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A Christmas question to ponder

A

Anonymous

Guest
The following was in a weekly Sabbath Day Devotion e-mail I get....It brings up one of my pet peeves- the over commercialization of Christmas--- and brings up some interesting questions...



The following article was printed in the West Valley View newspaper which is printed in Avondale, Arizona. For some reason, they did not provide the author’s name.






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Would Jesus Celebrate Christmas?



Halloween, Thanksgiving and Black Friday are behind us, which means we have entered the traditional Season of Lament.



The main lament during the season leading up to Christmas is that Corporate America has taken Christ out of Christmas. Retail stores put up banners proclaiming "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" and, by golly, we should all boycott them for their sacrilegious failure to acknowledge Christianity's sacred holiday!



Actually, those who complain about the "anti-Christian" holiday greetings should consider a few facts before blaming retailers for being "anti-Christian."



First, they should be grateful when stores remove Christ from their annual orgies of crass commercialism. Even a casual scan of the Gospels reveals that one of Jesus' main messages was one of anti-materialism. The way Christmas is celebrated in modern times is more a glorification of greed, gluttony and consumerism than the spiritualism Jesus advocated.



Second, the holiday season includes multiple holidays, not just Christmas. Depending on how you define the "holiday season," it can also include Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah and New Year's.



Third, Christmas was hijacked by non-Christians from the very beginning. Consider the most popular symbols of the season other than the nativity story itself and wonder if Jesus would approve. The Christmas tree, mistletoe, holly, wreaths, gift exchanges and Yule logs to name just a few all had their origins in the ancient pagan rituals of pre-Christian Europe. Even Santa Claus, that beloved mythical character who rides through the sky on a magical sled pulled by flying reindeer, can be traced to ancient Germanic pagan mythology.



And what about the date of Christmas itself? No one knows the exact day or year Jesus was born. The only written accounts of his birth are found in just two books of the New Testament – the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke – and neither indicates the time of year, let alone the exact date or year of his birth. So, why do we celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25? Once again, we can thank the pagans for another of their many contributions to modern Christmas. The date corresponds to the ancient Roman winter solstice festival called Saturnalia, which featured wreaths, feasts, the lighting of candles and the exchanging of gifts. Early church leaders decided to celebrate Christ's birth at this time of year in an effort to discourage pagan converts from celebrating Saturnalia.



Has Corporate America taken Christ out of Christmas? The real question should be: Would Christ himself have ever condoned the primarily pagan observance we named after him?



The popular greetings of the season should be the least of the worries of Christians who worry about keeping the focus on Christ this time of year.
 

Steve

Well-known member
Merry Christmas..

I wouldn't worry so much about commercialization,.. but what is in your heart is what is really important

"A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You" was the verse that was shown on the first commercially available Christmas card in 1843.

History of the phrase

"Merry", derived from the Old English myrige, originally meant merely "pleasant, agreeable" rather than joyous or jolly (as in the phrase "merry month of May").[2]

Though Christmas has been celebrated since the 4th century AD, the first known usage of any Christmas greeting dates was in 1565, when it appeared in The Hereford Municipal Manuscript: "And thus I comytt you to God, who send you a mery Christmas."[2] "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" (thus incorporating two greetings) was in an informal letter written by an English admiral in 1699. The same phrase is contained in the 16th century secular English carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," and the first commercial Christmas card, produced in England in 1843.

besides we have a long history of 'commercialization' of Christ's mass.. (The festival of the Anointed one)

Etymology

"Christmas" is a compound word originating in the term "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038.[7] Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah"; and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist.

if a person does some research they would see that the origins of Christmas was originally set to coincide with Epiphany, and that calender conversions and changes moved the date up.. not pagens.. nor the solstice

The original date of the celebration in Eastern Christianity was January 6, in connection with Epiphany, and that is still the date of the celebration for the Armenian Apostolic Church and in Armenia, where it is a public holiday. As of 2012, there is a difference of 13 days between the modern Gregorian calendar and the older Julian calendar. Those who continue to use the Julian calendar or its equivalents thus celebrate December 25 and January 6 on what for the majority of the world is January 7 and January 19.

