Posted on 12/25/2006 6:31:44 AM PST by DouglasKC
It's called the spirit of Christmas—the ringing of sleigh bells on a snowy night, Tiny Tim turning the heart of Scrooge in Charles Dickens' famous novel A Christmas Carol, Santa Claus and flying reindeer.
For many, it seems, the birth of Jesus takes a backseat to mythology, packed shopping malls and greed. Every year, signs in front of neighborhood churches remind people to put Christ back into Christmas—or proclaim "Jesus is the reason for the season."
But is He?
In his book 4,000 Years of Christmas: A Gift From the Ages (1997), Episcopal priest Earl Count enthusiastically relates historical connections between the exchanging of gifts on the 12 days of Christmas and customs originating in ancient, pagan Babylon. He shows that mistletoe was adopted from Druid mystery rituals and that Dec. 25 has more to do with the ancient Roman Saturnalia celebration than with Jesus.
Nowhere in the New Testament do we see Jesus' disciples observing His birthday.
In fact, as late as the third century the early Catholic theologian Origen declared that it was a sin to celebrate Christmas, viewing it as pagan.
First-century Corinth was a Greek city filled with polytheistic religions. Its customs included temple prostitution and priests who performed sacrifices to the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods.
The apostle Paul writes to the Church members there in 1 Corinthians 10:19-21: "What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons."
Paul clearly warns people to avoid having anything to do with pagan religious customs, labeling such actions "fellowship with demons"!
Familiar to early Christians was the Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival celebrated during the last days of December in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. Many ancient religions conducted festivals at that time of year, the time of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, when days are the shortest, to appease the various gods to restore the sun and bring an end to winter.
The Roman Saturnalia included drunkenness, debauchery and other practices diametrically opposed to the teachings of Christ. Yet this holiday would eventually develop into Christmas. What happened to change many Christians from Paul's practice of abhorring and resisting pagan forms of worship to accepting and participating in such practices in the name of Jesus Christ?
Tremendous forces pressured early Christians away from the apostles' original instruction to avoid mixing idolatry with the worship of the true God. Thousands of pagans, while outwardly converting to Christianity, refused to give up the rituals and ceremonies of their former religious experiences.
Dr. Count sums up this historical struggle: "To the pagans, the Saturnalia were fun.
To the Christians, the Saturnalia were an abomination in homage to a disreputable god who had no existence anyway. The Christians, moreover, were dedicated to the slow, uphill task of converting these roistering pagan Romans.
"There were many immigrants into the ranks of the Christians by this time, but the Church Fathers discovered to their alarm that they were also facing an invasion of pagan customs. The habit of the Saturnalia was too strong to be left behind. At first the church forbade it, but in vain. When a river meets a boulder that will not be moved, the river flows around it. If the Saturnalia would not be forbidden, let it be tamed" (p. 36).
The church adopted Dec. 25—the date of the Roman Brumalia, immediately after Saturnalia—as the date of Christ's birth (even though biblical evidence shows this cannot be the right time of this event).
This date also marked a great festival in Mithraism, the Persian religion of the sun god. In A.D. 274 Emperor Aurelian of Rome declared Dec. 25 to be the "birthday of the invincible sun." In time the Son of God, Jesus Christ, became indistinguishable from the pagan sun god in the minds of hundreds of thousands of converts throughout the Roman Empire.
Instead of standing as Christ's force for change in the world, nominal Christianity was changed by the pagan world it was supposed to transform!
Dr. Count relates: "There exists a letter from the year 742 AD, in which Saint Boniface ... complains to Pope Zacharias that his labors to convert the heathen Franks and Alemans—Germanic tribes—were being handicapped by the escapades of the Christian Romans back home. The Franks and the Alemans were on the threshold of becoming Christians, but their conversion was retarded by their enjoyment of lurid carnivals.
"When Boniface tried to turn them away from such customs, they argued that they had seen them celebrated under the very shadow of Saint Peter's in Rome. Embarrassed and sorry, Pope Zacharias replied ... admitting that the people in the city of Rome behaved very badly at Christmas time" (p. 53).
