What Does the Bible Say About Christmas? It is Wrong to Celebrate It?

[Bawb]

What Does the Bible Say About Christmas? It is Wrong to Celebrate It?

Excerpted from https://www.biblestudy.org

The Bible does not have any direct or explicit statements saying, "Thou will not celebrate Christmas." However, it also does not have a specific text condemning the use of heroin or cocaine either. Most Christians would condemn drug abuse by using the principle that since the Word condemns drunkenness, it also condemns getting high from drugs. It is in the same sense that Christmas is condemned in the Bible.

Are there any verses that state what occurs at Christmas, which is the adapting of pagan customs or practices to worship and honor God is wrong? These verses, in principle, would apply to holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Halloween that have most or all of their customs based in pre-Christian worship of false gods.

One Biblical principle that can be applied to the condemnation of Christmas is in Deuteronomy. God sternly warned ancient Israel what not to do in the Promised Land by stating, " . . . do not inquire concerning their (Canaanite and other) gods, saying, 'How did these nations worship their gods? I also want to do the same.' You must not do the same for the LORD your God, because every abhorrent thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods" (Deuteronomy 12:29 - 31, NRSV).

Notice that Israel, in the Bible, was warned not to borrow or adapt the ways pagan nations use to worship a fale deity and apply them to their worship of the true God. Sinful pagan customs are not made right by applying them to the Eternal.

One of the best examples of what God thinks about humans borrowing and adapting false (pagan) customs (for holidays like Christmas) to use toward worshipping Him is in Exodus 32.

God calls Moses up the mount to receive the Ten Commandments. The children of Israel must wait at the foot of the mountain for him to return. As time passes, the Israelites grow restless. When Aaron, the High Priest, sees this he tells the people to bring him their jewelry so that he can melt it down and make them an idol (shaped like a calf) for them to worship.

God's response to the people using pagan customs to worship him (as is done in Christmas) was swift. He did not accept Israel's worship through the golden calf even though Aaron the High Priest was involved. His anger was kindled toward the people to the point where he was ready to destroy them all (Exodus 32:4 - 5, 7, 10)! It took the personal intervention of Moses to save the people from being completely destroyed (verses 11 - 14).

Customs used to worship false gods that are transferred to the true God, like is done with Christmas and other holiday, are unacceptable since the Bible never compromises with paganism. This is exactly the point the apostle Paul was making in 1Corinthians 10:19 - 22.

What the pagans practiced did not honor the true God, regardless of how much sincerity or faith they had. The same goes for the customs used in holidays like Christmas and Easter.

How did pagan customs and holidays like those involved with Christmas come into the Christian church? They primarily entered through the Catholic Church's efforts to adopt then "Christianize" certain holidays not found in the Bible so that they could attract more people in their pews on Sunday.

The Catholics began to paganize themselves especially after the fourth century A.D. when the Edict of Milan openly endorsed Christianity as a religion. The truth is, the pagan festivals celebrated around the time of the winter Solstice have much more to do with Christmas than Christ's birth (which occurred in the fall).

 

 

 

[Starise]

A few scriptures on this.

Colossians 2:8-12

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits1 of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 

The danger lies in philosophy and empty deceit. Not in the holiday itself. The trappings of the holiday are only trappings unless we make more of them than what they are.

16-23

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,4 puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

 

 

[missmuffet]

The Bible tells us that the Son of God was born and we celebrate it on Christmas. Celebrating the birth of Christ is not pagan. 

[Bawb]

15 minutes ago, Starise said:

A few scriptures on this.

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,4 puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

I am slowly learning not to "argue" with people on here. I will simply post what I know to be true and if you disagree, you disagree with the Scriptures and not me...

