First Read:
UNVEILING THE GREATEST LIES IN CHRISTENDOM:
CHRISTMAS AND EASTER ARE SIMPLY BOGUS PAGAN HOLIDAYS
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2009/10/unveiling-greatest-lies-in-christendom.html
The True Meaning of Easter and The Passover
http://www.thebibleistheotherside.org/message23.htm
The History of Christmas
http://www.thebibleistheotherside.org/message6.htmLent, Good Friday and Easter are just catholic Man Made traditions
Sarah Palin Claims Jesus Celebrated Easter
http://dailycurrant.com/2013/10/23/sarah-palin-claims-jesus-celebrated-easter/
Sarah Palin claimed today that Jesus Christ celebrated Easter during his time on Earth.In an interview with Fox and Friends this morning, the former Alaska governor promoted her new book about the left's "war on Christmas" and argued that all Christian holidays should return to the traditional versions practiced by Jesus.
"It makes me so gosh darn angry," Palin explained. "The liberal left in this country has targeted Christian holidays and is trying to secularize them right out of existence.
"When Jesus celebrated Easter with his disciples there were no Easter bunnies or egg hunts. There were no Easter sales at department stores or parades in the street. Easter was a special time of prayer and Christian activism.
"Jesus would gather all the townspeople around and would listen to their stories about the meaning of Easter in their lives. Then he would teach them how to love one another, how to protest Roman abortion clinics and how to properly convert homosexuals.
Gospel of Palin
Easter is a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after he was crucified by the Romans in the 1st century A.D. It is the most important holiday for Eastern and Orthodox Christians, and also has great significance in the West.Because Easter is a celebration of Jesus's resurrection from the dead, it is highly unlikely that he celebrated the holiday before his death. Its first recorded instance is sometime in the mid-2nd century. This seemingly obvious fact was not lost on the Fox and Friends team, who instantly challenged Palin's assertions.
"Sarah, you know that we love you," started co-host Brian Kilmeade. "I can understand if you think Christian holidays have become too secular and you want to return to the days of the early church. But you have to know that Jesus never celebrated Easter right? I mean you have to know that. What do you think Easter celebrates?"
"Well, Brian, Easter celebrates, you know, sticking it to all the liberal lefties out there who want to be taking our guns and our freedom," Palin responded. "It celebrates the rights of the unborn and the right to religious freedom, to not have government come in and tell you who to believe in and who not to ..."
"It celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus," Kilmeade interrupted. "It celebrates his death and resurrection from the dead. Now Sarah, tell me how can Jesus celebrate his own death before he died?"
Palin stared blankly into the screen for about 15 seconds, before co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck cut to commercial.
The
True Meaning of Easter and The Passover
In this message I'm going to cover one of the
most popular holidays known to man where the pews are noticeably
filled up to capacity. Many programs are conducted through out the religious and church
communities in celebration of this holiday, called Easter. Even many businesses like banks
will close for three hours on Good Friday in honor of this holiday.
The ACLU with it's anti-Christian and pro-pagan lawsuits has never challenged this federal holiday. Also in
this message, I'm going to go over the true meaning of the Passover which
began with Old Testament Jewish believers in the Lord.
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Gallop estimates with
it's various surveys across the nation that 100 million adults which comes
out to be about one out of every two people in the United States attends an
Easter service. The biggest surge coming from attendees who are 30 years
or younger and are Roman Catholics.
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Where did very
popular holiday called; "Easter" originally come from and did the New Testament
believers set a series of days in order to celebrate the Passover? Prior to 325
AD there is no record of what the modern era is now celebrating. In 325 AD at the
Council of Nicaea, Emperor Constantine claimed being converted to
Christianity but was still very much involved with paganism. His objective as
the very first Pope was to unite both pagans, and Christians under his
leadership. It's the same concept we see today concerning unity under the
current Pope of Rome. In order to try an accomplish this objective, Constantine
sought out to add festivals (see
Christmas, click here) which appealed to pagans and adopt it into to
church worship which would appeal to the church community who were making
professions of faith in the Lord. So Constantine by making a degree at the
Council of Nicaea, Easter became a holiday celebrated which was to be on
the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal
equinox.
