Is Christmas a Form of Worship to Jesus Christ?

[2timothy316]

There are some that refuse to accept that Jesus is God based on their beliefs. Yet many of these people still celebrate Christmas. So, is Christmas an act of worship to Jesus? If it is, then why would a person that doesn't accept Jesus as God worship Jesus?

[onewithhim]

[Replying to post 30 by Checkpoint]

What persuaded you to toss out the cold facts surrounding Christmas and plunge into the sugary, trivial, surface giddiness of the celebration of the invincible Sun?

You said you used to view it the way JWs do, but you don't any more. Would you mind explaining why? A narrative, incomplete though it is, of Jesus' birth, is presented in Matthew and Luke, but just because a few facts are recorded, does it really seem all that important to add a whole lot more to the story, making it into a gargantuan festival involving revelry and customs directly from pagan sources (the date even being wrong), and on top of all that---to not pay any attention to God Almighty Himself amidst all the revelry?

Christmas certainly is full of beautiful things---lights and glitter and wrappings---but wouldn't Christians want to look behind all this and think about who is promoting it all?

"Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light." (2Corinth.11:14)

He makes it all seem OK, even mandatory. Why should anyone care if a few pagan trappings are thrown into the deal?

[William]

[Replying to post 27 by ]

2timothy316: Um so the images, I know one is Santa. Who is the other supposed to be?

William: The other is a religious icon depicting their particular idea of The Creator.

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William:Another image from the link;

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 30 by Checkpoint]

Such as?

Did you see my request for examples? I am most interested in something (an action) that constitutes "celebrating christmas" that is actually based on the bible. (I already conceded that certain Christmas carols resemble the bible narrative) but what actual celebratory actions are in your opinion based on scripture?

[brianbbs67]

I answered no because Christmas has nothing to do with Christ. It was originally repackaged pagan beliefs and now is a commercial day. Not holy though. Only God declares His Holy Days. We call them holidays because English sometimes does this and makes a compound word. So, we violate God by calling it holy when it is not.

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 30 by Checkpoint]

What persuaded you to toss out the cold facts surrounding Christmas and plunge into the sugary, trivial, surface giddiness of the celebration of the invincible Sun?

You said you used to view it the way JWs do, but you don't any more. Would you mind explaining why?

It is, I guess, in a way, both quite simple and quite complicated.

For several years I was with a group that had a mix of SDA and JW beliefs. In due course I found some holes and left it.


That basically meant I had to start all over again, and reconsider everything, a process that, for me. is yet to end.

As to Christmas, I suppose it could be said that I found a real baby in some real bathwater. A baby who became all that is in those narratives, and all that is spoken elsewhere about who he would become and what he would do.

A narrative, incomplete though it is, of Jesus' birth, is presented in Matthew and Luke, but just because a few facts are recorded, does it really seem all that important to add a whole lot more to the story, making it into a gargantuan festival involving revelry and customs directly from pagan sources (the date even being wrong), and on top of all that---to not pay any attention to God Almighty Himself amidst all the revelry?

Christmas certainly is full of beautiful things---lights and glitter and wrappings---but wouldn't Christians want to look behind all this and think about who is promoting it all?

"Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light." (2Corinth.11:14)

He makes it all seem OK, even mandatory. Why should anyone care if a few pagan trappings are thrown into the deal?

Wouldn't Christians want to look behind all this and think about how God is using this platform to bring the lost into His forever family?

into the highways and gather

Grace and peace to you.

[2timothy316]

[Replying to post 32 by William]

Ah ok. It doesn't fit the Bible's definition of an idol though. Without the text or someone tell me what it is, it fails as an icon too.

I do not give cookies and milk to any image. Nor do I shop in places that sell figurines of people on little thrones. I do not lie and say that some little man on a throne will come down my chimney and give them people gifts one night a year. That's Santa. Who is an icon, sold in stores and given food for an offering.

[2timothy316]

[Replying to post 28 by Checkpoint]

So I'm not going to get answers to my questions then?

So you're ok that the religion that instituted Christmas and the majority of Christendom view Jesus as God? You're also ok to absorb that ritual as part of your own religion?

You say that people 'fail to see' yet you can't answer my questions so that I can see clearly.

[marco]

I do not give cookies and milk to any image. Nor do I shop in places that sell figurines of people on little thrones. I do not lie and say that some little man on a throne will come down my chimney and give them people gifts one night a year. That's Santa. Who is an icon, sold in stores and given food for an offering.

How very grown up! How nice it is to keep one's own children chilled while others feel the warmth of fables. A friend of mine refused to tell his children about Santa; I always felt he was implanting in them stone hearts, and so it turned out.



I cannot believe that a loving God, seeing the wondering eyes of a child on Christmas Eve, objects to a bearded old imposter. I should imagine he laughs as heartily as Santa and despite our superior knowledge, he somehow imbues that fictional figure with some of his own love. For many on earth God is the fiction; Santa is an illustration that faith can generate love and happiness. It is "misplaced" in the minds of those who see pictures only in black and white.

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 28 by Checkpoint]

So I'm not going to get answers to my questions then?

What questions did you ask me in your post 25?

So you're ok that the religion that instituted Christmas and the majority of Christendom view Jesus as God? You're also ok to absorb that ritual as part of your own religion?

No, I am not ok that they view Jesus as God.

No, I am not ok to absorb that ritual.

I am ok to absorb the relevant scripture narratives.

You say that people 'fail to see' yet you can't answer my questions so that I can see clearly.

My answers will not enable you to see clearly.

Grace and peace to you.

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 30 by Checkpoint]

Such as?

Did you see my request for examples? I am most interested in something (an action) that constitutes "celebrating christmas" that is actually based on the bible. (I already conceded that certain Christmas carols resemble the bible narrative) but what actual celebratory actions are in your opinion based on scripture?

Those found and expressed in the scripture narratives.

Grace and peace to you.