There is no Biblical warrant, precedent, nor
precept for remembrance of the day of Christ's birth as a day of special
religious celebration. This is not
to say that we shouldn't remember Christ's birth and its significance, but for
religious commemorations or celebrations, we must have Biblical command or
precedent! The fact of the matter is this -- the early church did not celebrate Christ's birth, but such
celebration only came into the church with the "Christianization" of
pagan rites as Catholicism was made the state religion by
The following outline describes the origin of Christmas (with its associated
pagan customs, symbols, and terminology), details the Scriptural support against celebrating Christmas, attempts
to show that celebrating Christmas violates the spirit of every one of the ten
commandments, attempts to demonstrate that celebrating Christmas does not fall in the realm of Christian
liberty, and attempts to debunk eight of the major rationalizations Christians
put forth for celebrating Christmas.
I. The Origin of Christmas
A. A Long Evolution
-- Christmas customs are an evolution from times long before the Christian
period -- a descent from seasonal, pagan, religious, and national practices,
hedged about with legend and tradition. Their seasonal connections with the
pagan feasts of the winter solstice
relate them to ancient times, when many of the earth's inhabitant's were sun
worshipers. As the superstitious pagans observed the sun gradually moving south
in the heavens and the days growing shorter, they believed the sun was
departing never to return. To encourage the sun's return north (i.e., to give
the winter sun god strength and to bring him back to life again), the sun gods
were worshipped with elaborate rituals and ceremonies, including the building
of great bonfires, decorating with great evergreen plants such as holly, ivy,
and mistletoe, and making representations of summer birds as house decorations.
The winter solstice, then, was the shortest day of the year, when the sun
seemingly stood still in the southern sky. Observing the slowdown in the sun's
southward movement, and its stop, the heathen believed that their petitions to
it had been successful. A time of unrestrained rejoicing broke out, with
revelry, drinking, and gluttonous feasts. Then, when the pagans observed the
sun moving again northward, and a week later were able
to determine that the days were growing longer, a new year was proclaimed.
B. Not Among the Earliest
Christian Festivals -- Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the
Church. It was not celebrated, commemorated, or observed, neither by the
apostles nor in the apostolic church -- not for at least the first 300 years of
church history! History reveals that about
C. The Role of Religion in
Ancient
·
Pagan
rituals and idols took on Christian names (e.g., Jesus Christ was presented as
the Sun of Righteousness
[Malachi 4:2] replacing the sun god, Sol Invictus ).
·
Pagan
holidays were reclassified as Christian holidays (holy-days).
·
December
25th was the "Victory of the Sun-God" Festival in the pagan
Babylonian world. In the ancient Roman Empire, the celebration can be traced
back to the Roman festival Saturnalia,
which honored Saturn, the harvest god, and Mithras, the god of light; both were
celebrated during or shortly after the winter solstice (between the 17th and
23rd of December). To all ancient pagan civilizations, December 25th was the
birthday of the gods -- the time of year when the days began to lengthen and
man was blessed with a "regeneration of nature." Moreover, all of
December 25th's Babylonian and Roman festivals were characterized by 5-7 day
celebration periods of unrestrained or orgiastic revelry and licentiousness.
December 25th was
particularly important in the cult of Mithras, a popular deity in the Old Roman
Empire. Robert Myers (a proponent for
celebrating Christmas) in his book Celebrations
says:
"Prior to the
celebration of Christmas, December 25th in the Roman world was the Natalis Solis Invicti, the Birthday of
the Unconquerable Sun. This feast, which took place just after the winter
solstice of the Julian calendar, was in honor of the Sun God, Mithras,
originally a Persian deity whose cult penetrated the Roman world in the first
century B.C. ... Besides the Mithraic influence, other pagan forces were at
work. From the seventeenth of December until the twenty-third, Romans
celebrated the ancient feast of the Saturnalia. ... It was commemorative of the
Golden Age of Saturn, the god of sowing and husbandry."
In order to make
Christianity palatable to the heathen, the Roman Church simply took Saturnalia,
adopted it into Christianity, and then eventually many of the associated pagan
symbols, forms, customs, and traditions were reinterpreted (i.e., "Christianized")
in ways "acceptable" to Christian faith and practice. (In fact, in
D.
"Christianization" of Pagan Customs, Symbols, and Terminology
-- Christianity had to undergo a transformation so that pagan
The following customs and traditions associated with Xmas all have
pagan/heathen origins. ("Xmas" is the more preferable form for the
day, since it at least leaves the name of our Savior out of the heathen observance.)
Naturally, Christians would not keep these customs for such evil and perverse
reasons, but the fact of their origins remain -- "the customs of the
people are vain" (Jer. 10:3), and should thereby be carefully considered
by all who know and love the Lord:
1. The blasphemous "Christ's Mass"
shortened to "Christ-mas" -- The Roman Catholic "Christ's
Mass" is a special mass performed in celebration of Christ's birth. In
this mass, Jesus is considered both the priest and the victim, represented by
the Catholic priest who offers Him as a sacrifice each time the mass is
performed. In offering this "sacrifice," the priest believes he has
the power to change the bread and the wine of the Communion into Jesus' literal
flesh and blood, requiring the people to worship these elements as they do God
Himself. This is obviously a denial of the gospel, and thereby, a false gospel
(a re-doing of the sacrifice for sin -- Heb.