I am assuming you meant Colossians 2:16 -  Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
Context is King!
‘Context’ is the most vital element to understanding and interpreting the Word of God. In order to fully comprehend the meaning of any verse in the Bible, one must frame that verse with the resources and objects of the surrounding text.
Context is: the series or parts of the composition/discourse that precede and follow the passage of interest, which define and outline the subject matter, clarifying its meaning.
If you ‘cherry-pick’ a single verse, or part of a verse, all by itself out of the Scriptures, without the surrounding verses for context, you can make it say or mean anything that you want it to. When taken out-of-context, the Word of ‘God’ itself states that, ‘there is no God’! | Psalm 10
The vast majority of the time you have to read multiple verses or even chapters before and after the quoted verse, and sometimes the entire letter/book, in order to understand who is doing the talking, who is the writer’s audience, who or what is the topic of discussion, and why is it even being discussed.
What we’ve been taught for centuries by the mainstream Christian denominations regarding the letter to the Colossians is wrong, because the context has been ignored!
The mainstream theological system is currently teaching incorrect interpretations of what the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 2:16 and 17. They’re assuming a doctrinal position that is based solely on 2 isolated verses; they have completely ignored the text surrounding those 2 verses.

In order to correct this error of interpretation, all you have to do is just read the 2nd and 3rd chapters together without allowing any preconceived denominational notions to fog the actual context; also, an investigation into the original Greek parsing is required, because this has been translated incorrectly as well. We’ll being doing both…
The CRITICAL errors in the mainstream teaching of 2nd Colossians are twofold:
1.    The antagonist in the dialogue
2.    The ‘Tense’ of the original Greek
Because of these two errors, false doctrine has emerged regarding the following verses:
Colossians 2:16-17 16Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days 17which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (KJV)
Colossians 2:16-17 16Let no one, then, judge you in eating or in drinking, or in respect of a feast, or of a new moon, or of sabbaths, 17which are a shadow of the coming things, and the body [is] of the Christ; (YLT)
Colossians 2:16-17 16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath 17these are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (ESV)
Let’s start with the First Error: the antagonist.
Who was judging the Colossians? What people group was Paul warning them about? The apostle Paul wrote one-third of this letter, not just this one sentence, admonishing and warning the Colossians about the deceitful teachings and philosophies of someone.

For generations we have been taught by the mainstream Christian system that it was ‘Jews’ who were judging these poor Colossians because they were not eating kosher, or celebrating Sabbaths, New Moons and the biblical Holy Days/Feasts… but is that what the verses state? Is that what the text in ‘your’ Bible says?

Who was Paul condemning, and who did he actually say was trying to influence, persuade and judge these poor Colossians? Don’t we want to know what Paul actually said, or are we going to toss aside the letter he wrote without reading it for ourselves???
Let’s look at the surrounding verses for context…
What does the text say?
I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. | Colossians 2:4
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy [Acts 17:18] and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. | Colossians 2:8
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, | Colossians 2:18

20If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch 22referring to things that all perish as they are used— according to human precepts and teachings? 23These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. | Colossians 2:20-23
5Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming | Colossians 3:5-6

As you can see, this section of the letter to the Colossians is rife with Paul declaring ‘don’t listen to human philosophy, human precepts, human teachings, angel worship, self-made religion and ascetism’. These doctrines that Paul was warning the Colossians about originated solely “from man”. These doctrines most certainly do NOT originate from God and His Laws. The Law of God Almighty, given through Moses, forbids all of those teachings and practices!
Those “human precepts and teachings” are actually philosophical practices that are Pagan in origin, most notably those of ‘Gnosticism’, which was rampant at the time of Paul’s writings. The Colossians were former Pagans, whom Paul had preached to, and taught to believe in and obey the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Colossians were being influenced and judged ‘by Pagans’ who were trying to deceive them with human philosophy in order to turn them away from the their new found beliefs in the one true God.
Today’s mainstream Christian system incorrectly teaches that, ‘the Colossians were being influenced and judged by Jews because they weren’t observing Feasts/Holy Days, New Moons and Sabbaths from the Word of God‘; the verses do not say that! Those words are NOT in the text; it is a fictitious, assumed doctrine by the mainstream theological system.
The Israelites (Jews) of the time who correctly obeyed the Laws of God given through Moses did not adhere to ‘Human Philosophies’, or ‘Angel Worship’, ‘Elemental Spirits of the World’, ‘Self-Made Religion’, or ‘Ascetism’. The Law of Moses forbids all of those practices.
Paul’s congregants in chapter 2 were NOT being judged by Law-abiding Jews; it was Gnostic-Pagans who were judging those Colossians.

