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How Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?
There are many who question whether a Christian should or should not celebrate Christmas at all. This is a legitimate question when you consider the pagan origins of Christmas and the pagan origins of the common traditions of celebrating Christmas today. I believe that Christmas can indeed be celebrated but not in the way the world does.
It is interesting to note that the early church never celebrated Christmas. They never heard of such a thing. In fact Christmas wasn't celebrated during the first 300 years of the Church. It never occurred to the early Christians to celebrate the birth of Christ. It wasn't until the Roman Catholic church's hold on the Christian world in the 300s that The Roman church introduced the mass of Christ's birth.
"The Church became "the Roman Catholic Church" and its method became compromise with paganism. Ever since, the Roman Catholic way of converting pagans to its style of worship has been to absorb them gradually, along with their idolatrous observances. The church was ******* to swell the number of nominal adherents by meeting paganism halfway. There were some valiant voices of protest who bitterly lamented the inconsistency of this approach, but their voices were raised in vain.
"The Roman church has continued the same approach until this day. It can be seen particularly in Central and South America, where idols have simply been replaced with statues of the saints. Some of their names and traditions have even been combined. Roman Catholic churches in these countries are often opened to the Indians for the worship of their animistic gods.
"How then did we receive our holidays (holy days) with their customs and traditions Christmas as well as Easter, Halloween, and Mardi Gras? Each of them has come to us from ancient Babylon, through Rome, through the Roman Catholic Church."
Is Christmas Christian? by Michael Schneider
It is true that Jesus Christ was not born on December 25th. He wasn't even born in December. He was born in the middle of summer. So why is the birth of Christ celebrated on December the 25?
"Well, at the time of year when the days began to lengthen again, the Babylonians celebrated the victory of their sun god. The Roman copy of this Babylonian custom was called Saturnalia, the feast of the birth of Sol. It was for centuries an abomination to Christians. The celebration was an orgy of pagan revelry. But the Church, instead of standing firm against paganism, began to compromise. It wanted to "help" weak young Christians who didn't want to give up the fun and merrymaking surrounding the winter solstice. So the Church said, 'Go on with your fun and celebration. Only now we'll call it a celebration of the birth of the Son of God. Instead of losing people to paganism, we'll combine the two and gradually even win some of the pagans of our day to profess Christianity. Let's not force men to choose between the two.'"
Is Christmas Christian? by Michael Schneider
The very origins Christmas are pagan. Most of the Christmas traditions that we still celebrate are also pagan.
"From ancient times trees have played an important role in pagan religion, and were even worshipped. Norsemen, Celts and Saxons used trees to ward off witches, evil spirits, and ghosts. In Egypt the palm tree was prominent; in Rome it was the fir. Because of this association, idols were often carefully carved from trees."
Is Christmas Christian? by Michael Schneider
The Druids use mistletoe in their pagan worship. Even the nativity has its origins in paganism.
"Even the nativity scene, which some regard as the most "Christian" symbol of Christmas, is tainted with pagan influence. Nearly every recorded form of pagan worship which has descended from Babylonian "mysteries" focuses the attention of the worshiper on a mother goddess and the birth of her child. Different cultures used different names, but the concept is uniformly the same. In Babylon it was the worship of the queen of heaven and her son Tammuz, the sun god who was thought to be the incarnation of the sun. The birth of the sun god took place at the winter solstice. Yule was the Babylonian name for child or infant, and Yule Day was celebrated on December 25, long before Christ's birth. The next time you see a manger scene on a Christmas card, and Mary and Jesus have a halo around their heads, remember that this Roman Catholic concept is borrowed from the Babylonian "mysteries."
Is Christmas Christian? by Michael Schneider
Almost every tradition of Christmas can be traced to paganism. The exceptions are the traditions that were began solely for making money for certain companies like Christmas cards.
Does that mean you are participating in pagan worship when you put up a Christmas tree? I don't think so. I think you can decorate a tree, hang mistletoe, or put up a nativity scene without being involved in pagan worship. Nor do I find these things offensive. If I go to a friend's home that is decorated for Christmas, I don't run out the door screaming. That isn't the main problem with Christmas in my opinion.
