Six eyes, eight legs, two noses… and a partridge in a pear tree.”

[@jamestay2377]

We should expect Pagan Easter next year. Joe has gifted us a Pagan Halloween and a Pagan Christmas. All we need left is Easter.

[@laurisjones]

He already hinted, pagan origins of inauguration day!

[@supernerd8067]

If he does, Joe will likely rebut the idea Easter is actually a celebration of Ishtar, a pagan deity or holiday because they sound similar. SPOILERS: That argument only works in English. Easter is called Pascha in other languages (for the Paschal Mystery of Christ). P.S.: Whenever I hear Ishtar, I think of Marik Ishtar from YGOtAS.😂

[@ji8044]

The idea of death and rebirth are much, much older than the Bible.

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

@@ji8044 And? How does that discredit Pascha?

[@StringofPearls55]

​@@ji8044 Christianity is older than the bible too.

[@audreymarsh5090]

Very happy to see an update to the “Christmas is Pagan” rebuttal you did a couple years ago! That episode, and Jimmy Akin’s interview on The Catholic Talk Show (about the what we know about the real, historical Nativity) have been my go-to listens every year about the truth of Christmas.

[@ji8044]

There was no real historical nativity. It's a Gentile addition. That's why it's never even mentioned in two of the four gospels.

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

@@ji8044 Lol, fake history

[@audreymarsh5090]

@@ji8044I meant the historical event when Jesus Christ was actually born…. And Jimmy Akin did a fantastic analysis of all the evidence we have about that event from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. …also, given that Matthew is Jewish, how is Jesus’ Nativity a gentile addition?

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

@ When was it added then? What's the evidence this was a "Gentile addition?"

[@ji8044]

@@audreymarsh5090 Because Jews were strict monotheists who had no demi-gods or divisions of god. That's why you never see the story in the rest of the NT.

[@flannelmcmannel]

I always figured that even if Christians co-opted pagan rituals and celebrations, it was a good thing. "Oh no, our traditions of vice and sin have been overtaken by holiness, piety, goodness, and thanksgiving. How terrible!"

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

That was literally the point.

[@ji8044]

"overtaken by holiness, piety, goodness, and thanksgiving. " Never been to that kind of Christmas. Where do they celebrate it?

[@holysmoke3201]

I grew up JW so all I ever heard was "it's PAGAN" and even I knew it was a weak argument from a young age. Such a legalistic mindset that lacks critical thinking but I think its origins were motivated from a desire to alienate protestant "puritan" christians from Catholicism.

[@shamelesspopery]

Mandatory JRR Jokien reference: x.com/joshcarlosjosh/status/1379079563586641924?lang=en

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

@@ji8044 in the Catholic Church silly!

[@robertrenato]

That thumbnail is brilliant:D Well done. I hate these sensationalist videos with manipulative menacing music trying to undermine something so holy. It's just plain that it's done with malice. (Not to mention the AI slop)

[@IG88AAA]

I can’t get enough of Joe crushing the “Christmas is pagan” theory.

[@chad_hominem]

Friendly reminder that the most popular & based pagan tradition is converting to Christianity (aka Catholicism).

[@pixelarrowproductions]

This crossover between shameless popery and old norse specialist jackson crawford is not something I ever expected, but I am totally here for it. I have followed Dr Crawford for years, this is so cool!

[@shamelesspopery]

Nice! I just discovered him while doing the research for this, but I really like how he explains things!

[@pixelarrowproductions]

@shamelesspopery he's very clear. He's also got a cool series right now where he's going through lord of the rings with a very unique perspective because he's into all the norse history, mythology, and especially linguistics that professor tolkien was. Very cool. Not sure if it would have any crossover with your channel really but you might find it interesting personally. I know i do.

[@stananders2333]

Same! Never thought i would see this crossover but it is so cool!