2. Nativity Scenes
(tainted with paganism) -- Nearly every form of pagan worship descended from
the Babylonian mysteries, which focus attention on the "mother-goddess"
and the birth of her child. This was adapted to "Mary-Jesus" worship,
which then easily accommodated the multitude of pagans "converted" to
Christianity inside
3. Christmas Tree
-- Evergreen trees, because of their ability to remain green through-out the
winter season when most other forms of vegetation are dormant, have long symbolized
immortality, fertility, sexual potency, and reproduction, and were often
brought into homes and set up as idols.
The full mystical significance of the evergreen can only be understood when one
considers the profound reverence the ancient pagans had for all natural
phenomena -- "To them, Nature was everywhere alive. Every fountain had its
spirit, every mountain its deity, and every water, grove, and meadow, its
supernatural association. The whispering of the trees ... was the subtle speech
of the gods who dwelt within" (W.M. Auld, Christmas Traditions). This is nothing but nature worship
or Animism.
The custom of bringing the tree into the home and decorating it as is done
today has legendarily been attributed to Martin Luther. In truth, the modern custom
has been lost in obscurity, but almost every culture has some such tradition.
For ages, evergreen trees would be brought into the house during the winter as
magic symbols of luck and hope for a fruitful year to come, It may also be that
the star with which many of today's trees are topped did not originate as a
representation of the star that the wise men followed, but rather a
representation of the stars to which the ancient Chaldean astrologers looked
for guidance.
The first decorating of an evergreen was done by pagans in honor of their god
Adonis, who after being slain was brought to life by the serpent Aesculapius.
The representation of the slain Adonis was a dead stump of a tree. Around this
stump coiled the snake -- Aesculapius, symbol of life restoring. From the roots
of the dead tree, then comes forth another and different tree -- an evergreen
tree, symbolic to pagans of a god who cannot die! In
4. Christmas Wreaths
-- In pagan mythology, evergreen means eternal life and a never-dying
existence. Made from evergreens, Christmas wreaths were most frequently round,
which symbolized the sun (just as do halos in most religious art). Hence, the
round Xmas wreaths stand for an eternal sun, a never-dying or self-renewing
sun. In addition, the round form can also relate to the sign of the female,
which stands for the regeneration of life. Because of these pagan associations,
the Christian church was initially hostile towards the use of wreaths and other
evergreen derivatives. But in the same way it Christianized other pagan
traditions, the church soon found a way to confer its own symbolic meanings.
For example, the sharp pointed leaves of the "male" holly came to
represent Christ's crown of thorns and the red berries His blood, while the
"female" ivy symbolized immortality (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor
Christmas," p. 6). Such wreaths now not only adorn churches at Christmas
time, but are also appearing during the Easter season.
5. Mistletoe -- The use
of the mistletoe plant (which is poisonous to both man and animals) can be
traced back to the ancient Druids. (The Druids were pagan Celtic priests who
were considered magicians and wizards.) It represented the false
"messiah," considered by the Druids to be a divine branch that had
dropped from heaven and grew upon a tree on earth. This is an obvious
corruption of God's prophetic Word concerning Christ, "the Man the
Branch," coming from heaven. The mistletoe symbolized the reconciliation between
God and man. And since a kiss
is the well known symbol of reconciliation, that is how "kissing under the
mistletoe" became a custom -- both were tokens of reconciliation. The
mistletoe, being a sacred plant and a symbol of fertility, was also believed to
contain certain magical powers, having been brought to earth from heaven by a
mistle thrush carrying it in its toes (hence the name). It was once known as
the "plant of peace," and in ancient
A kiss is also something
which is, at times, associated with lust. So the practice of "kissing
under the mistletoe" also had roots in the orgiastic celebrations in
connection with the Celtic Midsummer Eve ceremony. At the time the mistletoe
was gathered, the men would kiss each other as a display of their
homosexuality. (The custom was later broadened to include both men and women.)
Kissing under the mistletoe is also reminiscent of the temple prostitution and
sexual license prolificating during Roman Saturnalia.
6. Santa Claus
-- Santa Claus or
"Father Christmas" is a corruption of the Dutch "Sant
Nikolaas." ("Saint Nicholas" was the 4th century Catholic bishop
of
Originally, the Santa Claus concept came from the pagan Egyptian god, Bes, a
rotund, gnome-like personage who was the patron of little children. Bes was
said to live at the North Pole, working year-round to produce toys for children
who had been good and obedient to their parents. In Dutch, he was called
"Sinter Klaas." Dutch settlers brought the custom to
Santa is the blasphemous substitute for God! He is routinely given supernatural
powers and divine attributes which only GOD has. Think about it. He is made out
to be omniscient -- he
knows when every child sleeps, awakes, has been bad or good, and knows exactly
what every child wants (cf. Psa. 139:1-4). He is made out to be omnipresent -- on one night of the year
he visits all the "good" children in the world and leaves them gifts,
seemingly being everywhere at the same time. He is also made out to be omnipotent -- he has the power to give to
each child exactly what each one wants. Moreover, Santa Claus is made out to be
a sovereign judge -- he answers to no one and no
one has authority over him, and when he "comes to town," he comes
with a full bag of rewards for those whose behavior has been acceptable in his
eyes.
