The Real Story Behind the Holidays
Every year the same posts go around: Christmas was stolen from a sun god, Easter is named after Ishtar, Halloween is a satanic holiday. Most of these claims fall apart when you look at the actual dates and sources.
This page is honest in both directions. Some customs, like the Easter bunny, really did come from folk traditions and have nothing to do with the Bible, and we say so. But the holidays themselves were built by Christians to celebrate Jesus, often long before the customs that get blamed on them existed. Christians aren't secretly worshiping other gods. They're celebrating Christ.
- 🎄 Christmas — The birth of Jesus, God come to us as a baby.
- ✝️ Easter — Jesus rose from the dead. The oldest Christian celebration of all.
- 🎃 Halloween — All Hallows' Eve: the night before All Saints' Day. Also Reformation Day.
- ☘️ St. Patrick's Day — A former slave who went back to tell his captors about Jesus.
- ❤️ Valentine's Day — Named for a Christian martyr.
- 🦃 Thanksgiving — A national day to thank God.
- 🥞 Mardi Gras and Lent — The last feast before forty days of preparing for Easter.
- 💐 Mother's Day — Born in a Methodist church in West Virginia.
The word "holiday" itself comes from the Old English hāligdæg: "holy day." Whatever the decorations, the heart of these days was always meant to point to Jesus. The best way to keep it there is simple: tell the real story to your kids, your friends, and yourself.