[@alissarehmert2502]

Your AI Santa almost made me spit out my coffee. Lol! I love how they also randomly added spiders. Also, "That doesn't even add Rudolph to the mix which will complicate it even more." 🤣🤣🤣

[@felesamabilis]

I loved that too 😂 Lucky me I already swallowed my code prior to it 😂

[@hglundahl]

13:26 Pagan Yule in Scandinavia is not the winter solstice, but the middle of the winter season, it comes around the beginning of February. So, even 1000 miles away, the celebration was not for days getting longer, but for weather getting warmer again.

[@douglasmader8010]

Not just Christmas to Epiphany, Joe. Traditionally the Christmas season goes from Christmas to the feast of the purification on Feb 2

[@audreymarsh5090]

Yeah, but at least in the US, the official Christmas season is 25Dec-the Baptism of the Lord (actually is 6Jan2025) as listed on the USCCB website. That being said, I’m still trying to convince my husband after 7 years that we should celebrate the full Christmas season and not take decor down until 3Feb.

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

@@audreymarsh5090Irish Americans used to do this. Got a bit raggedy tbh.

[@romualdandrzejczak4093]

@@audreymarsh5090 In Poland it looks so that the Christmas season lasts to the feast of Baptism, but carols can be sung up until Feb 2.

[@TheCatholicNerd]

Kind of. I mean you had time after Epiphany which started the first Sunday after Epiphany so while it was very Christmassy it wasn't technically the Christmas season but Time after Epiphany, but you're correct. People still were festive until February 2nd. Kind of fills in the time between Epiphany and septuigesima.

[@delakrux13]

True. In Mexico thats the case.

[@blessingsandbonuses3681]

They always get that "Mount Mordor" woman's voice to seem more official 😅😅

[@TheCatholicNerd]

I mean she has a British accent so she must be telling the truth

[@vinciblegaming6817]

I don't really blame atheists and neo-pagans for attempting to discredit Christianity by attacking our Christian celebrations. What shocks me and angers me is when modern Christians believe these neo-pagans claims and attack early Christianity for being pagan.

[@shamelesspopery]

In fairness, a lot of the "Christian holidays are really paganism!" originated with badly informed Protestants (whose real objection was that they don't see the holidays and the Bible, and that these holidays were too Catholic). Atheists and neo-pagans are only too happy to keep the falsehoods going, though.

[@carissstewart3211]

Atheists got these ideas from Protestants.

[@RedeemedMusicanOfGod]

@@shamelesspopery It probably came from us (what did you say, I can’t read).

[@kshwi3215]

Yes. Coincidentally just got a text from family member in family in law (all which are Catholic, but more like Keaster Catholics) group chat about how Christians got the date of Christmas from pagans wow how cool! Only for this video to be posted only a few hours ago! Now I get to watch then drop some truth and ruffle some feathers haha

[@francescoaccomando7781]

@@shamelesspoperyyou mean the anti-catholic propaganda done by Chick?

[@cordilajochim]

Lived in Rome. Winter is mild and very sunny and a relief from the heat of summer. Notice the time Romans take off to escape the elements is the month of August.

[@francescoaccomando7781]

Winter is mild now. Snow have been in decline in the past decades. When I was a child we used to have a lot of snow in winter. Last big one was in 1985, with a meter high. Now its hard even to have a day where snow stick to the ground.

[@billdavis5483]

50 years ago my latin teacher told our class Christmas originated from Saturnalia. Nobody disputed it. I assumed Saturnalia was on December 25. I was a little let down about Christmas after that. The fact that refutes this the character of the holidays. Saturnalia allows gambling and other things like that. The character of Christmas is so different.

[@decluesviews2740]

I didn’t expect a reference to Dr. Crawford on here. I watch some of his material, because of my love of languages. Also, good work as always, Joe!

[@isaacrobson4192]

I was literally a pagan priest before my hard conversion. They didn’t even get the pagan traditions correct, if you ignore the metaphysics you ignore why Catholicism saw them as true and baptized the beliefs

[@shamelesspopery]

Welcome home! And yes, it's wild how little the "um actually pagan" crowd knows about historic pagan customs.