So, with that being understood, does it make any sense that non-believing Pagans, who didn’t keep the Biblical Sabbaths, were judging those Colossians for not keeping the Biblical Sabbaths? Of course not; they would have been praising them for it.
If the Colossians that Paul was addressing in chapter 2 weren’t keeping the Sabbath, as mainstream theology claims, why in the world would the gnostic-pagans be judging them for it???… Utter nonsense.
The ONLY logical interpretation is that the ‘non-believing pagans’ were judging the Colossians “for keeping” the Sabbaths!… ‘Don’t let any humanistic-pagan judge you in Sabbath keeping’…
The same logic applies to the food/eating and drinking, Holy Days/Feasts of God, and observing New Moons; all of which are instructions of the Almighty given through Moses. The Colossians were observing the Feasts, New Moons and Sabbaths, and they were getting grief because of it from pagans who didn’t observe them.
Again, contrary to what we’ve been taught, the Scriptures state that Paul was telling those Colossians to not let the “gnostic-pagans” judge them because now they were “keeping” the Biblical Holy Days and Sabbaths and New Moons, when before they weren’t. Their humanistic, paganistic and gnostic acquaintances were condemning them and judging them because they were “now” ‘feasting-it-up’ according to the Almighty’s Feast Day instructions, instead of following the ascetic rites of self-neglect and self-denial, i.e., ascetism.
Paul’s congregants in Colossi were observing and keeping the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts of the Almighty, and people that they knew were judging them for obeying God, rather than obeying human teachings and ascetic precepts. THAT is what the text says when you read ALL of the context of chapter 2 and 3 together.
Gnostic paganism and ascetism was one of the greatest cultural influences of the first century. Paul warned Timothy about it as well…
Just like 1 Timothy 4:3 ~
1 Timothy 4:3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
The Law of the Almighty does not forbid marriage, so He can not be referring to the Law of Moses.
Paul also warned those in Galatia about returning to the ways of the world before they knew the one true God.
What does the text say?
Galatians 4:8-9 8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Paul was warning those in Colossi about being judged and ridiculed by Pagans, because those Pagans didn’t approve of them keeping and guarding the Biblical Sabbaths and Feasts. Paul told the Colossians to ignore them because the Sabbath day, the New Moon Observance and the Feasts commanded by the Almighty have great and wonderful prophetic meanings.
Paul went on to explain about this in the next verse…and his statement in verse 17 is further PROOF that the Colossians were keeping the Sabbath, New Moon Observance and the Feasts of the Almighty. In verse 16 Paul was reassuring them that there is a very good reason to guard and observe them, and verse 17 is that good reason….
What does the text say?
Colossians 2:17 these are a shadow of the things to come, and the substance belongs to Christ.
Which leads us now to the second critical error of interpretation of Colossians 2 by mainstream theology.