Today if the Pope
of Rome would declare a holiday in which Christians should observe let's say for
example, the
celebration of the miracles of Jesus. How many non-Catholic churches would join
in on the celebration? Would you say it would be as popular as Easter or
Christmas among Protestants which includes Baptists? At first glance, the new official so-called holiday presented by the
current Pope if he were to do such a thing, would be adopted by many outside of
Catholicism. But also rejected by many others as well in the very beginning.
Eventually those who had previously rejected the new so-called holiday will come around and adopt it into their own
practices. The only ones left in the Christian community are the few who name Christ as their Lord and
Saviour. They would continue against the onslaught of the many not celebrate any new holiday degreed by the Pope of
Rome. This is exactly what happened throughout history concerning the two other
holidays of Christmas and Easter.
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Mark 7:7-9
Howbeit in vain they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of
men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye
do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God,
that ye may keep your own tradition.
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The
Tradition of Lent
The traditions of Easter has bits and pieces of truth, but it
also has many errors contained in them which are not biblical. The Lent
tradition and practice is a typical example. There is no record of
the Apostles nor Jesus celebrating 40 days of abstinence which means reframing
from their normal worldly activities for a period of time. Basically it's a form
of works to attempt to please God for all the other sins committed during the
past year. So where did it come from?
Lent which means "spring
time" was originally a pagan practice that was first invented by the Babylonians
in honor of their "Queen of Heaven and Her son Tammuz".
"He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater
abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the
Lord's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping
for Tammuz"
Ezekiel 8:13,14. The reason why the women were weeping for "Tammuz" was
because of his death. The belief also states, "Tammuz" comes back to life from
the dead. Sound familiar? It should because it's a distorted belief of of what
really Christ did on the Cross (Gen. 3:15) and His victory over Satan when He was risen from
the dead. In reality, Tammuz never was really risen from the dead but used as an
object of worship for many pagan cultures throughout history.
Eventually
Lent was adopted by the Egyptians in honor of one their of gods which happens to be
another version of Tammuz named; Adonis. Since there were variants of Lent in
the way it was practiced by the ancient pagans, Catholic leaders at the time
were in disagreement on how to celebrate the new tradition. It wasn't till the sixth century
when the Pope made the official by calling the Lent celebration a 'sacred fast',
and ordered the people to abstain from meat and a few other foods for a period
of time. The Scriptures plainly condemn such a practice..."Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a
hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which
God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know
the truth" 1 Tim 4:2-3. Lent started out as 36 days, but later in 800
AD it was expanded to 40 days and it has been that way ever since.
Eating Fish on
Fridays
Speaking
of abstaining from meats, part of the Lent tradition was to obtain from meats on
every Friday during the Lent season and fish was endorsed to be eaten. In honor
of the ancient pagan god Freya who was the goddess of peace, joy, and fertility,
the pagans would eat fish on Fridays. Now fish was known to the ancient pagans
as having a high reproduction rate and was a holy symbol to their goddess. By
the way, Freya is where we get the word; "Friday". Some Protestants have
modified the tradition for Good Friday only but as we seen in 1 Tim 4:2-3 it is not
a biblical practice when it comes to worshiping God.
The Easter Bunny
Many Protestants
including Baptists who celebrate this holiday reject the Easter bunny although
in some cases it's not a total rejection but rather contains some modifications. The bunny symbol originated with the
pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the
Anglo-Saxons. Eastre or Astarte known in the spring festival as the goddess of
fertility. Rabbits had high reproduction rates which the ancient pagans considered
as perfect objects to
sacrifice to their goddess.
The Easter Egg
The egg was a
symbol of rebirth in most ancient pagan cultures. A peasant, would color
brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers. The
ancient Druids believed the egg was a sacred emblem of their idolatrous
religion. In Hinduism, they honor the egg as with a golden color. In Japan
it was brazen. In China, dyed or painted eggs are used on "sacred" heathen
festivals. In America the Easter egg contains numerous colors as the
society is mixed blend of different cultures.
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Acts 12:3
And
because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter
also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
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The True Meaning
of Passover:
Christ
A little surprise
for some Christians, Easter and the
Passover have nothing in common. Even thought the Bible uses the term, it still
doesn't mean there is common ground which leads to acceptance of this holiday.
The true Passover, is a memorial of the crucifixion of
Christ. Passover for New Testament believers. And by the early true Church in
the Old Testament it was a shadow of things to come namely Christ. It was not
conducted on Sunday or any fixed day of the week, but a calendar day of the
year. The day of the week varies from year to year as we shall see from
Scripture.
