Easter and Christmas. Idolatry or religious festival?

m33 said:

. Whitewashing pagan celebrations with a Christian veneer doesn't make them holy. Does ouro family celebrate Christmas and Easter? Yes. With Santa and pine trees and Easter bread and coloured eggs. We consider it a cultural celebration not a religious celebration. The pagan roots of Christmas and Easter are actually very interesting to research...and they do make you stop looking for the "reason for the season"

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So what you are saying is that you ARE celebrating pagan holidays. I say this because you have chosen to celebrate with the elements of paganism found in the holidays of Christmas and Easter. Also you say you do not celebrate the religious element (i.e. Jesus) of these two holidays.

If you say these are basically pagan holidays covered in a wraping of Christianity, why do you celebrate them at all? If what you say is true, then don't participate in pagan holidays. From a Christian standpoint that is worse than not celebrating them at all.

I'm saying we observe them as cultural holidays in the same way as labour day, dominion day, new year's day, victoria day, thanksgiving day...Christmas and Easter are manmade celebrations just as all the others.

I'm a party smoker, and every day is a party. Same with holidays. The only difference is that everybody else happen to throw a party on those days too.

Faith_Warrior said:

1st Christmas
Matthew2:9When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

1st Easter
Matthew 28:1In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

9And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "All hail." And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.


seems worth calibrating to me

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Neither event was considered the holidays we celebrate today and there is no Scripture mandating we celebrate them. We have included the things you list in the celebration of the holidays we have today but that, in no way, constitutes any sort of Biblical command for a celebration of the events. The holidays we have today were originated by the Roman Catholic church with a blending of pagan and Christian traditions.

While those events may be worth celebrating we are free not to celebrate them or to celebrate them any way we choose and we should not be surprise at the "worldly" influences in those celebrations.

As long as there is nothing against something , it is fine to do . Where there is no law , there is no transgression .

It's easy to say "celebrate or don't celebrate--your choice". But those of us that sort of quietly downplay the holidays are viewed as "wet blankets" or "stick in the mud" (that's my wife's favorite).

No, I'm not JW or any cultish sort--just a wayward christian hanging out with some baptists. For me it's just another day. I view it like this: People can get all mushy about stuff for a few days but they'll be back to normal afterwards. Have your "Christmas Spirit" year 'round.

Yup, I toss up an artificial tree for the sake of peace in the house-humor the wife and kids. It's not a hill I'm willing to die on. No Easter eggs/baskets sort of things, though. Not sure-just never became an issue.

The worship of God has nothing to do with a Christ's Mass....the mass is an abomination. The name Easter is an abomination.

Better to just stick with worshipping God in spirit and it Truth.

Paul's admonition about keeping days or not keeping days had NOTHING to do with mixing paganism with the worship of God. But, as long as christians can feel warm and fuzzy, they don't really care. The object is the warm fuzzy. That's how people are deceived.

If these "Pagan traditions" are sinful, then surely referring to days and months by their Pagan-influenced names are also sinful, and therefore, anybody who calls himself a Christian will not refer to the months by their Pagan names (i.e. January, February, March, etc.) but will give them new "Christian" names! Same with the days (i.e. Thursday, Friday, etc.).

StevenL said:

The worship of God has nothing to do with a Christ's Mass....the mass is an abomination. The name Easter is an abomination.

Better to just stick with worshipping God in spirit and it Truth.

Paul's admonition about keeping days or not keeping days had NOTHING to do with mixing paganism with the worship of God. But, as long as christians can feel warm and fuzzy, they don't really care. The object is the warm fuzzy. That's how people are deceived.

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Well then go ahead and keep telling people that it's making God mad by having sunrise service for I'll keep participating in and helping with sunrise service and dreadfully watch those terrible people go forward during the service to accept Christ in their miserable lives as they do every year. Maybe we should all put God in a box and retreat into our holes because there are pagan elements in the world but I'll continue to be defiant in such matters, myself. If you say God is going to get mad at us for preaching the gospel of Christ on Easter morning or Christmas eve then so be it.

