# Holidays, Birthdays, and the Cross Are Pagan

## Watchtower Teaching

> JWs forbid celebrating birthdays, Christmas, Easter, and other holidays on the grounds that they have 'pagan origins.' They also reject the cross as a Christian symbol, claiming Jesus died on an upright stake and that the cross is a pagan fertility symbol adopted by apostate Christianity. Any practice with a historical connection to paganism is considered contaminated and must be avoided — regardless of its current meaning or cultural context.

## Key Implication

The 'pagan origins' test, applied consistently, would eliminate practices the Watchtower itself uses. Wedding rings, neckties, the seven-day week, and the names of months all have pagan roots. The Watchtower selectively applies this standard — banning Christmas trees while wearing wedding rings. Paul addresses this principle directly in 1 Corinthians 8–10: food offered to idols is not inherently contaminated because 'an idol is nothing.' What matters is not historical origin but present meaning and conscience. Jeremiah 10:1–5, the Watchtower's go-to text against Christmas trees, describes the carving of an idol — read to verse 5, where it says the object 'cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.' It is not about a decorated tree.

## Watchtower Sources

- Reasoning From the Scriptures, pp. 68–69, 176–182
- What Does the Bible Really Teach?, pp. 156–159
- The Watchtower, November 1, 2003, pp. 24–28

## Also Known As

pagan origins, birthday ban, Christmas forbidden, Easter forbidden, holidays banned, pagan holidays, torture stake vs cross, cross is pagan, Jeremiah 10, Christmas tree pagan, pagan contamination, stauros, birthday celebration, birthday Bible, no celebrations, holiday origin, wedding ring pagan, pagan origin fallacy

## Counter-Arguments (5)

- [The Cross Is Not Pagan — And Paul Boasted In It](/arguments/cross-pagan-symbol-rebuttal.md) — Galatians 6:14 / 1 Corinthians 1:18 / Colossians 2:14 [Practice]
- [The Birthday Ban — A Rule Generalised From Two Pagan Tyrants](/arguments/birthday-ban-extrabiblical-canon.md) — Romans 14:5-6 / Jeremiah 20:14 / Job 3:1 [Practice]
- [Holidays Are Not Pagan — Read Jeremiah 10 to Verse 5](/arguments/holidays-pagan-origin-engagement.md) — Romans 14:5-6 / Colossians 2:16-17 / Jeremiah 10:5 [Practice]
- [Images Are Not the Problem — Worship Is](/arguments/images-in-worship-protestant-response.md) — Numbers 21:8 / 2 Kings 18:4 / Exodus 25:18 [Practice]
- [Redeeming Culture, Not Fleeing It](/arguments/redeeming-culture-acts17.md) — Paul reused a pagan altar to preach Christ (Acts 17:22-31) [Practice]