Christmas??? A pagan belief??? huh?
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N
Hi ty.....I am probably not one who should even answer this post, seeing as how I don't know what is up with that!!! I have seen others post that since we cannot be sure of the exact day of Jesus's birth, nor the whole "story" of the wise men etc. that we should not be "celebrating" Christmas on the the 25th of Dec. I have also been made aware that others feel it "pagan" to put up a tree and decorate it, or your house, either one. My own personal opinion is that Jesus knows each of our hearts, and if I feel a true conection to Him by honoring His birth on the 25th of December with candles and carols, a decorated tree, snowmen and angels, etc, etc, He will know and understand my own love for Him. However....if someone else feels it would be DIShomnoring Him for themselves to do the same thing...then by all means, they shouldn't! This is just me....and how III feel...I really don't understand exactly why others feel as they do though.
Without going into it too much, yes and no. The winter solstice has always been a strong pagan time. During the time of the Nacin council, the governing authorities had a hard time switching a lot of the pagan religions over to Christianity(/Catholicism). So they decided to incorporate Christian themes over the old pagan holidays to try and unify the land's religion and calendar. Thus, though we don't worship in the pagan ways, most of our holidays did start as pagan 'holy days'. Thus the name 'holiday' was adopted over the years.
Though this, as most my threads, was just brief, I can much further go into detail upon request. Also, though I'm no expert, I do have a fair amount of education in Church and Biblical History, and will only continue to grow in that once I start my M-Div studies in a few years. Please, feel free to ask.
Though this, as most my threads, was just brief, I can much further go into detail upon request. Also, though I'm no expert, I do have a fair amount of education in Church and Biblical History, and will only continue to grow in that once I start my M-Div studies in a few years. Please, feel free to ask.
People are very fond of quoting Romans 14:5 to justify nearly anything they want to do: "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind."
But they overlook the context: "He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s." Romans 14:6-8
Does this give us liberty to steal, or murder, or commit adultery? Of course not. The idea is that whatever we do we do it unto the Lord. So the question is: Is the Lord glorified when we say we're celebrating His birth and mix in all kinds of pagan traditions and worldly practices? Does that sound like it's "unto the Lord" or unto us?
I'd be fine with celebrating the Lord's birth in a way and on a day that strips away all the worldly and pagan traditions.
But they overlook the context: "He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s." Romans 14:6-8
Does this give us liberty to steal, or murder, or commit adultery? Of course not. The idea is that whatever we do we do it unto the Lord. So the question is: Is the Lord glorified when we say we're celebrating His birth and mix in all kinds of pagan traditions and worldly practices? Does that sound like it's "unto the Lord" or unto us?
I'd be fine with celebrating the Lord's birth in a way and on a day that strips away all the worldly and pagan traditions.
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N
I'll take it a step further by suggesting that Paul had the Jewish feasts and the weekly sabbath in mind when he wrote this and not any sort of pagan celebrations that people could justifiably partake in. This would be consistent with what Paul said here:
Colossians 2:16
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Colossians 2:17
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
It doesn't sound like "unto the Lord" to me, which is why I don't celebrate Christmas or other traditional holidays.
Me, too.
Colossians 2:16
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Colossians 2:17
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
It doesn't sound like "unto the Lord" to me, which is why I don't celebrate Christmas or other traditional holidays.
Me, too.
Christmas seems to be a universal day in which all cultures can partake in, even if you are not Christian.
Because its a celebration of birth and the holy family, people get a day off work and like to gather together, espeically those with young children.
This does not really happen on other holidays so much, as the pull of family is strong.
as for it being a winter solstice festival, there is that too in the Northern Hemisphere but...go to the Southern Hemisphere and you will find people say 'Seasons Greetings' just as much and still put up pine trees inside their homes in the height of summer lol. People call it the 'silly season' for good reason
Because its a celebration of birth and the holy family, people get a day off work and like to gather together, espeically those with young children.
This does not really happen on other holidays so much, as the pull of family is strong.
as for it being a winter solstice festival, there is that too in the Northern Hemisphere but...go to the Southern Hemisphere and you will find people say 'Seasons Greetings' just as much and still put up pine trees inside their homes in the height of summer lol. People call it the 'silly season' for good reason
Christmas isn't mentioned in the Bible because Jesus celebrated the Jewish holidays like Passover
For some people Christmas is a celebration of jesus, for some people it's just a cultural holiday.
Everyone has their own subjective reasons to celebrate or not celebrate Christmas so do you I guess
For some people Christmas is a celebration of jesus, for some people it's just a cultural holiday.
Everyone has their own subjective reasons to celebrate or not celebrate Christmas so do you I guess
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