The Second Error: The original Greek ‘Tense’ of Colossians 2:17
This error in the interpretation Colossians 2:17 is not only critical, it is extremely deceptive and heretical on the part of some of the modern “translators”.
Colossians 2:17 is in the “Present Tense” NOT past tense, which is how a number of Bible versions deceptively present it. The Greek is blatantly obvious, therefore, those companies that printed it in the past tense are knowingly misleading their readers.
The critical deception by Bible printing companies doesn’t stop there, as many versions add the word ‘only’ or ‘mere’ into the verse.
There is absolutely no excuse for purposefully changing the Word of God!
The Bibles that incorrectly have the verse in the past tense are the following versions:
•    ABPE, CSB, HCSB, NIV, WNT
The Bibles which have added English words to the Word of God, which are not found in the original manuscripts, are the following versions:
•    NASB, NET, NLT, RSV
In Colossians 2:17 Paul wrote:
ἅ          ἐστιν σκιὰ        τῶν     μελλόντων τὸ     δὲ     σῶμα  τοῦ   Χριστοῦ
Ha         estin   skia        tōn     mellontōn    tōn     de        sōma    tōn    Christou
3739     1510   4639       3588   3195             3588   1161   4983     3588  5547
Which “ARE”  shadow  the    “COMING”     the     and      body     the     Christ
            V-PIA  ⇐   ←               V-PPA ⇐ ←
As you can see, the parsing reveals that this verse is in the ‘Present’ tense NOT the past tense. The English word ‘are’ is Present Indicative Active and the word ‘coming’ is Present Participle Active.
‘Present Participle’ – Continuous or Habitual Action: it refers to an action that is currently taking place or which takes place repeatedly.
‘Present Active Indicative’ shows that the action happens in the present time, that the subject carries out the action, and that it is a true statement.
The apostle Paul wrote that the Sabbaths, the Feasts and the New Moon observances “are” ‘shadows/outlines’, NOT ‘were’!
If your Bible has the word “were” in this verse, then you are being purposefully deceived!
Next, these ‘outlines/shadows’ are coming, and ‘coming’ is Present Participle Active. This means that the Sabbaths, Feasts and New Moons are an outline of things still to come. They represent a sketch or symbolic representation of something that has not happened yet. It’s still in our future!
Lastly, the English word ‘shadow’ is Strong’s G4639, and Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states this to mean: a shadow, i. e. an image cast by an object and representing the form of that object: opposed to σῶμα, the thing itself, Colossians 2:17; hence, equivalent to a sketch, outline, adumbration, Hebrews 8:5; opposed to εἰκών, the ‘express’ likeness, the very image.
The apostle Paul wrote that the ‘present tense Sabbaths and Feasts’ are a likeness of the future coming Messiah and all that it entails. They represent an outline of things to come; i.e., the future fulfilling of the Fall Feasts by Jesus. Just as He fulfilled the spring Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Shavuot (Pentecost), He will fulfill the Fall Feasts.
Every Bible scholar, professor and pastor that has studied the Scriptures knows (or at least they should) that Jesus fulfilled the first four Feasts of God, but has yet to fulfill the last three. Please click this link and read the study, ‘The LORD’s Feasts’.
The Colossians observed and kept the Holy Days, New Moons and Sabbaths “because” they “ARE” an outline/shadow of Messiah and His still-to-come prophetic fulfillments! The Fall Feasts are a foreshadow of the things-to-come, i.e. the Seconding coming of Messiah, just as the Spring Feasts were a foreshadow of the first coming of Messiah. The Sabbath Day is a foreshadow of the “coming” Millennium… future tense, NOT past tense!!!
In His first coming, Jesus fulfilled the outline/shadow prophesies of the following Sabbaths &/or Feasts:
•    Passover/Unleavened Bread
•    First Fruits
•    Feast of Weeks
However, He has not fulfilled these fall Sabbaths &/or Feasts yet:
•    Day of Trumpets
•    Day of Atonements
•    Feast of Booths
Notably, the ‘Day of Trumpets’ is the only Feast Day/Festival of the LORD to fall on a New Moon; that’s one of the reasons why I believe Paul mentioned ‘New Moon’ observances in verse 16.
Festivals are a big problem for the Ascetic-Gnostics, who ‘deny the flesh (feasting)’ and ‘worship angels’. So, it makes perfect sense that they would have a serious problem with those in Colossi eating and drinking and feasting-it-up! That’s why the Colossians were being judged for celebrating the Festivals and New Moon.
Colossians 2:16-1716Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days 17which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (KJV)
Colossians 2:16-1716Let no one, then, judge you in eating or in drinking, or in respect of a feast, or of a new moon, or of sabbaths, 17which are a shadow of the coming things, and the body [is] of the Christ; (YLT)
Colossians 2:16-1716Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath 17these are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (ESV)

If you read all of this, thanks and I pray it has brought you to a better understanding.

 

Edited December 6, 2021 by Bawb

[Bawb]

35 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

The Bible tells us that the Son of God was born and we celebrate it on Christmas. Celebrating the birth of Christ is not pagan. 

