Episode 139. Re-Broadcast: Did Christmas Start Out as a Pagan Holiday (And Other Questions about Christmas)
Mama Bear Apologetics
Hillary Morgan Ferrer & Amy Davison
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this Christmas‑themed podcast, the Mama Bear team addresses the biggest questions Christian parents often hear around the holiday season. They explain what Christmas is truly about, how to talk to children about Jesus and Christmas, and address common controversies like whether Christmas is pagan, the role of Santa Claus, and what phrases like “Happy Holidays” mean. They also share practical tradition ideas families can adopt, and recommend books and resources that help keep Christ at the center of the season.
Main Points Covered
- What Christmas Truly Celebrates
- Is Christmas Pagan?
- Origins of the Christmas Tree
- Santa Claus vs. St. Nicholas
- Talking to Kids About Santa
- “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays”
People and resources mentioned
- A Child’s Christmas — Victorian Christmas story (classic reprint)
- Letters from Father Christmas — Tolkien (beautiful illustrated letters)
- The Case for Christmas — by Lee Strobel
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So one of the things that people tend to say is they came up with Christmas on December 25th |
| 0:10.2 | because they were trying to co-op other pagan holidays and celebrations that already existed. |
| 0:15.8 | So they were trying to replace the winter solstice. |
| 0:22.4 | Welcome to the Mama Bear Apologetics podcast. I'm Hillary. And I'm Amy. We are just two gals who |
| 0:27.4 | are spiritually armed, highly caffeinated, and just sassy enough to make bad ideas cry. |
| 0:32.4 | Mama Bear is a ministry dedicated to helping you raise children who think critically, |
| 0:36.7 | love biblically, and stand firm in |
| 0:38.4 | the faith using scripture, reason, and reality. Because remember, Mama Bears, this might not |
| 0:43.2 | affect your faith. But it might affect your children's. Welcome back Mama and Papa Bears to a |
| 0:52.7 | very special Merry Christmas blog. |
| 0:55.2 | If you can't tell, buy our amazing shirts and our backgrounds. |
| 0:59.5 | We are so excited to be ushering in this wonderful Christmas season. |
| 1:03.2 | Can I just say it's much needed after this whole year, right? |
| 1:06.4 | It is just amazing to celebrate. |
| 1:08.5 | So we have some new faces with us. |
| 1:10.6 | So if this is your first time |
| 1:12.0 | listening in on a Mama Bear blog or watching a Mama Bear blog, I just want to say welcome. |
| 1:16.6 | I am Amy Davidson. I'm one of the podcast hosts and writers. And with me is, |
| 1:21.0 | Hi, I'm Lindsay Medinwald. I'm Executive Director of Mama Bear Apologetics. And I'm Robin Lopez. |
| 1:27.1 | I'm an administrative assistant and the website administrator with Mama Bear Apologetics. And I'm Robin Lopez. I'm an administrative assistant and the website |
| 1:29.6 | administrator with Mama Bear. I help out with publishing the podcast and I also record the AABs and |
| 1:37.7 | try to keep the website smoothly flowing. Oh my gosh. And Robin is so amazing. We love having her a part of the Mama Bear team. And we love |
... |
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