The Biblical Timeline of Christ's Death and Resurrection
This is one of the most amazing
and exciting part while discussing the true meaning of Passover! It clarifies
the confusion that this holiday called, Easter has promoted. How many people really believe Christ
risen from the dead Sunday morning? Let's take a look from an example.
Here are Christians, great defenders of God preserving His Word but take a
look at answer regarding the account of "Easter"...
Luke 23:56 supports
a "Friday" crucifixion in the light of verses 54 and 55. Luke
clearly recorded that the day of the crucifixion was the day
of "the preparation, and the sabbath drew on (near)" (Luke
23:54). The "preparation" was the preparation for the sabbath
of the passover week (2 Chron 30:21-22, ie, the feast of the
unleavened bread which lasts for seven days). The passover
that Jesus observed was held on a Thursday evening, while "the
preparation of the passover" was held on a Friday (Mark
15:42). Jesus was thus crucified and buried on Friday before
the "sabbath day" (ie, Saturday) which was a day of rest. The
women returned to the tomb on Sunday with their spices and
ointments only to discover that Jesus is risen from the dead
(Luke 24:1-6).
How many of you were
taught this particular account when learning about "Easter?"
How many churches know the truth about the real time line but
are still going along with the holiday's time line by
conducting an "Easter" or "Good Friday"
service just like other so-called churches who
claimed that Christ had risen on Sunday. What do the Scriptures say concerning
this matter which is often times overlooked by those who believe in the
false account but here lies the answer...
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Matthew
12:40
For as Jonas
was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of
man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
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Christ made a sign which signified Him as
the Saviour. If this Scripture did not come out the exact way
Christ said it would happen, then He wouldn't be Lord and
Saviour over His people. Jesus said, he would be in the ground
for "three days and three nights"
which conflicts with the Easter holiday that claims Christ died on the cross Friday afternoon and rose
again Sunday morning. There is little dispute here on how long Christ was buried even
most scholars agree it was a 72 hour time frame. Moving on one of
the most amazing event in the history of mankind!
Christ's Day Actual Day of Crucifixion
"And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!" John 19:14.
When it comes to
Christ's crucifixion the Scriptures reveal this important
aspect. All four Gospels refer to the day of Christ's dying on
the Cross as the day which they were preparing for the
"high day" Sabbath. In John 19:31, it says;
"The Jews therefore, because it was
the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath
day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that
their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken
away."
What is a "high day" sabbath? Leviticus 23 tells us the Jews were to keep seven of these days, year
by year. In verse two it says; "Speak
unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the
feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, even these are my feasts."
Those days were called; "holy
convocations and my feasts"
and they do not fall on the same day as Numbers 28:16-17 tells
us: "And in the fourteenth day of the
first month is the passover of the Lord. And in the fifteenth
day of this month is the feast." This feast was the first Day
of Unleavened Bread. Matthew 26:2 says,
"You know that after two days is the feast of the
Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be
crucified." We know for certain Christ was crucified on
the Passover which is described in Exodus 12. The original
Passover was when the Jews were taught to slay a lamb and put
the blood on the doorposts which caused the angel of death to
pass them by sparing their firstborn. It was a shadow of
things to come namely the true Messiah which is Jesus Christ.
So Christ was crucified on the exact day the lamb was being
slain every year. This day then would automatically be a
preparation day for the feast day, or annual "high
day"
Sabbath which was to begin
almost immediately after His burial.
So what day did the Passover
occur? Well according to the Jewish calendar, the
Passover occurred on a Wednesday...This means that the annual
Sabbath had to be one day later which would be Thursday! As
this sabbath was approaching, required a quick burial of
Christ's body prior to its arrival. The weekly Sabbath which
occurs on Saturday, was to occur two days
after that. So Christ was crucified on Wednesday afternoon.
Now if one is to correctly understand Mathew
12:40
about
how many days Jesus spent in the grave, this would put His resurrection
on a Saturday afternoon. This also is the very reason why Mary Magdalene, and the others with her saw
angels Sunday morning rather than Christ (Luke 24:6).
Christ's prophecy of the events that were to
happen, did in fact happen in every aspect with no errors in His plan. Since we know from the
Scriptures the true time frame, I ask again, why do many so-called churches continue with the Easter tradition?
