When I became a Christian it was brought to my attention that members of the church (the "church" being all of those who are saved) should not celebrate Christmas as a Christian holiday nor should we celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Jesus Christ. Obviously my response was one of surprise and confusion because my family had always celebrated Christmas in these ways. No doubt this was something I had to investigate. If Christmas is not a Christian holiday then exactly what is it and how did it originate?

Biblically there is absolutely no evidence that the early apostolic church celebrated Christmas; therefore we must turn to secular history to learn the origin of Christmas and its history. Our best evidence of celebrating this day originates from a pagan festival commemorating the SUN god, variously known as Saturn, Tammuz and Baal, among other names. This festival began long before the birth of Jesus. It was noted by the pre-Christian Romans and other pagans, that daylight began to increase after December 22nd, when they assumed that the sun god died. These ancients believed that the sun god rose from the dead three days later as the new-born and venerable sun. They thought this was the reason for increasing daylight. This event was cause for celebration and extremely wild excitement which I’ll not elaborate on any further due to its content. Many centuries later the Roman Catholic Church adopted this pagan festival, changing the name of the festival from Saturnalia, the birthday of the SUN god, to Christ Mass, the birthday of the SON of God, in an attempt to win over converts into the Christian faith. They have since used it to celebrate and honor the SON of God. The word "Mass" means death and was coined originally by the Roman Catholic Church, and belongs exclusively to the church of Rome. The ritual of the Mass involves the death of Christ, and the distribution of the "Host", a word taken from the Latin word "hostiall", meaning victim! In short, “Christmas” is strictly a Roman Catholic word. A simple study of the tactics of the Roman Church reveals that in every case, the church absorbed the customs, traditions and general paganism of every tribe, culture and nation in their efforts to increase the number of people under their control. In short, the Roman Church told all of these pagan cultures to bring their gods, goddesses, rituals and rites, and they would assign Christian sounding titles and names to them. Over the centuries the religious world has followed the traditions of men in celebrating this day. When Martin Luther started the reformation in the 1500’s and other reformers followed his lead, all of them took with them the paganism that was so firmly imbedded in Rome. These reformers left Christmas intact. In England, as the authorized Bible became available to the common people by the decree of King James the II in 1611, people began to discover the pagan roots of Christmas. The Puritans in England, and later in Massachusetts Colony, actually outlawed this holiday as witchcraft. Near the end of the nineteenth century, when other Bible versions began to appear, there was a revival of the celebration of Christmas. Traditions of men have carried it forward to this day.

The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946 edition, says, "Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ)... was not among the earliest festivals of the church… it was not instituted by Christ or the apostles, or by Bible authority. It was picked up afterward from paganism.”

The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas… was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth… a feast was established in memory of this event [Christ's birth] in the fourth century. In the fifth century the Western Church ordered the feast to be celebrated forever on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth existed.”

Notice how these last two recognized secular historical authorities show Christmas was not observed by Christians for the first two or three hundred years... a period longer than the entire history of the United States as a nation! Christmas entered into the Roman Church by the fourth century A.D. and it was not until the fifth century that the Roman Church ordered it to be celebrated as an official Christian festival.

Next week we’ll look at when Christ was born and what the authority of the Scriptures say about celebrating Christ, not Christmas, since it is obvious Christmas is not scriptural.

with brotherly love, Sonnie

Last week we considered the origin of Christmas and the fact that it is not scriptural. This week let’s consider when Christ was born and what the authority of the Scriptures say about celebrating Christ. As best we can determine from the Scriptures, Jesus Christ was more than likely born in the autumn of the year. There are a few passages that give us an idea of the time of year during the infancy of Jesus…

Luke 2:7-8 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

We further learn from Solomon 2:11 and Ezra 10:9, 13, that winter was a rainy season and it would be unlikely that the shepherds could tend their flock at night, as was the Jewish custom in that day. The shepherds would bring their flock into the stables in mid October to protect them from the cold and rainy season. This would indicate that Jesus was born prior to mid October since Luke writes that the shepherds were “keeping watch over their flock by night.” We could go even further into the study of the Hebrew calendar and Luke’s writings in chapter 2 on the pregnancies of Elizabeth and Mary to ultimately determine a closer date of September as the birth month of Jesus. However, the most important issue I believe we should consider is that there is no scriptural authority for celebrating Christmas as the birthday of Christ or as a Christian holiday. Let’s consider a few passages from the apostles Peter and Paul…

Peter wrote, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11) and Paul wrote, “…that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written” (1 Corinthians 4:6)

Peter is explaining that whatever a person promotes within Christianity, it should be authorized by the Word of God, while Paul is explaining that whatever a person does in Christianity, it should also be authorized by the Scriptures. We know that infant baptisms, instrumental music, non-weekly communion, church raffles, religious observance of Christmas and Easter, among other things, are not authorized by the Word of God… they are not found in the Scriptures, thus they violate the principle of authority by failing to “speak as the oracles of God” and/or going “beyond the things which are written”. Therefore, Christmas cannot be celebrated as a Christian holiday or as the birthday of Christ… there is no authority for it. This does not mean that we cannot “celebrate” Christ and the fact He was born. We can most certainly rejoice in Christ, His birth and what He has done for us. As a matter of scriptural authority we are commanded by Christ himself to remember Him every Lord’s Day…

Luke 22:19-20 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper… “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 )

The Lord's Supper is Communion with Christ… “The cup of blessing that we bless is a sign of our sharing in the blood of Christ, isn't it? The bread that we break is a sign of our sharing in the body of Christ, isn't it? Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, because all of us partake of the one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

I cannot resist asking... If Jesus, the One who suffered so horrendously for us, the One who paid the penalty for our sins, asked that we partake of the Lord's Supper "in remembrance" of Him, why would we not want to show our gratitude by REMEMBERING HIM EVERY WEEK when we come together on the first day of each week (the Lord’s Day) for worship service???

Consider what Luke wrote in Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread...” During the days of the early church the people gathered together on the first day of each week and broke bread. What has changed this pattern of remembering Christ over the years? Men have changed it to be more convenient and less time consuming... however, God has not authorized any changes to this pattern of worship. Celebrating, remembering and rejoicing in Jesus is not something we only do annually at Christmas time when so many seem to come out of the closet, or semi-annually, or quarterly, or every fifth Sunday... it is something we should desire to do every day... and certainly by obeying His very command to partake of the Lord's Supper every Lord’s Day. Remember the very words of Jesus and let them dwell in your heart and on your mind… “DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME”.

Let us celebrate Christ together as we are authorized by the Word of God. Happy holidays to you and your family!

with brotherly love, Sonnie