a question about Christmas....(and Easter I suppose)

[now faith]

There is scripture which goes against Christmas which is Jeremiah 10, and there is scripture which goes against Easter because Jesus was around when Easter was around.

There is no point in being zealous against Christmas, even as it is simply vain, and does no real evil. God does have a sense of humor, and so there is Christmas town in Heaven with Saint Nick.

Jeremiah: 10. 2. Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3. 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. 4. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5. 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.

My mother would keep a small aluminum tinsel tree.
Lol my Dad never liked it either.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Yes it's true,but there are no common bonds to Santa Claus and the elves,flying deer and a trip to every house in the world in one night.
As well there are no threats for disobedience that would mirror the Gospel.

Forgive me, I'm not sure if this requires a reply.

I'm not sure what you are saying.

True, Santa Claus, elves, flying reindeer - all of that - have no real connection to anything.

But I'm not sure what you mean about no threats for disobedience that would mirror the Gospel.

Forgive me that I seem to be missing your point.

 

[~Anastasia~]

One more thing....
I detest Christmas songs!
After a lifetime of them playing everywhere for close to two months a year I want to pull my hair out,and there isn't much hair left to pull.
Bless God our Church plays a few but does not play them for every hymn in December.
Been there before.

Oh, that is too bad!

I feel the opposite. We do not listen to Christmas music during "the Christmas season" which is actually Advent - we should be looking forward to and preparing for the coming of Christ - it is a time for repentance and spiritual reflection and fasting. Christmas actually BEGINS properly on December 25, or the evening of the 24th.

So far, I have only listened to "O Come Emmanuel" a few times.

Our Church is actually having a children's pageant for the Nativity after the service next Sunday - we usually have a few Christmas carols and hymns then.

But then I know we are out of step with the world.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

would be very interested in hearing the opinion of those who don't recognize the "holiday" on the OP.

There are a 1/2 dozen threads filled with the opinions of those who don't out there, if you are interested.

 

[now faith]

Forgive me, I'm not sure if this requires a reply.

I'm not sure what you are saying.

True, Santa Claus, elves, flying reindeer - all of that - have no real connection to anything.

But I'm not sure what you mean about no threats for disobedience that would mirror the Gospel.

Forgive me that I seem to be missing your point.

LOL posting way to late in AM.
My point was there are no common similarities between them ,other than name.
As well there are no religious attributes to Santa other than paganism.

 

[Revelation210Faith]

I think RC Sproul has a good perspective on this. That while it's not biblically mandated and no one is obligated to do so, it's a great thing for Christians to celebrate and honor the birth and ressurection of Christ. Further he notes that though many people try to criticize Christmas as a pagan celebration, it was actually celebrated BECAUSE Christians DIDN'T want to participate in the pagan festivities of the Romans and INSTEAD celebrated the birth of Christ our King. Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

 

[jimmyjimmy]

So I came to the reformed faith some 4 years ago around the time the LORD saved me. I never really cared for Christmas even when I believed it was ok to celebrate it. I eventually embraced the thought that it was unlawful for believers to recognize either of these "holidays".

while reading through some things on this board that challenged the notion that Christmas had pegan origins a thought came to me. Now, I've never really thought the pegan argument to be a very good argument to begin with. my stance to not recognize the day was based on there being nothing in scripture where we are commanded to set apart a day to celebrate the nativity.

anyone can feel free to correct me if this line of argumentation isn't accurate, but the objection of RPs is that there is no biblical command or warrant to celebrate the birth of Jesus therefore the day should not be recognized. when someone asked why we have no issue with celebrating thanksgiving, we say that thanksgiving was a civil observance recognizing a providential event in history(same with the 4th of july).

my question is, why can't this same line of thinking be applied to Christmas(and easter)? We obviously believe that the birth of Jesus was a providential event in history, so if people want to celebrate this event, what's the issue? if we say that there's no command to celebrate this, there's also no command to celebrate thanksgiving or the 4th of july. Instead of seeing one set of "holidays" as civil observances and another as "holy days", why not look at all of them as civil observances since none of them were appointed by God?


thanks for your time...

I don't see Evangelicals treating Christmas as a holy day. I see it as a time to focus on the incarnation, and all that entails.

Roman Catholics treat these days as holy days, alone with several others, and I believe their practices to be errant.

As a Reformed believer, I see nothing wrong with choosing to remember, in a special way, the birth of Christ, in the same way that I remember the birth of family and friends.

Part of the problem is defining terms. The way I celebrate Christmas is different than the way an unbeliever does.