Even some Christian churches have been confused on this issue while claiming to
know better (some Baptists assembles) but yet either have a "Good Friday
service with a message or an Easter service with a message" but reject the
"Lent" tradition. Their symbolic representation of the Lord's death
and resurrection is faulty. Thus, it denies what the Scriptures reveal about it
which all true Christians rejoice in and celebrate in remembrance of Him at the
Lord's table. Revelation 17:2 points out..."With whom the kings of the earth
have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Verse
5, And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF
THE EARTH."
The Scriptures Commands
In Revelation 18:4...
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
The Bible makes it clear we are not to
'Christianize' a pagan tradition even though it has some bits of truths in it.
We are also "not to be partakers of her sins" and show appearance of evil by
going along with this holiday known as Easter which symbolizes rejection of what
Christ predicted about his death and resurrection from the grave. When we look
at Old Testament believers, we didn't see any change in it's celebration like
additional customs outside of Scripture. Nor did they change the Sabbath days
either. For many hundreds of years before Christ came and died then rose again
from the grave it was conducted the same way as God had instructed. Things did
change in the New Testament as prophecy was fulfilled.
But the changes we see today go beyond the
bounds of Scriptures as this holiday gives honor to a pagan god who's traditions
are imbedded in it which of course wasn't happening with the old Passover
practice. We as true Christians should rejoice in the Lord's great
accomplishments, His great sacrifice, His risen from the dead, His unmerited
mercy upon us, and ever being so thankful about it in our daily lives, while
gleaning on the things pertaining to the Lord in order conform more to His Will.
He Has Risen!
Praise Be To God!
The History of Christmas
This is without
question, the most celebrated and profitable holiday the world
has ever seen. It's popularity has grown by leaps and
bounds into the mainstream over the course of hundreds of
years. Countless people from all walks of life and different
faiths even including atheists come together and practice
various customs of the holiday in order to celebrate what is
now known to be called; "Christmas" on December 25th.
Gallup
polls from 1994 to 2011 consistently show that more than 90
percent of adults say they celebrate Christmas, including 84
percent of non-Christians.
2 Corinthians
6:17
Wherefore come
out from among them,
and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you.
and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you.
The very word;
"Christmas" comes from two words; "Christ's Mass"
which is a Roman Catholic teaching on the Lord's
Supper. It's practice is represented by a priest, who
offers Christ up for a sacrifice for the sins of the world
each time the mass is performed. With a
supernatural ability that is supposedly given to the Priest,
he is then able to transform the bread and wine into the
literal body and blood of Christ. Instructions of
worshipping the wafer are given to their members in
Catholicism. However, when it comes to plain and true biblical
teaching, this is obviously contrary to what the Scriptures
say in terms of the true meaning of the Lord's supper and
Christ's sacrifice for the sins of His people (read; Heb.
9:12, 24-26; 10:10,12,14).
‘The baby whose
birth we celebrate at Christmas is the Creator of the world!
See John 1:1–5, especially v. 3: ‘All things were made through
Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.’ The
world, you see, is no cosmic accident. This world was created
by the Triune God, and through this Lord Jesus, who was born
in Bethlehem.’
Dr Felix
Konotey-Ahulu Interviewed in Creation Magazine
One of the more
popular concepts of X-mas is viewing Christ as a
"baby" so it is not surprising to see such
quotes. But the concept which Dr. Felix
Konotey-Ahulu like so many others advocate, distorts the true
account contained in the Bible. Christ spent 33 years on Earth
before He went back into Heaven. Does Dr Felix
Konotey-Ahulu's family celebrate his birthday as a baby
when he's an adult? Now I know many realize this including the
distinguished Dr who is right about without God nothing is
created and the trinity, and Lordship of Christ, but he still
views Jesus as a little infant on the holiday. Certainly
viewing my Lord as a baby again is not biblical. Another well
educated theologian states...
"Although many scholars do not believe that
Jesus was born on December 25, it could still be the date on
which the angels announced His birth...It is not wrong to
remember the birth of Christ on a day which is as close as we
can come to His birthday."
John Rice (1895-1980) Should a Christian Observe
Christmas?
