Christmas is a pagan holiday...

[Abdicate]

We should not celebrate Christmas, for it is a pagan holiday. We should be celebrating the Passover instead.

http://www.ucg.org/holidays-and-hol...4cfe6444baeb00d&at_ab=per-3&at_pos=1&at_tot=4

Easter is also a pagan holiday.

http://www.ucg.org/holidays-and-hol...4cfe331be852ab8&at_ab=per-3&at_pos=0&at_tot=1

Please do not celebrate these things.

What do you guys think of Easter and Christmas?

Titus 1:15 (KJV)
Unto the pure all things [are] pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving [is] nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

It's all about what's in your heart. Don't make new laws in place of your freedom just because you discovered history. If you do that, stop wearing wedding rings, getting married in front of an official, washing your hands before you eat... all these are man-made things, none are in the word of God. In fact the wedding ring comes from the most vial of men - Nimrod, who married his mother - and the ring symbolizes your devotion to her - his mother. Getting married (actually it was the wedding night, not the ceremony before) in front of an official, was mandated - porn before magazine and the internet - by those in power. Washing your hands before you eat is a rabbinic oral law.

Christ died for you to be free. Live and do all in faith, to enjoy life, bring honor to Him and love all.

Romans 14:23 (KJV)
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith: for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin.

 

[Juk]

Titus 1:15 (KJV)
Unto the pure all things [are] pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving [is] nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

It's all about what's in your heart. Don't make new laws in place of your freedom just because you discovered history. If you do that, stop wearing wedding rings, getting married in front of an official, washing your hands before you eat... all these are man-made things, none are in the word of God. In fact the wedding ring comes from the most vial of men - Nimrod, who married his mother - and the ring symbolizes your devotion to her - his mother. Getting married (actually it was the wedding night, not the ceremony before) in front of an official, was mandated - porn before magazine and the internet - by those in power. Washing your hands before you eat is a rabbinic oral law.

Christ died for you to be free. Live and do all in faith, to enjoy life, bring honor to Him and love all.

Romans 14:23 (KJV)
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith: for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin.

One of my favorite phrases is, "Jesus died so you can live".

 

[Juk]

To be honest, I believe calling Christmas a pagan holiday is to call Christ Jesus a pagan god.
You really need to think carefully about this.
You really need to seek out just exactly how you are honoring Christ (on His terms, not your terms), by calling everything done in His name, pagan.........think about it.

Well, I didnt think of it like that...

 

[Juk]

Exactly! and the fact that there is a pagan day at the same time is not to influence our worship of the Lord.
Easter coincides with Passover, yet there are many who decry it as pagan...see my point?
Same goes for Christmas, pagans follow their ways of darkness and Christians follow the light of Christ always.

Makes sense.

 

[eileen rose]

Regarding the original post...

I no longer celebrate Christmas, but not due to any negative associations.
Perhaps it is due to the fact that I walk with Jesus everyday and as that continues to inspire me to become more of a Christ child, I feel less dominated by cultural attachments.

One cultural attachment is celebrating various holidays.

Holidays as a child were full of opportunities to connect with my family and extended relatives.

I needed that connection and praised God for those opportunities.

Now, as I complete some of the tasks God as set before me (just how I feel about my own personal salvation in his hands), I don't feel inspired by cultural opportunities to celebrate.

I just feel drawn to look more deeply into Gods word and less inspired to celebrate ritual occasions.

It is like all that pomp and circumstance isn't truly inspiring, once you feel God's living spirit, within you.

I can only attest to my own personal experience with Christmas (aka the tedious endless shopping, giving and wasting of valuable resources needed elsewhere typically....aka debt repayment/time spent wrapping/and spending energy with people who rather take than give, typically).
Not everyone is the same.

 

[chili]

We should not celebrate Christmas, for it is a pagan holiday. We should be celebrating the Passover instead.

http://www.ucg.org/holidays-and-hol...4cfe6444baeb00d&at_ab=per-3&at_pos=1&at_tot=4

Easter is also a pagan holiday.

http://www.ucg.org/holidays-and-hol...4cfe331be852ab8&at_ab=per-3&at_pos=0&at_tot=1

Please do not celebrate these things.

