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What
is Christmas?
Christmas is a celebration of which many Christians are
usually divided over.
What is Christmas all about? Is it "Christian"? Was it
observed by the Early Church, or is it a pagan appendage
that the Church has absorbed and 'Christianized', in short
is it 'baptized paganism'? These are good and legitimate
questions that deserve well thought our answers. However, as
in all cases, it is imperative and it behooves us that we
research the facts and find out the truth of the matter. We
have to avoid the attitude that says "Don't bother me with
the facts, I have made up my mind already." Remember,
something is not true because you believe it, you should
believe something if it's true. The word Christmas is not a
pagan word because it clearly bears the name "Christ" in it.
Christmas actually is a compound word which means
"Christ-mass". It was the "mass" that celebrated the birth
of Christ. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, the word
Christmas denotes a celebration of Christ's birth. But is
Christmas biblical?
Nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to observe
the birth of Christ, however, at the same time, neither are
we commanded not to observe it. It is clear that the New
Testament writers who wrote on the Nativity narratives
(stories of the birth of Jesus), namely Matthew and Luke,
were not concerned about specifying the date of Christ's
birth. All we know about that time is that Luke tells us the
Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census. (Luke 2:1-2)
Scholars can tell us about the year that event took place,
but not about the month and day, which is what we are
interested in.
When
was Jesus born?
The date of Jesus' birth is therefore unknown to us, we
simply do not really know. We do know the time of Christ's
death and resurrection because it was during the Passover,
and it is clear that the New Testament writers put much more
emphasis and importance on this event, rather than on the
birth of Christ. After all was this not the purpose of His
advent, the event we recall every time we commemorate
Communion or the Lord's Supper? Indeed, it is the death,
burial and resurrection of Christ that constitute the core
and foundation of the Gospel. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) It is
belief in Jesus as Lord and His resurrection that brings
salvation. (Romans 10:9-13)
Some scholars speculate probably a September/October (1)
as a likely date for Jesus' birth because Luke mentions
sheep in the fields. (Luke 2:8), and November was the latest
month in which sheep could be left out in the fields and
December would be bitterly cold for pasture and for people
to migrate for a census. Notwithstanding these points
however, the well known Jewish Christian scholar, Dr. Alfred
Edersheim (2) proposed December 25 as Christ's birthday and
argued that it had a connection with the Jewish feast of
Hanukkah which falls on the 25th day of the Hebrew month
Kislev. The Jewish feast of Hanukkah always begins on the
25th day of Kislev, just as Christmas always falls on the
25th day of December. Due to the differences between the
Christian calendar (better known as the 'Gregorian
calendar') and the Hebrew calendar, Hanukkah and Christmas
sometimes are celebrated together or at times Hanukkah
begins before Christmas. Both of these festivals emphasize
the importance of light, the menorah with Judaism and
Christmas lights with Christianity. The idea of the
"Festival of Lights" points to Jesus as the "light of the
world" (John 8:12). What better time for the Messiah to be
born? Dr. Edersheim's arguments are compelling, but he
stands in the minority on the subject. Most scholars if not
all reject December 25 as the actual date of Jesus' birth,
and I would be compelled to reject it as well.
Where
did December 25th come from?
What about December 25, where did it come from as a
celebration of the birth of Christ? Any encyclopedia will
show that the week of December 22-31 was celebrated as the
"Saturnalia", a Roman pagan festival that worshipped Mithra,
the sun god whose birth they also celebrated at the time,
particularly December 25. The Saturnalia was a time when it
appeared that the forces of darkness and chaos would conquer
the forces of light and order. It was common at this time
for parties and revelry to take place because chaos seemed
to merge with order. It was considered OK for bad things to
happen because it was Saturnalia.(3)
During this old Roman festival the light of day was at
its shortest. This instilled fear to the Romans and pagans
alike. It seemed as if the sun god was dying and that his
power was waning and it was common to light bonfires to heat
as it were the sun's power who was represented by the god
Mithra. Thus, there is such an emphasis on light. Over time,
pagans observed that the more they practiced the festival of
lights and burning bonfires, the days tended to get longer,
and as such they continued this tradition.
The Early Church Fathers debated over the time of
Christ's birth around AD 200 and there is some evidence that
Christians commemorated the birth of Christ although the
dates were different. As of AD 354, December 25 was labeled
as the date of Christ's birth. The Church had attempted to
stomp out the cult of Mithra, the sun of god by declaring
that it would instead celebrate the birth of the "sun of
righteousness" (Malachi 4:2), a title understood to be
messianic. The move of the Church stomped out Mithraism in a
matter of time.
Is
the tree pagan?
Many times we are guilty of denouncing things as "pagan"
without careful consideration.(4) One example of this is the
so called charge that the Christmas tree is pagan that it is
actually mentioned and condemned in Jeremiah 10:3-5. This
passage in the King James Version reads,
"For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth
a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the
workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with
gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it
move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not:
they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not
afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it
in them to do good." At first glance, this passage seems to
infer that it is the tree itself that is decked with silver
and gold and fastened with nails. Thus it is argued that the
Christmas tree is mentioned here. However, this is a
misleading interpretation because what is being condemned
here is idolatry, the tree is simply taken to form an idol
out of its wood! All other translations make this clear.