with the solstice on our calendar is Dec 20/21st.. and the original Christmas julian date converted would have been around January 19th on our calendar a difference of almost a month.
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
OT why would you cut and paste an article by a right wing radical who claims we all think like he does? To so many of us Christmas is so much more than a party and a funny song abut Rudolph or even Santa. I do challenge you to take these same claims he makes and then look for explanation from the Christian side of the aisle as to why we do these things? Any day of the year we choose to set aside to worship and honor God for anything I feel is acceptable to Him. Read the Christian explanation of the Christmas tree, the Advent wreath, candles, even Santa. I do not think God is offended.

Now I know nothing about your walk of faith if you have one, what your cult teaches and preaches but I'm sure you have your reasons for doing it. Keep on doing it. Just don't quiz me about the what my Church does. Search it out and if you can't find satisfactory answers I'll try to answer them for you. There is adequate information in print or on the internet to answer even the questions the writer of the link you posted clearly and precisely. You can take them or leave them. My family will always celebrate Christmas (all 12 days) as well as Easter with great joy, thanksgiving and hopefully a growing faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christs.
 

katrina

Well-known member
TexasBred said:
OT why would you cut and paste an article by a right wing radical who claims we all think like he does? To so many of us Christmas is so much more than a party and a funny song abut Rudolph or even Santa. I do challenge you to take these same claims he makes and then look for explanation from the Christian side of the aisle as to why we do these things? Any day of the year we choose to set aside to worship and honor God for anything I feel is acceptable to Him. Read the Christian explanation of the Christmas tree, the Advent wreath, candles, even Santa. I do not think God is offended.

Now I know nothing about your walk of faith if you have one, what your cult teaches and preaches but I'm sure you have your reasons for doing it. Keep on doing it. Just don't quiz me about the what my Church does. Search it out and if you can't find satisfactory answers I'll try to answer them for you. There is adequate information in print or on the internet to answer even the questions the writer of the link you posted clearly and precisely. You can take them or leave them. My family will always celebrate Christmas (all 12 days) as well as Easter with great joy, thanksgiving and hopefully a growing faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christs.


:clap: :nod:
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
[quohttp://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/the-1st-recorded-celebration-of-christmas-11629658.htmlte][/quoter]
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
TexasBred said:
OT why would you cut and paste an article by a right wing radical who claims we all think like he does? To so many of us Christmas is so much more than a party and a funny song abut Rudolph or even Santa. I do challenge you to take these same claims he makes and then look for explanation from the Christian side of the aisle as to why we do these things? Any day of the year we choose to set aside to worship and honor God for anything I feel is acceptable to Him. Read the Christian explanation of the Christmas tree, the Advent wreath, candles, even Santa. I do not think God is offended.

Now I know nothing about your walk of faith if you have one, what your cult teaches and preaches but I'm sure you have your reasons for doing it. Keep on doing it. Just don't quiz me about the what my Church does. Search it out and if you can't find satisfactory answers I'll try to answer them for you. There is adequate information in print or on the internet to answer even the questions the writer of the link you posted clearly and precisely. You can take them or leave them. My family will always celebrate Christmas (all 12 days) as well as Easter with great joy, thanksgiving and hopefully a growing faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christs.

I don't know how you know the author or the e-mailer are right wing radicals- altho I do know the e-mailer is a very devout Christian- conservative- and a person that doesn't follow any herd mentality...

I agree each to their own faith and Church...And everyone has differing ways of celebrating/worshipping Christmas and the whole Holiday period...And all should be free to do so...

But I thought the article interesting because it points out how badly Christmas and the whole period has not only been commercialized- but politicized by some that don't believe like you and me that folks have those rights.... And to me some of that political correctness is the antithesis of what the period should be about.....
 
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