Jehovah's Witnesses please...not an attacking question...?

Question

I was wondering if you could please clarify something for me about your beliefs? Part of the reason you do not celebrate Christmas is because it is a pagan holiday, right?

But, if the Christians made it their own, and decided to honor God with it, wouldn't it be a victory over false religion, rather than an insult to God?

Thanks for your help!

TROLL BOY: I really wanted to know the explanation. I wasn't trying to "make a point".

JWs: Thanks for your help. One of my coworkers is a Jehovah's Witness and he has been giving me a lot of information about Christmas. He's very smart. He's off work until Wednesday, and this question just came to me and I couldn't wait.

One thing I noticed, and I wanted to compliment you on, you all are very consistent people. I have Christian friends and they always argue on what things mean, and even the Christians on Y/A. I know they have good intentions, but when they are answering a question, all the answers are different!

I know you guys are Christians too, but the JWs have logical answers and they back it with the Bible verses and they don't contradict each other and confuse me!

I don't know why everyone is so down on you guys.

Soren: I liked tour illustration. I checked out your 360 page. I didn't know you were a woman!

Anyway, thanks again everyone!

Sasi: I appreciate your comment, but I don't care that JWs have literature that they reference; so do other Christians, and other religious groups.

People choose to believe what makes sense to them. I've met a few JWs and although they're consistent, none of them seem like they believe something because they are told to. My friend has never stopped listening to me because I have had a different view.

My problem is, I can ask 5 different Christians something and probably get 5 different answers. It seems like they don't know, or are just basing their answers on their "opinion". Maybe I'm wrong. It just SEEMS that way.

As far as the days of the week...are you suggesting that JWs rename the days for their own use? I don't know what you mean there.

Wedding rings? I didn't know they were pagan. I'll look into that.

I also, am not trying to come down on anyone. And I appreciate your answer too! I didn't know other Christians didn't celebrate. I commend you!

Answer 1

DO ORIGINS REALLY MATTER?

Some agree that such holidays as Christmas have pagan origins but still feel that it is not wrong to celebrate them. After all, most people are not thinking about false worship when they observe holidays. These occasions also give families opportunities to draw close together. Is this how you feel? If so, likely it is love of family, not love of false religion, that makes taking a stand for true worship seem difficult. Be assured that Jehovah, the one who originated the family, wants you to have a good relationship with your relatives. (Ephesians 3:14, 15 - But you can strengthen such bonds in ways that God approves. Regarding the matter that should be our chief concern, the apostle Paul wrote: “Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord.”—Ephesians 5:10.

12 Maybe you feel that the origins of holidays have little to do with how they are celebrated today. Do origins really matter? Yes! To illustrate: Suppose you saw a piece of candy lying in the gutter. Would you pick up that candy and eat it? Of course not! That candy is unclean. Like that candy, holidays may seem sweet, but they have been picked up from unclean places. To take a stand for true worship, we need to have a viewpoint like that of the prophet Isaiah, who told true worshipers: “Touch nothing unclean.”—Isaiah 52:11.

Is there any objection to sharing in celebrations that may have unchristian roots as long as it is not done for religious reasons?

Eph. 5:10, 11: “Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord; and quit sharing with them in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness, but, rather, even be reproving them.”

2 Cor. 6:14-18: “What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Be′lial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? . . . ‘“Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,” says Jehovah, “and quit touching the unclean thing”’; ‘“and I will take you in, . . . and you will be sons and daughters to me,” says Jehovah the Almighty.’” (Genuine love for Jehovah and a strong desire to be pleasing to him will help a person to break free from unchristian practices that may have had emotional appeal. A person who really knows and loves Jehovah does not feel that by shunning practices that honor false gods or that promote falsehood he is in any way deprived of happiness. Genuine love causes him to rejoice, not over unrighteousness, but with the truth. See 1 Corinthians 13:6.)

Compare Exodus 32:4-10. Notice that the Israelites adopted an Egyptian religious practice but gave it a new name, “a festival to Jehovah.” But Jehovah severely punished them for this. Today we see only 21st-century practices associated with holidays. Some may appear harmless. But Jehovah observed firsthand the pagan religious practices from which these originated. Should not his view be what matters to us?

