Yes, it’s okay for Christians to have a Christmas tree–it won’t turn you into a pagan.
https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/the-christian-christmas-tree-2
The Christmas tree, Mark Rushdoony explained in 2018, is an allusion to the Biblical Tree of Life–a key image in both Genesis and Revelation. The Tree of Life is Jesus Christ. We partake of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
We don’t have to surrender Christmas!
Just keep the cat away from the tinsel.
I have been thinking of the song O Little town of Bethlehem. Have no idea whether it has been posted already since I have missed so many posts. If it hasn’t been posted, OK, If is has been posted, OK.
I think I’ve already posted Nat King Cole singing it… But I’ll find another version for you.
How about “Away in a Manger”?
It’ll be my pleasure–first post tomorrow.
I see both sides of this issue. Nearly everything can be related to one or another pagan source, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that every use of this is pagan. I have heard that wedding rings, for example, are of pagan origin, but they serve a good and wholesome purpose in a Christian’s life, and I certainly would not criticize them, in any way.
God looks at the heart, and knows our intentions. There are doctrinal questions for which I have no absolute answers. I know what I believe, and have my good reasons, but there are people whom I greatly respect who see things far differently from me. Speaking only for myself, I see three things that I feel are absolute musts: have no god before Yahweh, love of neighbor and acceptance of Jesus Christ as savior. King David committed two egregious sins: adultery with Bathsheba and arranging the death of her husband, but David remained in God’s favor, probably because he never worshipped other gods.
So I will end where I began; I see both sides of this discussion, and criticize neither side. If someone celebrates Christmas with a Christmas Tree, with the sincere motive of honoring Christ as savior, I will not impute some bad motive to this. On the other hand, if someone feels that pagan overtones of Christmas Trees are a no go, that is their prerogative.
Last night, I saw a YouTube video by Joel Rosenberg where he discussed how he copes with being a practicing Christian, of Jewish ancestry, living in Israel, and in specific, how he handles the subject of Christmas. He invites his Jewish neighbors to join in his Christmas, without pressuring them to accept Jesus, born in Bethlehem, as their Messiah. However, he has a guest read aloud Micah 5:2-4, in Hebrew, and has had some very positive responses to this, when these people hear from their own Bible, in their own language, that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
In my life, Christmas was a time of friction. Both of my parents were Christian, but their beliefs diverged. My father wanted to celebrate Christmas the way he had as a child, with a tree, while my mother considered this pagan. The compromise was that we got presents, but there was no Christmas Tree involved.
Just because pagans copy Christians doesn’t mean we have to give up our traditions. For instance, the 7-color rainbow is our, not the LGBT’s. In Genisis 21:23 before Abraham called upon God and to make a covenant, Abraham planted an evergreen tree.
Excellent point, my friend.
Pagans don’t own trees, or logs, or calendar dates or customs. I find it so bizarre that people insist
that just because things are similar in some way, they are the same, or one came from the other.
Another excellent point. As Christians, we have few direct commands. In the book of Acts, chapter 15, the matter of circumcision for non-Jewish converts to Christianity came up. After some very serious discussion, including an impassioned speech by Peter, the following instructions were sent, starting in verse 28 “For it has seemed good gto the Holy Spirit and hto us ito lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
I want to be careful to live my life in accordance with Christian principles, but I have no right to go beyond what is written in scripture. I have friends of various denominations, and despite doctrinal differences, I am quite impressed by how devout these people are. My point is not to say that I approve of any doctrine that comes along, but instead, that anyone sincerely seeking to please God will have a better life because of it. As Acts 15 tells us, if we keep ourselves away from badness, we will do well. I have met Catholics, Mormons, Lutherans and others who were sincere, decent moral people; such is the power of faith in Christ. I believe that all will be clarified, in God’s due time, and in the meantime, I encourage everyone, including myself, to live according to the scriptures, to the very best of our abilities.
I have a family member who insists that we, as Christians, must basically follow Jewish practices, because only they are in the Bible. She also lectures me regularly on social media (we don’t socialize much in person for the past while) about how God hates Christmas and Easter, and going to church on Sunday instead of the Sabbath is bad. We should follow Jewish dietary restrictions, too, because its Biblical. I’ve often pointed out verses like this, in Colossians 2 “Colossians 2:16-17 ESV
[16] Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. [17] These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” She ignores them, or tries to tell me they are saying the opposite of what they are actually saying!
I’ve run into that, a lot; people basically reversing the meaning of scripture.