I believe it's important to preach the gospel of Christ at every opportunity. The fact remains, however, that all of these "special" occasions that we celebrate are manmade and not ordained by God. Thankfully, souls will be saved in spite of our misguided posturing.

Well they don't show up for the easter bunny or santa. It's only like twice a year the masses show up with questions and it's our opportunity to shine the Gospel for them, not shut the doors and declare the day for the pagans.

eddy67 said:

He doesn't exist, sorry.

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This is soooo not true! He was at the mall - I got my picture taken with him - he is real! I know he is!!

how did these holidays originiate?

Faith_Warrior said:

Well then go ahead and keep telling people that it's making God mad by having sunrise service for I'll keep participating in and helping with sunrise service and dreadfully watch those terrible people go forward during the service to accept Christ in their miserable lives as they do every year. Maybe we should all put God in a box and retreat into our holes because there are pagan elements in the world but I'll continue to be defiant in such matters, myself. If you say God is going to get mad at us for preaching the gospel of Christ on Easter morning or Christmas eve then so be it.

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You, of course, may do whatever you wish. Your wishes don't change the nature of the spirit of Babylon a bit. They just mean you love the present order of the world and refuse to leave it. That is your prerogative.

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death". Proverbs

"If it feels right, do it". Worldly wisdom

You can't rely on your conscience, which is influenced by current mores and accepted moral practices.

Faith_Warrior said:

Well they don't show up for the easter bunny or santa. It's only like twice a year the masses show up with questions and it's our opportunity to shine the Gospel for them, not shut the doors and declare the day for the pagans.

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Good point. Christians get all upset when Harry Potter and the like show up, and only end up making fools of themselves (and no, not because the gospel is foolishness to the world - bashing books has NOTHING to do with the gospel), instead of using the opportunity to bring Jesus into people's newfound interest in spirituality.

I get a little upset when people try to say that celebrating Easter and Christmas is a pagan ritual and is rooted in non-Christian thought or tradition. If I as a modern day Christian want to celebrate the birth of my Lord Jesus Christ, what does it matter how people in the past have celebrated the holiday? First of all, if you really think about it everything secular about Christmas has symbolic value of we Christians know to be the true meaning of the holiday -- the birth of Jesus. For example, santa could be seen as Mary since through santa the presents (Jesus) are given to the world. This is how I have always thought of such things and how I was raised. This is similar to when people say Christians shouldn't do yoga. Legalism should not be introduced into the church but such things not directly and clearly stated in the Bible should be left to Christian liberty and one's individual conscience. For example, many Christians say doing yoga is wrong since it is a hindu discipline and is used for non-Christian spirital purposes. However, if one merely does yoga for the physical benefits that arise from such activity and does not participate in the meditations or other parts that would be against God's will, there is nothing wrong with it. Many parents will tell their children to ask themselves the question "Would I do this with my parents watching me?" when they are considering a certain course of action. Likewise, I believe God has told us to ask ourselves the same question when we approach a certain issue, namely, "Would God be pleased with me doing this?" If something is detrimental to one person's faith and spiritual growth, it is not fair to issue a blanket statement saying that no Christian can in good conscience perform this activity.

In Christ,
James

holo said:

Good point. Christians get all upset when Harry Potter and the like show up, and only end up making fools of themselves (and no, not because the gospel is foolishness to the world - bashing books has NOTHING to do with the gospel), instead of using the opportunity to bring Jesus into people's newfound interest in spirituality.

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err this has nothing to do with HP or "spirituality".

holo said:

Good point. Christians get all upset when Harry Potter and the like show up, and only end up making fools of themselves (and no, not because the gospel is foolishness to the world - bashing books has NOTHING to do with the gospel), instead of using the opportunity to bring Jesus into people's newfound interest in spirituality.

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Another good point .

Interesting, you believe that the Incarnation of God and His resurrection from the dead are pagan!

If you are going to avoid previously pagan holidays (you are aware that every day of the year was dedicated to some pagan god aren't you?) than you should shun Sunday as it was the ancient day that belonged to the god of the son. I myself believe that it now belongs to the Son of God. Of course I also believe that every is the day that the Lord has made and we should rejoice and be glad in it; especially the days that we celebrate the Nativity of Jesus and His resurrection.