[@qanaqa33174]

It's possible that an SDA or seventh day baptist did that documentary.

[@qanaqa33174]

Or the black jews

[@scottgun00]

1:38 I was laughing out loud at the chimes that sound borrowed from the _Halloween_ soundtrack and the ominous, throaty female voice. I don't think that was the effect they were going for. 🤣

[@jeroenvankooten]

What I read is that it started as paradise trees on the feast day of Adam and Eve (24 December), mostly in Germany. The balls etc would represent "fruits". Later this kind of spread out and changed.

[@PuzzlesC4M]

The most important thing I took away from this is that we get second breakfast on all twelve days of Christmas.

[@shamelesspopery]

Elevensies on solemnities!

[@felesamabilis]

Sounds quite hobbity 😂

[@HMot-g2x]

Luncheon? Afternoon Tea? 😄

[@DashiellAnthony]

>"C.E." This "documentary" is obviously bunk.

[@glendanikolakakos7431]

Thank you for this, I’m tired of hearing this from non-Christians and from Protestants, I will definitely link this podcast to defend Christmas celebrations if some one claims that is a pagan feast , God bless ❤❤❤

[@carissstewart3211]

For anyone who still thinks that December would be too cold for shepherds to be out: Today is December 12th, 2024. I wonder what the temperature in Bethlehem is like. *googles temp* 60 degrees, feels like 59. Around midnight, it will be 55 degrees.

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

oh that's just global warming 😂

[@scottgun00]

You mean Palestine's climate isn't like New England? 🤣

[@carissstewart3211]

@michaelbeauchamp22 average global temp increase since 1880 has been about 1.9 degrees F. Are you saying 53 degrees would have been too cold for shepherds? 😂

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

@@carissstewart3211 Way too cold. Everyone knows that shepherds were wimps who couldn't stand against anything. Just look at David! Not manly or able to withstand a slightly chilly breeze at all 😂

[@carissstewart3211]

@michaelbeauchamp22 true. ancient shepherds didn't even have access to modern conveniences like wool coats and fleece blankets.🤣

[@sophialuypaert-vediclife4ever]

Thank you, Love this!!! Love that you refer to other scholars and historians and other videos. WELL DONE I love Christmas, always did and always will. I believe that spreading the information that Christmas is a pagan feast has been done to make Christians stop celebrating Christmas... and, unfortunately, a lot of ppl have stopped because of this Will be sharing your video around!

[@dasmysteryman12]

Besides the mythbusting, I think the most important lesson here is if a popular “history” video uses AI, it’s most likely that the effort put into the research is as much as the effort put into its production. Which is to say none at all - incredibly lazy!

[@KathleenHughes-gm3jx]

I don't know if people realize that Romans only adopted the solar calendar in 45 BC (which is why it is called the Julian calendar, after Julius Caesar, who imposed it after learning about it from the Egyptians.) Prior to that, the Pontifex Maximum (pagan head priest) controlled the calendar, which had only 355 days: he decided when to insert the 10 missing days, or sometimes didn't insert them at all. This meant that the equinoxes and solstices were all sometimes off by weeks or even months, which implies pretty clearly that the date of the winter solstice was not important to Roman (pagan) religion.

[@F3z07]

Awesome work. Your videos are exceptional, and we all appreciate you! Merry Christmas to you and your family.

[@John_Fisher]

Though it's not the same as Lent, it is helpful to remember that Advent has a penitential character to it as well. It's helpful to remember this since every Advent comes with the annual penance of hearing "Christmas is Pagan" claims.

[@mikekayanderson408]

Lent is not in the Bible either. All these things are manmade and are WORKS

[@Ruudes1483]

@@mikekayanderson408Is it unbiblical to spend time in prayer and fasting?

