This article was emailed to me and written by James McCutchan, a retired Baptist Pastor/Teacher (Jmccutchan@aol.com).
Though I may not agree entirely with everything that Jim wrote below, I want to personally thank him for his concise, biblically focused, and thought-provoking insights on what is proving to be a very controversial holiday in our nation this year. I have also included a link to Dr. Al Moher's blog on this matter; featuring some quotes from his post by Dr. Gene Edward Veith as well. This will prove to be a most interesting discussion today.
No matter what the world has imagined or defined Christmas to be, may we as genuine believers in the Lord thank God for His "unspeakable gift" to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Immanuel, God with us...
Steve
2 Cor. 3:5
The True History of Christmas
by Jim McCutchan
"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.
How did December 25 become the designated day and season of the birth of Jesus Christ? Rather than being the time of our Savior's birth, it was the very day and season on which the pagans for centuries had celebrated the birth of the Sun-god. In the fifth century, A.D., the Roman Catholic Church commanded that the birth of Christ be observed on December 25 - the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol - one of the names of the sun-god.
This winter festival was called 'the nativity' - the nativity of the SUN as well as Osiris, Horus, Hercules, Bacchus, Adonis, Jupiter, Tammuz and other sun-gods who were supposedly born at the time of the winter solstice, which is now called - the 'Christmas' season. The pagan winter solstice was celebrated with great feasts, revelry, and drunkenness; the same way many celebrate it today!
When this winter festival came to Rome, it was known as the Saturnalia - Saturn being another name for the sun-god. The name of the seventh day of our week, Saturday, also comes from a sun-god. How about the first day of our week - Sun-day?
This winter solstice was the most vile, immoral feast that ever disgraced pagan Rome. And it was from this very feast at Rome that the merry-making of this season passed into the Roman Catholic Church and on into all Christendom, with few exceptions.
Christmas - The "Christ Mass"
The word Christmas derives from 'Christ Mass' which has its origin in the Roman Catholic Church. The word catholic means universal. The Roman Universal Church was founded by the Roman emperor Constantine about 313 A.D. Constantine was fighting in a civil war for the Roman throne. On the day before the battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine prayed to his sun-god and we are told that a cross appeared in the sky with the inscription; 'In hoc signo vinces', which means, 'In this sign conquer.' The next day, Constantine went to battle behind a standard portraying a cross. He was victorious and he then professed conversion to "Christianity." After securing his throne as emperor of the Roman empire, he declared that his "Christianity" was the 'universal religion' of the Roman empire.
Pagan temples became 'churches.' Constantine's Roman universal (catholic) church became a religion mixed with paganism (Babylonianism) and given New Testament names. The old Babylonian mother-son cult of Tammuz and Semiramis became known as Jesus and Mary, with divinity also ascribed to Mary. Many years ago Alexander Hislop wrote THE TWO BABYLONS which gives a detailed account of the old Babylonian Pagan religion and its basic doctrines as the foundation of the Roman Catholic "Church".
The Holy Spirit, appropriately and with exactitude, calls the universal harlot church of the last days, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" -Revelation 17:5.
Needless to say, Christ Mass, which has been shortened to Christmas, is not found anywhere in the Bible. According to THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS, a very good presentation shown on the History Channel; Christians in the United States only began to celebrate Christmas in the mid 1800s. A few years ago Christmas also fell on a Sunday as it does again this year in 2005. On that Sunday the pastor of a large Baptist church delivered his Sunday sermon dressed as Santa Claus! Truly, apostasy abounds in these last days.
Sola Scriptura
Nowhere in the New Testament are Christians ever told when Christ was born, nor are we told to celebrate His birth. But rather, we are explicitly commanded to celebrate His death; and we are told how to do it:
"And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them. This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many" -Mark 14:22-24.
Christ's apostle Paul also wrote:
"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" -I Corinthians 11:23-26.
Also, water baptism by emersion, pictures the DEATH, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Should Christians celebrate 'Christmas' or the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you want to obey our Lord Jesus or pagan tradition via Romanism? The Scriptural answer is obvious: Christ Jesus is not the reason for the season!
"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.
Some Questions to Ponder:
Dr. Al Mohler offers another view on this issue at his blog. Read Dr. Mohler's insights here.
One quote from Dr. Mohler's article by respected author and World Magazine's indispensable culture editor, Gene Edward Veith, "sets the record straight" on December 25 in the magazine's December 10 issue.
"According to conventional wisdom, Christmas had its origin in a pagan winter solstice festival, which the church co-opted to promote the new religion. In doing so, many of the old pagan customs crept into the Christian celebration. But this view is apparently a historical myth--like the stories of a church council debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or that medieval folks believed the earth is flat--often repeated, even in classrooms, but not true."