Santa Claus has become one of the most popular and widely accepted and
unopposed myths ever to be successfully interwoven into the fabric and
framework of Christianity. It is a fact
that Christ was born, and that truth
should greatly rejoice the heart of every Christian. But the Santa Claus myth
distorts the truth of
Christ's birth by subtly blending truth with
the myth of Santa Claus.
When Christian parents lie to their children about Santa Claus, they are taking
the attention of their children away from God and causing them to focus on a
fat man in a red suit with god-like qualities. All of this teaches the child to
believe that, just like Santa, God can be pleased with "good works,"
done in order to earn His favor. Also, they teach that no matter how bad the
child has been, he will still be rewarded by God --
just as Santa never failed to bring gifts. Even in homes of professing
Christians, Santa Claus has clearly displaced Jesus in the awareness and
affections of children, becoming the undisputed spirit, symbol, and centerpiece
of Christmas.
7. Christmas Eve
-- "Yule" is a Chaldean word meaning "infant." Long before
the coming of Christianity, the heathen Anglo-Saxons called the 25th of
December "Yule day" -- in other words, "infant day" or
"child's day" -- the day they celebrated the birth of the false
"messiah"! The night before "Yule day" was called
"Mother night." Today it is called "Christmas Eve." And it
wasn't called "Mother night" after Mary, the mother of our Lord --
"Mother night" was observed centuries before Jesus was born. Semiramis (Nimrod's wife) was the
inspiration for "Mother night," and "Child's day" was the
supposed birthday of her son (Tammuz), the sun-god!
8. Yule Log
-- The Yule log was considered by the ancient Celts a sacred log to be used in
their religious festivals during the winter solstice; the fire provided
promises of good luck and long life. Each year's Yule log had to be selected in
the forest on Christmas Eve by the family using it, and could not be bought, or
the superstitions associated with it would not apply. In Babylonian paganism,
the log placed in the fireplace represented the dead Nimrod, and the tree which
appeared the next morning (which today is called the "Christmas tree")
was Nimrod alive again (reincarnated) in his new son (sun), Tammuz. (Still
today in some places, the Yule log is placed in the fireplace on Christmas Eve,
and the next morning there is a Christmas tree!)
Today's Yule log tradition comes to us from
9. Candles --
Candles were lit by the ancient Babylonians in honor of their god, and his
altars had candles on them. And as is well known, candles are also a major part
of the ritualism of Roman Catholicism, which adopted the custom from
heathenism. Candles approached the Yule log in ritual importance. Like the Yule
log, they had to be a gift, never a purchase, and were lighted and extinguished
only by the head of the household. Such candles stood burning steadily in the
middle of the table, never to be moved or snuffed, lest death follow. The Yule
candle, wreathed in greenery, was to burn through Christmas night until the sun
rose or the Christmas service began (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor
Christmas," p. 9). Obviously, candles should have no part in Christian
worship, for nowhere in the New Testament is their use sanctioned.
10. Giving of Gifts
-- The tradition of exchanging gifts has nothing to do with a reenactment of
the Magi giving gifts to Jesus, but has many superstitious, pagan origins
instead. One prominent tradition was the Roman custom of exchanging food,
trinkets, candles, or statutes of gods during the mid-winter Kalends (the first
day of the month in the ancient Roman calendar). This custom was transferred to
December 25th by the Roman Church in keeping with the Saturnalian festival and
in celebration of the benevolent St. Nicholas. [Is it not the height of
ridiculousness to claim that giving one another presents properly celebrates
Jesus' "birthday" (not that there is anything necessarily wrong in
giving each other presents)? But what are we giving Him, if indeed we are specifically
celebrating His incarnation?]
11. Christmas Goose
-- The "Christmas goose" and "Christmas cakes" were both
used in the worship of the Babylonian "messiah." The goose was
considered to be sacred in many ancient lands, such as
12. Christmas Ham
-- Hogs were slaughtered and the eating of the carcass was one of the central
festivities of the Saturnalia. Each man would offer a pig as a sacrifice
because superstition held that a boar had killed the sun deity Adonis. Hence,
the tradition of the Christmas ham on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
13. Christmas Stocking
-- According to tradition, a poor widower of
14. Christmas Cards
-- The first British Xmas card can be dated back to 1843. The first cards
featured pictures of dead birds! Evidently, the popularity of hunting robin and
wren on Christmas Day made the dead bird image an appropriate one for
"holiday" cards. Often the text of the cards would also have a morbid
tone. Later, the cards displayed dancing insects, playful children,
pink-cheeked young women, and festively decorated Christmas trees. The first
actual Xmas cards were really Valentine's Day cards (with different messages)
sent in December. Mass production of Xmas cards in the
15. Christmas Carols
-- What do you suppose the reaction would be by a church's leaders if its
pastor were to propose that the following hymns be introduced into the church
to commemorate the birth of Christ? After all, the tunes are quite lovely.
Hymn #1 -- A hymn by a Unitarian (rejects
the Trinity and full deity of Christ) minister that does not mention Jesus
Christ and reflects the liberal social gospel the-ology of the 19th century.
Hymn #2 -- A hymn by an
American Episcopal priest, the fourth verse of which teaches Roman Catholic
superstition about Christ coming to be born in people during the Advent season.
