Christmas. Andy Williams crooned that it is “the most
wonderful time of the year” on his 1964 Christmas album (Pola and Wyle, 1963,
Side A, Band 4). From nativity scenes to the Santa Claus at the mall, Americans
will be celebrating Christmas. Everywhere you go, you see Christmas lights and
decorations letting us know what time of the year it is. Rip Van Winkle could
awake from his fairy-tale sleep, and even he would know that Christmas was upon
him! Ronnie Milsap, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder would all be able to “see”
from the sounds around them that the season is here again. From the youngest to
the oldest, practically everyone knows the Reason for the season. Christmas is
perhaps the most important day on the Christian calendar seeing that most of
its traditions have Christian connotations, and those traditions bring honor to
the very One for whom the holiday is named after.
Christmas
is a decidedly Christian holiday without a doubt. It is the day that the name
of Christ is exalted in song and literature. It is a day that people who have
not been to church in a while may decide to attend with friends or family.
Unlike Easter which is a “one and done” day, the Christmas season is built up
from November until its conclusion in early January, giving perhaps close to a
month and a half for the gospel message to be presented. As a Christian who
believes the gospel message was meant to be presented to everyone, I exuberantly
welcome the Christmas season.
According
to Frank Newport (2008) when referencing a recent Gallup poll, 93% of Americans
indicated they would be celebrating the holiday of Christmas (In the U.S.,
Christmas Not Just for Christians, para. 1). According to a U.S. News article
(2008), the population of America at that time was 305,529,237 which would mean
approximately 284 million Americans celebrated Christmas that year alone (U.S.
Population, 2009: 305 Million and Counting, para. 1). Given these numbers, I
believe it would suffice to say that Christmas is a huge deal for the majority
of Americans. However, what if the masses are in the wrong? What if instead of
celebrating the birth of a Savior, we are instead keeping customs that honor pagan
gods? We know how that God feels about the worship of other deities as the very
first part of The Ten Commandments tells us “[y]ou are to have no other gods
besides me” (Exodus 20:3, International Standard Version). When asked what the
greatest commandment was by a lawyer, Jesus replied to him by saying “…[l]ove
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38, New
International Version). If in fact this day known to the world over as a
celebration of Christ’s birthday is indeed an honorary day set aside for pagan
divinities, it would do us well to find out. We see from these verses above
that God alone is to be honored, so we need to find out if the naysayers have a
proverbial leg to stand on.
While they
are certainly a decided minority, there are groups who identify themselves as
Christian that would tell us Christmas is a pagan holiday that no Christian
should be celebrating. Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of
God, said "Ancient Rome's pagan holidays have been chained upon a heedless
and deceived world. These include certain annual holidays---Christmas, New
Year's, Easter, as well as many more, every one [sic] a pagan day… ” (1). The Jehovah’s
Witness organization (n.d.) purports to show that Christmas is littered through
and through with pagan traditions and customs (Why don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses
celebrate Christmas? section, para. 1). Scott Ashley (n.d.) of the United
Church of God, opines the same sentiment by saying that “[n]one of these things
have anything to do with Him, but they have a lot to do with ancient pagan festivals”
(The Christmas Holiday is Largely a Recycled Pagan Celebration section, para.
1). Of the myriad of reasons that a small minority would give not to celebrate
Christmas, this is perhaps their strongest argument, but it is an argument that
simply will not hold water upon further examination. While one might look
circumspectly enough to find traces of paganism in some of our Christmas
traditions, the good that is accomplished in the Christmas season far outweighs
any bad that might have been associated with it in the past. Any remaining
stench of pagan traditions have also been long since been absorbed with the passage
of time.
Some of my earliest memories are Christmas get-togethers with family,
family that is now in large part gone on. I feel in many ways that the couplet
from the Happy Goodmans song, “It Looks Like Everybody’s Going Home,” describes
me when it is said, “I look around and I feel like a stranger, for the old
familiar faces seem so few” (Wilburn, 1973, Side B, Band 6). If my family had
subscribed to a viewpoint that Christmas was a wholesale celebration of
paganism, I might not have had so much family to have celebrated my life with.