And further,
It is true that the first evidence of Christians celebrating December 25th as the date of the Lord's nativity comes from Rome some years after Aurelian, in A.D. 336, but there is evidence from both the Greek East and the Latin West that Christians attempted to figure out the date of Christ's birth long before they began to celebrate it liturgically, even in the second and third centuries. The evidence indicates, in fact, that the attribution of the date of December 25th was a by-product of attempts to determine when to celebrate his death and resurrection."
In light of Jim's article above and some of these follow up quotes by Dr. Veith what say you? Here are some questions to ponder:
1. Which side of this issue to you believe?
2. Is Christmas a biblical holy day or just a recognized pagan tradition the church has adopted?
3. Because the Scriptures do not explicitly instruct us to celebrate the Lord's birth, is it wrong to do so (the Luther/Calvin juxtaposed views) or should we avoid any identification with it entirely?
4. How can believers in the recognition of Christmas, be different from what the unbelieving world does in its celebration of the same day?
5. The Virgin Birth is a cardinal doctrine in biblical Christianity. How then should believers in Christ honor the birth of our Lord?
6. Can we redeem this holiday by making it a holy day? Or not?
7. Are we in danger of tradition overshadowing truth?
17 comments:
Campi, you are ever thought provoking! For that I praise the Lord for you!
At the very least, we must admit that the Christmas season is yet another profound example of how the contemporary western Church has become secularized.
There is clearly biblical precedent in celebrating the birth of our Lord. The angel's did, the shepherd's did, the magi did and even mary worshipped God for ths Son (noticed no one worshipped Mary, however!). It is true that Christmas without Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday is worthless. A sympathetic God would not appease His own wrath. He had to conquer sin and the grave. So Christmas is only part of the story. It is however, a significant part of the story and a good opportunity to worship our God.
The means by which we "worship" however have become so secularized that it can doesn't resemble anything like the model of worship we see from the magi, the shepherds, the angels or Mary and Joseph. Our modern "worship" is very self-centered while masked in "goodwill towards men" and "family celebrations."
Good thoughts Steve!
Christ should not only be ther reason for THIS season, but the very reason we live and breath.
Grace to you!
Excellent and thought-provoking post. It's true that in the modern and mostly biblically-illiterate church the truth of why we celebrate at Christmas is lost. We don't just celebrate the birth of the Christ-child, we celebrate the fulfilling of prophecy, the keeping of God's promise to send a savior and the mystery of the hypostatic union - God and man together in one person. I've written a post on my blog regarding this as well: http://jims-theologyblog.blogspot.com
Merry CHRISTMAS!
Great thoughts here so far.
Here is most of the Jim Elliff quote that my good friend, Pastor Dave Fry, has also alluded to. (great minds...)
This is good sound practical faith in action:
My friend Jim Elliff writes:
Here are some reasons it is okay to celebrate Christmas, complete with gift-giving and "egg knocker":
First, the day itself is not really the day Christ was born. Nobody actually has the exact day down, but most believe it was not during this time of year at all. Probably it took place in the spring, not on a "cold winter's night that was so deep."
Second, diversity over the years has taken away much of the "Romish" flavor to the holiday. Our Catholic friends do as they wish on the night before and the day of Christmas, that is granted. But we do not have a state church. There are so many other ways Christmas is celebrated that no one really thinks about it the way the Puritans did so many years ago. The problem is not so acute because of so many years of varied expressions. At least this is true in our part of the world.
Third, God can be honored in gift-giving and generosity as well as in singing carols and telling the story. They're both important if done in the right spirit. We don't have to make something spiritual out of giving gifts. You may make a birthday cake to Jesus if you wish, but you don't have to. We do need to be Christian, however, about everything we do. Emphasizing the giving part of the day can heal lots of wounds, open calcified hearts, stir up gratefulness, and just be plain fun. God's not against fun is He?
Fourth, there may be better things to be different about. In other words, we might show our radical difference better in the way we treat other shoppers, the kindness we show to retail clerks, the warmth of our hearts, the largeness of our generosity, the thankfulness we express and really feel.
Fifth, there are admittedly some great opportunities to make Christ known during Christmas. With all that is bad about it, we can still make our point. And we will have some sympathy for our message. For years I've led Christmas Eve services, short ones of only 45 minutes, but packed with meaning. The building will be full and all kinds of our friends and family will hear the truth as clearly as we are willing to express it.
What really does bother us is the mixture of the secular with a superficial acknowledgment of Christ's coming. This is why I separate what I do at Christmas. I find the evening with the family and the church the best way to think on this marvelous incarnation of Christ, without which we have no salvation. It is the most important thinking we can do during this season. But since there is no sin in giving and receiving, we can enjoy that also.
As for superficiality in acknowledging Christ, much harm is done. But that harm is for those who pretend a worship of Christ when they have no heart to follow Him. That's not where I am. For me and my house, we desire to follow Christ. And as sincerely as we know how, we intend to celebrate Christ's coming to "save His people from their sins."
