For Devout Christians- Why do you celebrate a holiday such as christmas?

Question

Why do you celebrate Christmas when it is not based on the bible but actually based entirely on non-chistian beliefs? If you look in an encyclopedia it shows that it is actually unknown when Jesus was born. So why lie to your children?

Answer 1

I don't know why it matters. If Christmas or any other holiday brings out the good in people, does it really matter? Most Christians focus more on Christ during Christmas. Many who have lost their faith, get opportunities to regain it during this holiday. It is a time to think of others more than of yourself. It is not a lie to teach your children that this is a holiday that was created to celebrate the birth of Christ. That is what it is, and the origins are not as important as what it teaches and does for people today.

Answer 2

Well, it's not very Christian anymore since it's practically illegal to have a manger scene or anything anymore, but whatever. The star is a Christian symbol (leading the wise men), the gifts are also (symbolizing gold, frankincense and myrrh given to the Christ child), angel (announcing the birth),and I'm sure there's some I am forgetting but who cares. There's not one holiday that's the same as it was in the beginning or that hasn't melded with another at some point. The point is the celebration and the feeling. And that's why I don't care about the actual date of birth. We know it was Bethlehem and cold, so it must have been winter. It's kinda like having your birthday party on a Saturday when the day was actually Tuesday but no one could come to the party then. Around the 25th there's Advent, St. Nicholas's Day, etc. Good time to do it..everyone's off.

Answer 3

If Christmas is not based on the Bible, then what is it based on.
We celebrate Christmas for the birth of Christ.
December 25th was originally a Roman Holiday of the Sun God; that holiday was a big pagan carnival filled with lust and drunkenness. After the Romans accepted Christianity; they changed December 25th to celebrate the birth of Christ in a peaceful and prayful manner.
So you see, December 25th is the celebration of Christians turning away from their vile pagan practices.

Answer 4

Why not?

We really don't know when Christ was born, more than that it was more likely around the summer I hear. I view it the same way as a foster parent who randomly picks a day to celebrate as the birthday of their adopted child whose real birthday they don't know. There is nothing wrong with it, though it is good to point out that it is a guess.

There are of course many pagan influences on the history of Christmas. It is not the history, but the heart, however, which determines the goodness of the celebrator. Much like there is no sin in eating meat sacrificed to idols as long as there is no faith in those idols, but rather thanks given to God, there is no sin in celebrating a popular holiday with a pagan history as long as that same God is praised.

Answer 5

The fact that there's no christmas in the bible doesn't mean there is no reason to commemorate/celebrate Jesus's birth. I don't think there are many christians who think he was born on Dec. 25/Jan. 7 so I think the chances of children being taught those are the definitive dates of his birth are minimal. To be so agitated that people are celebrating the birth of christ indicates a religious spirit, or perhaps membership in some cult (assuming you claim to follow christ, the other possibility is you don't even claim to follow him and just want to get a reaction).

Answer 6

Sure it is unknown the exact day Jesus was born, but we do know he was born, so what is wrong with choosing one day a year to celebrate the Birth of Jesus?

The Birth of Jesus in VERY Biblical.

The fact that the day may not be the exact day is not lying to our children, we are celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Peace!

Answer 7

No one argues the origins of Christmas and the involvement the church had in using it to celebrate the birth of Jesus, even though it was clearly not Jesus' actual birthday, so the question that begs to be asked:

Is the Christian free to celebrate a holiday that not only has pagan origins, but also is used by the unbelieving world a promotion of commercialism? In my opinion, it depends.

The Christians must hold his standard of righteousness and devotion to God above those of the world. The Old Testament says that we are to worship God in truth according to the dictates that He has established (Exodus 20:1-4; 24:12-31:18). Christmas was not established by God. In addition, there are no records at all of the early church celebrating the birth of Christ.

On the other hand, there are those who say we have freedom Christ and can celebrate any day we want to. Paul says, "All things are lawful, though not all are profitable" (1 Cor. 6:12).

Should we then participate in the celebration of a festival origins and exceeding commercialism?

It is my opinion that we are free to celebrate the day. This is why.

In the Bible in 1 Cor. 10:23-33, Paul speaks about meat sacrificed to idols. This meat was often sold in the meat market and the question arose, "Should a Christian each such meat?" Paul said in verse 25, "Eat anything that is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience' sake." The origins of the meat were, essentially, pagan. Many animals were raised for the purpose of sacrificing to pagan deities and their meat was offered in the market place. In reference to this Paul said it was okay to eat the meat.

Then in verses 28-29 he says, "But if anyone should say to you, 'This is meat sacrificed to idols,' do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience' sake; 29I mean not your own conscience, but the other man's; for why is my freedom judged by another's conscience?" (NASB). Paul is saying that if you are with someone who might be stumbled by your eating meat that was sacrificed to idols, then don't eat it -- not because of you, but because of the other person. In other words, eating that meat won't affect you. The false gods are not real. They have no power.

1 Cor. 8:-7-9 echoes this idea. It says, "However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. 8But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. 9But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak." Though this passage requires a bit more examination, it still carries the sense of freedom. And, Jesus has definitely set us free.

However, if you are not comfortable with this conclusion and you don't want to celebrate Christmas, that is okay. You must answer to the Lord.

The Lord, through His sacrifice, has cleansed us of our sins. When we come in contact with Him, it was we who were cleansed. It is not Him who was made dirty. The woman with the issue of blood who touched Jesus (Mark 5:25-34) was made clean. It was not Jesus who was made dirty. Likewise Jesus touched the unclean lepers and cleansed them (Matt. 8:3). Jesus came in contact with many people and it was never Him who was dirtied. It was they who were cleansed.

I think this principle can be applied to Christmas. Yes, Christmas has pagan origins. Yes, it is a highly commercial time. Yes, many do not have their eyes on Jesus. But for the Christian it is a time to reflect upon the birth of our Lord and to celebrate. We are making the day holy.

Answer 8

We know and believe that Jesus Who is the Bread of Life, WAS BORN at Bethlehem [Beit Lechem] ["the house of Bread"].

Why not celebrate the Incarnation; Emmanuel, "God with us"?

Why do "pagans" celebrate CHRISTmas? Especially, why do they celebrate it as a pagan festival?

If you adopted a child, and didn't know the date of that child's birth, then would you never celebrate that child's birthday just because you don't know the actual date?

Answer 9

I cannot think of a christian who actually says that Jesus was born on December 25.

The celebration is of what John chapter 1 describes. It is God Himself coming to earth as a helpless baby. When we were dead in our own selves, God took it upon Himself to enter OUR reality to save us. He could have set it up so that we would have to try to get to Him on our own. This would have been impossible. Instead, He did what only God could do, because of His great love for us. Now THAT is a reason to celebrate.

Merry Christmas.

Answer 10

My family doesn't celebrate Christmas for that very reason. However, I will probably celebrate it with my kids, taking care to explain the history behind it and why we are celebrating it.

Why do non-Christians lie to kids and tell them all about Santa clause. That's a recipe for cynicism.