What do you guys think of Easter and Christmas?

Ok JUK Here's how I celebrate Christmas and Easter. I celebrate Christmas as the birthing of Jesus. I'm not into gift giving much but I do give something. I do have a tree but I do not worship the tree or any of the commercial things. ( waste of time and effort) If you worship the tree and all the gift giving then it might be considered as Idolatry. having a good Christmas dinner with friends and family and inviting Jesus to join you is the right thing to do. Christmas has been soooooo commercialized to the point of no return for a lot of peeps. So I just keep it simple. I can't stand the crowds any ways LOL

Easter. Where ever the people found the easter bunny is beyond me. Colored eggs? Rabbits don't lay eggs LOL. Easter to me is probably THE most important because of Jesus' rise from the grave. If HE didn't do that then where would we be? Lost. Granted when I was a kid I did celebrate Christmas and Easter with lots of presents and Easter eggs, partying, and what have you. As I grew older in my walk with Jesus I realized that these commercial thing were of no significance. So I keep it simple and focused on GOD

 

[LysanderShapiro]

"Who came up with the idea of the way we celebrate Easter today? What sense does that make?
'How should we go about celebrating Jesus' resurrection?'
'How about eggs?'
'That doesn't seem to have much to do with the resurrection of our Lord.'
'...Alright, we'll hide them.'"
~Jim Gaffigan

 

[Relentless]

My personal opinion:

The NT doesn't tell us to observe any special days at all, not even "the Lord's day". If it did, there would be instructions on how to observe them. But neither does it forbid celebrations and remembrances, but only says that whatever we do should honor God.

That said, I've done some research over the years and it is in fact true that holidays such as Christmas and Easter were originally pagan. You can look up the ancient/original meanings of the yule log, tree, decorations of gold and silver, bunnies, eggs, and all the rest. Even the days of the week are named after Norse gods, and the months of the year after Roman gods. But this is all to be expected in a world run by "the prince of the power of the air".

How should Christians behave in this wicked world? In whatever way glorifies and honors God. And while Christmas has long been treated as a Christian celebration, more people have become aware of the pagan symbolism. Have we reached the point where celebrating it actually harms our witness? It's quite possible. The same goes for Easter and its pagan fertility symbolism.

If it were up to me, I'd have the Christian community celebrating Jesus' birth in late September since that's when I think he was born, and celebrating Jesus' resurrection in late March, since that's a good approximation of when this happened. Two celebrations 6 mos. apart, and neither being turned into a gift-buying frenzy. I'd call the days of the week "Oneday, Twoday, Threeday, Fourday, Fiveday, Sixday, and Sevenday". I'd call the months something like "Onemonth, Twomonth" and so on. I'd actually push for a shift in these directions if I had any influence.

In the meantime, I go to parties and celebrations because my Christian brothers and sisters would not understand if I didn't. They already don't understand why I stopped going to church, but not coming to family gatherings would be too much for them. So out of concession to their feelings, I participate.

 

[Cosmicwaffle]

We should not celebrate Christmas, for it is a pagan holiday. We should be celebrating the Passover instead.

http://www.ucg.org/holidays-and-hol...4cfe6444baeb00d&at_ab=per-3&at_pos=1&at_tot=4

Easter is also a pagan holiday.

http://www.ucg.org/holidays-and-hol...4cfe331be852ab8&at_ab=per-3&at_pos=0&at_tot=1

Please do not celebrate these things.

What do you guys think of Easter and Christmas?

They may be pagan, but if a brother or sister wishes to celebrate them who are we to deny them it? Paul said we should not judge eachother regarding holidays and what we eat or drink.

If you are not comfortable with celebrating these things then don't. Simple as that.

I personally don't believe in celebrating Christmas or Easter, but those around me do and I will not judge them for it. These are trivial matters.