Hymn #3
-- A song, the words by an Austrian Roman Catholic priest, the music by a Roman
Catholic school teacher, containing the Roman Catholic superstition about halos
emanating from holy people, with no gospel message.
Perhaps you would expect
the church's leaders to be very upset. It might surprise you to learn that they
were upset when they suspected that the pastor might somehow prevent them from singing them. You
see, those three hymns were already in the church's hymnals! The pastor did not
have to introduce them. The three theologically incorrect "Christmas
carols" referred to above are It
Came Upon the
E. European Xmas Traditions
-- In the early days of Christianity, as it moved north and west into
It was left to the Puritans to denounce everything. For them, Christmas was
rightfully part popish, part pagan, and was forbidden to be kept as a holiday
or feast day. The attack began in 1644 when the Puritans controlled the
Parliament; December 25th was changed to a Fast Day. By 1647, even the Fast Day
was abolished as a relic of superstition, synonymous with the Church of Rome. No observation on December 25th was any
longer permitted, but the day was to be observed as a normal market-day.
Christmas was accurately depicted by such names as the Profane Man's Ranting
Day, the Superstitious Man's Idol Day, the Papist's Massing Day, the Old
Heathen's Feasting Day, the Multitude's Idle Day, and Satan-that
Adversary's-Working Day. In those days, any Christmas celebrations would be
broken up by troops, who would tear down decorations and arrest anyone holding
a service. Some who celebrated it in
F. American Xmas Traditions
--
Quoting from a
"To me Christmas is
a foreign day, and I shall die so. When I was a boy I wondered what Christmas
was. I knew there was such a time, because we had an Episcopal church in our
town, and I saw them dressing it with evergreens, and wondered what they were
taking the woods in the church for; but I got no satisfactory explanation. A
little later I understood it was a Romish institution, kept by the Romish
Church."
II. Scriptural Support Against Celebrating Christmas -- Unacceptable
Worship
A. 2 Chron. 33:15-17 -- The Israelites had kept the old
pagan form (the high places of Baal), but had merely introduced the worship of
God into that form -- a refusal to let go of pagan
worship forms (i.e., God was to be worshiped in the
B. Deut.
C. Lev. 10:1,2
-- Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire to the Lord. [Is not the celebration of
Christmas, with all its pagan symbols and forms, a "strange fire"
unto the Lord, and is not this form of worship contrary to what God commands?]
D. 1 Sam. 15:1-3, 7-9, 21-23
-- Saul disobeyed God's prophet in order to worship God in his way. [Is not the
celebration of Christmas one of man's ways of worshiping Christ? There is
certainly no Biblical command to offer worship in this manner.]
E. 2 Sam. 6:2-7 --
David attempts to transport the ark on a "new cart" instead of using
the rings and poles as the Law required (Exo. 25:12-15). Additionally, the
"transporters" of the ark were not even authorized to carry it (1
Chron. 15:2, 13-15); i.e., the ark was not only transported in the wrong way,
but was transported by the wrong people! [Is not the celebration of Christmas
the wrong way (pagan forms and tradition) with the wrong people (the heathen of
the world join right in with the professing Christians)?]
F. 1 Ki.
G. 1 Cor. 8:4-13; Rom. 14:1-13; 1 Cor.
10:14,18-21 -- These passages
concerning Christian liberty are discussed in more detail under Roman numeral
IV. [Christian liberty can best be defined Biblically as "the freedom to
engage in practices not prohibited
by the Scriptures or denying oneself what
is permitted (i.e., a moral choice of self-discipline) in order to
be a more effective witness for God." So the question must first be
answered, "Is Christmas permitted?"] Briefly, some claim that Paul is
teaching that the participation in pagan forms condemns no one, and therefore,
participation in Christmas and its forms, even though arising out of pagan
idolatry, is inconsequential. However, Paul nowhere approves participation in acts of idolatry, of which the
participation in the pagan forms of Christmas comes dangerously close to doing.
Instead, Paul is speaking of the liberty to continue in Jewish days of
worship/festival that had been previously ordained under the Jewish law. There
is certainly no liberty to bring outside pagan forms into the church's worship
services. Likewise, there is no liberty to Christianize Babylonian/Roman pagan
holy days as special days.
Christians in the first century churches had the liberty to observe Old
Testament holy days and feasts (days that had previously been revealed by God)
if they were so immature as to do so. The weaker brother, Paul wrote, was at
that time not to be censured for continuing to attach some importance to the
Old Testament holy days, as a clear knowledge of their abolition in Christ was
not yet given to him (the weaker brother). But to observe a pagan
holy day is something this passage does not
sanction. They certainly did not have the liberty to regard Babylonian/Roman
pagan holy days (days that were invented by the devil) as special days. Again,
that would have been idolatry, worldliness, and perhaps even a form of Satan
worship on their part. Therefore, how can the observance of Christmas Day, or
any other Babylonian/Roman Catholic holy day, be a matter of Christian liberty?
Yet when some of us refuse to regard the pagan holy days as special days, we
are the ones often referred to as the "weaker brother" in this
matter! Are we opposed to such days because we are "weak in faith"?