[@TurtleMarcus]

It's so frustrating, because as someone who has studied Norwegian folklore at an academic level, we KNOW the influence went the other way (Christianity influencing folk practices, which Neo-Pagans claim are actually pagan). For example, St. Lucy's day was a big deal in Medieval Scandinavia (and even today), as it at one time coincided with the winter solstice. In folklore, this night is "Lussi Long Night", when the spirit Lussi would ride and and do mischief ("The Wild Hunt of Lussi"). This is obviously a corruption of Catholic tradition, not the other way around. (Some argue that viewing Lussi as an evil spirit might come from a conflation of Lucy with Lucifer!) This is but one of many examples. And it always goes like this: (1) Catholic tradition or story is introduced; (2) People develop local traditions and superstitions around it, especially if it's somehow connected to things important in agrarian society, like harvest, start of winter, etc. (3) The Romantics of the 1800's discovered and catalogued these traditions, and re-interpreted them as pre-Christian, as a part of their ideological programme of uncovering "the spirit of the nation"; (4) Neo-Pagans buy these arguments wholesale and try to use them to discredit the importance and influence of Christianity. Another one, just for fun: In Norwegian folklore, Mary was actually supposed to give birth on December 8th, but was somehow prevented from it by God. This day is known as "Our Lady had-to-wait" ("Vår Frue ventedør"). Keeping in mind that Norway became Lutheran in 1536, this is obviously a corruption of the Immaculate Conception.

[@emilycarr2983]

I was in Rome when it snowed in 2018! One of the coolest experiences of my life.

[@eisbehr]

Winter up north is much cooler

[@jendoe9436]

Just a quick comment, partially joking. I wish these types of “pagan historians” would stop trying to act like bonfires and feasting = pagan ceremonies! Bonfires are fun cause fire can be spectacular to watch and it keeps you toasty warm. And food is always a great crowd pleaser. Let me enjoy my bonfires and s’mores!

[@letisiabriseno9965]

Thanks!

[@shamelesspopery]

Thank you! That was very kind of you. Glad you liked it!

[@letisiabriseno9965]

You are very welcome. I trust you and the information you share. I do wish you would promote your channel more as the information is vital to all people of Good will. Kenny Brusshard another catholic youtubber, just asks people to help him reach a goal of so many subscribers and people love to help others succeed. He went from a like 1200 subscribers to 12,000 in weeks by just asking people to help him reach his weekly goal. More gift money coming your way so you can keep up the great work. May God Bless you and your family! I do remember to pray for you now and then. I'm glad the giving button worked!

[@daisybrain9423]

What a joyful surprise to see Dr. Jackson Crawford feature on this channel!

[@dignusferox2570]

*Sees another stupid video calling Christmas pagan* "How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?"

[@john-paulgies4313]

"The Feast of Mary’s Purification is, therefore, part of that of Jesus’ Birth; and the custom of keeping this holy and glorious period of 40 days as one continued Festival has every appearance of being a very ancient one, at least in the Roman Church. And firstly, with regard to Our Savior’s Birth on December 25, we have St. John Chrysostom telling us, in his Homily for this Feast, that the Western Churches had, from the very commencement of Christianity, kept it on this day. He is not satisfied with merely mentioning the tradition; he undertakes to show that it is well founded, inasmuch as the Church of Rome had every means of knowing the true day of Our Savior’s Birth; since the acts of the Enrollment, taken in Judea by command of Augustus, were kept in the public archives of Rome. The holy Doctor adduces a second argument, which he founds on the Gospel of St. Luke, and he reasons thus: we know from the sacred Scriptures that it must have been in the fast of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:24) that the Priest Zachary had the vision in the Temple; after which Elizabeth, his wife, conceived St. John the Baptist (the ‘seventh month’ corresponded to the end of our September and beginning of our October). Hence it follows that the Blessed Virgin Mary having, as the Evangelist St. Luke relates, received the Archangel Gabriel’s visit, and conceived the Savior of the world in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, that is to say, in March, the Birth of Jesus must have taken place in the month of December." - Dom. Guéranger, _The Liturgical Year_

[@ji8044]

"as the Church of Rome had every means of knowing the true day of Our Savior’s Birth; since the acts of the Enrollment, taken in Judea by command of Augustus, were kept in the public archives of Rome." This is all completely wrong.

