SG. - 2014-10-14 12:23 PM


THANK YOU!!! for explaining it so much better than I did...  It is simply a designated date.  The actual date isn't what is important it is honoring the event 

oija - 2014-10-13 10:20 AM Rocket, my sister did not celebrate Christmas in a traditional way for a long time. She still saw it as a reason to get together with family but wanted to celebrate Chanukah instead, Feast of Thrones, Trumpets, etc. She would not buy presents or have a tree but attend family celebrations. She was okay with us getting her and her family gifts and would buy for us (that is still a Chanukah tradition). She was primarily worried about the date and many things about Christmas itself that can be traced back to pagan holidays. The two links that you point out actually recognize this. To make a long story short, Christ lived and died in the period 0-33 AD. Prior to that time and until Christianity as a religion really took hold (around 300 AD), paganism was the going thing. Pagans celebrated holidays based on the turning of the season. What we consider the first day of winter or the winters solstice, Dec 21-22, was regarded as a particularly important time because the days would get longer again, more daylight. This was reviewed as symbolic of rebirth. So most cultures celebrated it, some on the exact day and others on days very close. In this case the birth of Mithras and Apollo were celebrated on the 24th and 25th of December. When Pope Gregory the Great saw that many people did not want to give up their holidays as much for practical reasons as religious one. (Everybody likes a day off from work and an excuse to celebrate with friends and family) This winter festival provided that. He thought it would be easier to evangelize these pagans if the day didn't change but the reason for celebrating did. The same was often done with churches. There are many European churches built on the sites of old pagan holy places. Have the Muslims not done the same thing with the Dome of the Rock built over the site of the destroyed temple in Jerusalem? What you must decide for yourself is whether the reason is more important than the day. We honestly do not know what day Jesus was born on, though it was more likely in July or August (one reason some Christians celebrate in July). We can pretty clearly definitively state based on historical evidence that he was NOT born on the 24th or 25th. Imagine adopting a child though and you did not know what day they were born on. Would you not invent a day still to celebrate? Perhaps the day you adopted them instead. This need to celebrate is human. The need to celebrate what we believe in is even more human. You must decide for yourself if the 'reason for the season' is more important than the connections with early paganism and idolatry or not. More reading and prayer will help you, but this is a decision everyone must make for themselves. Do realize other people in your family may be upset. But it is your life and your choice.

oija - 2014-10-14 12:54 PM First off, I celebrate Christmas and so does my family. It's my favorite holiday because of everything mentioned. That being said, the OP expressed a genuine concern over whether we should celebrate at all because biblically there is no command to do so. The Old Testament is clear on Jewish holidays and exactly when they should be celebrated. The Bible gives the story of Jesus birth, life and death but does not command us to celebrate, only to accept him. The only specific acts given are communion and baptism. Thus many people trying to be true to the biblical account do not celebrate. It's a spirit of the law vs the letter of the law issue. It's most certainly a legitimate concern. People will constantly fall on either side based on whether they put faith or their literal reading of the Bible first. Sometimes more information and prayer helps people decide what they should practice. She could believe everything you just said about Christ and still think that practicing Christmas was wrong based on conviction and study. I believe that is the dilemma she is trying to solve and for which she does not have an answer. But if her new knowledge sets her ill at ease, she will feel better about her final decision after turning over a few rocks. Most people I know when they encounter do end up deciding continuing to celebrate. We should not judge any honest attempt to live out our faiths when it is approached with general concern and love for Christ. Edited for spelling.

kmcsunshine - 2014-10-19 4:43 PM I was taught we should celebrate the birth, death and resurrection of Christ daily, not just on a certain day, so no, we don't really celebrate it as a "Christian" holiday.  More like a Santa day and Easter is for the easter bunny.