Faith would be defined as believing what the Word of God says about a matter
and acting upon it. It was by faith that we stopped regarding pagan holy days
as special days. Would we be more mature Christians if we would start regarding
such days again? It would certainly be much easier on us and our families.
III. Christmas and Violation of the Ten
Commandments (reverse
order)
A. Do Not Covet --
Children learn to covet the gifts of others, to drool over the Christmas
catalog, to drag their parents endlessly through toy stores, all in the name of
"the Christmas spirit."
B. Do Not Bear
False Witness --
"Jesus is the reason for the season!" is the Christian battle cry to
"put Christ back in Christmas," when in actuality, there is not only
no Biblical warrant for Christmas, but its roots are in pagan worship systems.
Nevertheless, professing Christians lie to their children about Santa Claus, the
supernatural, sorcerous false "god" of Christmas, whose
"gospel" is one of works salvation along with unconditional
acceptance and rewards. Parents lie to their children for years about the
god-like character of Santa Claus, in effect asking them to trust in a false god and a lie, and
then don't understand why later in life their children won't believe and trust in the true God, Jesus Christ.
C. Do Not Steal --
Christmas spending patterns could never stand the test of Biblical stewardship;
i.e., Christians, in celebrating Christmas, "steal" the Lord's
resources by ignoring their proper use; lavishly spend these resources on
worthless and useless trinkets (in many cases); and withhold resources from
those in need, while at the same time claiming to never have enough money to
buy good Christian books, pay for home schooling, or buy Bible helps for their
children. (Christians could also be helping the spiritually needy by buying and
giving them tracts, books, etc.) We "steal" from our families what
they need and what we owe them in order to buy gifts for those who don't need
them.
D. Do Not Commit Adultery
-- At this "special" time of the year, lustful thoughts are actually
encouraged; e.g., teens are allowed to go to parties and stay out later,
thereby having temptations put in front of them that otherwise wouldn't be
there. Christmas parties for adults also encourage evil thoughts through the
use of the mistletoe, etc. (According to Matt. 5, such thoughts constitute
adultery. At the very least, spiritual
adultery is encouraged by the "season.")
E. Do Not Murder --
Envy and hate of my brother (which, according to Matt. 5, is equal to murder)
because he has more than me or because he receives a larger Christmas bonus
than me, is encouraged at Christmas time. We also tend to spiritually sacrifice
our children to the "god of Christmas" via greed, selfishness, etc.
F. Honor Father &
Mother -- Christmas gift-giving is not an honor to parents; the
term "exchanging" gifts (i.e., giving in expectation of a return) is
a dead give-away of the mockery associated with this tradition.
G. Remember the Sabbath & Keep It
Holy -- Although we recognize that the Lord's Day is not the
"Christian Sabbath," clearly the Lord's Day is to be kept for worship
and observed as such. Yet when Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or the day after
Christ-mas falls on a Sunday, most churches adjust the Lord's Day to
accommodate Christ-mas, usually by cancelling the regularly scheduled Sunday
evening service. Most of its members are too busy or too tired to attend
services anyway.
H. Do Not Take the Lord's Name in Vain
-- "Christ" and "mass" are two words that are totally
opposite from one another, and to connect the two is to blaspheme the name of
Christ. By taking a pagan celebration, "Christianizing" it, and
calling it a celebration of the birth of Christ, is most certainly taking the
Lord's name in vain. (A good example of the willingness of the professing
church to profane the name of the Lord would be the title of a popular
children's Christmas concert production -- The
Divine Ornament. Imagine, identifying our Lord with a pagan
ornament to hang on a pagan tree! What insult! What blasphemy!) In addition,
some professing Christians use religion ("Christ's birthday") as a
cloak to cover the evils of covetousness, idolatry, greed, immorality, etc. --
all excuses to give vent to evil lusts.
I. Do Not Make Yourself Any Carved
Image -- Nativity scenes, "pictures" of Christ,
Christmas cards with "pictures" of Jesus, etc., all violate this
command. God has given us His Word, not images, to teach us about Christ (1 Pe.
J. Have No Other gods Before Me
-- The "god of Christmas" is idolatrous! Looking to the Christmas
season for happiness, joy, and fulfillment, rather than through a pure, personal,
and Biblical relationship with Jesus Christ, is idolatry.
IV. Is a Christian's Decision
to Celebrate Christmas a Part of Christian Liberty?
A. Romans 14:1-13
-- This passage is speaking of Jews who were observing the Old Testament Jewish
holy days/festivals and dietary laws even though they were now believers in
Christ; but they were also judging their Gentile brothers-in-the-Lord who did
not observe the Jewish customs. Likewise, the Gentile Christians were judging
their Jewish brothers who were seemingly caught-up in ceremonial law. Paul was
thusly saying, "To you Gentile Christians -- leave the Jewish Christians
alone, because they are not
violating any Scriptural commands by their actions (i.e.,it's
a "disputable" matter [doubtful or gray area] and not a moral issue). To you Jewish
Christians -- it's okay for you to observe the Jewish festivals and dietary
laws because they were given by God
in the Old Testament, and thereby, are considered to be previously approved worship forms, but
don't judge your Gentile brothers because there is no Biblical command for
either of you to continue to observe these things." (Actually, it wasn't
"okay" [see IV.C. below], but Paul allowed it as an act of an immature/weaker brother [see
II.G. above].) If a moral issue is involved (i.e., a practice that is covered
in Scripture), then this passage and its application to Christian liberty
(i.e., the freedom to engage in practices not
prohibited by Scripture) would obviously not apply. And as brought out earlier
in this report, the celebration of Christmas appears to be such a moral issue,
because its celebration is not only not from God, but is from ancient
paganism itself!