--The Sword Sermon
John Rice who was and
still continues to be popular in certain fundamentalist
circles has made statements like this one which are
merely conjecture and very compromising in content. We know
for a fact that Christ was never born in the winter, as
Palestine's climate was cold during the months of December
through February. Generally shepherds of Judea as a common
practice watched their flocks no later than October. So the
date is not close to Christ's birth as Rice says it
is. Then why was December 25th picked as the official day
of celebrating Christ's birth? It's was all about
converting the pagans to Catholicism. There was a annual
winter festival which was very popular among the Romans who
observed the birthday of their sun god known as Mithras.
The original winter festival of the sun god started from the
Babylonian religion as they celebrated the birth of a son
(Baal or Mithras as the Romans called him) from a
mother-goddess who was deemed to be the "queen of
heaven."
Many adaptations have
happened as the result of the Babylonian religion even the
Arabians celebrated the "birth of the Lord" which is their
moon god. Lord moon, as they called their god was born
December 24. Anglo-Saxons called the 25th of December
"Yule day" -- in other words, "infant day" or "child's day"
which was long before the Christmas tradition even
stared. So under Constantine at the Council of
Nicaea in 325 AD the celebration known as Christmas was
officially declared in place of the winter Roman festival.
Constantine wanted pagans and non-pagans alike united under
Catholicism so he adapted pagan customs with the the new
holiday. By adapting various pagan practices by merely
changing the name to biblical names caused it to be very
popular among the heathen. Thus it was much easier to convert
to Catholicism than ever before during that time period.
Eventually many hundreds of years later it's appeal
spread into most Protestant circles who once shunned the idea
of having a "Christmas celebration". Nothing in their
histories that reveal any origins of a day set aside for
Christ's birth, but now many of these protestant assemblies
(including Baptists and other non-Catholics) have not
only accepted this Roman Catholic "holy day" but are united
into attempting to put Christ into the holiday.
How Christians
and others in the Past Viewed Christmas
A very well-known and
popular Baptist preacher named Spurgeon once said, "I
hold it to be one of the greatest absurdities under heaven to
think that there is any religion in keeping of
Christmas" (taken from The New Park
Street Pulpit and was originally preached on Sunday
morning, December 23, 1855). In the treasury of David on
Psalm 81:4, we see more of Spurgeon's view about Christmas;
"When it can be proved that the observance of
Christmas, Whitsuntide, and other Popish festivals was ever
instituted by a divine statute, we also will attend to them,
but not till then. It is as much our duty to reject the
traditions of men, as to observe the ordinances of the Lord.
We ask concerning every rite and rubric, 'Is this a law of the
God of Jacob?' and if it be not clearly so, it is of no
authority with us, who walk in Christian liberty."
In America's
early history, a governor named William Bradford, who was a
Puritan, tried hard to stamp out all "pagan mockery"
during the Christmas season which includes the holiday itself.
Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen
traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees and any
joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred
event."
Quoting from a
12-23-83 USA TODAY article about Christmas: "A
broad element of English Christianity still considered
Christmas celebration a pagan blasphemy. The Puritans,
Baptists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Calvinists and other
denominations brought this opposition to early New England and
strong opposition to the holiday lasted in America until the
middle of the 18th century."
Henry Ward Beecher,
a Congregationalist, wrote in 1874 of his New England
boyhood:
"To me Christmas is a foreign day, and I shall die so. When I was a boy I wondered what Christmas was. I knew there was such a time, because we had an Episcopal church in our town, and I saw them dressing it with evergreens, and wondered what they were taking the woods in the church for; but I got no satisfactory explanation. A little later I understood it was a Romish institution, kept by the Romish Church."
The Customs and
Symbols of Christmas
"I do celebrate Christmas, I get my
Christmas tree. It's a secular
holiday"
PZ Meyers--Author of a popular blog and Militant
Atheist.
The Christmas
Tree
Lets begin by
taking a look at one of the most recognized and widely
used symbol during the Christmas holiday season and that is of
course the "Christmas tree." It comes in many shapes
and sizes, decorated with the utter most care with lights,
glitter, bulbs, angels, stars, and more. It all depends
upon a person's creativity along with imagination on how
deeply they go in decorating a tree for Christmas.
It's style was later expanded to houses and yards even
the United States government purchases Christmas trees for
display which never gets challenged by the anti-Christian
organization, the ACLU. This symbol is very common to see
after Halloween through the first week of January. But
what about the relevance and origin in relation to Christ's
birth? Most Christians know there is no relevance when it
comes to an evergreen tree in relation to Christ's birth found
anywhere in the Bible.
