Why I Think Christmas is Not Biblical (Please read OP before posting).

[RickardoHolmes]

Well, hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving Now to move on to Christmas
I plan to spend the day setting up Christmas trees, getting out decorations (such as candles, an Advent Wreath/Lights) I will get all my DVDs of Christmas movies and specials out, as well as all of my old albums and Cds (I am old school)

Advent does not begin until Dec 3 This year, and concludes on Christmas Eve, which will be a very Spiritual day of reflection and quiet mystical celebration of the Coming of Christ.

 

[The Liturgist]

Well, hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving Now to move on to Christmas
I plan to spend the day setting up Christmas trees, getting out decorations (such as candles, an Advent Wreath/Lights) I will get all my DVDs of Christmas movies and specials out, as well as all of my old albums and Cds (I am old school)

Advent does not begin until Dec 3 This year, and concludes on Christmas Eve, which will be a very Spiritual day of reflection and quiet mystical celebration of the Coming of Christ.

Actually Advent has started already in many churches (it is only in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church and in Protestant liturgies based on it that Advent is four weeks long; in every other liturgical tradition it is six weeks long, so it has already started for Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians on the New Calendar (and will start for the remainder who are on the Julian and Coptic calendars on November 28th), as well as for Roman Catholics of the Ambrosian Rite (the liturgy used in Milan), and some Lutherans who use a six week Advent, and also the Aramaic-speaking Assyrian Christians of the Church of the East.

 

[RickardoHolmes]

Today is Dec 1 which means that the Advent Book is now open for daily readings here at home. AS many have in our neighborhood, I finally got the lights on the house up yesterday, I got all but one of the Christmas trees inside decorated, and all the other decorations are up. In regards to the material present giving, all material goods are either already wrapped or are in transit from their point of origin. I take care of the material aspect early on, so that I do not spend any unnecessary money in December, and more importantly, so that I can focus on the Mystical, Spiritual aspects of Advent for the month.

I find Advent/Christmas to be a very spiritually fulfilling and special time as we anticipate and prepare for the great Coming of Christ, the Revelation of God made Flesh, the Great Revealing of God to all of Mankind. Amen.

 

[LW97Nils]

I did not write the Bible. God did. If you put away the practices of Christmas, you will be able to see. But you need to ask the Spirit to reveal such things to you.

I agree. I do love the fir trees tho but I neither decorate them nor bring them into the house. They are bes tin their natural state. They do remind me of Christ but Christmas is a false way. There won't be a Christ-Mass in the Millennium.

 

[Jipsah]

There won't be a Christ-Mass in the Millennium.

Are you one of those folks who believe that Temple Judaism will be reinstituted in The Millennium?

 

[LW97Nils]

Are you one of those folks who believe that Temple Judaism will be reinstituted in The Millennium?

No.

 

[Jipsah]

No.

But you still don't thihk that our Lord's Advent is significant enough to warrant celebration. I find that impossible to fathom. But I'd wager you're all about keeping Old Testament feasts, am I right?

 

[RickardoHolmes]

I was just getting out the Halloween decorations yesterday, which means rearranging the Christmas decorations in what limited garage space I have. I think the Christmas decorations really do somehow breed and multiply in the off season.
After Halloween, I am going to go ahead and start decorating for Christmas, as I like to have the house filled with Christmas decor. I know it sounds overboard, but I like for the house to look like a catalog display piece
And the Advent season is by far and away my favorite season of the liturgical year.

 

[The Liturgist]

And the Advent season is by far and away my favorite season of the liturgical year

Mine is the Great Lent, because during Lent the Orthodox Church has so many beautiful liturgies which are only served at that time of year, such as the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil and the Liturgy of the Presanctified.

 

[Strong in Him]

After Halloween, I am going to go ahead and start decorating for Christmas,

Christmas decorations after Halloween?
Mid-December is too early for me - though my husband will probably put them up sooner.

 

[RickardoHolmes]

I have to start in November to Wade through all the STUFF and it takes a month to get everything organized and set up
It takes a month to set up Halloween and a week to clean it up as well, so I guess the second week of November I will start the Christmas decorating

 

[RickardoHolmes]

Mine is the Great Lent, because during Lent the Orthodox Church has so many beautiful liturgies which are only served at that time of year, such as the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil and the Liturgy of the Presanctified.

I have never been into Lent. Always into Advent, which to me is the best and most beautiful season.

 

[David Lamb]

I have never been into Lent. Always into Advent, which to me is the best and most beautiful season.

I have not been into either since becoming a Christian. There is no bible command to keep either Lent or Advent.

