Is Xmas pagan?
Kenny in msg #2 has said 'if you want it to be' but I personally would call that flattery. The inability to say 'thus says Yahweh' will lead us to liberalize and set our standards low and low standards will not get us in to the Kingdom. Lying and flattery are considered very similarly in the Bible, see Proverbs 26:28 and rebuke is to preferred than flattery (Proverbs 28:23).To ask whether Xmas is pagan is to ask whether his festivity originates with the Bible, or another source. The simple answer is, of course Xmas is pagan.
Ch-rchianity "prooftexts" its doctrines and attempts to explain from the scriptures where their keeping of these holidays originated. However, upon close examination one soon discovers that these explanations do not in any way relate to what the Bible teaches. Although there is no proof, the reason Ch-rchianity offers for continuing to observe their holidays that are clearly "prooftexted", and have no relationship whatsoever with the Bible, is that they are popular. The holidays are based on traditions of men rather than upon proven fact (Matthew 15:7-9 and Isaiah 29:13-14). The winter holiday of Chr-stmas must be characterized as an unparalleled paradox in the realm of Ch-stian doctrine and practice. Since it is Ch-rchianity's principal holiday, it is the most widely observed. The first problem we encounter is with the name - "Chr-stmas" which is never found in the Bible. The etymology of the term is a combination of the two terms "Chr-st" and "mass". I won't cover this in this thread, but Chr-st is not the title of the son of Yahweh, who is our Redeemer, but His genuine title should be the Hebrew term Messiah. Further, the word "mass" is never found in the Sacred Scriptures, nor is the term Chr-stmas.
The cherished traditions that cling to the Chr-stmas celebration are not found anywhere in the Bible either. Where do we find in the Bible Santa Claus, reindeer's, a yule log, Chr-stmas trees, mistletoe, the drinking of alcoholic beverages etc relating to the birthday of the Messiah? The answer is: nowhere do these symbols appear in the Word of Yahweh.
Why, then, are people avidly keeping the Chr-stmas celebration with the traditional symbolism that cannot be found in the Bible? Why are even so-called religious people teaching their children lies, yet simultaneously they will demand their children to speak the truth. I suspect that religious people who keep Xmas don't truly believe in the inspiration of the Bible, nor submit to its authority. For those who shrug off Chr-stmas as simply celebrating the birthday of the Messiah, I might point out that there is absolutely no commandment in the Bible to observe a birthday. We are however to remember his death at the Passover. In the three occasions where birthday's were observed in the Bible, violence and death occurred (Genesis 40:20, Job 1, Matthew 14:6). Perhaps it would be wise to consider what King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 7:1-4:
"A good name is better than precious oil; and the day of death, than the day of one's birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth."
There is no commandment to keep the birthday of the Messiah holy.
Secret Chief briefly mentioned the Saturnalia, which predates Chr-stmas, yet was kept at the same time, so I assume the pagan roots are known here on RF at least to the extent of the Paganalia and Saturnalia. Of course, the pagan roots go beyond that. Further, I want to mention that the Pilgrim Fathers rejected Xmas. In the book, The History of Plymouth Colony by William Bradford, there appears a note about such on page 126. Also the Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, in the article Chr-stmas says the Puritans forbad any merriment or religious service on Chr-stmas on the grounds that it was a heathen festival and ordered it to be kept as a fast.
Ultimately, we are all our own judges. By our own decisions we judge ourselves worthy or unworthy to be in the Kingdom of Yahweh. I won't be celebrating Chr-stmas, as I have continued to do all my life, and I won't be teaching my children to keep it either, perpetuating the lie that seemingly psychologically damages children in to viewing what their elders say as being suspect. May Yahweh bless all those who choose to please Yahweh the right way, by keeping His commandments and rejecting pagan practices.