However, to the
ancient pagans, the evergreen represented eternal life because
no matter what the season, the tree would always stay
green. Pagans used it as a way to honor their god
Adonis. The mythology of Adonis went like this, he was
slain but was later brought to life by the serpent
Aesculapius. Adonis dead body was the symbol of the
stump of the tree, when the snake brought him back alive, the
stump grew into an evergreen tree. Various other
cultures adapted the tree, in Rome Baal-Berith, who was
supposedly brought back to life by the same serpent on
December 25th. In Egypt, this god was worshiped in a palm tree
as Baal-Tamar. As far as Christ is concern, the Bible says
nothing about this symbol representing Him or His birth.
After the pagans, the
modern "Christmas tree" custom was later adapted by bringing
it into the home and decorating by a man named; St. Boniface
(675 - 755 AD). He would always cut down a deciduous tree in
the presence of some newly-baptized Catholics. The tree was an
oak -- once sacred to the former Pagans. It miraculously split
into four pieces, revealing an evergreen tree growing from the
center of the oak stump. This practice which is not biblical
symbolized the death of Paganism and the establishment of
Catholicism. Later on, Martin Luther helped the practice
become more mainstream by cutting down a fig tree and
decorating it in his home. What saith the Scriptures
concerning this Christmas custom and practice? The Bible
condemns such a practice which was done by the ancient
pagans.
Jeremiah 10:2-4:
"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen,
and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen
are dismayed at them. 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."
The Scriptures make
it clear, we are not only to reject the beliefs of paganism
but we are also to reject the practices which comes along with
those beliefs, and not to do them ourselves.
Santa
Claus
Here is another very
popular symbol or figure like the "Christmas tree" is
Santa Claus or as some call him; "Father Christmas".
Parents go as far as to lie to their kids
about Santa's true existence in what they call the spirit
of Christmas. Stores are generally packed full of little kids
waiting to get a picture with whom they believe will give them
presents. Even Christians who celebrate the holiday do have a
problem with this concept of Santa Clause as it replaces
Christ. Now does Santa Claus have a real history or just a
tradition that parents make up? Yes! Santa Claus does
have history, he was actually a Dutch Roman Catholic by the
name of "Sant Nikolaas" or in English it's spelled;
"Saint Nicholas." He was a Roman Catholic
Bishop of the 4th century in Asia Minor who was known for
giving out treats to the children of that time and later was
regarded as a special friend and protector of children. After
his death, he was promoted to the status of sainthood by the
Roman Catholic Institution. The apparel that Santa Claus is
known for came from the bishops of Italy who wore
red.
"Kriss
Kringle" is another name Santa Claus goes by and there
have been cartoons and movies using this name but where did it
come from or originate from? It's German for "Christ
Child" and most Christians who celebrate the holiday are
unaware of that fact. In paganism, they also their own "Santa
Claus" which is actually where the concept first came from in
the first place and later adapted into Catholicism by using
another man's legend. The Santa Claus in paganism was called;
"Bes" who lived at the north pole and worked year round making
items like toys for kids who had good parents. Does that sound
familiar? It should, because many parents and Hollywood
movies and programs use the mythology for Santa Claus. In
European countries it was expanded to traveling around the
world seeking who is "naughty or nice." The reindeer
which is another aspect tied into the Santa Clause mythology
has it's origins in Babylonia and later adapted into the Norse
traditions of the Yuletide season.
Divinity of Santa Claus in the X-mas
Story
We come to the Santa
Claus divinity or mythology as I like to call it, he has God
like features for instance, he never dies, so he has eternal
life. Santa has been labeled as the "magic" of Christmas
because of his so-called ability to travel around the world in
one night visiting billions of homes which no human being
could really do in one night. He also judges the people of the
world to see if they are bad or good. And rewards those
who have acceptable behavior which is not a symbol of faith
freely given of God without any merit, but a symbol of
salvation by works. Some call this commercialism and would
agree this should be kept out of the celebration, but it's
more than "commercialism" of a materialistic world, it's a
pagan deception which doesn't point in the direction of God or
agrees with His Word, but points in the direction of hell and
no Christian should have anything to do with pagan customs.
And it's not only Santa Clause's mythology and the Christmas
tree mythology but others as well, let's look further into
some of the other practices of Christmas.