Illustration: Suppose a crowd come to a gentleman’s home saying they are there to celebrate his birthday. He does not favor the celebration of birthdays. He does not like to see people overeat or get drunk or engage in loose conduct. But some of them do all those things, and they bring presents for everyone there except him! On top of all that, they pick the birthday of one of the man’s enemies as the date for the celebration. How would the man feel? Would you want to be a party to it? This is exactly what is being done by Christmas celebrations.

If you would like further information or a free home Bible study, please contact Jehovah's Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit http://www.watchtower.org

Answer 2

i am a christian and have many different views to the jws but on xmas we have the same view, it is pagan even demonic at times and every scripture you have off your friend will be the truth however all born again christians should know this ,the trouble is a lot dont want to abandon christmas because they are weak willed and dont like to upset their children however the bible does tell you that if you know the truth and refuse to listen to it you are in sin, no where in the bible does it tell you to celebrate or even remember the birth of jesus it only tells you to remember the death and ressurection of jesus, also dec 25th is a pagan day it belongs to the sun god who received worship on that day the christians decided they would also have that day and call it the son of god day,the puritans fought to have this stopped and for a while they did, unfortunatly they then lost and the christians adopted that day the wreath the mistletoe was used for orgys that day and the yule log to burn people and sacrifices on and the tree was made as a idol to worship. which is why true strong christians who study the word and dont allow traditions of this world to trap them ,refuse to have anything to do with xmas please note if i have to mention it i will always use the word xmas not christmas because there is no christ in it it is very good to see a person who has your ability to study the word yet not have the faith in the lord jesus christ remember john 3 tells us we must accept jesus as our savior repent of our sins and become born again a new life a new creation this is where we differ from you jw friend i pray your search will lead you to jesus

Answer 3

The thing is, the 'Christians' didn't make it their own, and it was made to coincide with pagan beliefs as you already know.. We aren't against having parties and fun, we just dont pick a specific day to fuss over year after year.. The victory over false religion is the annual observance of the last supper, which we have every year in accordance with the old calendar -- but we dont fill it up with unnecessary things like many will agree has happened to Christmas... I really hope this answers your question.

Answer 4

Now you've had the explanation, could I encourage you to consider the reasons for the uniformity of answers JWs give? Did you know that all they do to answer any question is to check their Society's publications index, look up the magazine or book pages given, then copy the answers? They do this a lot on the Internet, I've noticed. Did you know that their three weekly meetings are full of questions (printed in their literature) and they have to answer according to the statements in the corresponding paragraphs? If anyone gives a differing point of view, they stop being invited to answer. So much for their consistency. Long live different points of view!

The claim of paganism as reason for avoiding Christmas is good insofar as it goes, but consistency is not applied to other things like the pagan names of the days of the week, or wearing wedding rings. Further, Christian marriages conducted by priests (not so long back) had the priest invoking the name of the Holy Trinity as the ring was put on the bride's finger. But JWs don't care about that. However, if their leaders printed an article condemning use of wedding rings due to pagan origins and the taint of 'Christendom', all JWs would stop wearing them.

It's the same with blood transfusions. Until the early 1950s no JWs objected to that, then their leaders came out with the doctrine (that God forbade it) and since then hundreds of thousands of JWs have died. Yet today their leaders have so moved the goal posts here, myriad blood fractions are 'allowed' and the day is coming when whole blood will also cease to be a disfellowshipping issue. Can you see what's going on? Please note I am NOT 'down' on JWs. I'm not attacking THEM. They are lovely, sincere people. But they are in thrall to their leaders and would not dare to disagree publicly with them as they believe they won't survive Armageddon if they do that. The 'rose' of indoctrination is indoctrination by any other name.

