There are differing opinions as to the origins of celebrating on December 25th. Some believe that the date of Christmas corresponded with the winter solstice. Another thought is that December 25th corresponds with the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the unconquered Sun). Others connect it with the Roman holy day Saturnalia, which was marked by gift giving, eating and drinking. Yule logs and trees are remnant from pagan traditions of Northern Europe.
Santa Claus is the beloved figure who visits homes on Christmas Eve and leaves presents for children. It is believed that this legend originated from St. Nicholas, a real person who lived in a Greek area, now located on the southern coast of Turkey. He was orphaned as a child and dedicated his life to serving God and is remembered for his care and concern for children and the poor.
Given the pagan origins of the Christmas holiday, what should a thoughtful Christian response be? Nowhere in the Bible is it mentioned that we should remember the birth of Jesus. Instead, we are told to remember His death with communion. We also know that his birthday probably wasn’t December 25th. It is thought by some that his birth may have coincided with The Feast of Tabernacles, when He came to “tabernacle” with men.
Nonetheless, Christmas is a favorite holiday among many Christians. Glorious hymns and carols have been written to commemorate the birth of the Savior. Many families try to eschew the commercialism of the holiday and have meaningful celebrations focused on Jesus, with acts of love and service to family and community. Others celebrate the Feast of the Three Kings on January 6. Still others forgo Christmas entirely and choose to focus on the Biblical Holidays.
However you choose to celebrate Christmas, let the warmth of the season be a time inspired by Jesus. Prayerfully seek out ways your family can serve God and help the needy.
Hello EJ Cooksey!
ReplyDeleteYou wrote: “However you choose to celebrate Christmas, let the warmth of the season be a time inspired by Jesus. “
(le-havdil) I want to comment on that. A logical analysis of the earliest MSS (based on the implications of Dead sea scroll 4Q MMT) of what was redacted to “Matthew” proves that the historical first century Ribi Yehoshua ha-Mashiakh (the Messiah) from Nazareth was a Torah-teacher.
It is written in Torah, Devarim (“Deuteronomy”) 13:1-6, that it is forbidden to add or remove mitzwot (commandments) from Torah. This is written in Torah: “"Do not do like the practice of the land… in which you dwelled, and do not do like the practice of the land… to which I bring you, and do not walk in their traditions. Do My mi•shәpât•im′ and watchguard My khuq•im′ to walk in them." (wa-Yi•qәr•â′ 18.3). [words found in the glossaries in Netzarim www.netzarim.co.il ]”
That quote has implications about Christmas.
Learn more about what Ribi Yehoshua from Nazareth (the Messiah) taught in the above website.
All the best, Anders Branderud
The pagan origins of Christmas (and Easter) make me believe that God wouldn't want me celebrating either of them. Instead, I choose to celebrate and observe the Holy Days listed in the Bible, the same days that Jesus celebrated. It hurts me to see people turn their backs on the days that God so lovingly gave in favor of pagan traditions which have been dressed up with Christian names.
ReplyDeleteChristmas is a cluster of Pagan holidays, that was changed to Sol Invictus when the Roman empire took. It’s no coincidence that both Sol Invictus, and Christmas share December 25′th as their official date.
ReplyDeleteThe reason they share the date is that when the Catholic church spread its religious crusading plague and took over Europe they stole a page from the Romans and changed the holidays to “Christmas” in order to gain converts. Even though Christians acknowledge that Jesus was not born on December 25′th they try to cover up the fact.
Christians hope by ignoring Christmas’s origins, they can some how change history. I think the funniest part is that Christians even tried banning Christmas altogether in the 1600′s because of all of the pagan aspects it still retains. LOLOLOL.
Christmas trees, holly, wreaths, mistletoe… all that crap is whats managed to survive from pre-Christian religions. And remember, this stuff survived through eras where Christians were burning people at the stake, stripping the flesh off their bodies while they still lived, and torturing them worse than any guy on a cross ever was. The stakes were pretty high for holding on to pagan ways. Pretty amazing that any of it managed to survive really…