Christians?

Question

does it bother you to know that you celebrate christmas because you stole it from a race of people who's religion you took from them and killed those who refused to convert? also how does it make you feel when you celebrate Saint Patricks day knowing that he was a genocidal, hateful person who slottered an entire race in Ireland?

you people don't even know who you stole it from? are you serious? ..... thats christian home schoolin fo ya!

Jesus wasn't born on December 25th!

i posted this question because i am tired of all the christians coming on here and saying it is wrong for atheists to celebrate christmas. i just thought i would point out to the RUDE christians that it isn't their holiday either and we have just as much right to celebrate it as they do, we just don't do it for the same reasons.

wow there is a lot of ignorant people, SNAKES were not actual snakes they were people

Answer 1

amen sister...o Christmas tree...o leprechaun...

Answer 2

Christmas was taken from Deus Sol Invictus, the Roman celebration of the winter solstice. The early church when converting people in Europe incorporated pagan holidays into the Christian calendar, mainly linking like with like. So the pagan feast Samhain, rememberance of the dead became All Saints Day.

As for St. Patrick, we celebrate the day both as a respect for the person that brought Christianity to Ireland and as a national day of celebration, the same as Independence Day in the US. Also snakes representated Paganism not Pagans.

I would agree with you that Christians that say that atheists, or even Muslims or Hindus shouldn't celebrate Christmas are dingbats of the highest order. If you celebrate the holiday in your own way as a tradition fire ahead, nobody should stop you.

However, you may not say this but others have, Christmas should stay that name Christmas, not the holidays or seasons. For one reason, the days of the week are named after Pagan gods, and there is no objection to their use. Europe and the Americas are nations where the majority are Christians, to ask them not to use the word Christmas or celebrate their religion is asking far to much. I agree with a secular society and complete separation of Church and State, but some things go too far.

Also, those people that are saying Christians didn't take part in the Crusades, it was the Roman Catholics, they were the one church, the protestant churches sprung from the RC after the church became corrupt, stop decrying what the RC did in the past and then not accepting that its your Christian heritage too. I don't agree with the RC on everything and I think what they have done in the past is awful, but we are humans and we are fallible. The RC is changing because people are changing.

Answer 3

Who did we steal it from ??? Are you talking about pagans???


Was Jesus born on December 25, or in December at all? Although it's not impossible, it seems unlikely. The Bible does not specify a date or month. One problem with December is that it would be unusual for shepherds to be "abiding in the field" at this cold time of year when fields were unproductive. The normal practice was to keep the flocks in the fields from Spring to Autumn. Also, winter would likely be an especially difficult time for pregnant Mary to travel the long distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem (70 miles).



"A more probable time would be late September, the time of the annual Feast of Tabernacles, when such travel was commonly accepted. Thus, it is rather commonly believed (though not certain) that Jesus' birth was around the last of September. The conception of Christ, however, may have taken place in late December of the previous year. Our Christmas celebration may well be recognized as an honored observation of the incarnation of 'the Word made flesh' (John 1:14).


The probability is that this mighty angel, leading the heavenly host in their praises, was Michael the archangel; this occasion was later commemorated by the early church as Michaelmas ('Michael sent'), on September 29, the same as the date of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. It would have at least been appropriate for Christ to have been born on such a date, for it was at His birth that 'the Word was made flesh and dwelt (literally tabernacled) among us' (John 1:14).



This would mean, then, that His conception took place in late December. Thus, it might well be that when we today celebrate Christ's birth at what we call Christmas (i.e., 'Christ sent'), we are actually celebrating His miraculous conception, the time when the Father sent the Son into the world, in the virgin's womb. This darkest time of the year--the time of the pagan Saturnalia, and the time when the sun (the physical 'light of the world') is at its greatest distance from the Holy Land--would surely be an appropriate time for God to send the spiritual 'light of the world' into the world as the 'Savior, which is Christ the Lord' (Luke 2:11)" [Dr. Henry M. Morris, The Defender's Study Bible (notes for Luke 2:8,13)].



(The word "Christmas" means "Christ mass," a special celebration of the Lord's supper -- called a mass in the Roman Catholic Church and a Communion supper in most Protestant churches.)

Why do many Christians celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December, if that is not when he was born?

The date was chosen by the Roman Catholic Church. Because Rome dominated most of the "Christian" world for centuries, the date became tradition throughout most of Christendom.

The original significance of December 25 is that it was a well-known festival day celebrating the annual return of the sun. December 21 is the winter solstice (shortest day of the year and thus a key date on the calendar), and December 25 is the first day that ancients could clearly note that the days were definitely getting longer and the sunlight was returning.

So, why was December 25 chosen to remember Jesus Christ's birth with a mass (or Communion supper)? Since no one knows the day of his birth, the Roman Catholic Church felt free to chose this date. The Church wished to replace the pagan festival with a Christian holy day (holiday). The psychology was that is easier to take away an unholy (but traditional) festival from the population, when you can replace it with a good one. Otherwise, the Church would have left a void where there was a long-standing tradition, and risked producing a discontented population and a rapid return to the old ways.