Christmas is Pagan... There is no Biblical support for it. If there is, please tell me where it is. It came from the pagan RCC. Celebrating the birth of Yeshua is not Biblical or else it would tell us the day in the Bible. Did the Apostles make any mention of them celebrating His birth? I would think that if Yeshua wanted it to be done, he would have told His Apostles to do so and share with us.

But... suit yourself

Edited December 6, 2021 by Bawb

[Starise]

If you took notice @Bawb I never commented on the second scripture. I simply posted it for what it was.

And please don't take it that I'm not interested in your posts but they are much to long to digest in the short time frames I have to respond to you. My lack of total response is neither an agreement or a disagreement or my shying away from a response. IOW please try to condense thoughts and posts.

I agree with the ideas you presented on this text, but I also wanted my main jist on these ideas to be this:

Any kind of religious coercion aside from what God has told us is legalistic ( yes I know you don't like that word) but it's true. It can be coercion towards believers to act a certain way, dress a certain way, eat a certain way apart from the things the Bible says we are to do or it can also be coercion to NOT do a thing. It's basically a set of rules made by legalists insisting we do or don't do things that have no current substance.

As you well know, many of the things that were required in the Old Testament are no longer requirements. The text I posted so clearly says that we are circumcised with the unseen circumcision of the soul ( women are included) through Jesus Christ who clearly superceded so many of the earlier requirements placed on the Jews in the OT..

We are in a new age a new era and a new covenant. The gentiles have been grafted into the vine. Some practicing Jews will clearly go to hell because they won't see the Messiah for who He is. God has blinded the eyes and ears of some men. The Jews are no longer the authorities on what we Christians do or don't do. Jesus is.

[Bawb]

1 minute ago, Starise said:

If you took notice @Bawb I never commented on the second scripture. I simply posted it for what it was.

As you well know, many of the things that were required in the Old Testament are no longer requirements. The text I posted so clearly says that we are circumcised with the unseen circumcision of the soul ( women are included) through Jesus Christ who clearly superceded so many of the earlier requirements placed on the Jews in the OT..

We are in a new age a new era and a new covenant. The gentiles have been grafted into the vine. Some practicing Jews will clearly go to hell because they won't see the Messiah for who He is. God has blinded the eyes and ears of some men. The Jews are no longer the authorities on what we Christians do or don't do. Jesus is.

I don't totally agree with you on the stance of any of YeHoVah's laws no longer being requirements, for the simple fact you say "many". Some of the exceptions would be the things we can't do, especially regarding the temple. Yeshua is our High Priest and He is making the Levitical Sacrifices for sin on our behalf and upholding the other Priestly duties until we are established in His new temple. I also agree with you on the fact of circumcision for that was made very clear in the Scriptures.

Although "Jews" are not necessarily the experts on Yeshua, their knowledge of YeHoVah and what he requires of His people are and will be extremely important in the future. See Zechariah 8:23 - “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will tightly grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

[MrBear]

Jerimiah 10:3

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

did you know Christmas trees ? in the Bible?

SHALOM❤️

 

[missmuffet]

1 hour ago, Bawb said:

Christmas is Pagan... There is no Biblical support for it. If there is, please tell me where it is. It came from the pagan RCC. Celebrating the birth of Yeshua is not Biblical or else it would tell us the day in the Bible. Did the Apostles make any mention of them celebrating His birth? I would think that if Yeshua wanted it to be done, he would have told His Apostles to do so and share with us.

But... suit yourself

No, Christmas is not a pagan holiday. Christmas is the Christian remembrance and celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that, in Christ, God entered the human race and so deserves the title Immanuel or “God With Us” (Matthew 1:23).

Even so, some say that various Christmas traditions have pagan origins, so the question is legitimate.

First, the pagan origins of Christmas are far from certain. The winter solstice, often tied with Christmas, never falls on December 25. Likewise, Saturnalia, which has also been proposed as the origin of Christmas, was never celebrated on December 25. Other Christmas symbols, such as trees and candles, may have had some pagan connotations, but these are so common in human experience that it can hardly be claimed that their use was ever exclusive to paganism.