Copyright © 2002 Jim Elliff
Permission granted to copy in full for non-profit use, including all copyright information.
Other uses require written permission.
Some are wondering where do I stand on this issue? I concur with my brother, Jim Elliff here. I do celebrate Christmas in our home as representing the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ—not as some left-over borrowed holiday from pagan Romanism, but as a true expression of our love for Christ. But, that is what we should be doing everyday as an act of worship and praise to the King... Amen?
Steve -
1. I'm inclined to believe we may never know (or need to know) the true origin of the celebration.
2. Regardless of its origin, I think it's a fine tradition that the church developed.
3. I think the command to celebrate his incarnation is implicit.
4. We need to answer this in our own families and churches.
5. Ditto.
6. I hope so.
7. Yes.
I also wrote a series of posts on this very topic:
The Biblical Record
The Early Church
The Pagan Link
My Conclusions
Steve,
As I reminded Jim McCutchan:
Christians 'celebrated' Christmas BEFORE Constantine. There is historical evidence that persecuted Christians in the Roman empire used 'Roman Pagan Holidays' as 'covers' so they could gather together and worship 'freely'. (As a number of Christians today 'celebrate' Ramadan - in countries where they are persecuted.)
But, as I wrote on my blog, the TRUE gift of 'Christmas' is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ - the greatest gift ever given.
That is the 'Gift' I Celebrate!
There was an article sent out a few years ago from Pensacola Christian College appealing the possability that Christs birth was indeed in December. I wish I still had it. I am not saying I agree; but some of their arguments were a little compelling. If I can remember just a couple:
1. It was said that this was and is the time of the year that Shepards stay out in the fields with the Sheep because this is the end of their gestational period and the ewe lambs give birth; this may have been what they were waiting and watching for.
2. At the same time the new lambs came into the world, the Lamb of God came which is also the darkest point of the year.
I dunno that all can be written of as circumstance evidence so I don't wish to hang my hat on something that may be generated by sentiment. For all I know Mickey Mouse may have put that info out, but as I recall it was put out by one of Pensacola's theologians. I wish I could find it. I don't know what happened to that paper.
At times like these it seems to be very important not to let the pendulum swing too dramatically in either direction - whether by avoiding the "holiday" altogether or by donning a Santa suit and insisting that others say "Christmas" or else. No matter what we do, we must sieze every legitimate opportunity to speak to others about the Christ who came to die in sinner's stead. Times like these often afford many opportunities to tell others the truth about Christ - truth which they won't hear at Target, Wal Mart or in many of the shopping mall "churches" throughout our land. May the Lord sustain us to keep our Biblical and evangelistic senses so that Christ will remain as our chief prize and focus, not only now - but every day of our life.
By the way - we like our "Christmas tree" - However, we've reformed it a bit by placing a cluster of tulips on the top. Ah, yes, by this we've claimed our own family tradition...
All in all, may Jesus Christ be praised...
There is something special about this time of year. God is so merciful to allow such an emphasis on the birth of His only begotten Son. I'm sure Satan hates this time of year, and he subtly schemes to disrupt, distort, and bring division and strife within the body of Christ.
The Scriptures are our foundation. And we need to heed the doctrines there within, without twisting and forcing our own opinions upon the Holy Word of our Lord.
I love to celebrate our Lord's coming with my family, churhc, and friends. I love the many Hymns that speak with deep and rich truths, and it can be a wonderful time to be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have, but always in fear and humility.
Jesus to thee be all glory given,
Word of the Father; now in flesh appearing!
O Come Let Us Adore Him!
Gal 6:14
If we cut out Christmas because it has no foundation in the scriptures then we must cut out Easter, Thanksgiving, etc as well in order that we stay consistent. But I find no warnings in scripture admonishing us to stay away from recognizing certain anniversaries. Certainly the OT is full of these types of celebrations (Passover, unleavened bread, first fruits, Pentecost, trumpets, atonement and harvest.)
But the fear should be that if we include Christ into part of our Christmas celebration and not all of our Christmas celebration, then we are just adding Christ onto a tradition of fleshly celebrating. It’s either a holy celebration -in its entirety- or it isn’t holy at all. It’s either a celebration of Christ’s birth alone, or it’s a celebration of pleasure, materialism etc. There is no in-between. We cannot use the name of Christ as a reason to fulfill the pleasurable desires of fleshly celebration. So we must make Christ and His holiness prominent in every celebration of Christmas or leave Him out entirely. It would be better for one to celebrate a sometimes harmless tradition of men rather than to attach Christ's name to a celebration absent of dedicated worship of Him (in the beauty of holiness).