It was not about seeing Christmas decorations, nor talking about Santa Claus,
but seeing family that you had not gotten to see in a long time. My dad is from
a large family, family that eventually spread out all the way from Illinois to
Memphis. My mother’s family has spread all the way from here to Wisconsin and
Virginia. Other families obviously have spread out even further than that due
to careers or other personal choices. That makes for a high improbability of
seeing one another too much during the year. Does not the Bible talk about
family being of the utmost importance? What can be so wrong about a time that
everyone can get together and fellowship? Families are not paying homage to
some pagan deity when they choose to spend time with one another on the special
day known as Christmas.
In our rushed society, how many people make time for
church anymore? Although I am one of the types that “if the door is open I will
be there,” I realize that many are not. I am certainly not about to criticize
someone for not attending; that is between God and them. It could be that their
work schedule is so crazy that they are rarely off when the church doors are
open; perhaps they are so frazzled after putting in a 40, 50 or 60 hour work
week that they need time to recuperate. Christmas might perchance be the only
time they can darken the church doors. Since it is likely a given that they will
hear the message of how Christ came to die in our stead, giving us eternal life
if we choose it, what better time for that person to come to church? Even if
the situation is such that the person could come to church during the year, but
chose not to, what better time to choose to do so? Amber Hildebrandt (2013) of
CBC News reports that nearly one third of our Canadian neighbors planned on
attending church for Christmas, a figure I would believe would probably be
mirrored here (Christmas Crowds Soar but Churches Pass Up Opportunities, para. 1). As a Christian, it is about winning souls for the Kingdom of
God, not splitting hairs about what day they came! Mary Fairchild (n.d).,
Christianity expert for about.com, says “[m]oreover, Christian churches see
Christmas as an occasion to spread the good news of the gospel at a time when
many unbelievers pause to consider Christ” (Mass of Christ section, para. 2). It
is beyond me exactly why any sane Christian, God-fearing person could or even
would remotely argue that we are somehow honoring pagan traditions when we see
people in church hearing the gospel message.
From Jim Nabors singing “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
(Nabors and Copeland, 1967, Side A, Band 1) to Elvis Presley crooning sacred
Christmas numbers such as “Silent Night” (Gruber and Moore, 1957, Side B, Band
2) on his long in print Christmas album, the message of Christ is conveyed in
song upon song every Christmas season. Just like the person who hears the
gospel message only once or twice a year, they are hearing the name of Christ
exalted in the music, music that is played in stores, on television, and on the
radio. The central message of the Gospel is manifest in many Christmas songs,
leading me to beg the question to the Christmas naysayers, what is so wrong
about a time of the year that the story of Christ is brought out for public
viewing in song? Some people feel we are in the time spoken of by the Old
Testament prophet Amos. “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when
I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water but of hearing
the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11, New Living Translation). If we are indeed in
those days of famine, we certainly do NOT need to snuff out the candle of God’s
message to mankind that is prevalent in Christmas music this time of the year.
Christmas is a relaxing day of the year if you allow it
to be. Many people will choose to stay home, watching parades, football, and
maybe even a Christmas movie. Others will choose family time to go look at
Christmas lights or simply just spend time with one another. No matter the
chosen mode of relaxation, Christmas can be a peaceful day of the year if you
allow it to be. We all need time to recharge our batteries, and this makes for
a picture-perfect time to do so. In Genesis 2:2-3, the Bible tells us “[b]y the
seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day
he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (New
International Version). In Mark 6:31, it reads “[a]nd he said to them, ‘Come
away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming
and going, and they had no leisure even to eat” (English Standard Version). If
God afforded a rest after working, why should He begrudge us a day that we can
use to recharge ourselves even if it happens to be on a day with supposed pagan
undertones?
Christmas is just a fun time of the year! There are
Scrooge-types out there who simply will not entertain the idea of “fun,” but
the Bible tells us that there are times for celebration and merry-making.
Caroling down the street with neighbors; singing along with the family while
someone strums the guitar or putting decorations on the tree and hanging
lights. Stevie Wonder told us that “everyone is a kid at Christmas time” in one
of his popular songs (Miller and Miller, 2003, Track 14). Folk/Country singer
John Denver teamed up with the Muppets and gave us their rendition of “Little
Saint Nick” (Wilson and Love, 1979, Program 3, Song 1). There are so many
Christmas activities that give you the “warm fuzzies” that you merely do not
get any other time of the year. While the Bible is certainly full of references
to judgment and damnation, it also talks about having joy and being happy.