Consider for example this reading in the New International
Version,
'For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a
tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his
chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it
with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a
scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they
must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them;
they can do no harm nor can they do any good.'(5)
Thus, what God is condemning through Jeremiah is
idolatry. In other words Jeremiah is trying to show the
utter foolishness of worshipping idols since they are hewn
out of trees and are nothing but the creation of men's
hands. Certainly, it is preposterous to claim that because
one has a Christmas tree in the home he or she is
worshipping a tree any more than having a cross in a church
building means Christians worship the cross! All the days
and months of the year belong to God first and foremost
since He created them. The light which God created was
corrupted by pagans because they made it an end in and of
itself, yet Jesus refers to Himself as the "Light of the
world". (John 8:12)
Fire which was used and corrupted by paganism is also
used of God (Hebrews 12:29). What I mean to say is that when
we take what God has made and use it to glorify Him, we are
doing nothing wrong, unlike paganism which moves away from
the Creator. In taking December 25, the Church was in effect
saying stating that this day belongs to God, and that it
would dedicate the day to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Christmas is not a celebration of a birthday, but a
celebration of an event, namely the Incarnation, when God
became flesh. (John 1:1,14) Do we have Scriptural warrant to
do this? Indeed, we do.
There were feasts that Jesus observed that were never
commanded by God to be observed by the people of Israel. The
feasts divinely commanded by God are outlined in Leviticus
23 and they are known as the "feasts of the LORD". However,
there are two
other feasts that the Jews observed that were not
commanded by God, namely Hanukkah and Purim. The first feast
is found nowhere in the Old Testament because it was
instituted long after the Old Testament canon had been
completed. The feast of Hanukkah finds it origins in the
Apocrypha, a collection of non-canonical books that were
never accepted as part of the Old Testament.(6)
Can
Christmas be observed even if it wasn't commanded by
God?
The Hanukkah story comes from the first and second books
of the Maccabees. However, this feast is mentioned in the
New Testament in John 10:22 and there it is called the
"feast of dedication", another name for Hanukkah. As a Jew,
Jesus would most likely have observed this feast, and it
would be pointless for John to mention this feast if it had
no relevance to Jesus or His ministry. Scholars have noted
for the longest time that the Gospel of John revolves the
ministry of Jesus around the Jewish feasts, and that Jesus
is the fulfillment of those feasts. Hence, Jesus had no
objection to the observance of a feast that had no basis in
the Old Testament. Why? As long as God was glorified and
acknowledged the people of God were free to do so.
Another example of this is seen in the feast of Purim.
This feast is mentioned in the Old Testament, in the book of
Esther, but like Hanukkah, Purim was never commanded by God.
Rather, the Jewish community in Persia instituted this feast
to celebrate their deliverance from annihilation. (Esther
9:18-32) Once again, in this case, this feast glorified God
for His providential protection. As stated above, Jesus as a
Jew would also have celebrated this feast. Some scholars
believe that the "feast of the Jews" mentioned in John 5:1
was the feast of Purim. The intent again was to glorify God.
Christmas is never commanded nor prohibited in the New
Testament. It is thus a grey area and Christians should be
free to exercise their conscience as to whether they wish to
observe this feast or not. One must not however, pass
judgment on other believers who wish to observe Christmas.
Likewise we must do the same for those who do not observe
it. Paul points out that the observance of days should never
be a divisive issue with Christians. As long as the day is
regarded to the Lord, it is acceptable to Him. (Romans
14:4-6) Christians who celebrate Christmas do so to glorify
God for His unspeakable gift, His Son. Let us celebrate the
Lord's birth as the shepherds of old did, with joy and
gladness, "But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I
bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the
people. 'Today in the town of David a Savior has been born
to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you:
You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a
manger.'" (Luke 2:10-12 NIV)
Notes:
(1) The Jewish feast of Tabernacles is celebrated in
September or sometimes October. This feast represented God's
presence dwelling with His people. In John 1:14 it states
that the Word "tabernacled" or "pitched His tent" among us.
Some scholars see an allusion here to the feast of
Tabernacles. It is possible that Jesus could have been born
during this feast.
(2) Alfred Edersheim. The Life and Times of Jesus the
Messiah. Vol.1 (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co,
1976), 187.
(3) The same applied to the Celtic feast of Samhain, the
god of the dead when order and chaos, the living and dead
merged. This pagan festival has come down to us as
"Halloween".
(4) The days of the week are all of pagan derivation.
Monday (Moon day), Thursday (Thor's day), Saturday (Saturn's
day) and Sunday (day of the sun) are still terms that we
still use today but it does not follow that we worship these
pagan deities. Even our reckoning of time is based on the
pagan Roman calendar. We reckon the beginning of the next
day as beginning at 12:00 mid-night. However, the biblical
reckoning of time holds that the next day begins at evening,
ie. at sunset. (Genesis 1) New Year's Day is held by the
Western world as January 1, however in the Bible the
beginning of the year actually begins in April, and the
Hebrew secular year begins in September (Rosh Hashanah)
(5) Jeremiah 10:3-5 NIV. Note the emphasis on "idols". I
have included the italics into the text.
(6) The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches do accept
them but consider as "deutero-canonical", ie. their
canonicity has a secondary status. Protestants have rejected
them as inspired following the tradition of the Jews. They
however valuable as historical texts.
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