Over the subsequent centuries, Christmas absorbed customs from German, Scandinavian and Celtic paganism—such as the yule log, the decorating of evergreen trees and the hanging of mistletoe.
In the Middle Ages, Christmas observances in Europe continued the excesses of Saturnalia. Dr. Penne Restad, in Christmas in America: A History, writes of the moral debate that raged during that era:
"Some clergy stressed that fallen humankind needed a season of abandonment and excess, as long as it was carried on under the umbrella of Christian supervision. Others argued that all vestiges of paganism must be removed from the holiday. Less fervent Christians complained about the unreasonableness of Church law and its attempts to change custom. Yet the Church sustained the hope that sacred would eventually overtake profane as pagans gave up their revels and turned to Christianity" (1996, p. 6).
Sadly, it didn't happen. Following the Middle Ages, some Protestants tried reforming Christmas but created little real change. The English Puritans waged a war on Christmas observance as unchristian behavior. In 1659 the holiday was outlawed in Massachusetts, but proved so popular that it gained official approval again in 1681.
A U.S. News & World Report cover story, "In Search of Christmas," states: "When Christmas landed on American shores, it fared little better. In colonial times, Christ's birth was celebrated as a wildly social event—if it was celebrated at all . . . Puritans in New England flatly refused to observe the holiday" (Dec. 23, 1996, p. 60).
In more modern times many Christians have become concerned about the commercialization of the day that is supposed to celebrate the birth of the Son of God. With parades featuring Santa Claus sponsored by department stores, half-price sales, and incessant TV and radio commercials, Christmas obviously has become more about the accountant's bottom line than about worshipping God.
Many people approach the yuletide season with a vague longing for a Christmas that is more spiritual and less commercial. But is our fast-paced, greed-filled rendition of Christmas the real problem, or is there something wrong with Christmas itself?
Christmas has become such a central holiday of American culture that it's difficult to get anyone to step back and evaluate its Christian validity. You be the judge.
Here are the facts: Jesus wasn't born on Dec. 25. Christ's apostles rejected pagan ceremonies and rituals in their worship and told other Christians to likewise avoid them. The early Church didn't observe Jesus' birthday. The selection of Dec. 25 as Christ's supposed date of birth was based on the dates of the Roman Saturnalia and Brumalia—a time for worshiping the god Saturn.
Most Christmas customs—decorating the evergreen tree, use of mistletoe, exchanging of gifts, Santa Claus—come not from the Bible but from ancient pagan religions. For centuries Christianity tried unsuccessfully to rid itself of the paganism of Christmas. Throughout its history Christmas has inspired drunken parties, and the modern holiday is more about convincing children to harass their parents to buy toys than worshipping Christ.
What is your verdict? Some say, "But we can't take Christmas away from the children." Others: "As long as it brings people to Jesus, what does it matter?"
Earlier we saw Paul's instructions to Christians in pagan Corinth. He continues his instructions in his next letter to the Corinthians:
"For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? . . . Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? . . .
"Therefore 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you . . .' Therefore . . . let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 7:1).
Paul's point is very pertinent to Christmas. How can we claim to be honoring God with pagan customs and traditions that He forbids in His Word?
The crucial question is: How can we put Jesus back into the season when He was never part of it to begin with? It's a difficult question, isn't it? But it's one that's vitally important for you to answer. GN
In light of the previous posts, do you really believe that these God given festivals are "weak and beggarly elements"?
Lev 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Lev 23:4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
Do you think it likely that Jesus Christ would create anything "weak and beggarly" and that Paul would describe it as such? Remember, the only scriptures the Galatians knew was the "old" testament. Do you think they would let such clear cut blasphemy against the scriptures of the Lord go unchallenged?
It was very popular in its time ~ everybody back then (except the Jews) felt that the sacrifice of children made their lives better.