The problem with Christmas in America is much deeper than that. We don't worship trees like the Druids, but we Americans do worship money and pleasure. This is the problem. Christians are commanded to be separate from the world. We are also commanded to not participate in worldly activities. We are instructed to be good stewards of our time and money. Can you spend great amounts of money and time on Christmas decorations without breaking those commandments? If you can, and I do think you can, then have at it. However, this is why these traditions are not a part of our Christmas celebrations in our home. That would solve part of the problem.
Another problem with modern American Christmas is Santa Clause. What is wrong with Santa Clause? Many feel that he represents the true spirit of Christmas. I agree. He does. He is the embodiment of the greed, materialism and debauchery that characterizes the "spirit" of Christmas as it is celebrated today. In today's spirit of Christmas children are encouraged to write letters to Santa where they make lists of all the things for which they lust. Parents are expected to meet those demands, so they go into debt to insure that every desire is fulfilled. Doesn't that just fit the Christian life? We are warned about covetousness in the Bible, yet this time of year Christians all over the United States are not only feeding their own love of stuff, but also are teaching their children to love stuff and to love the world. We may even talk against loving things the rest of the year but at Christmas we pile up the goodies, satisfying every lust. It is disgusting. Many spend so much money that they spend the rest of the year paying off Christmas. For those the spirit of Christmas does indeed last all year. This is wicked.
Playing the Santa game is dangerous in yet another way.
"Parents who tell their children the Santa Claus myth are endangering their credibility with their children. When they ask you, "Can Santa really see me through these walls?" What do you reply? Our children ought to be able to know that they can trust everything we tell them without question. How else can we expect them to believe us when we teach them in childhood from the holy ******ures those things "which are able to make them wise unto salvation," even "the mystery of godliness, that God was manifest in the flesh?"
"Everything the modern American pagan believes about God is capsuled in Santa Claus. He is busily engaged in a nice though rather meaningless activity most of the year. He exists somewhere up north as a harmless, friendly old man with a long white beard. He visits his people once a year, spending the other 364 days in obscurity. A child may write him at the North Pole, but the communication is strictly one way; Santa is not involved with daily living. The way for a child to be acceptable in Santa's sight is to be "good." Santa warns of the consequences of being "bad," but his word really can't be trusted. The child knows he has not been perfect, and even though he may feel some anxiety, he remembers last year and knows that no matter what Santa says or what the child does, in the end Santa will reward him. Santa represents a god who threatens man with hell and judgment only to keep him in line in this life, but who will accept all men in one way or another in the end. If you teach your children the Santa Claus myth, you are unknowingly giving them the material to build an unbiblical concept of the Transcendent."
Is Christmas Christian? By Michael Schneider
Think about it for a minute. Santa knows who has been naughty or nice. Santa reads every ones letters and fulfills every child's desires. He knows where everyone lives and makes it to every child's house in one night. Santa is omniscient and omnipotent. Then later the child learns that Santa isn't real. At the same time the parent has been lying to his child about Santa, he has been telling the child that Jesus sees everything they do, that Jesus answers their prayer, and that Jesus knows them. Is Jesus real? The truth of God's word is way too important to trivialize with this Santa game. I am serious when I say that you can't have Santa and Jesus in the same house. Make a choice!
I know of many families that exchange gifts in the immediate family, but they keep the spending down. They may give only one special gift to each child in the home or they have a family gift. They do not buy for every uncle, aunt, cousin, so forth. This does seem to be a great deal more sensible than heaping up the stuff under the tree. Each family will have to make its own decision.
How do we celebrate Christmas in my home? We don't waste a ton of money on decorations. I may buy a poinsettia. We don't exchange Christmas gifts. We don't have that Santa silliness. We do have a nice dinner on Christmas. We do bake some ****ies and make some candy although I have cut way back on how much I ****. I do play Christmas music, especially the Christmas hymns. What we really do is celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ left heaven and humbled himself to save us from sin. Our church has a candle light celebration where we read the ******ures and sing Christmas hymns. That is it. Christmas is pleasant and stress free. We don't have to "remember to put Christ back into Christmas" because we put the world out.