[@john-paulgies4313]

@ji8044 That's too little for you to say.

[@ji8044]

@@john-paulgies4313 What can I tell you? Do you think that everybody knew it and then everybody forgot it?

[@john-paulgies4313]

@@ji8044 That's not what Dom Guéranger said. Do you know the census records of your nearest metropolis?

[@vinciblegaming6817]

It's like Isaiah 9:2 doesn't predate Christmas at all... *The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. - Isaiah 9:2

[@christianmaestas4435]

No joke this time, just early interaction. Great vid! I’ll have this on repeat for sure

[@christianmaestas4435]

Okay had I seen the 8legged abomination by the time I commented I would have made a joke

[@PatronSaintKolbe93]

The thumbnail is pretty slick, Joe.

[@shamelesspopery]

Thanks! That's all Thomas, my video guy. He showed me yesterday and I loved it / had a midlife crisis.

[@charlespagano9636]

😂​@@shamelesspopery

[@cameronbyers5710]

I greatly appreciate how Joe pulls sources from places that one wouldn't expect. I.E. pulling text from a pagan scholar's book that the Romans didn't have any celebrations around the winter solstice.

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

merry advent y'all

[@smartismarti4049]

been waiting for this 🎉

[@NeutronJon-Rev]

Joe, your AI Santa will haunt my dreams forever. Merry Christmas.

[@MathAdam]

Okay, but there must be a connection between the Northern European célébration of Yul and the Texan célébration of Y’all.

[@kisstune]

I'll guess the letter "u" was changed to letter "a" to Americanize the word and to represent America instead of the u which represented the universe because America is the center of the universe. 🤣

[@treeckoniusconstantinus]

Looking forward to the inevitable future crossover with InspiringPhilosophy this road leads down. 😆

[@shamelesspopery]

I don't think he does crossovers, but I'm here for it!

[@treeckoniusconstantinus]

@@shamelesspopery I can reliably say that he certainly does! His Exodus series, for example, was co-produced by Egyptologist and KZbinr David Falk (Ancient Egypt and the Bible), whom he's had on his channel several times, and he frequently streams with the likes of William Albrecht and David Wood when discussing patristics or Islam, and even streamed with Trent a while back. I'm sure IP would be open to allies on this topic.

[@nickw9766]

Christmas means Christ Mass on Christmas Day? That’s how Xmas was first celebrated.

[@macmedic892]

5:02 Thanks for clarifying that! I was wondering if perhaps he’d stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

I don’t know what “C.E.” means. My dating system is A.D. I don’t allow people to force propaganda down my throat.

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

I say it means "Christ's Era."

[@ji8044]

CE means in the Common Era. BCE Before the Common Era. The designation of AD and BC are medieval inventions.

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

@ And the designations of CE and BCE are... from time immemorial? Absolute designations? Modern, secular designations?

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

@@ji8044 😂

[@ji8044]

@@WinstonSmithGPT People who laugh at factual information are generally the type who spend money at the Creation Museum in Tennessee.

[@rachelbytheriver]

Do you, Trent Horn, and a few others (maybe Michael Jones) have a group chat where you call dibs on rebuttals?

[@DolceRamos]

Love it, very well explained.

[@juanspyro4658]

I clicked on this video for Saint Nicholas to explain why Christmas is not a pagan tradition and instead we have this shameless popery if you will

[@sstrykert]

As a defender of Christmas, I appreciate this compilation of knowledge as I've learned some of these things over the years.(Martin Luther, St.Boniface,& St.Nicholas especially being my faves). Cheers! P.S. sharing!

[@marianafaria6960]

I have a protestant friend who's never celebrated christmas 😢 It might sound like nothing much to you. But we live in Brazil a historically very catholic country.

[@violetd3487]

Some protestant groups never celebrate Christmas because of the belief that it's pagan.

[@Hafstrom1845]

This is just anecdotal, but growing up in Sweden I have never heard of any “yule log”. We do have other customs with bonfires, but not around Christmas.

