Why Some Christians Dont Celebrate Christmas Many feel that Christmas marks Christs birthday and that it honors Him. After all, can 2 billion professing Christians be wrong? At the same time, some few Christians dont observe Christmas, believing that Jesus didnt sanction it and that it dishonors Him. Who is right—and why? One day, years ago, someone asked me why I kept Christmas. The Bible says to keep it, I responded. Somewhere in the Gospel of Luke, it speaks of the nativity scene. An angel told some shepherds that were keeping their sheep in the fields at night that the baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem. I think they went to see Jesus at that time. That was the first Christmas! And thats why I keep Christmas, because the Bible supports Christmas, the birthday of Jesus Christ. Thats not true and heres why, my friend replied. I soon learned that the Bible didnt teach Christmas. I also found that its origins have nothing to do with the Bible. It was an important lesson about things Id long assumed to be true. Just because some 2 billion people—roughly 1 billion Catholics and another billion in Protestant faiths—observe Christmas, does that make it right? Does it really matter one way or the other? Why do so many people observe it? If you were asked, Why do you celebrate Christmas? how would you respond? Many would say Christmas honors the birthday of Jesus. Others feel that Christmas is a good Christian family get-together. Many do it simply because theyve always done it. Christmas can appear tantalizing to the eye and ear. People appear happy, generous, full of good cheer. Twinkling lights decorate many houses. Santa Claus and his reindeer are pictured as poised to lift off from snow-covered front yards or rooftops, although in the southern hemisphere and tropics there is no December snow. The colorful, peaceful-appearing Christmas scene can be intoxicating, addicting. Shoppers pack stores, browsing for gifts they hope to buy at bargain-basement prices. Soaring strains of White Christmas, Silent Night or Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer resonate everywhere. The December weather of the northern hemisphere might be frightful outside, but the feeling and warmth inside is delightful. Christmas trees with twinkling lights and bright, sparkling ornaments create a mystical and glowing environment. Entire families want to experience the special mystery that only comes with the Christmas season. There is no religious holiday quite like it for the millions everywhere who observe it. Was Jesus really born on Dec. 25? But stop and ask yourself: Was Christ really born on Christmas Day? After all, the Bible nowhere tells us the day of His birth. In fact, most credible secular historical writings tell us that Christmas, more than 200 years after Jesus death, was considered sinful: As late as A.D. 245 [the early Catholic theologian] Origen . . . repudiates as sinful the very idea of keeping the birthday of Christ ( Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, 1910, Vol. 6, p. 293, Christmas). In A.D. 354, a Latin chronographer mentioned Christmas, but even then he did not write about it as an observed festival (ibid.). There is no biblical evidence that Dec. 25 was Jesus birth date. In fact, the Bible record strongly shows that Jesus couldnt have been born then. For example, Luke tells us that the shepherds were keeping their sheep in the fields at night when Jesus was born. And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night (Luke:2:7-8 , emphasis added throughout). But late December is Judeas cold and rainy season. Would shepherds actually keep their fragile flocks out in the open fields on a cold late-December night near Bethlehem? No responsible shepherd would subject his sheep to the elements at that time of year when cold rains, and occasional snow, are common in that region. The climate of Palestine is not so severe as the climate of this country [England]; but even there, though the heat of the day be considerable, the cold of the night, from December to February, is very piercing, and it was not the custom for the shepherds of Judea to watch their flocks in the open fields later than about the end of October (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, 1959, p. 91). Luke also tells us that Jesus was born at the time of a census ordered by the Roman emperor (Luke:2:1-3
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 11:31:32 +0000
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