There are many who question whether a Christian should or should not celebrate Christmas at all. This is a legitimate question when you consider the pagan origins of Christmas and the pagan origins of the common traditions of celebrating Christmas today. I believe that Christmas can indeed be celebrated but not in the way the world does.
It is interesting to note that the early church never celebrated Christmas. They never heard of such a thing. In fact Christmas wasn't celebrated during the first 300 years of the Church. It never occurred to the early Christians to celebrate the birth of Christ. It wasn't until the Roman Catholic church's hold on the Christian world in the 300s that The Roman church introduced the mass of Christ's birth.
"The Church became "the Roman Catholic Church" and its method became compromise with paganism. Ever since, the Roman Catholic way of converting pagans to its style of worship has been to absorb them gradually, along with their idolatrous observances. The church was ******* to swell the number of nominal adherents by meeting paganism halfway. There were some valiant voices of protest who bitterly lamented the inconsistency of this approach, but their voices were raised in vain.
"The Roman church has continued the same approach until this day. It can be seen particularly in Central and South America, where idols have simply been replaced with statues of the saints. Some of their names and traditions have even been combined. Roman Catholic churches in these countries are often opened to the Indians for the worship of their animistic gods.
"How then did we receive our holidays (holy days) with their customs and traditions Christmas as well as Easter, Halloween, and Mardi Gras? Each of them has come to us from ancient Babylon, through Rome, through the Roman Catholic Church."
Is Christmas Christian? by Michael Schneider
It is true that Jesus Christ was not born on December 25th. He wasn't even born in December. He was born in the middle of summer. So why is the birth of Christ celebrated on December the 25?
"Well, at the time of year when the days began to lengthen again, the Babylonians celebrated the victory of their sun god. The Roman copy of this Babylonian custom was called Saturnalia, the feast of the birth of Sol. It was for centuries an abomination to Christians. The celebration was an orgy of pagan revelry. But the Church, instead of standing firm against paganism, began to compromise. It wanted to "help" weak young Christians who didn't want to give up the fun and merrymaking surrounding the winter solstice. So the Church said, 'Go on with your fun and celebration. Only now we'll call it a celebration of the birth of the Son of God. Instead of losing people to paganism, we'll combine the two and gradually even win some of the pagans of our day to profess Christianity. Let's not force men to choose between the two.'"
Is Christmas Christian? by Michael Schneider
The very origins Christmas are pagan. Most of the Christmas traditions that we still celebrate are also pagan.
"From ancient times trees have played an important role in pagan religion, and were even worshipped. Norsemen, Celts and Saxons used trees to ward off witches, evil spirits, and ghosts. In Egypt the palm tree was prominent; in Rome it was the fir. Because of this association, idols were often carefully carved from trees."
Is Christmas Christian? by Michael Schneider
The Druids use mistletoe in their pagan worship. Even the nativity has its origins in paganism.
"Even the nativity scene, which some regard as the most "Christian" symbol of Christmas, is tainted with pagan influence. Nearly every recorded form of pagan worship which has descended from Babylonian "mysteries" focuses the attention of the worshiper on a mother goddess and the birth of her child. Different cultures used different names, but the concept is uniformly the same. In Babylon it was the worship of the queen of heaven and her son Tammuz, the sun god who was thought to be the incarnation of the sun. The birth of the sun god took place at the winter solstice. Yule was the Babylonian name for child or infant, and Yule Day was celebrated on December 25, long before Christ's birth. The next time you see a manger scene on a Christmas card, and Mary and Jesus have a halo around their heads, remember that this Roman Catholic concept is borrowed from the Babylonian "mysteries."
Is Christmas Christian? by Michael Schneider
Almost every tradition of Christmas can be traced to paganism. The exceptions are the traditions that were began solely for making money for certain companies like Christmas cards.
Does that mean you are participating in pagan worship when you put up a Christmas tree? I don't think so. I think you can decorate a tree, hang mistletoe, or put up a nativity scene without being involved in pagan worship. Nor do I find these things offensive. If I go to a friend's home that is decorated for Christmas, I don't run out the door screaming. That isn't the main problem with Christmas in my opinion.
