You're on the right track GG. I grew up and until the week before "Christmas" attended the PH I grew up in. Back around Easter my spirit was pricked by something a pastor at church counseled my son and his wife on that led me to study the scripture he used. What I found taught me differently than what I had been brought up believing. So I began studing many "things" the PH hold onto as doctrine and found many instances where some twisting may have happened over the years. This again pricked my spirit to ask, "if the denomination I am part of is in possible error on this topic, what of the church as a whole?" I read and did some studies through the epistles to the churches to learn what the apostles taught. As a main stay of my studies I lean on 1 John 2:27 with the understanding that the anointing who teaches us is the Holy Spirit as Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 1:21,22. I have come to believe that for the anointing to "abide" in me means it is not an "it" but a "who". I too only seek, as do those here, my Lord in spirit and truth. Once God opens your eyes and understanding it will amaze you at how uncomplicated his Word is and how man has so convoluted its meanings.
I thank you for your understanding responses. God bless you for allowing me to discuss this because it is very hard to do so with many people. I hoped this would be the place I could talk about this to other Christians and your responses proved that I can. Thank you!
These things are troubling me a lot because, with all my heart I want to worship God in spirit and in truth as Jesus said.
I was raised in a home that celebrated Christimas, and, even I have done so since I've been saved, but, after reading and considering what is recorded in "The Two Babylons" and searching the Scriptures to see if it was true, I began to wonder if all that I had been raised to believe and practice as a born-again Christian was pleasing in God's sight.
I know that God abhors idolatry in any form and I have come to realize that idolatry is man's vain attempt to gain God's favpr by works instead of faith in our Lord Jesus.
In the constitution of the denomination where I attended meetings I noticed that they boldly proclaim that the Bible is their final authority for their faith and practice.
Yet I cannot find any Biblical basis for the celebration of Christmas and it seems their responses to my questions about it were pretty much the same as one would get from a cult about its false teachings or pracitces. They let their traditions nullify the word of God the same as the Jewish religious leaders who were rebuked by Jesus.
Even though Christmas has been a tradition in my family and the Protestant Church for generations I thnk Jesus thoroughly destroyed the validity of such arguments and I no longer find them to be compelling. I want my relationship with God to be pure and undefiled by the world.
I've found that when I'm honest about this subject people think I'm a member of a cult or I'm looney. For the record I am not a member of any cult. I am not a Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, etc., etc. As for being looney - I guess that's a possibility but I hope not. God know my heart.
If any of you find some answers that are Bibically based regarding this I would like for you to share them with me.
Dear Grandpa: I commend you for your seeking heart. I hope you find the answers somewhere ... and if you do, please pass them on to me because I've had what my mother used to call, "my wonderments" about this subject too. From the time my kids were little we always separated "Santa Claus Day" from "Jesus Birthday" and, In fact for a couple of years I did NOT put up a tree. During those years, we gave small, token gifts to our children while sending out handmade cards that proclaimed, "Although the date of Christ's birth is not known, we do wish you and yours a blessed Nativity!" I've relaxed my standards at this time ... we had a tree and exchanged gifts this year, however, I'm still not certain that participating in this celebration is the "best" we can give to our Lord. What I DO know with absolute certainty is that God's grace is greater than our human failings ... and when we (honestly) don't know what is right then it's time to trust in the grace of Jesus Christ and continue searching! He WILL continue to bless you as you seek out His will for you.
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"I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to His holy people." Jude 3 Joyce
Well GG, it's like this, the study you have done as far as I know it, is correct. Those who get defensive with you don't want to face the truth. I have heard pastors even concede that Yeshua had to have been born in warmer months as sheep do not graze in the winter months, nothing to eat. Yet the church still celebrates the holiday proclaiming the old addage, "Jesus is the reason for the season". I encourage you to continue your study into Gods' Word. You may find other truths opposing those many churches hold to.
For the last two years I have been struggling with whether or not Christians ought to be celebrating "Christmas."
After reading "The Two Babylons" by Alexander Hislop and checking out the Bible I've found that there are no Scriptural references where the Church, as recorded in the Bible, ever celebrated or was commanded to celebrate such a holiday.
The word "Christmas" is derived from the Roman Catholic church and is a derivative of Christ's mass. It is my understanding from a former Roman Catholic that the Mass is an unbloody sacrifice of our Lord and is performed by the Roman Catholic priesthood in every Roman Catholic church everyday.
It is also my understanding that the Protestant Church rejects the Mass because the Scriptures tells us that Jesus died "once for all" and no further sacrifice is necessary. If this is true then how can Protestants embrace "Christ's Mass?" Is the Roman Catholic Masses merely a buffet from which the Protestant Church may choose to participate at his or her whim?
Hislop links Christmas to the pagan Babylonian festival of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven and claims that the Roman Catholic church, in order to "conciliate the pagans" and "swell the number of nominal adherents of Christianity", adopted this heathen festival and gave it the name of Christ. He also claims that even Tertullian lamented at the tendency of Christians to meet Paganism half-way and contrasted their capitulating tendencies with the strict fidelity of the pagans to their gods.
The date of Christ's birth is never given in Scripture and many Biblical scholars seem to believe the Scripture references to our Lord's birth indicate a warmer time of the year.
It is my understanding the the Bible is our (Protestants) final authority for our faith and practices and that we are forbidden to add to it or take away from it. The Biblical Church never celebrated Christmas. They did not adorn their home, meeting places, or trees with created things for the celebration of our Lord's birth and were literally ordered by the apostle Paul to "have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales."
Jesus told us that our heavenly Father will be worshipped in spirit and truth. He did not say with finely adorned created things and "Christianized" idolatrous pagan lies.
These are the thoughts that I have been struggling with and I hope you aren't offended that I shared them with you. It is very difficult to discuss this with the Christians I associate with because they become defensive and angry. I know it is a touchy subject but I am not looking for a heated debate. I am searching for answers.
Is Christmas celebrated by the Church in the Bible? Where? Is Christmas not a pagan festival renamed and added to God's Holy Word? Is Hislop's research partly or wholly errant? If Christmas is adopted from paganism and baptized a Christian festival, where in the Bible is the Church authorized to do such things?
If my post angers you and you want to enter into a heated debate about this I would ask that you not respond. If you wish to enter into a loving Christian discussion to instruct me and answer my questions or ask me questions and will allow me to do the same, then please do so for this is what I desire.
When I was a little one I had the idea that Jesus and Santa Claus was the same person ... after all they both "knew when I was sleeping, knew when I was awake ... knew if I'd been bad or good ..." So when we had children, we made a strong distinction between "Santa Claus Day" and "Sacred Christmas". Santa Claus Day happened on Dec. 24 in the evening and included the reading or recitation of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" ('Twas the Night before Christmas) or a Santa Claus movie and the opening of gifts. Sacred Christmas happened the next day and began with a reading of the Christmas story, sometimes a discussion about the prophecies that His birth fulfilled and always concluded with a feast and a discussion about what good things God had given us. The meal ended with a prayer of thanksgiving to Jesus for coming and for giving to us the most wonderful gift of all.
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"I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to His holy people." Jude 3 Joyce
I was thinking about this Christmas Eve and wondered what most people were thinking about on Christmas morning. Was it Christ or the kids opening the presents or a balance of both? My family first thing Christmas morning, got together and I read the Christmas story from the Bible and we discussed it and prayed before any presents or anything else began. I believe that this will help my children, especially the 6 year old to get a handle on the priority of Christmas.
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A preacher in those days, when he felt God called him to preach, didn't hunt up a college or seminary, he hunted up a good horse, took off across the country and began crying "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world"!
