Should we as genuine Christians celebrate Christmas.?

Question

Did the early church practice this.. Did the Lord ask us to remember His incarnation in THIS way? Is not the Lords' table and the Lord's supper set aside each week to remember the Lord.. From His incarnation .. human living.. death .. resurrection .. ascension.. enthronement and glorification ...

WHy is it so hard for us as believers to leave the Lord OUT of this pagan holiday and admit that it has nothing to do with the Him..I know it was very difficult for me.. it was a real denying of myself to do this... since this mixture of leven (unhealthy teaching and practices ) must pain the Lord..to see that we are not willing to give this up to truly follow the Lord in a pure way...
Thoughts on CHristimas's origin please

and no.. i am not a JW

Answer 1

The Encyclopedia Americana informs us: “The reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the ‘rebirth of the sun.’ . . . The Roman Saturnalia (a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun), also took place at this time, and some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration.”—(1977), Vol. 6, p. 666.

The practice of Christmas gift giving is not based on what was done by the Magi. As shown above, they did not arrive at the time of Jesus’ birth. Furthermore, they gave gifts, not to one another, but to the child Jesus, in accord with what was then customary when visiting notable persons.

The Encyclopedia Americana states: “During the Saturnalia . . . feasting prevailed, and gifts were exchanged.” (1977, Vol. 24, p. 299) In many instances that represents the spirit of Christmas giving—an exchanging of gifts. The spirit reflected in such gift giving does not bring real happiness, because it violates Christian principles such as those found at Matthew 6:3, 4 and 2 Corinthians 9:7. Surely a Christian can give gifts to others as an expression of love at other times during the year, doing so as often as he wants to.

Christmas is of pagan origin. True Christians avoid it.

Answer 2

I been around and around this bush enough. I was raised that is only secular and leave Jesus out. I then began to deal with it and have learned lots of stuff about when all this got started and it's too much and you already know about all that.
I went to Israel and at the time, we could freely visit Bethlehem and go into the church of the Nativity..., and it was AWESOME to see where the early church believed the actual manger was, etc. and it was a very rewarding experience.
Jesus celebrated the Jewish holiday.. HOLY DAYS and feasts and whatever observances.
Now, as Apostle Paul says, do not judge a person if they hold a day holy and special. If it is observed for the Lord, it is to the Lord and if a man sees all days alike, it's between him and the Lord.., SO...
I have decided for myself to celebrate Christmas as a beautiful time for me to remember the birth of my Savior and I personally collect manger scenes and nativity sets and I feel close to the Lord in this way.., but I also hang up Christmas stockings for family and friends..., still for my adult children. I love the time and the festivities and I love to think about how Jesus was born and what miracle for the world!!
Neither am I a JW, but my brother was and it's a terrible bondage to be so un-free to choose for yourself. Whom the Son has set free is free indeed! No more bondage!
Don't ever violate your own conscience, but decide some things for yourself and allow the Lord to guide you on the inside. Like scripture says; let peace rule you on the inside and if there is no peace about it, don't do it and if it causes a deep sigh of peace inside, then enjoy and set up your manger scene and play like a child and rejoice in His birth and all He did for us by giving up heaven to come here and grow up as a human. What a God, what a plan!

Answer 3

this is because of the fact the middle Christian messages of Christmas and Easter nonetheless have an charm to the private human yearnings. Many have additionally been stated with a Christian inheritance. This, of path, gets most of the undesirable human beings's backs up and that they then attempt and justify their involvement with the aid of absurd claims, like that they're somewhat secular and/or pagan gala's. finished nonsense, of path. i in my view do not techniques if human beings of different faiths, or none, atheist, pagan, muslim, hindu or despite, prefer to connect in with celebrating our Christian gala's, yet they'd desire to a minimum of have the decency and honesty to admit that that's what they're doing. most of the replies on your question are greater beneficial than slightly hypocritical. playstation there is actual NO conclusive info that something approximately Christmas got here from paganism. not the date, not Christmas timber, not provides. All, so some distance as could be common, Christian.

Answer 4

Christmas is a man made holiday. Getting gifts have become the norm.

Its a personal choice I guess. My family has decided that instead of buying each other presents we will use that money to donate to charity or adopt a family in need. That is exciting.

God Bless

Answer 5

Sadly, Christmas has become little more than a commercial holiday for many people. It's ridiculous how early in the year stores start stocking their shelves with Christmas decorations.

A few years ago, I realized that Christmas was becomming the most stressful time of year for me. With all the hustle and bustle and scrimping and saving and running here and there to buy last minute gifts, I found myself not focusing my attention on Jesus like I should be. It was supposed to be a celebration of my Savior's birth, after all. But, I found that all the stress had robbed me of the true joy and peace I have in Christ.

I still celebrate Christmas, but I'm slowly weeding out the unneeded excess, all the sparkle and shine that tends to blind one's vision to the true purpose of the holiday. I try to focus more on Jesus and giving back to Him for all that He's given me. What "gifts" could we possibly give Jesus? We can give to Him by giving to others (Matthew 25:34-40) and sharing His message to a hurt and broken world who need Him.