Christmas certainly represents a time of merry-making and joyfulness! Solomon,
considered the wisest man to have ever lived, told his readers “…I commended
enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat,
drink, and enjoy himself…” (Ecclesiastes 8:15, Holman Christian Standard
Bible).
Another nail in the coffin for the Christmas argument
comes from the Bible itself. We find the Apostle Paul telling the believers at
Colosse, “[s]o don’t let anyone criticize you for what you eat or drink, or for
not celebrating Jewish holidays and feast or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths” (Colossians
2:16, Living New Testament). One of Herbert W. Armstrong’s main arguments was
that God never cancelled the adherence to the Jewish feasts, and he says we
should be celebrating those instead of so-called “pagan” holidays (1). We can
put that argument to bed with this passage. We can provide further collateral
damage to this argument with the words of James, considered by many to be the
very brother of Jesus. “For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one
point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:10, New English Translation). If
one can poke holes in the arguments of Armstrong on keeping the Jewish Law
seeing how he was one of the chief proponents of abandoning Christmas, the boat
of not celebrating Christmas begins to fill with water and sink as well.
The final nail in the coffin for those who argue that
Christmas is pagan influenced and we should veer away from it is the very hypocrisy
of those who argue for the removal of pagan influences. The very days our week
are named after or for pagan deities. J. Hampton Keathley, III (2004), points
out that, for instance, “Thursday originally stood for the Germanic god of the
sky or of thunder. Tuesday stood for Tiw, the god of war. And Wednesday is
derived from Woden, the chief god in Germanic mythology. Sunday and Monday were
related somehow to the worship of the sun and the moon. Saturday is from
Saturnus, or Saturn, and Friday comes from Fria, the goddess of love” (Argument
Number 4: Christmas Traditions are from Paganism section, para. 13). I also
remember from my studies in school that the planets are generally named after pagan
deities, but I do not see a serious movement at hand to rename the planets
after the twelve disciples or any of the many Old Testament heroes of faith! I
love the way that Mr. Keathley (2004) sums up his argument, a summation that
puts the final hammer blow on the final nail in the coffin before it is lowered
six feet under by the “Christmas is pagan” undertaker. “When Friday roles
around we don't think about Fria, the goddess of love. On Saturday we don't think
about it as Saturn's day, but as our day off! The same applies to the
traditions of Christmas” (Argument Number 4: Christmas Traditions are from
Paganism section, para. 13).
Some would no doubt argue the veracity of the Christmas
argument I made above by saying that even though we may have Christian liberty
to not observe the Jewish feasts and celebrations, we are not given carte
blanche to celebrate Christmas. Again, I think that this argument can be retired
and put out to pasture by Scripture. Relying again on that stalwart champion of
Christian liberty, Paul, we can turn to First Corinthians 8:4-6 and see what he
had to say in regards to eating food that had been sacrificed to idols. “With
regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that ‘an idol in this
world is nothing,’ and that ‘there is no God but one.’ If after all there are
so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many
lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and
for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and
through whom we live” (New English Translation). Yes, I know this is talking
about food, but if God can bless and “make clean” food offered to an idol, is
He not also capable of cleansing what some think a pagan celebration? In
another of his epistles, Paul told the Roman Christians that “[o]ne person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike.
Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes
it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not
observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who
does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks” (Romans
14:5-6, New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update). I am also brought to mind of
what God told Peter when He told him in Acts 11:9b that “[w]hat God has
cleansed, do not call common” (Jubilee Bible 2000). An unknown 4th
century bishop (n.d.) summarized the whole thing when he said "We hold
this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because
of him who made it" (qtd. in Christmas section, para. 4).
