Why Christians

Shouldn't Celebrate Christmas.

There is no Biblical warrant, precedent, nor precept for remembrance of the day of Christ's birth as a day of special religious celebration. Christians are however, commanded to remember Christ’s death: Luke 22:19:  “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.” This can be done on any day of the year.

The fact of the matter is this -- the early church did not celebrate Christ's birth, but such celebration only came into the church with the "Christianization" of pagan practices when Catholicism was made the state religion by Constantine in the fourth century A.D.

A. The Early Church

Christmas was not celebrated, commemorated, or observed, neither by the apostles nor in the apostolic church -- not for at least the first 300 years of church history. It was sufficient for the early Christians that Jesus, their Lord and Saviour, had been born. They praised God that Jesus Christ had, indeed, come in the flesh. The day and the time of His birth had no relevance to them, because Jesus was no longer physically on earth. He had returned to heaven. And it was the risen, exalted Christ to whom they looked. Jesus Christ is no longer a baby; no longer the "Christ-child," but the exalted Lord of all. History reveals that about 440 A.D., the Church at Jerusalem commenced the celebration of Christmas, following the lead of Roman Catholicism. 

B. How the Christmas celebration began

The Emperor Constantine understood that by giving official status to Christianity, he brought internal peace to the Roman Empire. After declaring Christianity the "state" religion (Constantine forced all the pagans of his empire to be baptized into the Roman Catholic Church), there was need for true union between paganism and Christianity. The corrupt Roman Catholic Church was full of pagans now masquerading as Christians, all of which had to be pacified. What better way than to "Christianize" their pagan idolatries.  

• Pagan rituals and idols took on Christian names (e.g., Jesus Christ was presented as the Sun of Righteousness [Malachi 4:2] replacing the sun god, Sol Invictus ). 
• Pagan holidays were reclassified as Christian holidays (holy-days). 
• December 25th was already celebrated as the "Victory of the Sun-God" Festival in the pagan Babylonian world. 

The pagans flocked into the Catholic places of worship, because they were still able to worship their old gods, but merely under different names. It mattered not to them whether they worshiped the Egyptian goddess mother and her child under the old names (Isis and Horus), or under the names of the "Virgin Mary" and the "Christ-child." Either way, it was the same old idol-religion.

C. Jesus wasn’t born December 25th.

As stated before, the tradition to celebrate Christ’s birth as if on this date arose from the union of paganism and Christianity. Contrary to the idea that Christ was born on December 25th is the bible’s own evidence. Luke 2:8 “while shepherds watch their flocks by night” the angel of the Lord announced that this is the day of His birth. But if this is December in Palestine, it is winter and the shepherds do not keep their flocks out at night grazing in the winter. It was customary for the shepherds to take them in after Mid-October and release them in early spring.

The fact is no man knows Jesus’ exact birth date. Neither do we know the exact year of Jesus’ birth. The Bible does tells us though, that He was born before the death of Herod the Great who died in 4 B.C, so the commonly accepted 1AD date is certainly wrong.

D. The following customs and traditions associated with Xmas all have pagan/heathen origins.  

1. The Christmas Tree -- Evergreen trees have long symbolized immortality, fertility, sexual potency, and reproduction, and were often brought into homes and set up as idols. The bible expressly forbids this in the book of Jeremiah, written several hundred years before Christ’s birth:  (10:2-4)  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen… 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. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 

2. Christmas Wreaths -- Made from evergreens, Christmas wreaths were most frequently round, which symbolized the sun (just as do halos in most religious art). In addition, the round form can also relate to the sign of the female, which stands for the regeneration of life. The Catholic church soon found a way to confer its own symbolic meanings. For example, the sharp pointed leaves of the "male" holly came to represent Christ's crown of thorns and the red berries His blood, while the "female" ivy symbolized immortality. 

3. Mistletoe -- The use of the mistletoe plant (which is poisonous to both man and animals) can be traced back to the ancient Druids. Kissing under the mistletoe is also reminiscent of the temple prostitution and sexual license proliferating during Roman Saturnalia. 

