CHRISTMAS, IS IT A CHRISTIAN FEASTIVITY?

By Maazi James A. Udu

INTRODUCTION:

It is always hard for one to give up a practice he started from childhood even when he is old and learnt that the act is wrong. Yea, one thing is clear, no matter how old an error is practiced, it is still an error. A question is, how many are willing to give up their erroneous practices and uphold the truth when they learnt of the truth of the matter?. There was a falsehood believed in the world, that is, before 400yrs ago it was believed that the world was straight, but, when it was disproved and proved that the earth is spherical in shape as the bible declared in,

Isaiah 40:22 (KJV) ” It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” both the scientists and all well meaning individuals had embraced the truth. The scripture said in Proverbs 23:23 (KJV) ” Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.”

One of the world’s most erroneous religious practices today is CHRISTMAS. It is believed and practiced as commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. In an interview to some of the religious leaders, they believed that the name is unbiblical and that 25th December may not be the actual date of Christ’s birth, “but, by “faith” the religious leaders came together and choose 25th December as a day set aside to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ,” they concluded. Well, this believe of theirs should be proved from the pages of the scripture, since they said it was by faith.

Faith and the Bible;

The scripture said that Christians walk by faith and not by sight 2 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV)  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) and this faith of the Bible comes from hearing God’s word Romans 10:17 (KJV)  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. What it means is that the religious leaders are wrongly holding a faith that is not from the word of God and is sinful for the Bible said in Romans 14:23 (KJV) ” And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” By implication, the scripture is saying that it is sinful for one to do or practice a thing without biblical prove.

DO CHURCH OF CHRIST MEMBERS BELIEVE IN THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST?

Sometimes, members of the Church of Christ are being accused of denying the birth of Jesus Christ by denying the unscripturalness of 25th December as the birth day of Jesus Christ. We have reasons for believing in the birth of Jesus Christ since it has a biblical record, the bible clearly stated of His birth from old testament to new testament. A careful scriptural examination about His birth have the following facts;

CHRIST.                                     PROPHECY.                                    FULFILLMENT

Seed of the woman.                    Gen. 3:15.                                         Gal. 4:4;Rev 12:5

Born of a virgin.                        Isa.7:14;Mic 5:2.                               Mtt.1:23;Lk1:26-27

Tribe of Judah                            Gen.49:10;Mic.5:2                           Mtt1:2;2:6,Lk.2:31

House of David                          Isa.9:7;Jer.23:5.                                Mtt.2:1-6;Lk.2:4

These few prophecies and their fulfillments are sighted as prove of reasons to believe in the birth of Jesus Christ but since God choosed not to disclose the date to mankind the members of the Church of Christ rejects any date added by man, for it is sinful to add to God’s word Revelation 22:18-19 (KJV)  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. And Proverbs 30:5-6 (KJV)  Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. This is the reason why we rejects 25 December and every other date given by man as Christ’s day of birth. In the bible 25th December is on record as a time when Joachim king of Judah was granted amnesty from Babylon Jeremiah 52:31-34 and not as a time when Christ was born.

AN APPEAL TO HISTORY:

How did the religious world got to this point? The voice of history proved that the celebration of 25th December as Christmas was not of Christian origin rather was added to the religious world by uninspired men. Hear history, ” Thus the practice of holiday of Christmas, the giving of presents and general feelings of good will and generality grew out of no Christian custom but of the great pagan festival of SATURNALIA” (outline history of the world by H. A. Davis M. A. Third edition pg 189. Again, from encyclopedia Americana:  it states that using 25th December as Christmas was added by a Bishop at Ŗome called Bishop Liberus in the year354 AD. A day they celebrate the birth of the sun of SATURN at Roman Empire. “In ancient Rome, December17 to 24 was the weeklong festival of Saturnalia in honor of Roman deity, Saturn, the god of planting (or sowing). It was marked with sacrifice at the temple of Saturn, a public banquet, private gift-giving, continual parting and carnival among other activities. A day after this weeklong event ie December 25th came the festival of Natalie Sol Invieti, the birth of the unconquered sun several other pagan gods like Osiris, Jupiter, Plautus, etc, had their birthdays on December 25th ( The pagan origin of Christmas by bro. Madu). This pagan feast was christianized, a shift from the worshipof SUN to the worship of the SON. Now it is cleat why we cannot read about Christmas in the bible it was introduced by bishop Liberus uninspired man, by the year 354 AD, while the last book of the bible was written between AD 95-96, the difference is clear. The American Time magazine of December 23rd 1960 recorded a great opposition against the date by denominational pastors since they cannot read about it in the scripture, yet, they insist in observing it. It is now seen that the religious world has no respect for the authority of the bible despite grave warnings in the scripture over adding and subtracting from the word of God (pro. 30:5-6; 1Cor. 4:6; Mtt. 15:7-9;13-15). I know it will interest you to know that being good, kind and generous to people are Christian attributes and the fruits of the holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and Lk. 6:35-39, commands us to give always, so no special day for gifting, Acts 20:35; Col. 3:14 reminds us of our duty of helping others, not for a special day,. It is clear that the bible condemned the idea behind CHRISTMAS that is, as a time when people renders help to their neighbors.

THE BIBLICAL FEAST

There is a biblical feast to be observed by Christians in commemoration of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 11:23-25 said we should do it in remembrance of His ultimate sacrifice for mankind. Days of observance, the scripture said upon the first day of the week Acts 20:7. This is the only scriptural feast to be observed by Christians.

CONCLUSION:

Since the unscripturalness of CHRISTMAS is clearly proved from the scripture, I advice the observers to listen to the voice of reasoning the scripture said