Why We Do Not Celebrate Christmas As A Religious Holiday

Why Not? Is it because we do not think the birth of Jesus is important? Is it because we do not want to honor and remember Jesus? It is because we do not have authority in the NT to make this day a religious holy day (holiday)

Why Not? Religious “holy days” - we are not allowed to make certain days religious days that are not a part of the NT gospel (Gal. 4:9-10; Col. 2:16) Civil “holidays” - we are allowed to esteem one day above another as long as it does not add to the gospel (Rom. 14:5)

Brief History of Christmas No Christian or local church in the 1st century ever celebrated the birth of Jesus No “Happy Birthday Jesus” No “Keep Christ in Christmas” No “He is the reason for the season”

Brief History of Christmas From the 2nd-4th centuries, different dates for the birth of Jesus were suggested: Jan. 6, Mar. 25, Apr. 18, May 20, Nov. 17, etc. “Christmass” (Cristes Maesse, a mass for Christ) began to be celebrated in the 4th century from 325 to 354 A.D.

Brief History of Christmas In 354 A.D., Bishop Liberius of Rome ordered that Dec. 25 be used Dec. 25 was already the date for a pagan festival (Saturnalia) to the Roman sun god Mithras; some “Christians” linked this sun worship festival to Jesus being the “light of the world” and the tradition was born

Brief History of Christmas Celebrating Jesus’ birthday on Dec. 25 spread to Constantinople (A.D. 379), to Antioch (386), and to Egypt (431) “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts…” (Catholic Encyclopedia Online)

Brief History of Christmas Human tradition superseded biblical authority and the celebration of Jesus’ birthday was blindly practiced without question by many to this day (Col. 2:8) Protestant churches (15-1600’s) simply borrowed the celebration from Catholics

Review No Christian or local church in the 1st century celebrated the birth of Jesus Christmas as the birth of Jesus is not in scripture; it is a presumptuous creation of man mixed with Roman paganism Christmas as a religious celebration of the birth of Jesus is not authorized by God in the Bible

Remembering Jesus What is authorized in the NT (Mt. 28:18; Col. 3:17)? Is there a command, example, or implication for Jesus’ birthday? No! There is no memorial for his birth, only a memorial in the Lord’s supper for his death (Lk. 22:19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)

Christmas As Non-Religious A practice with a man-made religious background can be continued in a non-religious way (note: the names of our days and months) Holiday (civil) vs. holy day (religious) Observing Christmas (without the religion) is like eating meat (without worshipping idols) – 1 Cor. 8; 10

Christmas As Non-Religious January - named after JANUS, god of beginnings February - named for Februa, the feast of purification March - month of Mars April - the name may derive from the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite May - from the Greek Maia, goddess of spring (growth) June - named after the goddess Juno, Queen of the gods July - from Julius Caesar August - from Augustus Caesar September - the seventh month in the early Roman calendar October - eighth month in the early Roman calendar November - ninth month of the early Roman calendar December - tenth month of the early Roman calendar

Christmas As Non-Religious Some brethren have nothing to do with it Some brethren exchange gifts, but not on Christmas day and without any of the decorations Some brethren exchange gifts on Christmas day and with all of the decorations (tree, etc.)

Where Will You Be Next Sunday? Some churches cancel services on Christmas; isn’t this hypocritcal? Some brethren forsake the assembling to exchange gifts Don’t let a man-made holiday take precedence over the scriptural day of worship! Keep your priorities in order!

Remembering Jesus How can I remember Jesus and honor him? Be baptized into his death (Rom. 6:3) Remember his death (1 Cor. 11:24) Preach his death (1 Cor. 15:3-5) Live his death (Phil. 3:10) Believe his death (1 Thess. 4:14)