As you well know people still feel that the sacrifice of children makes their lives better.
When you see references to "baal worship" by the Prophets recognize that it is the "sacrifice" they are railing against, not just "baal" as some sort of false god. There were a lot of other false gods around in those days, but this is the one that really grabs the attention.
If anything, a decorated tree is a substitute when you finally chop it down and take it to the fire and burn it.
So we can only do the things Jesus did???????
Bible doesn't say much about whether Jesus used a Mac or a PC, either. Guess those are both out, too.
I think I'll go have another glass of eggnog under the missletoe, and wish Jesus Happy Birthday again, give or take a few months.
They festivals point to prophetic events in God's plan. For example, the feast of Trumpets foreshadows Christ's second coming. The Feast of tabernacles foreshadows the millennial reign of Christ on earth.
I would begin by doing a search on "Holy Days" or "Feast Days" or "God's Holy Days".
You can start by reading: God's Holy Days Plan: Hope For All Mankind
The purpose of observing or not observing a "day" as a "holyday" is an act of worship to the Lord.
There's no such thing as a "holy" day unless God makes it holy. He only did that to his holy days. Man cannot make something "holy". Only God can. The purpose of observing God's holy days is to obey God. The benefits of obeying God are many.
Thinking that observing a set of days in order to secure approval by God is to return to spiritual slavery.
Thinking that disobeying God is a desirable thing isn't good either. Obeying God by observing the days he asked us to observe is simply being a good son or daughter:
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Jesus created those holy days. Jesus told his followers to observe them.
When it comes to specific, written down instructions from God himself, that should tell you something. He specifically told us what days we are to observe in worship of him. Throwing them aside and making up our own can only be described as "rebellion".
Gen 24:26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the LORD.
Gen 24:48 And I bowed down my head, and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.
Exo 4:31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped
Exo 12:27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshiped.
Exo 34:8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
1Ch 29:20 And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshiped the LORD, and the king.
2Ch 20:18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.
2Ch 29:30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Now can you give me one instance of one worshiper of God ever participating in any of the customs associated with Christmas...or making up their own holy days? Hint: You can find examples of people who say they worship God making up their own holy days. But it didn't turn out well for them.
It is not "self-evident" that "the historic chr*stian faith" is G-d's True Religion. The historic chr*stian faith must be judged by the Divine Revelation that had already been given at Sinai, not merely assumed to be its fulfillment from the outset.
And as for the trinity, have you noticed how some anti-trinitarians (such as "Oneness Pentecostals") have greater faith in the Word of G-d than trinitarians, many of whom have bought into the whole "the Bible is mythology"/documentary hypothesis nonsense? According to the Catholic Church, one must believe in the trinity in order to be a chr*stian--but you don't have to believe in Biblical inerrancy!
About twelve years ago we had an ultra-rightwing Catholic running in the Republican senatorial primary in our upper Southern state. He based his whole pitch on chr*stianity--this is a chr*stian country, etc. Yet he admitted he didn't regard the Bible as inerrant. And the head of the Republican club of which I was a member, who was sitting right there listening to him, was a Oneness Pentecostal, who according to this moron's theology wasn't a chr*stian at all. Yet he did regard the Bible as inerrant!
The advocates of "the historic chr*stian faith" had better read their Bibles from the front instead of from the back!
Aaron didn't do that when he created his golden calf and made up his own holy day. Why not follow his example? Christianize it.
2. A Christmas Tree is not an object of worship, but only a pretty decoration.
Really? I guess that explains why so many Christians are upset when Christmas trees are banned from public places. I guess that's why so many church buildings have Christmas trees in their sanctuaries this time of year. If it's just a pretty decoration, I challenge you to not put one up next year. And persuade everyone you know not to do it either and then let me know if they all just consider it a "pretty decoration".
Entirely different issues.
We DO CELEBRATE and LEGITIMATELY celebrate Christ's Birth. Christ's birth is extensively covered in the Holy Bible.
There is no story of Christ cavorting with Golden Calves.