 

[The Liturgist]

I have not been into either since becoming a Christian. There is no bible command to keep either Lent or Advent.

Neither is there any Bible command to not keep them. But there are plenty of verses that promote the idea of joyful fasting and prayer as part of the Christian experience (and for those unable to fast, there are other ways of observing the Nativity Fast or the Great Lent).

We also know from the history of the early church that these fasts are ancient, that the eves of major holy days in Christianity have historically been kept as fasts, and that the ancient Christians fasted on Wednesday and Friday in memory of the betrayal and crucifixion of our Lord, which is still the practice in the Eastern churches, and which John Wesley attempted to revive in the West (Methodists were to fast on those days, and attend church if possible to pray the Litany from the Book of Common Prayer).

 

[RickardoHolmes]

I have not been into either since becoming a Christian. There is no bible command to keep either Lent or Advent.

So? Have I ever once Ever, anywhere at any time, said that I practice Sola Scriptura? Have I ever once said that I base my celebrations of Holidays on what the Bible says?
I'll give you a hint: The answer is NO

 

[David Lamb]

So? Have I ever once Ever, anywhere at any time, said that I practice Sola Scriptura? Have I ever once said that I base my celebrations of Holidays on what the Bible says?
I'll give you a hint: The answer is NO

Sorry, I think you have misunderstood what I was saying. I wasn't suggesting that you believe or practice Sola Scriptura, but giving the reason why I don't keep Lent and Advent, in a similar way to you saying that you keep Advent because you believe it to be "the best and most beautiful season."

 

[RickardoHolmes]

Sorry, I think you have misunderstood what I was saying. I wasn't suggesting that you believe or practice Sola Scriptura, but giving the reason why I don't keep Lent and Advent, in a similar way to you saying that you keep Advent because you believe it to be "the best and most beautiful season."

Sorry I misunderstood
AS an aestheticist I am driven by beauty For me personally, the greatest beauty in the Universe is the Manifestation of God's Word through the Life and Love of Jesus Christ, the "Word Made flesh" This is something that the Human Mind cannot fully understand, with the limitations of our human brain and human mind, but can only be experienced Spiritually through the acceptance and Love as Manifested by Christ within


Which is why I see Advent as this fulfillment of the Word Made Flesh and the time of the year when, as DIckens said, apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

While I do not subscribe to Magic, it is the closest thing we as humans can measure as Magical to see the opening of heart, the outward expression of Love, as the love that bound forth in Eden at the first day, or the holy night in Bethlehem or the holy day at the Tomb. And while many seem to have trouble understanding the first, or accepting the last, many people can be reached by the esoteric beauty of the second one, and what better way to demonstrate the Love that Our Father has for us than by being living breathing examples of Christ living in us

 

[David Lamb]

Sorry I misunderstood
AS an aestheticist I am driven by beauty For me personally, the greatest beauty in the Universe is the Manifestation of God's Word through the Life and Love of Jesus Christ, the "Word Made flesh" This is something that the Human Mind cannot fully understand, with the limitations of our human brain and human mind, but can only be experienced Spiritually through the acceptance and Love as Manifested by Christ within


Which is why I see Advent as this fulfillment of the Word Made Flesh and the time of the year when, as DIckens said, apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

While I do not subscribe to Magic, it is the closest thing we as humans can measure as Magical to see the opening of heart, the outward expression of Love, as the love that bound forth in Eden at the first day, or the holy night in Bethlehem or the holy day at the Tomb. And while many seem to have trouble understanding the first, or accepting the last, many people can be reached by the esoteric beauty of the second one, and what better way to demonstrate the Love that Our Father has for us than by being living breathing examples of Christ living in us

Thank you for your apology. I assure you I meant no offence or judgment of any kind i saying you had misunderstood. Thanks anyway.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Christmas decorations after Halloween?
Mid-December is too early for me - though my husband will probably put them up sooner.

Where I work the first Christmas decorations for sale were already up at the end of July. Right now there is a mix of Christmas and Halloween decor for sale. It's bizarre hearing the life size werewolf howling while Hark the Herald Angels Sing is playing from a small Christmas toy, on the same aisle.

But Capitalism is gonna Capitalism.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Strong in Him]

Where I work the first Christmas decorations for sale were already up at the end of July. Right now there is a mix of Christmas and Halloween decor for sale. It's bizarre hearing the life size werewolf howling while Hark the Herald Angels Sing is playing from a small Christmas toy, on the same aisle.

Similar here - though no decorations yet.
Christmas cards were on sale in September and for those wishing to make their own, Hobbycraft had a display in August!