As I see it, the starting point is in understanding that even if we live very upright lives, we cannot earn our salvation. Salvation comes through Christ, period. I don’t state that to imply that we should live lives filled with sin, but merely to point out that keeping the Law of Moses does not advance the cause of our salvation, in the slightest.
The very first Christians, were Jewish people, practicing the Law. I’ve heard that most of them still observed the dietary restrictions of the Law, even after accepting Christ, but it wasn’t part of their requirements for salvation. When Gentiles were first brought into Christianity, it’s not surprising that some Jewish Christians assumed that these converts had to comply with the law. Before Christ, they would have viewed these people as unclean, and to be avoided.
Peter was given a dream, where God commanded him to eat foods that were unclean under the Law. It was n object lesson, to help Peter realize that the rules of the game had changed.
Insisting that someone revert to the Law of Moses, at least as I see it, doesn’t accomplish anything good. Our faith should be in Christ, and not the works of the Law. Once, simply as a test, I pretended to keep Shabbat, from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. I didn’t do this expecting any spiritual benefit, but simply wanted to see what I would have been like. I broke Shabbat at least twice, the first time, almost instantly after sundown. I was ill prepared, and at least according to tradition, even popping prepared foods into the microwave is a violation. The next morning, I bought my breakfast in a restaurant, which would have been another violation, not to mention driving to the restaurant.
Obviously, keeping Shabbat is not easy, but we are not required to do so. As I see it, one aspect of appreciating Christ is to trust in the value of His death, as a mean of salvation.
It’s all in the Book of Acts. And elsewhere throughout the New Testament.
In my younger years, I was exposed to a lot of verse checking; quoting individual verses to make a point, with no regard whatsoever for context. Over the years, I learned that this approach can be exploited to serve the ends of any number of personal beliefs, which are not actually supported in scripture.
Some time back, I began looking at context, not only chapter by chapter, but the context of the book, and how it fit within the entirety of scripture. This is not a minor feat, by any means, but I at least endeavor to make that effort.
So, retracting the zoom lens, I see that Genesis is brimming with information, and lends context to all that follows.
God creates everything, culminating in the creation of the human race.
Adam and Eve disobey, bringing sin and death into the picture, but even at the moment when God confronts them for their sin, He reveals a plan for redemption.
Cain’s enmity for his brother Able demonstrates how unrighteousness will seek to oppress and oppose those whom desire to live in harmony with God.
Sin spreads as mankind multiplies, until the intention of men’s hearts are only bad, all the time. God destroys all flesh (human and animal) sparing only Noah’s family and the animal life preserved on the Ark.
After the Flood, mankind defies God’s command to spread out and populate the earth, seeking instead to concentrate in Babel for their own glory, so God divides mankind into nations, separated by language. (Some believe that there was a separate language for every family group.)
Childless Abraham is selected by God to become the patriarch of a vast nation, which was to become a blessing to all nations, and to inherit Canaan.
The offspring of Abraham are driven to Egypt by famine, only to be saved by the brother whom they had betrayed, and who was now a high ranking official whom had been given prophetic foreknowledge of the famine, and who had prepared, so that all the world turned to Egypt for sustenance.
That’s a very abbreviated overview of just the first 50 chapters of Genesis, but I include this to show how consistent the context of scripture actually is. Much like a picture puzzle, each new piece adds clarity to the entire picture. The nation of Israel failed in many ways, but produced the Messiah, and a chain of authority which gives Him the right to govern, as is eluded to in the book of Ezekiel.
So, as I look at any issue, I try to keep in mind that scripture is not some hodgepodge of isolated events, but instead is a coherent explanation of how we got to where we are today.
Getting back to the book of Acts, the real issue there was how they would adapt to the next phase of God’s plan, when His favor was offered to all of mankind, regardless of nation. For first century Jews, whom had accepted Christ, this was an abrupt change, and it didn’t always go smoothly. Even Peter had trouble adapting, but the proliferation of Christianity succeeded, and has spread to the ends of the earth.
At the end of the day, we have only scripture as a completely reliable source of information, but if we step back and see today’s world in that context, we can see consistency, all the way back to Cain and Able. As much as I am distressed by the state of humanity in our day, and the increasing godlessness all around, it is not surprising. So I seek to focus on the context, and to take comfort in the fact that God’s plan is succeeding. As we see sin becoming evermore egregious, it becomes more and more obvious to good-hearted persons everywhere that we need God’s help, and that is why Christianity is still growing, even in places where it is vehemently opposed; in fact, especially in places where it is vehemently opposed.