You won’t see me protesting the ‘holiday trees’ down at Lowes, or boycotting Target because they refuse to use the name ‘Christmas’. If some decide to call Christmas ‘the holiday season’, or ‘x-mas’, or anything else that removes the name and figure of Christ, I have no qualms about it. With this the lost world is at least being clear-cut about what the holiday is about instead of hiding behind the name of Christ while personally rejecting Him fully. Would we rather they use the name of Christ in their debauchery or would we rather they remove His name and call it what it is? If your going to celebrate Christmas and yet remove Christ from the centerpiece of it all, I would rather you call it by another name so that the punishment of those involved will be less severe.
There is nothing in scripture to say we must celebrate Christmas –it is a tradition. It would be better for your own soul to leave Christ completely out and celebrate a ‘merry x-mas’ rather than inserting Christ in where it is convenient while failing to give Him the prominence.
(This is a paraphrase of my own blog musings found here.)
I'm having a discussion in email with some of the folks in my Sunday School class over this. The guy who led it off was explaining why he and his family will be in the Christmas Eve service but won't be in church Sunday morning. The point of Christmas is not the birth of a baby. (To paraphrase Fozzy Bear, there are a hundred babies around.) It's about the incarnation of Christ.
1. Neither side. The date, in and of itself, is of no consequence.
2. Romans 14:5-7 says we should be fully convinced and full of charity toward each other on this particular matter.
3. This is like asking whether we should have alter calls, since they are never commanded or exemplified in Scripture. Christmas is neither forbidden nor required.
4. Differentiation from the world: Acts of charity and love and joy.
5. We can honor the birth of our Lord by keeping constantly before us why He came: "Christ came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15b).
6. Make it a holy day? Each one should be fully convinced and charitable toward those who disagree.
7. Tradition overshadowing the truth: Sure there's danger there. Isaiah 1:12-14 talks about God being sick of Israel observing sacrifices, etc., that God had commanded. The answer was not doing away with the sacrifices (since Christ had not yet come), but doing away with the hypocrisy.
C.S. Lewis had a great little essay called "Xmas and Christmas" that I highly recommend. "Exmas and the Rush distract the minds even of the few..."
Alfred Edersheim, in his book The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah has a long footnote in which he argues for the date of Dec. 25th. Edersheim is no light-weight. Here are the opening lines:
"There is no adequate reason for questioning the historical accuracy of this date. The objections generally made rest on grounds, which seem to me historically untenable."
As for participating in a celebration derived from custom rather than command, what was Jesus doing in Solomon's porch during the feast of Dedication (Hanukkah)? (John 10:22,23)
Great thoughts, all.
"One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord."
Romans 14:5-6a
1. Which side of this issue to you believe?
I'm with Al Mohler and Jim Elliff.
2. Is Christmas a biblical holy day or just a recognized pagan tradition the church has adopted?
Neither.
3. Because the Scriptures do not explicitly instruct us to celebrate the Lord's birth, is it wrong to do so (the Luther/Calvin juxtaposed views) or should we avoid any identification with it entirely?
It is not wrong to do so. As someone else has said, shouldn't we be doing that (along with celebrating everything else about him) every day anyway?
4. How can believers in the recognition of Christmas, be different from what the unbelieving world does in its celebration of the same day?
Well, for one thing we can acknowledge that it is here and that it is not going away and the Providence has allowed it for a good reason. At the very least we should take advantage of it and the opportunities it affords us to introduce people to the real Christ and the real purpose for which he came - to redeem a people and make an end of sins.
5. The Virgin Birth is a cardinal doctrine in biblical Christianity. How then should believers in Christ honor the birth of our Lord?
By proclaiming both it and the purpose for which he came. What would be wrong with using this time of year to emphasize the theological truths associated with it?
6. Can we redeem this holiday by making it a holy day? Or not?
Should we?
7. Are we in danger of tradition overshadowing truth?
Aren't we always?
Well said James. I agree with your points.
One other thought I had was that we followers of Christ should have such a genuine joy I would think, no matter how we see the Christmas season. And that joy is that Christ loves us! Why He loves us I'll never know, but He does. And He couldn't have revealed His love in any greater way than He did.
I pray that the Church would be so full of the Lord's joy, that those outside, the unbelievers would be jealous. Rom. 11:11 And may God's mercy be poured out on thousands upon thousands of people who are living in a corrupt age. To God, and He alone be all glory and honor and praise. Amen!
If He can't redeem a pagan tree,
Then there's little hope for pagan me.
ephraim,
I always enjoy reading your comments.
You guys are thinking into this question way too much if you believe Jesus is who he says he is. And if you do then the answer should seem obvious. Jesus is NOT the reason for the season. The reason for the season is YOU, the sinner. I dont think he came down here just to kick it for a while and die for nothing. HE DIED FOR YOU!!! YOU'RE THE REASON!!!
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