B. 1 Corinthians 8:4-13
-- The Gentile Christians, who had been raised in an idolatrous system, were
having a problem with the their Jewish brothers who
were eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. (Apparently, this was the
only "healthy" meat available.) Similar to the Romans 14 passage
above, Paul says that eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols is not a moral issue, and thereby, is not prohibited. However, Paul does not say that it is okay to go into the
pagan temple itself; in fact, in other passages (1 Cor
C. Galatians 4:9-10; Colossians
D. James
V. The Right Response
A. Quench Not the Holy Spirit (1 Thes
B. Avoid Traps of the Devil:
1. Lack of Zeal -- One
who never considers why he does certain things, but he just does them because
he always has or because his parents always have; one who acts on emotions
rather than on facts.
2. Lack of Truth -- One
who does things for good reasons and right motives (i.e., plenty of zeal), but
not in truth.
C. Realize that Christians Celebrating
Christmas as the Day of Christ's Birth Makes No More Sense than Adding Any of
the Following Days as Special Days of Christian Celebration: --
(Remember, the Bible's focus on the birth of Christ is for the sole purpose of
documenting his virgin birth, his incarnation, and the fulfillment of His
prophetic Messiahship. Like the tongue-in-cheek suggestions below, one must
also remember that there is no
Biblical warrant, precedent, nor precept for the remembrance of the day of
Christ's birth as a day of special religious celebration.)
1. Baptism Celebration
-- Why not have three days of swimming parties in the summer in order to
celebrate/symbolize Christ's three days in the grave? We could even pick a time
based upon our speculation
of when John the Baptist baptized Jesus!
2. Ascension Celebration
-- Why not have one day set aside every year for hot-air balloon rides in order
to celebrate Christ's ascension to heaven?
3. Miracle Celebration
-- There is considerable Biblical focus on Jesus' miracles (even more than on his birth), so why not
have one day set aside every year to celebrate the first of Christ's miracles?
And since that was the turning of water into wine (Jn. 2), why not have
"Christian" wine-tasting parties?!
D. Avoid the Rationalizations
that:
1. "Christmas Provides a Festive
Time to Share the Gospel" -- One cannot take something
condemned in God's Word and "use it" to spread the Gospel; neither
will God bless it to spread His Word. Unacceptable worship and the
"mixing-in" of unholy/pagan forms is surely not the normal means
through which God blesses the faithful. Satan works to blend together his
system with God's system, because when unacceptable worship (paganism) is
blended with true worship (God's truth), true worship is destroyed. In fact,
any time one mixes pagan ideas and practices with the pure religion of Christ, it is condemned in Scripture as the heinous sin of
idolatry! God has always detested taking those things dedicated to idols and
using them to worship Him. [As a matter of fact, this "special time of the
year" is probably more a hindrance
to the receptiveness of the gospel message than a help. Much of the celebration
observed by our contemporary society deludes people into assuming that God is
pleased, when in reality, He is offended by false religion, pseudo-worship, and
alien philosophies. The ecumenical spirit and a counterfeit "love"
under the guise of "peace and goodwill among men," more than likely dulls one's sensitivity to his desperate need to repent of
sin and be reconciled to a holy God.]
2. "Christmas is Merely the
Honoring of Christ's Birth" -- Someone says, "I know
Christmas is of pagan origin, but I still think it's not wrong for a church to
have a special time for honoring Christ's birth." But since when did
Protestants believe that Christians have the right to add to the Bible? Is the
church a legislative body? Are we to follow the Bible in our faith and
practice, or the thinking of fallible men? If we have the right to add a
special holy day to the Christian economy, then we can add 10,000 other things.
Then we will be no better than the false cults and the Roman Catholics who
follow heathen traditions! [Besides, celebrating Christ's birth is a form of
worship. But since Christmas is a lie, those who celebrate it are not
worshiping in "spirit and
truth" (Jn.
3. "All I'm Doing
is Putting Christ Back into Christmas" -- The modern
conservative cry to put Christ back into Christmas is absurd. As detailed
earlier in this report, Jesus Christ was never in Christmas. It's a lie to say
He was. He has no part in a lie. When anyone takes the truth and mixes a lie
with it, they no longer have the truth. They have changed the truth into a lie.
Neither is it possible to take a lie and mix enough truth with it to change the
lie into the truth. You still come out with a lie. One may say, "Well, I
know it's not the truth, but I'll put Christ back in Christmas and glorify God
in it then." No, you won't. Christ never was in Christmas. You cannot
change a lie into the truth. It should in reality be called Baal-mass,
Nimrod-mass, Tammuz-mass, Mithras-mass, or Mary-mass. Christ-mass is a lie. Why
use a lie as a good time for a cardinal truth (the incarnation) of the
Christian faith?
