Thanks to all who commented on yesterday’s post, especially to those who pointed me to other articles. Looking at all that’s been said (I’d encourage you to read Jay Guin’s post “Regarding Christmas,” then look through some of the links in the comments section as well), I hesitate to add much more.
But of course I will. :-)
Over at Brian Nicklaus’ blog, I left a comment stating that I’m more comfortable with Charles Dickens’ Christmas than I am the pope’s. I’m glad the world is thinking about Christ in even the tiniest way. I worry about what Christians are doing about it.
The question bears asking “Why December 25?” The answer that it’s an ancient tradition doesn’t fly with me. The earliest references to Christians celebrating Jesus’ birth refer to it as an oddity, not as general practice. Early Reformers saw it as a Catholic tradition, not one pertaining to general Christianity.
There is an ancient tradition of celebrating tomorrow, December 8, as the day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The same groups kept that alive all these years that preserved the December 25 date. Why has Protestantism in general accepted their testimony on one celebration and not on the other? [For those wanting to return the U.S. to her Christian roots, remember that this is the patronal saint day of the United States]
Many have celebrated Mary’s ascension to heaven on August 15, with traces back to the fourth century. It’s a public holiday in over a dozen countries. Why not hold onto that ancient tradition as well?
And why is so little attention given to Epiphany? Whether you follow the Western churches (celebrating the visit of the Magi) or the Eastern churches (celebrating Jesus’ baptism), this feast is connected with an actual event that we can read about in the Bible, unlike the previous two that I mentioned. (Though some argue that the ascension of Mary is seen in Revelation 12) And if we’re going to sing about the 12 days of Christmas, why do we stop the celebration on the first day and not go through Epiphany, the 12th day?
It’s cool today to say “Let’s connect with historic Christianity by celebrating the Christian calendar.” If we’re really going to do that, we’ve got a lot more dates to add. Why one feast (or two, if you count Easter) and not the others? For more years than not, the bulk of Christendom celebrated these days.
There’s no good answer as to why we would set aside December 25 as the time to commemorate Jesus’ birth. And it doesn’t take much to see that focusing on Jesus’ birth at this one time of year pretty much eliminates any awareness of that event at other times.
I’m convinced of the value of promoting an awareness of Christ at this time and supporting the idea of the “Christmas spirit” in general society. I’m still not convinced of the value of imitating other Christians just for the sake of imitating them. I’m not big on “slippery slope” arguments (as they say, if you accept one of them, you have to accept them all), but this seems to be a step in a dangerous direction. Maybe not the action itself, but the line of reasoning (or lack of reasoning).
So who’ll join me in July to celebrate the coming of Christ?
I will gladly join you in July as well. it is sad to limit the joy to one time during the year.
is not doing something simply because others are doing it any better or much different than only doing it because others are??
plus, you and I have different views/practices, but we both have more motives than simply what others are or are not doing. it’s more than that, right?
We celebrate and give thanks for it whenever we fill like it.
If the date is unknown then any we choose is just fine.
We try to be too exact in many things we do! Sometimes its for the wrong reason.
Brian,
The main arguments I hear for celebrating Jesus’ coming in this season is that other Christians are doing it. Or do you know a good argument as to why now and not at other times? (And yes, others will give lip service to “we can do it at any time,” but try leading Silent Night in March and tell me if you don’t get some giggles and funny looks)
Grace and peace,
Tim
John,
I’m actually not opposed to the celebrations, though I know I sound like it. It’s the peer pressure aspect that gets to me, the idea that you almost have to explain yourself if (a) you choose not to put special emphasis on the Advent at this time; or (b) you choose to have a special celebration at some other time of the year.
Propose a Christmas pageant in May, and tell me how that goes over with everyone.
Grace and peace,
Tim
December 25th used to be a pagan holiday. Easter, too.
The kingdom of God has conquered it and made it ours, so I rejoice.
I don’t believe in the Immaculate Conception of Mary (let’s be very clear – that holiday celebrates the idea that MARY was immaculately conceived, in order that Original Sin would not be passed down to Jesus), or in the Ascension of Mary, so not celebrating those holidays is sort of not a big deal in my mind – whereas choosing not to celebrate the Resurrection and the Incarnation are pretty big deals for me.
I think you make a huge assumption when you say that celebrating the Christian calendar is merely “imitating other Christians for the sake of imitating them.” We do a LOT of things that, from a critic’s perspective, could be so described.
Communal prayer.
Singing.
Lord’s Day gathering.
For me, the Christian Calendar is about consecrating time itself, much like the rhythm of Genesis 1 intentionally consecrates time (while Genesis 2 focuses much more on place). The powers that run my world say that I have to do certain things on certain days, and at certain times during those days. That’s fine – but trying to follow the Christian calendar helps me say to my employer, ‘You aren’t the final word on how I view time – it might look like I’m operating on your timetable, your calendar – but it only looks that way. In reality, I’m operating on a different timetable altogether, that is oriented to honor my God and not my boss.’
Nick,
I recognize that most people don’t accept the teachings behind the Immaculate Conception nor the Ascension of Mary. That’s precisely why I used those examples. Maybe you haven’t heard people say that the Christian Calendar is a connection with ancient church traditions. My argument is that if we want to do that, we need to embrace the whole traditional calendar.
I don’t like the artificial feel of the Christian calendar. I’d feel better, frankly, if someone followed some semblance of the Jewish calendar. Seems like that would give a more godly rhythm to life than something largely based on superstitions and traditions that most reject.
If you want to show your boss that you want to honor God, tell him you refuse to work off the pagan solar calendar, that it’s a lunar calendar or nothing. :-)
Grace and peace,
Tim
I look at my Christian walk as a Missionary to the world that I am placed in.
If I were to live in a country where I am trying to reach out to those that do not know Jesus and about half of their population celebrated the birth of the Savior that I am trying to introduce them to on December 25th, why wouldn’t I use that as an open door? People in the U.S. don’t regularly open the door to Christianity. And maybe most of them are only paying Jesus some lip service during Christmas time. But maybe, just maybe, this is a time that I can use to talk to people about the birth of the Savior that I so desperately want them to meet.
Just a thought that has nothing to do with calendars, the Catholic church, or if I personally think that Jesus was born on December 25th.
Adoptingmama,
I don’t think we need to go around chiding people for celebrating Christmas, especially not non-Christians. As I said, I think it does a lot of good for society in general. And it can be a time to talk to people about how that baby grew up and became our Savior.
But I don’t know that any of that is achieved by pretending that Christmas is something that it isn’t. From a missional standpoint, we’re better off working with people’s understanding of Christmas and talking to them about giving, thankfulness, generosity, etc., rather than trying to get them to follow one old tradition among many false ones.
Grace and peace,
Tim
On the Christmas post, I explained how my wife and I changed from celebrating Christmas the traditional way, to using the day to spread God’s word. The first year we tried this, I really was not sold on it. We had just lost our youngest son and I was not in the best of spirits. Deep inside, I thought that spending half of my SS check on Bibles to pass out to homeless people, who were just coming to get a free meal was foolish. Many did come just for the free meal, but in the middle of the day, a very sad man showed up. While waiting for his meal, he picked up one of the Bibles we left on each table and he started crying. In talking with him, he told me his son had just died. We cried together and we read scripture together. A little later, others came to us asking where to go to church. We now love Christmas more then we ever did before. What a day for sharing God’s word. Christmas should be the hardest, longest working day of every Christian. My only regret is that I did not see this opportunity when I was raising children. I should have been a better example for them instead of following the world’s ways. Christ said his people would be known for the love they had for each other. I am an old man now, and I am just beginning to understand what he was talking about.