[@curiousmadcat480]

I never understood my protestant family say that every year yet celebrate the easter bunny and the tooth fairy...anyone else's protestant family do that?

[@seangallagher9580]

Thanks again Joe for setting the record straight

[@danvankouwenberg7234]

Yule have to forgive me, I am not impressed with these claims of Christmas traditions having pagan roots. Odinarily, I do love conspiracy theories, but not these. Sol long!

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

This should be the top comment 😂

[@BensWorkshop]

Many thanks Joe!

[@Chicken_of_Bristol]

Not gonna lie, disappointed that Joe didn't have an ugly christmas sweater for this episode. PAGAN CHRISTMAS IS RUINED

[@shamelesspopery]

Sounds like you know what to send me for Christmas!

[@tarminas6805]

God bless us, everyone 🙏🏻😁🎄🔥🪵🎅🏻✝️

[@AlseyHopkins-b8g]

I enjoyed your video and it's good to see people push back on these claims. I do want add though you were wrong when you said that Saturnalia did not exist during the lifetime of Hippolytus. The holiday was celebrated during the republic and from what I have read could go back to around 200 BC or even older.

[@LauraBeeDannon]

Dude....they trying to erase Saint Nicholas??? Saint Boniface left the chat...

[@IG88AAA]

Can we get an episode about new years is Catholic, since we follow the Gregorian calendar? Leap day too.

[@shamelesspopery]

Groundhog's Day is just a folk tradition derived from the feast of the Presentation on February 2nd, since that marked the end of winter. (True story).

[@IG88AAA]

@ That’s interesting. It always makes me smile seeing how many places Catholic doctrine, liturgy and culture influences many American holidays and customs. Especially considering our Protestant roots and founding. It would be interesting if you would make a video about some of the interesting and lesser known instances of this.

[@ji8044]

Do you think the Julian calendar had no starting date each year?

[@IG88AAA]

@@ji8044 It was partly tongue in cheek, since the pagans and seculars want to claim Catholic holidays as theirs. But at the same time the particular day the new year falls on is because of the Gregorian calendar. Also it would have an interesting back story of why we have the calendar we have.

[@ji8044]

@@IG88AAA Ok gotcha.

[@1337fidoS10]

The sources for all these "erm, akshually, x is pagan" claims is always "dude, just trust me bro".

[@Joe-qs2bq]

Was hoping there would be a book disproving/explaining all the pagan/Christian myths/connections...

[@johnhoelzeman6683]

Didn't think I'd see Jackson Crawford on here 😂 he's great

[@kisstune]

I think it would be impossible to not pick a random date and find some pagan holiday either on that day or close to it.

[@LennyBoy-px3og]

41:43 heretics, Joe. Heretics

[@ModernLady]

Impressive how they can make a comparison between Odin harvesting souls and Santa, but not see the clear correlation between St Nicholas and Santa. 😅

[@Garry_Combine]

The Santa Stuff does bother me. I love the fictional character, but the real Bishop Saint Nicholas, is my confirmation Saint. I credit his life, in part, to my conversion

[@DrSheri.teaches]

It’s more troubling to me that the guy on the video at 9:53 appears to have 6 fingers and a thumb. Clearly that guy had questionable motives. On a serious note, well-done as usual, Joe.

[@von_nobody]

This remember me old Soviet joke about giveaway of cars on Moscow Red Place, "this is true, but not Moscow but Petersburg, not cars but bicycles, and not giveaway but stealing" :D

[@felesamabilis]

They are called the Radio Erewań jokes ❤

[@kisstune]

In Soviet Russia KZbin watches you.

[@felesamabilis]

@@kisstune well... we people from the other side of the iron curtain know about using old TVs for spionage and so on. Your statement is for us more than obvious. And believe me, it's not just there

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

The wild hunt was associated with elves in Celtic and English folklore and literature. Human beings are pursued and caught. Some find themselves at a feast in the otherworld, and if they are returned, they find time has not passed, either for them or for the rest of the world. None of this even sounds like Christmas in any way.

