How Should Christians Celebrate Christmas (Part 2)

This is the last part on my discussion regarding how Christians should celebrate Christmas.  The intent of both my posts is to simply bring some clarity to this very important event...the birth of the Incarnate Deity, Jesus Christ.

Argument #4: Christmas Trees are Condemned by God

It is thought that in Jeremiah 10:2-4 that God explicitly condemned the Christmas Tree.  As you read that passage, there is a resemblance between the thing described in Jeremiah 10 and the Christmas tree, but "resemblance" does not equal "identity."  What Jeremiah described was an idol---a representation of a false god, as the next verse Jeremiah 10:5 clearly shows--"[Their idols] are like pillars of turned work...do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it possible for them to do good." (AMP).

A careful examination of these scriptures shows, that God is not condemning trees of any sort, including Christmas trees, but rather the use of the trees cut down and shaped into idols for the sole purpose of idol worship.  The context for these scriptures is the denunciation of making and worshiping idols and not the decoration of evergreen trees in the home.

We don't put Christmas trees up for the purpose of worshiping them, if we did we would leave them up all year long and not put it into a box to be stored in the attic for another 11 months!

Argument #5: The Uncertainty of the Date of Christ's Birth

Many will say that we don't know when Jesus was born and that December 25 was the date of a pagan festival in the Roman Empire in the fourth century, which is when Christmas began to be widely celebrated.

The fact that December 25 was a date of a pagan festival doesn't prove that Christmas is pagan and it doesn't invalidate the celebration of Christ's birth which we call Christmas.  It is believed that to take a pagan festival and try to "Christianize" it is folly.  However, God did exactly that in the Old Testament.  Historical evidence shows conclusively that some of the feasts given to Israel by God were originally pagan agricultural festivals which were filled with idolatrous imagery and practices.

What God did, in effect, was to establish feasts which would replace the pagan festivals without adopting any of the idolatry or immorality associated with them.  It would appear, then, that in principle there is nothing wrong with doing so in the case of Christmas.

Argument #6: What about Santa Claus?

Christmas can involve children in the belief of Santa Claus, a mythical figure, which certainly can detract from the person of Christ.  Parents need to be careful with this mythical figure.

Santa Claus originated with a man by the name of St. Nicholas who went about, often at night, giving gifts to the poor and needy children.  Over the years, the story and legend grew in country after country with various details being deleted and added so that we have our present day Santa Claus here in America.

Parents should treat this character for what it is, a fairy tale much like we might look at Alice in Wonderland or Jack and the Beanstalk.  Parents, don't make Santa out to be some god and don't "lie" to your children that they better be good or Santa won't come.  If you want to present Santa to your children then do it in a manner where it is "make believe" and a fun way to pretend.

Argument #7: Christmas Traditions are from Paganism

We have to understand, that many of our traditions had their origins in paganism.  Even the names of the days of the week  had their origin in pagan beliefs.  Thursday was the "god of thunder," Tuesday was the "god of war," and Sunday and Monday were related to the worship of the sun and moon.  Yet all of the associations of these pagan and ancient beliefs lost their meanings long ago, so that now we think nothing of them.  The same can be said for Christmas traditions.  If we observe the days of the week or the Christmas season with their ancient associations in mind, then certainly it would be wrong.  But many of these things, as with our Sunday, have been given Christian connotations.

I pray you have a very Merry Christmas with your family and always keep in mind that Jesus is the reason we celebrate this special day!