Jesus is the Reason for the Season?
Every year conservative Christians and traditionalists protest with a loud outcry the secularization of Christmas. "Happy Holidays", "Season's Greetings" and "X-Mas Trees" are as foul to some as the vilest of curse words.
So please don't anathematize me if I suggest to y'all that perhaps people are making too big a deal out of "they're taking Christ out of Christmas!!!" Don't get me wrong - I'm not strictly against tradition, and of course I'm concerned with what often appears to be the societal attempt to erase all mention of Christ from our culture. But in the end we can't ignore the reality that there is nothing innately holy about Christmas beyond that which tradition has accorded it.
Nowhere in the scriptures are we admonished to celebrate or remember Christ's birth. We see no scriptural evidence that any of the early disciples and apostles held a commemoration of the birth of Christ (and it certainly would not have been December 25th if they had). In fact, the only thing we are specifically told to remember is the Lord's death and resurrection through the breaking of bread and wine (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
History shows that December 25th traditionally had NOTHING to do with Christ. The early (4th century) pagans celebrated the birth of one of their deities (the son god Mithras) on that day, and earlier in history ancient Babylonians celebrate the feast of the son of Isis, goddess of nature, also on this day.
Pagan winter solstice celebrations from around the world and dating back centuries have varied in terms of deities being celebrated, but most include variations of the following customs and traditions: decorating homes with holly and evergreen to promote fertility/spring (hollyberries were viewed as a food to the gods); Druids and Scandinavians used mistletoe to celebrate the goddess of love; lit candles and yule logs to beckon the return of the son god (yule was the word for 'wheel' - the pagan symbol of the sun)...
Pagan celebrations from around the world also included Saturnalia, a festival of general merry-making and debauchery held around the time of the winter solstice. This week-long party was held in honor of the god Saturn, and involved sacrifices, gift-giving, special privileges for slaves (modern equivalent of feeding the poor?), and a lot of feasting. Custumed singers and dancers known as mummers would travel from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, we got caroling.
It wasn't until the 4th century that the Roman Pope decided he was tired of competing with the pagan celebrations. Evidently it would be easier to convert the pagans if they could keep their feasts but change the name. Although it was not popular, or even proper, to celebrate people's birthdays in those times, suddenly Christ was the justification for the reveling and merriment of the season. Jesus wasn't so much the 'reason for the season' as he was the excuse for it.
There's a long standing tradition of protestant Christians rejecting the Roman Catholic tradition of the Christ-mass with all its pagan rites and rituals. For many centuries, the Puritan era in particular, the festivities were banned, restricted and considered an outright blasphemy. It wasn't until the late 1800's that protestant Christian culture began to widely tolerate and integrate these traditions and celebrate what many of our earlier brethren had decried.
Do I think it's wrong for Christians to partake in these Christianized pagan rituals? I'm not entirely convinced either way, although I certainly understand and respect those who abstain from the festivities and traditions. Ultimately I think the guidelines of Romans 14 (verse 6 specifically) would have to apply.
All this to say, I don't really think that Christians have much reason or ground to protest the secularization of "our" holy day. The Roman church hijacked it from the world's traditions.... and by the look of things, the world is simply taking it back.
Kristine Kruszelnicki
~~~
(A few random sources)
http://www.benbest.com/history/xmas.html#forbid
http://www.benbest.com/history/xmas.html#trees
http://de.essortment.com/christmaspagan_rece.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_tree.htm
So please don't anathematize me if I suggest to y'all that perhaps people are making too big a deal out of "they're taking Christ out of Christmas!!!" Don't get me wrong - I'm not strictly against tradition, and of course I'm concerned with what often appears to be the societal attempt to erase all mention of Christ from our culture. But in the end we can't ignore the reality that there is nothing innately holy about Christmas beyond that which tradition has accorded it.
Nowhere in the scriptures are we admonished to celebrate or remember Christ's birth. We see no scriptural evidence that any of the early disciples and apostles held a commemoration of the birth of Christ (and it certainly would not have been December 25th if they had). In fact, the only thing we are specifically told to remember is the Lord's death and resurrection through the breaking of bread and wine (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
History shows that December 25th traditionally had NOTHING to do with Christ. The early (4th century) pagans celebrated the birth of one of their deities (the son god Mithras) on that day, and earlier in history ancient Babylonians celebrate the feast of the son of Isis, goddess of nature, also on this day.
Pagan winter solstice celebrations from around the world and dating back centuries have varied in terms of deities being celebrated, but most include variations of the following customs and traditions: decorating homes with holly and evergreen to promote fertility/spring (hollyberries were viewed as a food to the gods); Druids and Scandinavians used mistletoe to celebrate the goddess of love; lit candles and yule logs to beckon the return of the son god (yule was the word for 'wheel' - the pagan symbol of the sun)...
Pagan celebrations from around the world also included Saturnalia, a festival of general merry-making and debauchery held around the time of the winter solstice. This week-long party was held in honor of the god Saturn, and involved sacrifices, gift-giving, special privileges for slaves (modern equivalent of feeding the poor?), and a lot of feasting. Custumed singers and dancers known as mummers would travel from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, we got caroling.
It wasn't until the 4th century that the Roman Pope decided he was tired of competing with the pagan celebrations. Evidently it would be easier to convert the pagans if they could keep their feasts but change the name. Although it was not popular, or even proper, to celebrate people's birthdays in those times, suddenly Christ was the justification for the reveling and merriment of the season. Jesus wasn't so much the 'reason for the season' as he was the excuse for it.
There's a long standing tradition of protestant Christians rejecting the Roman Catholic tradition of the Christ-mass with all its pagan rites and rituals. For many centuries, the Puritan era in particular, the festivities were banned, restricted and considered an outright blasphemy. It wasn't until the late 1800's that protestant Christian culture began to widely tolerate and integrate these traditions and celebrate what many of our earlier brethren had decried.
Do I think it's wrong for Christians to partake in these Christianized pagan rituals? I'm not entirely convinced either way, although I certainly understand and respect those who abstain from the festivities and traditions. Ultimately I think the guidelines of Romans 14 (verse 6 specifically) would have to apply.
All this to say, I don't really think that Christians have much reason or ground to protest the secularization of "our" holy day. The Roman church hijacked it from the world's traditions.... and by the look of things, the world is simply taking it back.
Kristine Kruszelnicki
~~~
(A few random sources)
http://www.benbest.com/history/xmas.html#forbid
http://www.benbest.com/history/xmas.html#trees
http://de.essortment.com/christmaspagan_rece.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_tree.htm