4. "I'm Using Christmas to Witness
for Christ, Just Like the Apostle Paul Did" -- Some say
that all they are doing is taking the "truth" from Christmas (i.e.,
the incarnation of Christ) and "cultivating" it as the Apostle Paul
did (Acts 17/Mars Hill), taking the opportunity of the season to witness to a
lost world. This would be fine if these Christians were actually doing only as Paul did. Paul, in addressing
the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, proclaimed to them that their
"unknown god" to whom they had erected an altar, was none other than
"the God who made the world and all the things therein." Paul was not
intimidated by the pagan surroundings and symbolisms, nor did he berate the
Greeks for their error, but merely showed them the truth of the gospel of Christ.
But do Christians really use the "opportunity presented by the
season" in the same way as Paul used the opportunity of the pagan altar?
Do Christians personally stand in front of their hometown public displays of
Xmas (Nativity scenes, etc.) and preach the gospel? To paraphrase Paul, do they
say: "Men of Indianapolis, I see that in every way you are very religious;
what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you"? Do
they come out of the public schools where they have just attended their
children's Xmas programs and preach to the attendees about the true God who has
been grossly misrepresented in the program they have just witnessed?
Hardly. Even to most of those who understand the true
origin of Xmas, this "unique time of year" means inviting unbelievers
into their homes to gather around the Xmas tree, to enjoy the beauty of the
wreaths, absorb the heat from the Yule log, etc., reasoning that they are only
using the pagan forms and the pagan festival season as an opportunity to
witness. If Paul meant this in Acts 17, he would have met the people in the
Athenian temple or in his or their homes, gathering around their idols that he
had Christianized and was now using as a part of his worship. Most of the people who decorate their homes and churches with Xmas trees, holly
wreaths, Nativity scenes, etc., all supposedly to be used as
"opportunities" via "Xmas coffees," neighborhood "grab
bag" gift exchanges, Xmas concerts, etc., are thoroughly convinced
that they're doing God a service. And since they are not involved in the crass
secular "commercialization" that the world revels in, but have
instead "put Christ back in Xmas" (so to speak), they reason that all
is Biblical and pleasing to God.
5. "It Doesn't Mean Anything to
Me" -- Many Christians who routinely make a habit of
picking-and-choosing which Biblical commands they will or will not obey, have
likewise carried this practice over into a justification for celebrating
Christmas. They claim, "but the Christmas tree,
mistletoe, Santa Claus, etc., don't mean anything pagan to me, so I'll exercise
my Christian liberty and partake in all of it." Obviously, if one were to
take such a cavalier approach to the physical world (i.e., "I can drink
rat poison because I choose not to regard it as poison"), it would likely
lead to a quick physical death. Why then do Christians think they can avoid
spiritual harm by ignoring God's spiritual warnings?
6. "The 'Connection' Has Been
Broken" -- There are those who clearly recognize the pagan
nature of the various Christmas worship forms and practices. Nevertheless, many
of these Christians claim that because of the long passage of time from their
pagan inception to the present (6,000 years?), the "connection" to
paganism has been sufficiently diminished to allow the adoption of these forms
and practices into our Christian worship and celebration. While it may be true
that most symbols have lost their original demonic meaning and significance in
a modern society, it is strangely bizarre and ironic that Christendom seeks to
commemorate Christ's birth with the faded symbols of Satan. And even though
some of God's people may be naive and ignorant about the source of these
things, surely God is not. Can such things please Him? And think about this --
if it were possible to "disconnect" current practices from their
pagan/occultic roots, why does Scripture not provide us any guidelines as to:
(a) how
much time is necessary for the "neutralization"/disassociation
process to occur; and
(b) which
of the hundreds of ancient pagan rites would then be acceptable for adaptation
into Christian worship (since some are obviously much more pagan/occultic than
others)?
7. "There Are
Hundreds of Other Items of Daily Life that Have a Pagan Origin" -- It is said, "Such things as
the wedding ring, certain clothing customs, the modern division of time into
hours and minutes, the names of the days of the week, etc., all have pagan
connections in their origins, so isn't it a contradiction on your part to say
that their meanings have
sufficiently changed while Christmas's meanings have not?" But we are not
saying that their meanings have changed. The question is one of using things of
pagan origin in our worship of Christ. So we would ask the question back,
"Which of these pagan items do we focus on to celebrate the birth of
Christ? Or which of these is 'Christianized' and brought into our weekly
worship of, or our daily devotion to Christ, as you do with the pagan forms and
traditions of Xmas?" The origin and meaning of a custom, tradition, or
form does not take on significance unless it is somehow specifically
incorporated into, or lined up with, our worship. As we have already detailed
in the section on Christian liberty (Section IV.B.), these rings, clothing
customs, etc. would be merely the byproducts
of paganism, not paganism
itself, and they have developed
no religious connotations or associations of their own, as have the Xmas
customs and traditions.
8. "Baptism (and Circumcision)
Have Pagan Origins and God Still Gave Their Use in Scripture, So What's Wrong
With Using the Pagan Forms of Christmas?" -- This argument
is frequently made by pastors who say that to be consistent, those who would
have us forbid the forms, symbols, and traditions of Christmas should also be
calling for us to abandon believer's baptism; i.e., shouldn't the would-be
banners of Christmas be saying, "Since the ancient mystery religions
practiced forms of baptism, therefore baptism is a pagan custom and should be
outlawed for the believer in Christ"? This is a strange argument for
anyone to make, particularly a theologian (and, in our opinion, reveals a low
view of Scriptural admonitions). If baptism were absent from the Bible, as
using pagan forms and traditions to celebrate or commemorate Christ's birthday
are totally absent, there would then be no Biblical justification for baptism.