The Christmas tree is simply a decoration and a teaching aid related to the celebration of Christ's birth by some.
Luther put lights on a tree as a reminder of the "light" that came to lighten every man.
I don't see it as any different than drawing a picture or writing on a blackboard with chalk or using PowerPoint graphics.
BTW, I see no problem with having cows in a manger scene...or sheep....
Is that where you're getting your cows from?
Do you concur that there is no commandment by God the father, Jesus Christ, or any other person in the bible to observe the birth of Christ by the creation of a day called "Christmas"?
Do you concur that the observation of Christmas is a tradition, handed down by generations by the traditional Christian church?
You have not made a connection between a Christian using a tree as a decoration and his believing and accepting practices of those who also use trees in other religions.
Christians had feasts, they developed new patterns of worship, and they even established a new leading day for worship. It's near-sighted to not see that the Jewish customs and feasts were not required for the Gentile Church, and ALSO that the Jewish Christians themselves were also affected by the new.
You don't put new wine in old wineskins.
First, I think that Christianity is based on one commandment, and that is that we love one another as He has loved us. There are no commandments in the OT sense delivered to the new people of God.
Second, I don't think the celebration of the birth of Christ is a tradition. I think it is biblical. The first chapters of Matthew and Luke are dedicated to the telling of the story.
The early Christians OBVIOUSLY had high regard for this event as the kenosis passage in Philippians clearly demonstrates. The "emptying himself" passage is considered by many to be a song or poem that had already developed in the early church...indication of special set aside sentiment regarding the events covered in the Philippians 2 passage:
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
I don't remember God telling us to celebrate a marriage yet there was Jesus providing wine at the celebration and even using the celebration in Matt. 25 to warn us to be prepared. Oh, and circumcision and baptism were rites celebrated by pagans before God instituted them in Abraham and the ritual washings in the law.
"Do you concur that there is no commandment by God the father, Jesus Christ, or any other person in the bible to observe the birth of Christ by the creation of a day called "Christmas"?"
What, you have to have a commandment before you can reflect on God's goodness?
Your every argument here is completely nonsensical.
The bible doesn't tell us to have pianos and choirs, either.
Or pulpits
sunday schools
pews
crosses
windows
air conditioning
carpets
cars
etc.
etc.
H _ R L O _ _ Y
Now, reading over your further posts on "freedom", I have to wonder if you have ever meditated on this verse:
Eze 33:13 "When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die.
"Aaron didn't do that when he created his golden calf and made up his own holy day. Why not follow his example? Christianize it."
You really don't have the first foggiest notion what Christianity is about, do you?
"I guess that explains why so many Christians are upset when Christmas trees are banned from public places."
What, you imagine that Christians shouldn't be upset about wrongheaded, wronghearted, malicious attacks on Christian traditions and customs? Nonsense.
"I guess that's why so many church buildings have Christmas trees in their sanctuaries this time of year."
And many churches have religious art displayed all year long, without that implying in the slightest that said art is the object of worship. How can you even imagine that displaying something in a church makes it an object of worship? That's not even rational.
"If it's just a pretty decoration, I challenge you to not put one up next year."
And why should my family and I forego a pretty decoration at Christmastime? Just to satisfy someone who totally misunderstands the entire issue?
"And persuade everyone you know not to do it either and then let me know if they all just consider it a "pretty decoration".
I don't even have to ask everyone I know. My friends are intelligent and knowledgable enough to know the difference between a Christmas tree and God.
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
It says " let no man judge you in...", it does not say, "Thou shalt not be judged in....."
It's also interesting to note that Paul was called to the Gentiles. These folks at Collosea were indeed Gentiles. Is it your contention that Paul went to them, evangelized them, taught them what the Holy Days were and what a believer ought to eat and not eat, then left them with that knowledge, and wrote them a letter later saying, "Whatever you do, don't you be keeping those Sabbaths or not eating whatever your sinful heart desires."
Jam 4:17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
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