The problem with Christmas in America is much deeper than that. We don't worship trees like the Druids, but we Americans do worship money and pleasure. This is the problem. Christians are commanded to be separate from the world. We are also commanded to not participate in worldly activities. We are instructed to be good stewards of our time and money. Can you spend great amounts of money and time on Christmas decorations without breaking those commandments? If you can, and I do think you can, then have at it. However, this is why these traditions are not a part of our Christmas celebrations in our home. That would solve part of the problem.
Another problem with modern American Christmas is Santa Clause. What is wrong with Santa Clause? Many feel that he represents the true spirit of Christmas. I agree. He does. He is the embodiment of the greed, materialism and debauchery that characterizes the "spirit" of Christmas as it is celebrated today. In today's spirit of Christmas children are encouraged to write letters to Santa where they make lists of all the things for which they lust. Parents are expected to meet those demands, so they go into debt to insure that every desire is fulfilled. Doesn't that just fit the Christian life? We are warned about covetousness in the Bible, yet this time of year Christians all over the United States are not only feeding their own love of stuff, but also are teaching their children to love stuff and to love the world. We may even talk against loving things the rest of the year but at Christmas we pile up the goodies, satisfying every lust. It is disgusting. Many spend so much money that they spend the rest of the year paying off Christmas. For those the spirit of Christmas does indeed last all year. This is wicked.
Playing the Santa game is dangerous in yet another way.
"Parents who tell their children the Santa Claus myth are endangering their credibility with their children. When they ask you, "Can Santa really see me through these walls?" What do you reply? Our children ought to be able to know that they can trust everything we tell them without question. How else can we expect them to believe us when we teach them in childhood from the holy ******ures those things "which are able to make them wise unto salvation," even "the mystery of godliness, that God was manifest in the flesh?"
"Everything the modern American pagan believes about God is capsuled in Santa Claus. He is busily engaged in a nice though rather meaningless activity most of the year. He exists somewhere up north as a harmless, friendly old man with a long white beard. He visits his people once a year, spending the other 364 days in obscurity. A child may write him at the North Pole, but the communication is strictly one way; Santa is not involved with daily living. The way for a child to be acceptable in Santa's sight is to be "good." Santa warns of the consequences of being "bad," but his word really can't be trusted. The child knows he has not been perfect, and even though he may feel some anxiety, he remembers last year and knows that no matter what Santa says or what the child does, in the end Santa will reward him. Santa represents a god who threatens man with hell and judgment only to keep him in line in this life, but who will accept all men in one way or another in the end. If you teach your children the Santa Claus myth, you are unknowingly giving them the material to build an unbiblical concept of the Transcendent."
Is Christmas Christian? By Michael Schneider
Think about it for a minute. Santa knows who has been naughty or nice. Santa reads every ones letters and fulfills every child's desires. He knows where everyone lives and makes it to every child's house in one night. Santa is omniscient and omnipotent. Then later the child learns that Santa isn't real. At the same time the parent has been lying to his child about Santa, he has been telling the child that Jesus sees everything they do, that Jesus answers their prayer, and that Jesus knows them. Is Jesus real? The truth of God's word is way too important to trivialize with this Santa game. I am serious when I say that you can't have Santa and Jesus in the same house. Make a choice!
I know of many families that exchange gifts in the immediate family, but they keep the spending down. They may give only one special gift to each child in the home or they have a family gift. They do not buy for every uncle, aunt, cousin, so forth. This does seem to be a great deal more sensible than heaping up the stuff under the tree. Each family will have to make its own decision.
How do we celebrate Christmas in my home? We don't waste a ton of money on decorations. I may buy a poinsettia. We don't exchange Christmas gifts. We don't have that Santa silliness. We do have a nice dinner on Christmas. We do bake some ****ies and make some candy although I have cut way back on how much I ****. I do play Christmas music, especially the Christmas hymns. What we really do is celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ left heaven and humbled himself to save us from sin. Our church has a candle light celebration where we read the ******ures and sing Christmas hymns. That is it. Christmas is pleasant and stress free. We don't have to "remember to put Christ back into Christmas" because we put the world out.
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