Mistletoe
This plant has no
practical purpose for man or animals because it's poisonous to
both. However, the Druids did find a purpose for this
particular plant. They used the mistletoe as a corrupted
version of Christ as the "Man of the branch." The plant
was a magical representation for the Druids as a Messiah (a
false Messiah) coming down from heaven placing itself on a
tree and growing from there. Symbolism was also and
still is part of the mistletoe. It was used by the
pagans as reconciliation between God and man. Since a
kiss is considered symbol of reconciliation, the custom of
kissing under the mistletoe began. It's so-called magical
powers believed among the Druids which came to them from
heaven by a mistle thrush carrying in it's toes, the magical
powers, thus the name; Mistletoe came into being.
X-mas
Gifts
One of the most if
not thee appealing aspects in the modern era when it comes to
the Christmas holiday is purchasing and exchanging gifts. The
vast majority of profits from retailers comes from this
tradition of Christmas. Many think they are serving the Lord
when they practice this concept of the holiday. While others
think it's a materialistic concept that should have no
part in celebrating the birth of Jesus. When look we
back on the history of the event which is when Christ was
actually born, the gifts were given to Christ, not the local
population exchanging gifts among themselves. This is not a
surprise since the roots of this holiday is not
biblical. While it's true, there is nothing wrong with
giving someone a gift for such things as their birthday or for
no reason at all, but as an X-mas gift is something totally
different.
Christmas
Carols
Colossians
3:16; "Let the
WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY, in ALL WISDOM teaching
and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord"
There is no question
or doubt when believers in the Lord sing hymns to God, they
must be glorifying songs, not rock music, not rap music, or
pop music and so on. But even if the style of the music
does in fact glorify God, the content of the hymns must also
glorify God as well. The two go hand in hand with each other.
Let's take a look at various hymn content from the top
Christmas songs.
HARK! THE HERALD
ANGELS SING
Charles Wesley,
1739
A very well-known
song through out the years and normally only sung or played on
the radio after the Halloween holiday. But it has many errors
in it's content which doesn't agree with the Bible. For
example, "herald angels" did not sing "Glory to the newborn
King." The author John Wesley wasn't a Christian as he
believed in salvation through infant baptism as he has stated;
"By water then as a mean, the water of baptism, we are
regenerated or born again: Whence it is also called by the
Apostle; 'the washing of regeneration.' This statement is
completely contrary to the plain teaching of the Word of God.
Faith is a gift from God which doesn't come through water
baptism (Eph 2:8,9) and then holiness follows as that
person becomes a "new creature" as old things are passed away
and behold all things are new. So naturally the hymn or hymns
written by him would not have a true biblical foundation on
the most important aspects of God's Word!
SILENT NIGHT!
HOLY NIGHT!
Written by: "Father" Joseph Mohr, 1818 (Roman Catholic priest);
Tune written by: Franz Grüber, 1818 (Roman Catholic)
Another hymn which distorts the actual event itself. The angles were singing, also the shepherds were visiting, so it was anything but a "silent night." More distortions include: "all is bright" where there is no such description found anywhere in the Scriptures. The hymn also claims the Angels were singing "Alleluia" which is not found either in the Scriptures nor a light radiating from the baby's face or the star's light was a part of the scene. The Scriptures doesn't not even call that evening "silent" or "holy." A few phrases might appeal to a true believer who thinks they are singing to God, but in fact are singing a Roman Catholic tradition based on fictional elements which many people claim is morally acceptable during the holiday season unlike other times of the year.
JOY TO THE
WORLD
Isaac Watts,
1719
Interesting enough
and I believe many who sing this song for the holidays don't
not realize it, but this hymn does not directly relate to the
First Advent at all, but to the Millennium. More than likely
this hymn was included in the Christmas carols by Protestants
who had previously rejected the new holiday, but then decided
to go along with the popular celebration. The hymn is actually
a good one but not for Christmas.
There are many more
popular Christmas Carols such as GOD REST YOU MERRY
GENTLEMEN, THE FIRST NOEL, O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM, and
AWAY IN A MANGER which have doctrinal problems or actual
account problems concerning the Lord's birth. Which can be
gone through in various degrees on certain verses of the
hymns, however, I like to move on to more important issues at
hand.
