During the Christmas season, it is not uncommon to hear religious people bemoan the “over commercialization” of Christmas and implore others to remember the “true meaning.” The implication seems to be a call for more nativity scenes, less Santa; more “O Holy Night,” less “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.” Additional perspective can be gained on this issue by referring to the Book of Mormon, which records multiple references of people anticipating and remembering the birth of Christ, or the “true meaning” of Christmas:

• Lehi prophesies of the birth of the Messiah
• Nephi sees Mary, the mother of the Son of God
• Nephi writes of the prophesy of the coming of the Messiah
• Nephi reiterates the prophesy of the coming of the Messiah
• Bejamin relates the words of an angel who brought him “glad tidings of great joy”
• Alma tells of Christ’s birth to the people of Gideon
• Samuel prophesies of the signs that would signal Christs birth
• Jesus reveals to Nephi that he would come into the world the next day
• The signs of Christ’s birth are fulfilled

The irony, of course, is that amid these many references to the birth of Christ, there is clearly no festival, season, or anything else that we might traditionally associate with Christmas. Here we have the “reason” without any reference to the “season.”

A quick look at history will also demonstrate that the “season” was around well before any connection to what we call the “reason.” It should come as a surprise to no one that Jesus was not actually born on December 25. Winter festivals were prevalent in agricultural societies because not much farm work could be done at that time. These festivals became associated with pagan gods, like the Norse god of thunder Thor, or the Roman god of harvest Saturn.

As the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, church officials, wanting to appeal to pagan converts, added the celebration of Christ’s birth to the list of celebrations, and the festival continued to evolve until it became what we now know as Christmas.

While every opportunity to celebrate Christ’s birth and life ought to be taken advantage of (Christmas included) the Book of Mormon shows us that a season or festival is not a non-negotiable absolute to do so. And a candid look at the past shows that the actual “true meaning” of Christmas has little to do with Christ at all.

So next time you count more commercial Christmas displays than religious ones, perhaps it’s not necessary to give a disapproving shake of the head coupled with a sanctimonious sigh. Pagan festivals shouldn’t have the power to diminish anyone’s celebration and rejoicing in the coming of Christ–the Book of Mormon attests to that.