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The various misconceptions about Christ's birth illustrate the need to always test everything we hear against God's Word, no matter what the source. The Bible is the final authority.

Answer 4

Actually the Roman Catholic's did all that - look at the second part of the compound noun Christmas. It's mas from mass right. The Catholics have done many things like that. Easter was originally a pagan festival as well.

From a born again Christian.

Answer 5

i am a Christian and u need to get some of ur facts a bit straighter.

jesus was born in the spring hence the lamb that was brought by the shepherds.

Christians know that they took Christmas form the pagan celebration of trees and adopted it to celebrate the birth of Christ so as to brighten up the dark winter months.

St Patrick did not slaughter any race in Ireland he chased snakes out of Ireland. It was king James, prince William of orange and the pope that did the killing in Ireland. check your irish history before you disrespect people

Answer 6

No!
Most proclaimed Christians are not aware that December 25th is the probable date of conception of God's saviour, and the day of birth figures out to be in late September on our current modern calander.
However, celebrations concerning the onset of Yeshua's existance in flesh on Earth are not required, commanded of us, nor mentioned other than that first moment it happened.

Christmas celebrations are man's invention, moved from the original season to a date closer to the celebration date of another Pagan peoples, so that Christians wouldn't lose their celebration all together. However, since God neither assigned this event as a date to celebrate nor did He ever command celebration of the birth of any flesh man, it is unlikely He would be offended by a miscalculated or misunderstood human made celebration date remembering Yeshua's birthday, as long as the celebration honors God.

Due to inferior Biblical study offerings in most Christian religions today, most Chrstians today are not taught the amazing truth that the knowledge of the Hebrew language, calander, traditions, festivals, and first five books and the prophets unlock the seemingly confusing or contradictory information presented by The Holy Bible. Life today, being time consuming, rushed, disorganized and stressful, makes it unlikely that this condition will change much until truths are pointed out--such as you have done here! Now, non-studying Christians will possibly be offended by the truth of a September birthdate and dust off their Holy Bibles to look it up! Good!

However, one doing so might need to call a Rabbi to determine what course the husband of Mary's cousin (John's mother-to-be) was serving in the temple when the angel told him he would become a father. Then start counting 6 months (adding in three days to travel back home and remembering no traveling on the Sabboth) to when Mary came to visit and that is the date of conception. Keep counting nine months and, you find yourself in, what else?--the beginning of a God commanded feast! (Bonus! John the Baptist was 6 months older than Yeshua!)

To catch up on the other enlightenments, I recommend perrystone.org for Hebrew traditions and for deeper Bible study there is no better than shephardschapel.org in my estimation. The latter changed my life! The former affirms what I have been studying.

As for St. Patrick...no comment from me, other than your question assumes that your readers know these points...but we all know you question was one of mocking, not really looking for an answer about if we are bothered or how we feel, don't we?

Thanks for asking though. It magnifies the need to study what isn't being taught in houses of worship.

What got me to study was: Sheherd's Chapel said there was no apple mentioned in the account of what happenen in the garden of Eden!! I angrily tore open my never-been-opened Holy Bible to scour it word for word---and I've never stopped! You can get the free online E-sword Bible download at http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html for an easy and fun understanding of God's Word! Have fun studying!

((you meant slaughtered, didn't you?)) :-)

Answer 7

First off, it's NOT Christians who killed people that refused to convert - it was Roman Catholics centuries ago that slaugthered those that refused to convert! Those that they slaughtered were Christians that refused to convert to Roman Catholicism - better get your historical facts straight before you accuse people.

Secondly, Christ is my Lord and Savior and Christmas is a time to celebrate His birth. Whether or not He was born on that specific date doesn't matter. What DOES matter is that we celebrate the birth of Christ the Savior!

I'm Irish, but I DO NOT celebrate St. Patrick's Day, so don't pre-judge and accuse when you don't know the facts!!

Answer 8

Being an Irish Catholic of Celtic stock and a one time LeVeyain Satanist, I'd say you haven't a clue. The solstice is on Dec. 21 or 22 to begin with and no one was using the Gregorian calander to set their watches by. Oh yeah! They didn't have watches! What modern day person would want to burn slaves and prisoners in woven wicker heads like my Druid forefathers did anyway? Samhain was that night.

Answer 9

sounds to me like someone is a little spiteful and cynical and out there to have a go at the world. ain't life tough!

i'm not religious, i won't be celebrating christmas. but it sounds to me like your issues are a lot deeper than a hatred for a day celebrated as a christian day of praise and a country's national pride.

Answer 10

You know, you really cannot accuse people living today of ripping off a Pagan holiday. And you really have to realize that most people never even read anything about St. Patrick unless it was on a drink napkin.

I would say that you need to lighten up! I am a Christian and celebrate neither holiday, I even have Irish blood in me. But it's not up to me to judge others for having a little fun, and celebrating something that I don't. At least they are not killing each other.

Answer 11

first of all I don't celebrate St patricks day. I'm neither Irish, Catholic, or a raging drunk.

We all know that the day for Christmas isn't really the day Jesus was born. That's not the point. The important thing is that we celebrate the life of someone we look to as our Savior. That just happens to be the date we choose to celebrate.