I would also like to point out a few things from my
personal observance about the common things we see every Christmas season and
how those things fit in well with the Christian belief. We see Christmas trees
from the poor-house to the White House. What was Christ crucified on? A cross
made from a tree! What type of tree is the Christmas tree? It’s an evergreen
tree; this symbolizes the eternal life that we have if we accept Christ as our
Savior. We top off the tree usually with an angel or a star. It was the angels
that announced the birth of Christ and a star that the Maggi followed to see
Christ. We put lights on the Christmas tree and on our houses; Jesus was the
Light of the world, and He was sent to shine bright for the world to see! The
ornaments symbolize the beauty of Heaven, a beauty described in the book of
Revelation. We adorn our houses with fake snow, either the fake spray on kind
or the quilted kind made from cotton. What color is snow? It’s white, a color
that the Bible mentions when it says that our robes will be white as snow. The
old faithful standby King James Translation of 1789 explains that “…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be [white] as wool” (Isaiah 1:18, King
James Version). Like Hank Williams and the
song about making a Bible from a deck of cards (Myrick, 2010, Track 40),
Christmas is what we make it. God most certainly looks at the intent of our
hearts. God is not sitting high and mighty upon His throne waiting to thrust
lightning bolts at us, nor is He turning up the furnace of Hell seven times
hotter because we choose to celebrate Christmas.
Another point I would like to bring out is that I do
believe in a literal Satan who is in opposition with a literal God. I have oft
heard that for everything God has to offer, Satan offers a counterfeit. Without
veering too far afield here, it would behoove me to point out that this former
angel, once known as Lucifer, is known for his ability to transform “himself
into an angel of light” (2nd Corinthians 11:13-15, New King James Version). Throughout
history, Satan and his minions have introduced imitations of what God has to
offer in an effort to steer people away from knowing the real truth. John Hoole
(2010) points out “Satan just cannot get rid of God’s tree – so what has he
done instead? Answer – Satan has planted
MORE TREES – many more. His goal? To HIDE God’s tree in a veritable forest of
counterfeit trees. These trees look like
– smell like – feel like – the real tree of God. But they are imposters. They are trees of death – not trees of life”
(IN WHAT WAYS DOES THE DEVIL COUNTERFEIT THE THINGS OF GOD TODAY? section,
para. 3). Is it really that far stretch of an imagination to think that God’s
arch enemy would counterfeit the day Christ’s birth is celebrated by having
other gods honored on that day? Lady Rose (2011), a decidedly non-Christian
writer, gives further credence to my thoughts by giving the names of 13 deities
who were celebrated on December 25, one of which was Sol Invictus, also known
as “The Unconquered Sun” (13 Gods Associated With December 25, para. 2). Would
it not stand to reason that the master counterfeiter would copy the day that
Christ, “The Unconquered Son,” was born upon? Michael F. Bird (2011) sums it up
in the best way possible. “Christmas means that the unconquerable god of the
Romans just got conquered. A pagan Roman holiday just got stuffed with more
Christianity than a December Turkey stuffed with spiced bread crumbs” (December
25 means the Triumph of Christianity over Paganism, para. 3).
If and when Scrooge decides to give me a “bah humbug,”
I’m going to give him a big “Merry Christmas!” Christmas is something special,
a day unlike others that you won’t find any other time of the year. God is not
sitting on His throne in Heaven waiting to strike me down for putting up a
Christmas tree, nor is He turning up the furnace in Hell extra hot because I
have my fireplace hearth and mantle festooned with my numerous Christmas houses
and figurines. The arguments of those who wish to forbid the celebration of
Christmas based upon some sort of past association with pagan rites and deities
have been refuted thoroughly backed by arguments from people knowledgeable in
the Christian faith and from Scripture itself. I feel that if one had to base
an argument straight from “sola scriptura” that it would be entirely possible
still to refute the claims given. Christmas is a time for families to be together,
a time for the name of Christ to be exalted in churches and Christmas hymns,
and a time for people to have fun and relax. Perhaps I am like country singer
Bill Anderson and was born with too much of the spirit of Christmas in me
(Anderson, 1969, Side A, Track 6), but I must agree again with how Andy
Williams put it-it’s the most wonderful time of the year (Pola and Wyle, 1963,
Side A, Band 4)! The words of Mary Fairchild (n.d.) give the best summation
possible to those who want to “bah humbug” us away from Christmas. “I find
myself wanting to ask, how can we fail to remember this day with great joy and
reverence? How can we not celebrate Christmas?” (Why Do We Celebrate Christ's
Birthday? section, para. 3). All I can add to her words is a hearty amen!
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