Truth - Christ was not born on December 25th.
- "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." - Luke 2:8
Truth - Roman Catholic Church created the holiday in the 4th century.
- In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. History Channel
Truth - Nowhere in the Word of God does Jesus command us to celebrate His birth only His death. Nowhere do the apostles command us to celebrate His birth only His death.
- "And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me." - Luke 22:17-19
- "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Truth - The Roman Catholic Church used the pagan forms of worship of their gods to form the holiday.
- It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. History Channel
- "When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." - Deuteronomy 12:29-33
Truth - Pagans continue to worship their gods the same way they did before the birth of Christ.
Truth - The holiday is a man made tradition.
- See above references
Truth - God hates man's traditions when they break His commandments.
- "For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." - Mark 7:8-9
- "Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" - Matthew 15:2-3
- "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." - Matthew 15:9
- "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." - Colossians 2:8
"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." 2 Corinthians 6:17
In Him,
Tami
5 comments:
Thanks for doing your research on this! I struggled through this same issue the first Christmas that I was a Christian.
I would say that God hates man's traditions when they REPLACE a heart of worship. For instance, growing up as a Lutheran, I had to read certain Liturgy in church every Sunday but my heart was not worshipping God as I read it. Quite frankly, I was bored. So I was trying to "worship" God with this tradition, which really was not worship at all.
Check out 1 Corinthians 8. See if you can replace "food sacrificed to idols" with "Christmas."
However, if it goes against your conscience to celebrate Christmas, then I do not want to be the one to tell you to sin against your conscience. I just don't want you to feel bound by anything, since we are free in Christ to worship through all situations that are not in and of themselves sinful.
Whatever our decisions are, they are between us and God. The only thing I feel bound to is serving the Lord Jesus Christ!
We are free in Christ, however, we are not free to worship Him however we choose. We must worship Him in Spirit and Truth. How much of December 25th is truth?...
John 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
I reread 1 Corinthians 8 and replaced meat with Christmas. The passage has led me to the same conclusion. I will not celebrate the holiday and neither would Paul...
1 Corinthians 8:12-13 "But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if [Christmas] make my brother to offend, I will [not celebrate Christmas] while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend."
I don't think god "hates" mans traditions. Isn't god a loving god?
God is a loving God, but He is also a God of judgment. Often times Christians forget this aspect of Him. There are many verses in the Word of God that say to fear Him. Not a cowering fear, but one of great respect.
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