While we sometimes stumble over the details, the broader context should give us hope, and assurance that in the long run, things will turn out well, and that eventually, we will be returned to the state where God looked at His creation, and said that it was not only good, but thst it was very good.
This argument has been going on for 2,000 years. *Sigh*
Unknowable, I think the operative word about your pretending to keep Shabbat is “pretending.” It couldn’t have been a test of what it would have been like, because the people who kept — and still keep — Shabbas (Ashkenazi pronunciation of “Shabbat”) wouldn’t be pretending and would see the customs as spiritual. They aren’t just restrictions; they’re a sharing in the Divine pattern of the universe, the resting day after the completion of creation. For a Jew, the mitzvahs (commandments) are beautiful, not just a checklist of things one must do or not do. See Psalm 119, for example, a long love song to God’s Law. Every single verse mentions the laws, commands, ordinances, statutes, or some other variation on God’s commandments, and thanks God for them. In fact, many of the blessings said before various acts or over food begin “Blessed are You, Lord God, King of the universe, Who have made us holy (or “blessed us,” or “gifted us”) with your mitzvahs (commandments)….”
Jews are supposed to do mitzvahs out of love, just as Christ has told Christians “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” And we Christians do still observe the Ten Commandments (in Hebrew, really the Ten Words), supposedly out of love of God, although sometimes, I’m afraid, just out of fear of Hell or out of habit or simple squeamishness.
Since you’re an IT person, I’ll try an analogy — maybe imperfect, but so are most analogies. In order to program something right, you have to understand the nature and point of what you’re doing, what the output is supposed to be, what the overall goal is, and how and where it’s all going to be used, as well as how it will interact with other projects. When I was doing database design, I always started by finding out what kind of output was needed — and why — before I did even the first part of the programming. On one major project, I even sat with the staff who would do the input to see how they worked. I’m sure you’ve had trouble with barely-trained rookies who seemed not to know what they were doing but really didn’t know what the program was supposed to be doing. Obviously, their “correct” programming statements were going to crash because they were designed in isolation.
To go back to the Shabbas observance… For those who do understand it, it’s quite beautiful. Life is elevated to a higher plane. There are special prayers, special observances. It’s a time to rest as God rested at the end of creation, but this doesn’t mean sitting like a lump in one place. It’s supposed to be a joyful time, a time to sing, to tell stories, to relax with family and friends, to worship God in services both in the synagogue and at home, and to be at one with the King of the universe. And at the end, at nightfall on Saturday, another candle is lit, the Havdallah, the farewell to the Sabbath, as the family reluctantly returns to the everyday world.
And I hope WordPress will let me post all this. I’ll be glad to describe more if anyone wants to hear about it.
As far as I can tell, it’s all here, Phoebe.
I’m not sure modern Christians understand the Sabbath, regardless of its importance in Scripture. And after recent blow-ups here, I plead for patience with each other.
“The Sabbath was made for man…”
Lee (and Unknowable), I didn’t mean this as a rebuke or riposte to anyone. I just wanted to explain something that I thought people might be interested in knowing about other people’s customs and beliefs.
And let’s face it: Many modern Christians don’t even understand their own Lord’s Day! (That was meant as a joke, not as a charge against anyone here.)
You’ll have to pardon me–I’m feeling a bit timorous lately. Like I’ve got to be very, very careful not to make waves.
Oops, I have to add one more thing to my description of Shabbas customs. As with the programming that has to take into account surrounding projects, Shabbas also fits into the whole rhythm of the week. All the preparations for Shabbas are done earlier in the week, mostly on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, especially the shopping, cooking, and cleaning. And there are ways to insure that there will be enough light during Shabbas night not to trip over things in the dark, and to keep hot dishes warm and cold dishes cold throughout the day. So in a way, the whole week becomes a kind of overture the great symphony of the Shabbas.
Interesting that this should go back to the question of the Christmas tree. The Christian Divine Office, or Liturgy of the Hours, begins Sunday prayer on Saturday night, with Evening Prayer I (Vespers I), as a memorial of the Jewish tradition of considering a day to begin at nightfall on the previous day. And I’ve recently adopted for myself a custom of lighting candles as I begin Evening Prayer I on Saturday night. It really does help me transition into the Lord’s Day (Sunday, in case I’ve confused you by now) as something special.