But God has not commanded us to
celebrate or commemorate Christ's birth in any way. He has commanded us to baptize (Matt.
28:19).
E. Abstain From the Observance of Christmas
-- What, then, ought to be the Christian's response to this and other pagan and
Roman inventions? It cannot be denied that they are pagan pure and simple, from
beginning to end. God gives us specific instructions in His Holy Word: Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the
heathen ... (Jer. 10:2). These words are perfectly clear. What
rational options does a Bible believing Christian have?
VI. Conclusion
The very popularity of Christmas should cause the Christian to question it.
Anyone and everyone can celebrate Christmas without question -- outright
pagans, nominal Christians, and even Buddhists and Hindus. If, in reality,
December 25th were a date set by God to remember the birth of Jesus, there is
no doubt that the world would have nothing to do with it. After all, God has
commanded one day in seven -- the Lord's Day -- to worship Him. Does the world
observe it? Of course not. As expected, the world
loves Christmas, but hates the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn.
One way to test the Scripturalness of our practices is to reflect on what we
would expect missionaries to teach new converts in a foreign culture. We assume
that they would use the Bible as their guide book. If they could start new
local churches without importing American culture encumbered with Roman
Catholicism, liberal Protestantism, and crass commercialism, wouldn't it be
wonderful? Missionaries who have urged new converts to forsake all pagan
superstitious relics have later been questioned about the apparent
inconsistency of their own American Christmas customs. Nationals perceived them
as idolatrous even though the missionaries were oblivious to that possibility!
When Christmas is exposed for what it really is, this angers people. It angers Protestant people! And there is reason
why it does so. When the pagan celebration of Christmas is rooted up, and rejected,
then what has become a Protestant
tradition is, in effect, being rejected! And that is why people become angry. It
began as a Roman Catholic holy day, and then it became a Protestant holy day.
And if anyone dares show it up for what it really is, they face the wrath of
the Protestant religious machine. And these days, that can be very ugly.
Christmas is a thoroughly pagan holiday -- in its origin, in its trappings, and
in all its traditions. Perhaps we should contemplate the words of Charles Haddon
Spurgeon, delivered in a Lord's Day sermon on
"We have no
superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the
present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas:
first, because we do not believe in the mass
at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and
secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day
as the birthday of the Saviour; and consequently, its observance is a
superstition, because [it's] not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed
most positively the day of our Saviour's birth, although there is no
possibility of discovering when it occurred. ...
"It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the
church celebrated the nativity of our Lord; and it was not till very long after
the Western church had set the example, that the Eastern adopted it. Because
the day is not known, therefore superstition has fixed it; ... Where is the
method in the madness of the superstitious? Probably the fact is that the holy
days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. ... We venture to
assert that if there be any day in the year of which we may be pretty sure that
it was not the day on which the
Saviour was born, it is the twenty-fifth of December. ... regarding
not the day, let us, nevertheless, give God thanks for the gift of His dear
Son."
And from Dr. H.A.
Ironside's Lectures on the Book of
Revelation (1920: p. 301):
"It is a lamentable
fact that
And, finally, from
Alexander Hislop's 1916 classic, The Two
Babylons: Or the Papal Worship:
"Upright men strove
to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till
the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under Pagan
superstition. That Christmas is a Pagan festival is beyond all doubt. The time
of the year and the ceremonies with which it is still
celebrated, prove its origin."
We can summarize by saying
that nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to commemorate the birth of our
Lord, and God the Father evidently deemed it unwise to make the date known.
Hence, it will always remain unknown and is not to be ceremoniously remembered
and celebrated. (In fact, God has warned us about getting entangled with any
special days [Gal.
"Take, eat; this is
My body which is broken for you; this DO
in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:18,19; 1 Cor.
11:23-26).
To commemorate His death is
Scriptural. Any day of the year will do. To commemorate His birth is
non-Scriptural, even extra-Scriptural (Deut. 4:2;
If God had desired us to
remember Christ's birthday, He could have left us the precise date. But if He
had, He would have vindicated every astrologer in the past 2,000 years. In
occult circles, the anniversary of a person's birth is the most important
metaphysical day of the year. The Bible recognizes no such significance. It is
intriguing that there are only two birthday celebrations recorded in the entire
Bible and they were both those of ungodly
kings -- and both resulted in an execution (Gen. 40:16-22 and Matt.
14:6-10/Mark 6:21-27)!
The Apostle Paul says: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the
cross [not the manger]
of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world" (Gal.
Those who love Jesus should
certainly rejoice that He was born and lived amongst us as a man. But if we
truly want to glorify Him and bear testimony of who He is, we must stop
marrying that blessed gift with the debauchery of paganism. If we want to honor
His birth, let it be done as He would have done it: year-round unselfishly
serving our fellow man as an unending act of love for
our God. Let us put away all of the mixture of pagan customs and take up His
mantle and His pure worship, and show the confused world that there is a
difference.
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4. Buday, George. The
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