Why don't Jehovah's Witnesses celebrate Christmas?

Question

Is it that you don't believe in Jesus, or don't believe that he was the son of God? or any other reason?? just curious!!

Answer 1

Curiousity can be good. That's how you find out. And it's very fair of you to ask instead of assuming or believing what others may say. :o)

Jehovah's Witnesses definetely believe in Jesus. They both believe that he is Gods Son and His appointed King. That is why they preach publically and from door-to-door. (Matt 28:19,20;Acts 20:20)

As for why they don't celebrate Christmas has to do with the origin, the beginning, of this celebration.
Christmas DOES NOT come from the scriptures.

There is no evidence that the first-century disciples of Jesus observed such a holiday. The book Sacred Origins of Profound Things states: "For two centuries after Christ's birth, no one knew, and few people cared, exactly when he was born."

Even if Jesus' disciples had known the exact date of his birth, they would not have celebrated it. Why? Because, as The World Book Encyclopedia says, the early Christians "considered the celebration of anyone's birth to be a pagan custom." The only birthday observances mentioned in the Bible are those of two rulers who did not worship Jehovah. (Genesis 40:20; Mark 6:21) Birthday celebrations were also held in honor of pagan deities. For example, on May 24 the Romans celebrated the birthday of the goddess Diana. On the following day, they observed the birthday of their sun-god, Apollo. Hence, birthday celebrations were associated with paganism, not with Christianity.

There is another reason why first-century Christians would not have celebrated Jesus' birthday. His disciples likely knew that birthday celebrations were connected with superstition. For instance, many Greeks and Romans of ancient times believed that a spirit attended the birth of each human and protected that one throughout life. "This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born," says the book The Lore of Birthdays. Jehovah certainly would not be pleased with any observance that would link Jesus with superstition. (Isaiah 65:11, 12)

It was not until several hundred years after Jesus lived on the earth that people began to commemorate his birth on December 25. But that was not the date of Jesus' birth, for it evidently took place in October. So why was December 25 chosen? Some who later claimed to be Christian likely "wished the date to coincide with the pagan Roman festival marking the 'birthday of the unconquered sun.'" (The New Encyclopædia Britannica) In winter, when the sun seemed weakest, pagans held ceremonies to get this source of warmth and light to come back from its distant travels. December 25 was thought to be the day that the sun began its return. In an effort to convert pagans, religious leaders adopted this festival and tried to make it seem "Christian."

Answer 2

You could wait until next May when this program is shown on PBS, or you can order a copy now about JW beliefs. It was done by an independent film company.

http://www.knocking.org/

As regards Christmas, or any other man made holiday, the greatest difference between JWs and the rest of Christendom can be answered with just one question.

WHAT DAY DO YOU OBSERVE THE MEMORIAL ON?

Everyone else will falter around and perhaps come up with a day in May, but all JWs will say at sunset on Niacin 14, which falls on the first full moon after the vernal equinox, the Memorial of the Last Supper. This is the only day, aside from wedding anniversaries, that Christ said to continue keeping, yet Jehovah's Witnesses are the only Christian organization that does.

Whatever you may say about whether it is right or wrong to observe the man-made holidays created since the first congregations, the fact remains that Christendom does not observe the one day Christ said to keep. What does that say for the leaders of Christendom, that they ignore that one important day of the year, and don't even know what day it falls on?

The question of holidays gets asked a lot, yet the facts of why are clearly evident. Even the Churches of Christendom recognize that the holidays and observances are not in keeping with Bible teachings, yet they fear that doing anything about it will jeopardize their positions and power. Check any religious encyclopedia about the holidays and their history.

So the question is not why don't witnesses celebrate the holidays, but why does Christendom celebrate something not taught in the Bible? Further, why don't they know what day Christ said to observe and why don't you observe it on that day?

Whatever you may think of any of the other beliefs of JWs, you have to ask yourself is the need to observe these holidays more important than observing the day Christ said to keep?

Answer 3

I have spoken with witnesses and they believe that dec 25th was not the day the Jesus was born. They base this on certain facts from the bible. They really disect things and according to the Jehovah Witnesses the manmade calendar that we use dosent jive with the story of christ's birth. Also Christmas has gone so Hollywood that most people realy aren't even observing Christ's Birth at all. It's all about Presents, Santa and Christmas Lights, decorations, and treese etc...they feel we should celebrate Jesus everyday not just one day out of the year. The same goes for Mothers Day and other holidays.

Answer 4

Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate christmas because it is made up from pagan beliefs that originate all the way to the time of Nimrod. More recently, the Roman' use to worship their sun god 'Sol Invictus' on the 25 Dec during the festival of the 'the birth of the unconquered sun'.

It wasn't until the year 325 CE that Pope Julius 1 decided on the Christ’ birth being celebrated on 25th December, and although it isn't known exactly when Christ was born, it is unlikely to have been December because the shepherds were outside looking after there sheep. December nights are quite cold, and it's in the middle of there rainy season.