 

[Juk]

Ok JUK Here's how I celebrate Christmas and Easter. I celebrate Christmas as the birthing of Jesus. I'm not into gift giving much but I do give something. I do have a tree but I do not worship the tree or any of the commercial things. ( waste of time and effort) If you worship the tree and all the gift giving then it might be considered as Idolatry. having a good Christmas dinner with friends and family and inviting Jesus to join you is the right thing to do. Christmas has been soooooo commercialized to the point of no return for a lot of peeps. So I just keep it simple. I can't stand the crowds any ways LOL

Easter. Where ever the people found the easter bunny is beyond me. Colored eggs? Rabbits don't lay eggs LOL. Easter to me is probably THE most important because of Jesus' rise from the grave. If HE didn't do that then where would we be? Lost. Granted when I was a kid I did celebrate Christmas and Easter with lots of presents and Easter eggs, partying, and what have you. As I grew older in my walk with Jesus I realized that these commercial thing were of no significance. So I keep it simple and focused on GOD

Sounds great.

 

[Juk]

They may be pagan, but if a brother or sister wishes to celebrate them who are we to deny them it? Paul said we should not judge eachother regarding holidays and what we eat or drink.

If you are not comfortable with celebrating these things then don't. Simple as that.

I personally don't believe in celebrating Christmas or Easter, but those around me do and I will not judge them for it. These are trivial matters.

Lol, I just read Romans 14:1-4 today, where Paul says that.

 

[Juk]

"Who came up with the idea of the way we celebrate Easter today? What sense does that make?
'How should we go about celebrating Jesus' resurrection?'
'How about eggs?'
'That doesn't seem to have much to do with the resurrection of our Lord.'
'...Alright, we'll hide them.'"
~Jim Gaffigan

I heard that the concept of rabbits and eggs came from paganism.

 

[calvin]

Lol, I just read Romans 14:1-4 today, where Paul says that.

I hope you read on though..
Rom 14:5. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
Rom 14:6. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
In verse 6, Paul nails it IMNSHO
That leaves absolutely no room to say that any occasion, Christmas or Easter or lent is taboo and pagan
If in celebrating Christmas and / or Easter, we are fully convinced in our own minds that it is OK, or if another is fully convinced in his own mind not to celebrate then that ought to be the end of the matter.
Neither one is more holy, or less holy than the other because of his belief

 

[Juk]

I hope you read on though..
Rom 14:5. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
Rom 14:6. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
In verse 6, Paul nails it IMNSHO
That leaves absolutely no room to say that any occasion, Christmas or Easter or lent is taboo and pagan
If in celebrating Christmas and / or Easter, we are fully convinced in our own minds that it is OK, or if another is fully convinced in his own mind not to celebrate then that ought to be the end of the matter.
Neither one is more holy, or less holy than the other because of his belief

I read the whole chapter yesterday, but I am on a reading plan, so I only read up to verse 4 today.

 

[By Faith]

I'm under my parents, though.

Good answer. Do what your parents do. God's first command to children is to obey your parents (As long as it's not like robing a bank)

Christmas is a man made day, and being free in Christ there is nothing wrong with enjoying it the best possible. When we get to observing days or not observing them, then it becomes reliegion.

 

[Juk]

Good answer. Do what your parents do. God's first command to children is to obey your parents (As long as it's not like robing a bank)

Christmas is a man made day, and being free in Christ there is nothing wrong with enjoying it the best possible. When we get to observing days or not observing them, then it becomes reliegion.

Ok, I will obey my parents (of course). My mom said she wasn't doing much next Christmas anyway.

 

[LanceA]

We should not celebrate Christmas, for it is a pagan holiday. We should be celebrating the Passover instead.

http://www.ucg.org/holidays-and-hol...4cfe6444baeb00d&at_ab=per-3&at_pos=1&at_tot=4

Easter is also a pagan holiday.

http://www.ucg.org/holidays-and-hol...4cfe331be852ab8&at_ab=per-3&at_pos=0&at_tot=1

Please do not celebrate these things.

What do you guys think of Easter and Christmas?

Easter (Eostar) and Christmas (Yule) were once and are still used by pagans. Christians have incorporated this days for their celebration of Christ. Yes we decorate our trees and maybe have some fun finding a few eggs with our kids, but the main meaning for Christians is that it celebrates the birth and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. If you want it to mean something pagan then it will be something pagan. I celebrate it as a Christian and it remains that way for my family and we will continue to do so. We praise Jesus on these days and it is a great way to bring families together and worship our Lord and Savior and to remember what He did for us as sinners who didn't deserve it.