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The Celebration of Christmas: Difference between revisions
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You have the freedom not to celebrate Christ’s birth on that day, or any other day. Whichever one you do, let it be according to your own conscience and celebrate (or don’t celebrate) “to the Lord.” If you feel conviction that you should not do it, then God bless you, don’t do it, and serve the Lord, BUT DO NOT JUDGE a fellow believer for celebrating on that day. In the verse just prior to these two, Paul asked, “Who are you to judge another’s servant?” | You have the freedom not to celebrate Christ’s birth on that day, or any other day. Whichever one you do, let it be according to your own conscience and celebrate (or don’t celebrate) “to the Lord.” If you feel conviction that you should not do it, then God bless you, don’t do it, and serve the Lord, BUT DO NOT JUDGE a fellow believer for celebrating on that day. In the verse just prior to these two, Paul asked, “Who are you to judge another’s servant?” | ||
=The Bible and Christmas= | |||
==Bible verses that support Christmas== | |||
===Colossians 2:!6=== | |||
:''So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths...<ref>The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Col 2:16.</ref> | |||
===Romans 14=== | |||
Paul discusses Christians who criticize someone for observing religious celebrations: | |||
:''Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. | |||
:''One 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... | |||
:''But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.<ref>The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ro 14:4–6,10.</ref> | |||
===Zechariah 14:20=== | |||
:''In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD...<ref>The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Zec 14:20.</ref> | |||
So does this mean that "Jingle Bells" is a scriptural song? | |||
=Bible verses used to kill Christmas= | |||
==Jeremiah 10== | |||
Jeremiah 10:3-6 states: | |||
:''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. | |||
:''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. | |||
:''Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; | |||
:''Thou art great, and thy name is great in might. | |||
:''Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain...<ref>The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Je 10:3–7.</ref?> | |||
It is obvious that Jeremiah was not speaking of a Christmas tree as this was over 600 years before the birth of Christ. So what pagan rituals was Jeremiah referring to? | |||
Asherah appears in the OT both as the name of a Canaanite goddess and of her wooden cult-symbol. She functioned as consort of the chief god, El, and mother of the gods. The KJV mistakenly translates the name of Asherah as "grove". Asherim were the wooden poles that were used in the worship of Asherah. | |||
It is quite clear, however, from a number of OT references that the Asherim were manmade objects; verbs used in connection with them include “make” (ʿāśâ, 1 Kgs 14:15; 16:33; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 7; 2 Chr 33:3), “build” (bānâ, 1 Kgs 14:23), and “erect” (nāṣab, 2 Kgs 17:10), which are inappropriate for living trees. | |||
Jeremiah 17:2 speaks of “their Asherim beside every luxuriant tree,” which would be odd if the Asherim were themselves actual trees. This makes it impossible to suppose that the Asherim were living trees. | |||
Deut 16:21 states that “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make.” However, the word ʿēṣ can mean “wood” as well as “tree” so it seems that this also refers to something other than a living tree. Since all the other references to the Asherah in the OT (including other references in Deutoronomy) indicate that it is a manmade object, it is more natural to suppose that this is the meaning of ʿēṣ here. | |||
The Asherah cult object does not appear to have been an image of her, since the Asherim are frequently mentioned alongside pĕsı̂lı̂m “graven images” (an expression including images of wood) as distinct objects (see Deut 7:5; 12:3; 2 Chr 33:19; 34:3, 4, 7; Mic 5:12–13—Eng 5:13–14). The most likely view is that the Asherah was a wooden pole symbolizing the goddess Asherah. <ref>John Day, “Asherah (Deity),” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 483.</ref> | |||
Jeremiah 2:26-27 states: | |||
:''As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, '''Saying to a stock''' (ʿēṣ), Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned †their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.<ref>The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Je 2:26–27.</ref> | |||
"Stock" here refers to a dead piece of wood, an Asherah pole. | |||
Isaiah 44:14–19 also deals with this issue in a very similar way: | |||
:''He cuts down cedars for himself, | |||
:''And takes the cypress and the oak; | |||
:''He 1secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. | |||
:''He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. | |||
:''Then it shall be for a man to burn, | |||
:''For he will take some of it and warm himself; | |||
:''Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; | |||
:''Indeed he makes a god and worships it; | |||
:''He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. | |||
:''He burns half of it in the fire; | |||
:''With this half he eats meat; | |||
:''He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. | |||
:''He even warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, | |||
:''I have seen the fire.” | |||
:''And the rest of it he makes into a god, | |||
:''His carved image. | |||
:''He falls down before it and worships it, | |||
:''Prays to it and says, | |||
:''“Deliver me, for you are my god!” | |||
:''They do not know nor understand; | |||
:''For lHe has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, | |||
:''And their hearts, so that they cannot munderstand. | |||
:''And no one nconsiders in his heart, | |||
:''Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, | |||
:''“I have burned half of it in the fire, | |||
:''Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; | |||
:''I have roasted meat and eaten it; | |||
:''And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? | |||
:''Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”<ref>The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Is 44:14–19.</ref> | |||
As a result of the above, it is clear that Jeremiah 10 is not referring to a Christmas tree. | |||
=References= | =References= | ||