Is Christmas really Christian?

[traveller]

"Birthdays are evil"?

my birthday is

I think the Christian based festivities are what they are...Christians celebrate aspects of Jesus in them, secular people talk about meaningful things such as the Easter Bunny, and Father Christmas. It would be good if we were able to celebrate the proper Jewish festivals (also there are loads of them )

I would love that! I would also like to see a study done on the festivals. They're fascinating.

[AnnaMoodley]

Hey everyone

His-Will is not entirely wrong...my pastor does alot of research and has also found that there is alot of paganism linked with Christmas traditions...however we still celebrate Christmas but not as the world does-we don't decorate Christmas trees and a few other things which are pagan. We do however remember our Precious Lord's earthly birth, and the reason for it, as well as enjoy good fellowship with family and friends as well as some gift giving.

I personally don't think the date is important...the fact is no one knows the exact date- whether we're wrong by a few months or a few days, isn't important...for us as Christians, Christmas is to commemorate our Lord's birth,whenever it was. It is however, unfortunate that there is paganism related to the 25 December.

It is also important as Christians to not be swept by the worlds idea of Christmas.

Edited November 29, 2008 by AnnaMoodley

[sheya joie]

Christmas (and other holidays too) drop-out here.

[mizzdy]

Can anyone tell me anything else about this?

I've heard this before too, and I believe it makes sense.

**Thanks Shiloh for the explanation!**

I keep praying to be able to be with a group that celebrates the Feasts of the Lord.

Some of my husbands family are in one or more of the offshoots of the WWCoG and they all celebrate the feasts as did my husband when he was growing up. The last year or so we have been debating whether we should be celebrating them ourselves, I am all for it but have some studying to to do. Does anyone on the board celebrate them and if so maybe they could start a thread on how they celebrate them.

[nebula]

Hey everyone

His-Will is not entirely wrong...my pastor does alot of research and has also found that there is alot of paganism linked with Christmas traditions...however we still celebrate Christmas but not as the world does-we don't decorate Christmas trees and a few other things which are pagan. We do however remember our Precious Lord's earthly birth, and the reason for it, as well as enjoy good fellowship with family and friends as well as some gift giving.

I personally don't think the date is important...the fact is no one knows the exact date- whether we're wrong by a few months or a few days, isn't important...for us as Christians, Christmas is to commemorate our Lord's birth,whenever it was. It is however, unfortunate that there is paganism related to the 25 December.

It is also important as Christians to not be swept by the worlds idea of Christmas.

I have come to believe that Christ can redeem a culture.

Case in point -

One conflict that Indigenous people have with missionaries is that they strip them of their culture and replace it with Western culture. But many Indigenous people have found freedom through celebrating Jesus through their own cultural expression.

Thus, for the Native American who regards an eagle feather as a symbol of eternal life, the NA Christians use the eagle feather as an expression of praise to Jesus. And that's just scratching the surface.

So, if the Celts or whomever regarded evergreen trees as a symbol of eternal life, why could they not use it to celebrate Jesus? Their worship wasn't to the tree but to Jesus.

It's like one evangelist who just finished leading a bunch of teens to Christ. In their joy they began having a mosh pit. At first, the evangelist wanted to protest, but he heard/felt the Lord speak to him: "They are celebrating me the only way they know how." And so, he joined them in their celebration!

So, this is how I see it.

[Leonard]

I'm not suprised of the responses that I received.

Luke

[glorywatch]

I believe God in His infinite wisdom purposely did not give us the exact date of the birth of Jesus so we would not be side-tracked by worshipping a date and forgetting who we should be worshipping. Satan has been a master of perverting the truths of God and if Christians want to turn the tables by making a pagan holiday into one that HONORS the King I am not sure that is such a bad thing, so long as we remember its all about Jesus and not the holiday.

The reason for the holiday has become lost in all the commercialism. The WHEN of honoring Jesus isn't nearly as important as the actual doing which should be DAILY not just a specific time of the year.

[nebula]

Amen, Glorywatch!

[Guest shiloh357]

His-Will is not entirely wrong...my pastor does alot of research and has also found that there is alot of paganism linked with Christmas traditions...however we still celebrate Christmas but not as the world does-we don't decorate Christmas trees and a few other things which are pagan.

That is a claim that is constantly made but no actual, historical or archeological data have been found that support that assertion. It is just a claim that goes untested and accepted as fact.

There no ancient depictions of pagans using Christmas trees around Dec. 25th. Most of our traditions at Christmas are fairly modern in origin. The whole "pagan" assertion has no basis in genuine fact. It is just an assumed fact passed around from author to author without any actual verification.

[Leonard]

His-Will-Be-Done: Before you embarass yourself further, please read THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JESUS THE MESSIAH. I think you will find the argument for a birth date of Jesus around late December, quite compelling.

Arguement for the birth of Jesus? It is not wisodm to rely on the writings of worldy men who try and justify their disobedience. Scripture makes it clear that one should not observe any holiday or birthday.

Galatians