We can visit nursing homes and visit the elderly whose families fail to visit them. They're verly lonely during the holidays. There's a local food ministry in our area where you can volunteer your time to prepare and serve Christmas dinner to the homeless and hungry. My husband and I have started choosing a child from one of the Angel Trees the Salvation Army puts out for poor children who may not recieve any presents. We usually buy them clothes, a warm coat, a few toys, and a Children's Bible or Christmas book about the birth of Jesus. Who knows - when they open their presents on Christmas morning, that may be the first time that child has ever heard about Jesus. And, what a wonderful gift that would be! There might be a neighbor who'll be spending Christmas all alone that we might invite over for dinner. Christmas is a lonely time for a lot of people, especially those who have recently lost a spouse, and this will be the first time they're alone for the holidays.

There's just no limit to the "gifts" you can give God during the holiday season - especially when you pray for Him to place someone in your path who desperately needs Him. I've read that the suicide rate is the highest at Christmas. There are a lot of people out there who are lonely and hurting, and oftentimes, we don't have to look too far to find them. So, while I agree with you, I have hope that it just might be possible that we can change this holiday from what it's become into a season that will honor and glorify the God who has given to us so abundantly. Instead of focusing on receiving, we can focus on serving. If we pray and strive to bring the God of hope to the hopeless and shine the light of His love in the darkness, our efforts will not be in vain.

God bless!

Answer 6

It's just about presents, sparkling trees, and spending time with family.

Don't get so worked up. Easter has pagan roots, too.

I'm an atheist and I celebrate things without focusing on religion.

Answer 7

Christmas is ORIGINALLY a Pagan holiday that the catholics adopted and said was for the birth of Christ but by the hebrew calender it is incorrect.

Answer 8

There is nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of our Savior. The issue comes in when we forget the real reason for the season and get caught up in the world's materialism.

Answer 9

Early Christians were Nazarene Jew's, not Germans. Christmas is a prodestant/saxon pagan festivel linked to the story of St Nicholas (who we now call Santa Clause).

Ideological problems exist over the idea of giving gifts at Christmas. Nazarene Jew's lived in open communities with no one individual owning any property. Every item belonged to the group. Ergo, they did not have the same mentality to ownership, there was no "I" or "mine". There was only "this all belongs to God".

::::::::::::::::::Jesus' Birthday:::::::::::::::::::::

Scholars debate over the details of Jesus' birth, and few claim to know the exact year or date of his birth or death.

The nativity accounts in the New Testament gospels of Matthew and Luke do not mention a date or time of year for the birth of Jesus. In Western Christianity, it has been traditionally celebrated on December 25 as Christmas (in the liturgical season of Christmastide), a date that can be traced as early as 330 AD among Roman Christians. Before then, and still today in Eastern Christianity, Jesus' birth was generally celebrated on January 6 as part of the feast of Theophany,[7] also known as Epiphany, which commemorated not only Jesus' birth but also his baptism by John in the Jordan River and possibly additional events in Jesus' life. Some scholars note that Luke's descriptions of shepherds' activities at the time of Jesus' birth suggest a spring or summer date.[8]

::::::::::::Possible replacement for pagan festival::::::::::::::::

Scholars speculate that the date of the celebration was moved by the Roman Catholic Church in an attempt to replace the Roman festival of Saturnalia (or more specifically, the birthday of the Roman god Sol Invictus).

In the 247th year during the Diocletian Era (based on Diocletian's ascension to the Roman throne), Dionysius Exiguus attempted to pinpoint the number of years since Jesus' birth, arriving at a figure of 753 years after the founding of Rome. Dionysius then set Jesus' birth as being December 25 1 ACN (for "Ante Christum Natum," or "before Christ (was) born"), and assigned AD 1 to the following year — thereby establishing the system of numbering years from the birth of Jesus: Anno Domini (which translates as "in the year of Lord"). The system was created in the then current year 532, and almost two centuries later it won acceptance and became the established calendar in Western civilization.

::::::::::Scholors evidence for the date of Jesus' birth::::::::::::::

It is hard to date Jesus' birth because some sources are now gone and over 1900 years have passed since the Gospels were written; however, based on a lunar eclipse that the first-century historian Josephus reported shortly before the death of Herod the Great (who plays a role in Matthew's account), as well as a more accurate understanding of the succession of Roman Emperors, Jesus' birth would have been before the year 3 BC/BCE.

The Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew both place Jesus' birth under the reign of Herod the Great. Luke similarly describes Jesus' birth as occurring during the Roman governorship of Quirinius, and involving the first census of the Roman provinces of Syria and Iudaea. Josephus places the governorship of Quirinius, and a census, in 6 AD/CE (which Luke refers to in Acts 5:37), long after the death of Herod the Great in 4 BC/BCE. Hence, debate has centered over whether or not the sources can be reconciled by asserting a prior governorship of Quirinius in Syria, or if an earlier census was conducted and, if not, which source to consider in error.[9]

Answer 10

It was not in the early church.

It was put in there to subvert the pagan midwinter festival.

At one point the Puritans in Britain actually banned it.