Second, the meaning of any word, symbol, or custom is determined by current usage, not origin. Many words and practices have departed from their origins and no longer mean anything close to what they once did. For instance, the swastika has been around for thousands of years as a symbol of good fortune. It was therefore reasonable for the Nazi party to take this as their symbol, as they emphasized that they were the party to bring good times back to Germany, which was going through hard times after World War I. However, it would be absolute foolishness for a person to decorate his home today with swastikas based on their “real meaning.” The swastika has been so thoroughly identified with the horrors of the Holocaust that, in the current culture, it is a symbol for anti-Semitism and all things evil. The original meaning of the symbol is completely irrelevant.

Likewise, if you asked the average American to tell you about Nike, probably better than 90 percent would talk about a brand of athletic shoes and clothing with hardly any mention of the Greek goddess of victory for whom the company is named. In a Google search of the term Nike, you would have to sift through dozens of results before you found anything about the Greek goddess Nike. When you see someone wearing the famous “swoosh,” your first thought is of a modern company, not an ancient goddess, and no one would assume that the wearer of said clothing is a worshiper of the goddess.

Regardless of what the Christmas symbols may once have meant, their use today needs to be evaluated on the basis of what they mean today. To automatically associate candles, colored lights, or decorated trees with pagan worship is unwarranted.

If there are unbiblical practices in our Christmas celebration, then those should be forsaken. Feasting is biblical, but gluttony is not, so perhaps that is an area that Christians need to think about in their Christmas celebrations. Drinking alcoholic beverages is not forbidden by the Bible, but getting drunk is. So, a Christian celebration should not involve drunkenness. Giving of gifts is biblical, but going into debt or spending beyond your means is not, so Christmas gifts should be purchased responsibly. It’s good for Christians to examine their celebrations to make sure that they truly honor God.

Third, when cultures clash, there is always an attempt to change and co-opt language and cultural symbols. Paul had no problem co-opting a pagan altar in order to spread the gospel. Speaking at the Areopagus, he says, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23–24).

If what we know as Christmas originally started out as a pagan celebration, then it has been so successfully co-opted by Christians that any self-respecting pagan would be distressed at what Christians have done to it. Christmas celebrations are so completely the opposite of paganism that any suggested link between the two can be disregarded.

Christians celebrating Christmas are no more pagan than are churches who gather to worship on Sunday (so named because it was the pagan “Day of the Sun”) or who hold a prayer service on Wednesday (named after the Norse god Woden). The pagan origins of the names of the days of the week have nothing to do with the church’s weekly gatherings, and ancient pagan winter festivals have no real bearing on the modern Christian celebration of Christmas.

Imagine a second- or third-century Christian reflecting on his town’s celebration of Saturnalia. He thinks to himself: “The whole town is celebrating Saturnalia with feasting and giving of gifts. They are talking about ‘freeing souls into immortality’ and ‘the dawn of a golden age.’ I think this might be a great time to throw a party and invite my friends over to tell them how their souls really can be freed into immortality and the dawning of the truest golden age of all, the Kingdom of God. I think it might be a good idea to give them some gifts as well in honor of God’s giving us the greatest gift of all.” In this way, a celebration is “redeemed” for God’s glory and Christians are given a biblical alternative to the pagan day.

With every cultural practice, Christians usually fall into three different camps. Some simply accept the practice wholesale without any reflection. Obviously, this is unwise. Other Christians will simply reject it and often retreat into a Christian subculture. Finally, some will carefully reflect on the cultural practice, embrace what they can, reject what’s ungodly, and redeem what’s worth saving. Christians have been so successful in co-opting some cultural practices that no one even remembers what the original meaning of the practices was. If the origins of Christmas are indeed pagan, then this is what happened, to God be the glory! Would to God that it would happen to more of our social and cultural conventions and activities.

Although not written about Christmas, Romans 14:5–6 seems to apply: “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord.” If an individual Christian does not feel comfortable with some or all aspects of the celebration of Christmas, that Christian should do what he or she believes to be right. He should not judge others who believe and celebrate differently, nor should the others judge him, when no clear biblical guideline is involved.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Christmas-pagan-holiday.html

Edited December 6, 2021 by missmuffet

[teddyv]

Do we need to spawn all these threads all over the place?