Scriptural
Support and Basis For Not Celebrating Christmas
In Deut. 12:29-32,
God tells His people if there is any pagan worship to be found
in the "promised land" to destroy every part of it. God
did not want His people to worship Him in the same manner that
pagans were worshipping their gods. Not even in the
slightest degree, did God want such worship of Him. In 1
Sam. 15:1-3, 7-9, 21-23 -- Saul rebels against the prophet
sent to him by God, and decides to worship God his way. Isn't
that what we see in the Christmas celebration being man's way
in worshiping God?
Here are some
more points to consider...
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Thou Shall Not Make Yourself Any engraved
Images
Pictures of Christ, nativity scenes,
Christmas cards with "pictures" of Jesus, etc., all
violate this command.
"God has given us
His Word, not images as there is no real description of
His appearance. But rather to teach us about
Christ.
(1 Peter 1:23)
(Det. 4:12, 15-19)
|
Thou Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me
"The god of X-mas"
is idolatrous!"
Looking to the Christmas season for happiness,
joy, and fulfillment, absorb in picking of gifts,
putting lights on a tree or in the yard, rather
than through a pure, personal, and Biblical relationship
with Jesus Christ, is idolatry.
(Exodus 20:2-3)
(Matthew 22:36-38)
|
Thou Shall Not Take the Lord's Name in
Vain
"Christ" and "mass" are two words that are
totally opposite from one another, and to connect the
two is to blaspheme the name of Christ.
"By taking a pagan
celebration, "Christianizing" it and calling it a
celebration of the birth of Christ, is most certainly
taking the Lord's name in vain.
(Exodus 20:7)
(Mark 7:6-8)
|
Thou Shall Not Covet
Christmas brings out sinful behavior on how
people and children should drool over the gifts
of excesses
from Santa Claus, parents, friends, and so on.
If they have little money then the focus is more
on the cheaper gifts.
This practice has no value in worshipping God or
remembering Him.
(Romans 7:7)
(1 Timothy 6:6-10
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A holy day
has dawned upon us.
Come you nations and adore the Lord
Come you nations and adore the Lord
--Pope Benedict
XVI’s Christmas message on December 25, 2007
Let no man
therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an
holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days
(Colossians 2:16).
Christians are not
instructed to observe Jewish holy days even though these "holy
days" were given to God's people to do back in the Old
Testament. Neither can a government sanction them again as a
biblical practice. And Christians certainly do not have the
liberty to create a day not found anywhere in the New
Testament to observe every year and then in the process using
pagan customs to practice it.
The Apostles in the
Lord who later would walk with Jesus and be taught by Him
never created a special day set aside to celebrate his birth
after His accession into Heaven. There was also no such record
in the Scriptures of a special day to celebrate the Lord's
birth when He was living on Earth. It's like calling
Jesus a "baby" when He is not. While the birth of Christ in
itself was important, factual and historical, it doesn't
make 'Christmas' biblical with a celebration that the world
loves not hates. The Scriptures in fact have more focus on the
miracles of Christ than His birth. So I posed this question;
Why are people not setting a special day for the miracles of
Christ?
“Thou shalt not
follow a multitude to do evil” (Exod. 23:2)
Some like the
X-mas holiday because it brings people into the assembly or
makes them more in the mood to talk about the Bible. Another
reason people try to justify this holiday is the fact that
families get together. As Christians know, there is nothing
wrong with getting together with the family, around the
holidays even though one is not observing the X-mas holiday.
But if people were able to add things to the worship of God
like holidays which would just focus in on certain events, it
would make the Bible look incomplete and encourage sinful
behavior. Believers are to worship God in all things of
what the Lord has commanded upon us to do, nothing more or
nothing less, and encouraging Godly behavior and practice in
the process.
“Be not
conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2)
No true Christian
should ever celebrate Christmas for it is man-made worship
who's customs come from a pagan god in various cultures and
pagan religions through the ages. We are not to be conforming
God's Word to the worldly celebration but we are ourselves are
to be conforming to His Word on a daily basis.
Christians should leave the practice of Christmas, as
Revelation 18:4 would say, come out and do not be partakers of
her sins!
News
Bits
Italian
archaeologists in 2007, uncovered a pagan shrine only a few
steps away from what many call a 'church' building (but the
real meaning of "church" is the assembly of saints )
which was built under Constantine who had declared the first
Christmas on December 25th 325 AD. More on story, click on
link above.
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