Jehovah's witnesses don't believe in the trinity like most other Christian religions because they believe that Jesus was the 'only begotten son of God' and not God Himself. The trinity belief actually maintains that Jesus, the holy spirit and the Father are all different parts of God.

Acts 7:55-56
But he, being full of holy spirit, gazed into heaven and caught sight of God’s glory and of Jesus standing at God’s right hand, and he said: “Look! I behold the heavens opened up and the Son of man standing at God’s right hand.”

Answer 5

Everyone else will falter around and perhaps come up with a day in May, but all JWs will say at sunset on Niacin 14, which falls on the first full moon after the vernal equinox, the Memorial of the Last Supper. This is the only day, aside from wedding anniversaries, that Christ said to continue keeping, yet Jehovah's Witnesses are the only Christian organization that does.

Answer 6

Jesus was not born on December 25th. Sorry guys but his birthday was not recorded.
on December 22 is winter solstace. Basicallly it is the shortest day of the year. on December 25th the days start to get longer. The cathlic church was having trouble with the winter solstace Celebrations. They were mostly full of sin. Also winter solstace was worshiping death. The church decided to ignore the whole death cicle of the year and focused people on the birth of a new cicle. So they said lets celibrate Jesuses berth on the berth of the new sun. And that is how christmas came about.

As for Jehovah's Witnesses. They believe that you should not need any reason to be "happy" or "celebrate"
"Every moment god gives us is special and should be charished"
And that is why they don't celebrate christmas.

I am not a Jehovah's Witness but
I hope this helps
-David-

Answer 7

Several reasons. First, there is no Biblical evidence to support that December 25th was the day Jesus was born. In fact, based on the information in the Bible regarding his birth, the fact that the shepherds were out in the fields with their flocks at night makes it very unlikely since December is a cold, rainy season in that part of the world. Its more likely sometime in October. Second, December 25th was selected to coincide with a pagan holiday so that pagans could be more easily converted. The traditions, such as the tree, gift giving, mistletoe, etc. are all pagan traditions and have nothing to do with Christ. Third, the Bible does not show birthdays in a favorable light. The only two mentioned were one where John the Baptist was beheaded and one where Pharoah beheaded his chief cup bearer. If Christ's birth was to be celebrated it would have been instructed in the Scriptures. Instead, Jesus himself set out the only observance about him that we are to keep -- the Lord's evening meal. He gave detailed instructions as to what should be done and at Luke 29:19 he said "Keep doing this in rememberance of me."

Its important to remember that the nation of Israel was constantly being reprimanded by God for adopting the festivals and holidays of the pagan nations around them. God made it very clear to them numerous times that they should keep their worship of him unpolluted by pagan practices. The Bible says at 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 that "All scriptures is inspired and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work." So even though some religions don't pay much attention to the Hebrew scriptures, but instead favor the New Testament, its important to remember that the Old Testament is there for a reason. It gives us a good idea of what God approves of and doesn't approve of and has numerous experiences for us to draw from.

If you look into the origination of the various national holidays, you'll find that most have pagan origins and those that don't have political or national backgrounds. Since Jesus instructed his followers to remain neutral in national and political affairs, a Christian would not want to get involved in those holidays either.

Hope this helps.

PS - Its unbelieveable some of the things people say about Jehovah's Witnesses. We have parties, we can have balloons at our parties, we do celebrate some things. For example, I've attended weddings and wedding anniversaries, graduation parties, baptismal parties, and numerous other "just because" parties. Its sad that so many people have such strange misconceptions about us and they don't even bother to verify the things they say or pass on about us. I've even had people try to argue with me about what they think I believe. Being a Witness, wouldn't you think I'd know what I believe and why I believe it? People would do well to follow the rules that members of the press are supposed to follow ... get FACTS and check them to make sure they're accurate.

Answer 8

yes we believe that Jesus is the Son of God,

He is my Lord and King,

It is not an "old testament" ruling but Paul said at 2 Cor 6:14-18 that christians are God's temple.
and what fellowship does God's temple have with idols and satan.

Look up christmas in any reference book and you will see that the only thing "christian" about the event is the name.

Did you know that the wisemen didn't find Jesus until he was about 2 years old and living in a house?

Do you know that people were giving gifts, and feasting on Dec. 25, hundred of years before Christ came to the earth?

If we accept Christ as Lord, then shouldn't we follow his directions and live by his standards?

Answer 9

The link below is a good place to start:

We do like to have fun and we definitely believe in Jesus. If we didn't believe in him, we would not be knocking on your doors, because we are doing what he told his followers to do as recorded in Matthew 28:19, 20.

I was just a while ago looking at the Christmas decorations some had put up, and commented that if this was CHRISTmas then where was anything related to Christ. All I saw was snowmen, Santa Clauses, trees, etc.

The majority of the customs related to this season have more to do with Saturnalia and the winter solstice than the birth of Christ. I am sure he does not approve of the things done "in his name."

Answer 10

I don't know why but they don't celebrate anything, including birthdays..

Perhaps a JW can enlighten us on this, I would very much like to know the reason too.