[@TheCatholicNerd]

36:03 It's funny that you said ye Old, because that was never actually said by any English speaker back in the day. The th was originally represented by the Thorn character which doesn't exist in German. So in early English books were being printed by German printers they used the letter y because it wasn't that common to represent the th sound. Later as y became more used. They switched to th to represent that sound, so when you see ye Old, whatever, the Yi would actually be pronounced the. It's just a spelling convention.

[@Olivier1]

Hi Joseph. Thanks for the really helpful material. Can you please share the links to the first two publications that you referenced in the video?

[@giovanibenjamin9655]

Prots ignoring everything Joe said in coming, acting like he didn’t already address whatever unproven assumptions they have

[@channelmoved9096]

The documentary is narrated with a sophisticated Englishish sounding accent and you sound like you are from New Jersey. I'm a devoted Catholic but the preponderance of credible sounding accents weighs on the side of the documentary.

[@shamelesspopery]

NEW JERSEY????? 😲

[@daneberryman]

@@shamelesspopery forget about it I’m walking here

[@charlespagano9636]

"The university, not the hotel." 😂😅😂

[@HighKingTurgon]

46:50 I'm so glad I switched to video. Because that is a jack skellington of a hoot and half

[@davidhoyos1498]

Absolute banger

[@dariaschooler]

The conquerors took over the pagan lands for Christianity because CHRIST IS THE ONE TRUE KING of ALL CREATION.

[@Freeman_Gunner]

At 55:03 that is clearly the first Festivus Pole

[@PLFREF]

It’s a Festivus for the Restivas.

[@Anonymous-um2wx]

The early Christians would have known when Jesus was born from Mary and passed it down since then. Not in the Bible or in writing necessarily, but through Tradition and oral teaching. Just have to remember that the world will always try to twist things in order to destroy the truth of Christ and bring doubt. God bless! Merry Christmas!

[@Un-Apologetix]

The AI image of Santa ☠️😂

[@martinhodnicak2333]

Im on 58 second and i love every word Joe said 🙂

[@mikekayanderson408]

Extremely interesting how dozens and dozens of people have looked into the historical facts and roots of Christmas - some coming up with one answer & others with a different answer - but the only one who is actually correct is Joe! Or this is what he wants us all to believe! Only his sources are the correct ones- or so he suggests! Amazing!

[@michaelbeauchamp22]

The problem is that the people arguing for Christmas being pagan don't have credible sources, or the evidence can be explained better another way. Or, in many cases, there is no evidence it sources. Would you care to share a source that supports your view?

[@sueseelie]

You didn’t address elf on a shelf! Do the pagans get credit for this too? Seriously though, what a ridiculous idea. I didn’t know about it until 2010. 😂 Another great video, Joe

[@shamelesspopery]

"He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection. By this very fact, the external power may throw off its physical weight; it tends to the non-corporal; and, the more it approaches this limit, the more constant, profound and permanent are its effects: it is a perpetual victory that avoids any physical confrontation and which is always decided in advance." - Michel Foucault on the panopticon prison / Elf on a Shelf.

[@jjpom9538]

i’m curious to know what Joe things of the proposition that was recently promoted by Jimmy Akin about how we might know Christmas was celebrated in December, based on birth of Jesus being born six months after John the Baptist, who we think we know might have been conceived based on Zachariah and his service at the temple because he was a Levite priest.

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

When I was a kid, you couldn’t bring mistletoe into a church. Holly, berries, pine, fine. Mistletoe, no. Too Druid or something. So much for the pagan theory.

[@angelmacas1774]

So how would pagans explain the Christmas traditions in South America where there is no yule or winter solstice? The whole premise that Christmas has pagan roots is laughable

[@ji8044]

There was no Christmas in South America at all until the 16th Century of course.

[@winstonbarquez9538]

Could you also do something on the Bible adopting concepts from pagan myths?

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