4. And the rest.. Giving of Gifts (has nothing to do with a re-enactment of the Magi giving gifts to Jesus, but has many superstitious, pagan origins instead). Nativity Scenes, Christmas Eve, Yule Log, Candles, Christmas Goose, Christmas Ham, and Christmas Stocking, are among others as Pagan traditions to name a few. 

5. Santa Claus -- Santa Claus or "Father Christmas" is a corruption of the Dutch "Saint Nikolaas." "Saint Nicholas" was the 4th century Roman Catholic bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, who gave treats to children.  He was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church, and regarded as a special friend and protector of children. The red suit comes from the fact that Catholic bishops and cardinals in Italy wear red. Santa Claus was also known as "Kriss Kringle," a corruption of the German "Christ Kindl" which is ‘Christ Child’ in our English, and in Scandinavian countries, is interpreted as ‘Son of God’.  

Originally, the Santa Claus concept came from the pagan Egyptian god, Bes, a rotund, gnome-like personage who was the patron of little children. Bes was said to live at the North Pole, working year-round to produce toys for children who had been good and obedient to their parents. In Dutch, he was called "Sinter Klaas." Dutch settlers brought the custom to America. Santa is the blasphemous substitute for God! He is routinely given supernatural powers and divine attributes which only GOD has.  

COMPARISON BETWEEN JESUS CHRIST AND SANTA CLAUS

 E. Common excuses to celebrate Christmas. 

1. "Christmas is Merely the Honouring of Christ's Birth" -- Someone says, "I know Christmas is of pagan origin, but I still think it's not wrong to have a special time for honouring Christ's birth." But since when did any man have the right to add to the Bible? Is man a legislative body? If we have the right to add a special holy day to the Christian economy, then we can add 10,000 other things. Then we will do exactly as the false cults and the Roman Catholics who follow heathen traditions!

2. "It Doesn't Mean Anything to Me" -- Obviously, if one were to take such a cavalier approach to the physical world (i.e., "I can drink rat poison because I choose not to regard it as poison"), it would likely lead to a quick physical death. Why then do people think they can avoid spiritual harm by ignoring God's spiritual warnings?

3. "The Pagan connections are no longer present" -- While it may be true that most symbols have lost their original demonic meaning and significance in a modern society, it is strangely bizarre and ironic that anyone seeks to commemorate Christ's birth with the faded symbols of Satan. Though many people may be naive and ignorant about the source of these things, it is sure that God is not.

4. "There Are Hundreds of Other Items of Daily Life that Have a Pagan Origin" --Which of these other pagan items do we focus on to celebrate the birth of Christ? For the Christian the origin and meaning of a custom, tradition, or form, does not take on significance unless it is somehow specifically incorporated into, or lined up with, our worship of God. Such other things have developed no religious connotations or associations of their own, as have the Xmas customs and traditions.

F. End note.

While I realize that most of these things have lost their meaning over the centuries and that most people don’t incorporate such meanings into their own Christmas celebrations; the fact is that there is no biblical warrant for celebrating Christ’s birth, and that these pagan festivals have nothing to do with the Jesus Christ of the bible. Therefore Christians shouldn't celebrate them. This includes Easter or any other religious holiday. Even the very popularity of Christmas makes it questionable. Anyone and everyone can celebrate Christmas without question -- Pagans, nominal Christians, and even Buddhists and Hindus. If, in reality, December 25th was a date set by God to remember the birth of Jesus, you could be sure that the world would have nothing to do with it. After all, God has commanded one day in seven -- the Lord's Day -- to worship Him. Does the world observe it? Of course not. As expected, the world loves Christmas, but hates the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 15:18, 23-25). It shuns anything pertaining to true religion.

The Apostle Paul says: "God forbid that I should glory in anything except in the cross [not the manger] of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14). We find no salvation in the birth of the Lord Jesus by itself, for salvation was only made possible through His death (i.e., His shed blood) and resurrection. Our focus should be on the cross and our ascended Saviour, not in a cradle.

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