This is something I have dealt with for at least 12 years now. I am sure it started when Ty was born. When Jon and I had to decide which holidays were "evil" and what was acceptable for a true follower of Christ. Every holiday that comes around I see different people's comments and blog posts about this very subject, giving their opinion. I agree with some, totally disagree with others... some I see their point, but does it have to be that way for everyone?
Almost all of our holidays have pagan roots. Christmas, Easter, Weddings, Halloween, even Mother's Day. So, should we boycott all of them? Maybe. But I think we need to make up our minds. I don't feel like we get to pick and choose what we "celebrate." I will just list some of what I have found about just the holidays I have mentioned above.
Christmas:
Consider these quotes from the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, under “Christmas”: “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church… The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt.” Further, “Pagan customs centering round the January calends gravitated to Christmas.” Under “Natal Day,” Origin, an early Catholic writer, admitted, “…In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world"
The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth… a feast was established in memory of this event [Christ’s birth] in the 4th century. In the 5th century the Western church ordered the feast to be celebrated on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.”
It was 300 years after Christ before the Roman church kept Christmas, and not until the fifth century that it was mandated to be kept throughout the empire as an official festival honoring "Christ."
The Christmas tree, holly, mistletoe, and yule log all precede Christ's birth. So, they are pagan. And yet, I still decorate my house with them every year. Santa is a whole other can of worms. Personally Jon and I decided not to let our kids think Santa is real, but again I believe that was a personal decision and I don't argue with people who do play "Santa," or say "Happy Holidays," or "Merry Xmas" (Jon has no problem with "Xmas," since instead of seeing it as - as some people say - x-ing out Christ, he says that X is a proper abbreviation for Christ), or even sing Christmas hymns that are very un-Biblical... the idea of gift-giving we justify with, "Well, the wise men brought baby Jesus gifts." Although we forget that these weren't "birthday gifts." Actually if you look up the origins of birthday traditions you might be quite shocked as well!
Easter:
Ahh... the holiday that is upon us now. Do we celebrate it or not? My kids dye eggs every year and get an Easter basket (usually complete with chocolate bunny). We actually haven't done an egg hunt for the past few years... not really any reason for this, just haven't! My kids know the meaning of this holiday. They know the importance of the resurrection. That it is what gives us our hope in the Lord. But once again I feel like Christians have just taken over a pagan ritual that proceeded Christ and tried to make it our own. Does anywhere in the Bible God even ask us to remember the resurrection? Of course the death of Christ and His resurrection go together, but from what I understand we are asked to remember the price that was paid by His death for our sins. Should we call it Easter? Does it matter? Even our days of the week are pagan words and we use them with no problem. Where do we draw the line?
Weddings:
Did you know our "traditional wedding" is full of pagan rituals? Everything from all the bridesmaids and groomsmen being there to confuse the evil spirits, to the superstitions of "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue"... I even had a penny in my shoe! Was I sinning? Maybe... although I had no idea of and didn't even consider the origin of it at the time...
The white wedding dress does symbolize purity, but it also was thought that white would ward off evil spirits. Tossing of the bouquet and garter symbolize passing along your good fortune, and throwing rice would symbolize lots of kids and a full pantry! All superstitions. Yet most Christian girls wouldn't dream of giving up their white wedding! I know I wouldn't have wanted too!
Halloween:
I know this is a favorite to boycott. Everyone knows the "evils" of Halloween. Yet, my kids get dressed up every year (our rule is nothing "scary" or "demonic") and go out to ask for candy. Early on when our kids where still too small to really trick-or-treat, I struggled with this one. And the Lord reminded me, "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). I don't decorate my house for this one, but we do have fun.
Mother's Day:
I was a bit surprised by this one. I thought that Hallmark and the flower business made this one up, but it does go back to the ancient Greek ritual of worshiping the mother god. Mother's Day is celebrated all over the world with different countries giving it different meanings and also during different times of the year.
So, where am I going with this? Not really sure... just once again I wanted to get my thoughts out there. Maybe as Christians we need to be more concerned with being known for loving others, serving others, and bringing hope and healing to a lost world, instead of arguing over what a day should be called or how we celebrate it. Why is it Christians are always in the news as people who disagree with everything? Maybe we need more grace and more love.
"Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive.
1 Corinthians 10:23
2 comments:
Wow. Susie very intereting!!! I knew there was a lot of paganism in holidays and everyday life but I guess. I really never thought about it. I love "this is the day the Lord hath made" I. Have great memories along with that song growing up.
I love when your posts put structure to thoughts I'm trying to think through. This is something Ty and I talk about a lot and are still working through but this year when I saw a lot of Christians start crying out that "easter" was a pagan word I thought similar to how you ended this. When are we going to love and share Christ instead of crying foul to everything we point to that is "pagan."??? Anyway, you gave me a bit more to think about (and talk to Ty about). Thanks for talking out your thinking!
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