Answer 5

Yes, it's origins are pagan and therefore unacceptable to Yahweh God (Jehovah) and so, in order to honor God, we would want to do all things to please our most Holy Creator and that would be to not make this worldly holiday our own, but instead, reject it and its false celebration of the birth of Christ. We therefore would also honor our Happy God by being happy and enjoying each other on other gatherings with laughter and good food and fine company.
Other than solemn and respectful celebrations to Yahweh God three times in a year, our conventions and assemblies, the Witnesses do gather together just because it is a fine thing to do so.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

first place. Jesus Christ is not God Almighty. Jesus was not born on DEC 25. the Shepard's where out in the field and in DEC it is the cold and rainy season. in the bible, Jesus told us to celebrate his death. since he died on Nisan 14, the last supper or the passover. and since it is once a year the passover, we celebrate it once a year. we give gifts to our family all the time. we also have parties all the time. we get together with friends and family. also the three wise men did not see Jesus until he was two years old, not a baby. since Jesus was 33 1/2 when he died, count six months forward and you get Oct. so Jesus would of been born in Oct. not DEC. so celebrating it in DEC is a lie and it is pagan

Answer 8

i understand the point you are making, but you have to consider that underneath the "changing of people" that this holiday "honors", it is still a pagan holiday.

you can throw your trash in the dumpster and call it garbage, or you can throw it in your living room and call it decorating. if the contents remain the same it's still garbage.

"a rose by any other name is still a rose".

(edit)
you are right about consistency. that's ONE thing that attracted me to Jehovah's Witnesses. i was not raised as one, and i actually "got saved" when i was in high school and joined a baptist church.

it's just as you said, when i was a baptist, i had books that i used as study aids; and the books we use are are exactly that: study aids, not bible replacements. they are bible based, designed to get you INTO your bible to see if what they say is true. i encourage you to look for answers to all of your questions. Jehovah is a God of order, not confusion.

Answer 9

Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians; they teach that Christ was and is Divine and of the same nature as God.

Jehovah's Witnesses teach that no salvation occurs without Christ, that accepting Christ's sacrifice is a requirement for true worship, that every prayer must acknowledge Christ, that Christ is the King of God's Kingdom, that Christ is the head of the Christian congregation, that Christ is immortal and above every creature, even that Christ was the 'master worker' in creating the universe!

Jehovah's Witnesses love and respect and honor Christ. They do NOT celebrate so-called "Christmas" because "Christmas" does NOT celebrate Christ; "Christmas" celebrates the pagan Saturnalia. Jesus was not even born in December. Nearly all so-called Christmas customs dishonor Christ.

(Jeremiah 10:2-5) This is what Jehovah has said: "Do not learn the way of the nations at all... 3 For the customs of the peoples are just an exhalation, because it is a mere tree out of the forest that one has cut down, the work of the hands of the craftsman with the billhook. 4 With silver and with gold one makes it pretty. With nails and with hammers they fasten them down, that none may reel. ...the doing of any good is not with them."

http://watchtower.org/e/19981215/article_02.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20001215/
http://watchtower.org/e/20041215/article_01.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/19981215/
http://watchtower.org/e/rq/article_11.htm


By contrast, it's tragic that the one holiday Christ actually *DID* ask Christians to commemorate is entirely ignored by almost all of Christendom. It is, of course, the Memorial of Christ's death, sometimes called "the Last Supper" or "the Lord's Evening Meal".

(1 Corinthians 11:23-25, NWT) The Lord Jesus in the night in which he was going to be handed over took a loaf... Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” 25 He did likewise respecting the cup.. Keep doing this... in remembrance of me.”

(1 Cor 11:24, 25, NEB) "Do this as a memorial of me.”


Christ Jesus himself personally celebrated and explained the significance of that Last Supper to his followers (see Matthew 26:26-29). Christians who commemorate the Last Supper have done so on the same Jewish calendar date as Jesus did, Nisan 14, which generally falls between late March and mid-April. Interestingly, Christians in the centuries immediately after Christ's impalement were sometimes called "Quartodecimans" which literally mean "Fourteen-ers", because the early Christians were well-known for this true holy day.

How would Jesus feel to learn that the holiday he commanded was widely ignored, while his so-called followers chose to celebrate a pagan false god and their own traditions of men? We don't need to wonder.

(Matthew 15:6-9) You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, Isaiah aptly prophesied about you when he said, 8 ‘This people honors me with their lips, yet their heart is far removed from me. 9 It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach commands of men as doctrines.’”

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/lmn/article_08.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/rq/article_11.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20041215/article_02.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20011115/article_02.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20050101a/
http://watchtower.org/e/jt/

Answer 10

Touche.!!