That's not in the Bible?! Re-Reading Three Stories You Thought You Knew

We are all products of our environment.  Families, friends, neighborhoods, religious fellowships, and media influence us in more ways than we can possibly understand.

One small but telling example of this is in the way many people (including Christians) remember Bible stories.  We would all like to believe that our knowledge of the Bible or any other religious text is based on things we have actually read, understood, and filed away.  But oftentimes, the stories we remember come from a host of influences, and are different from what the text actually says.  Here are three surprising examples of Bible-story elements which you might have had wrong all this time:

1. Noah was not Mocked by Anyone while Building the Ark
Thanks to Darren Aronofsky's recent movie Noah, the great biblical shipbuilder is back in the news.  Many Christians have gotten upset about all of the artistic liberties that Aronofsky has taken with the text.  What many Bible-readers don't realize is that they themselves have often taken liberties with the text, including one common story element - the presence of mockers while Noah built the ark.  Go read Genesis, chapters 6-7.  You won't find any mention of anyone saying anything to Noah during the time he was building.  Might there have been mockers?  Likely.  But the text doesn't directly support it.

P.S. - The text also says that there were more than 2 of many animals, including 14 of many kinds of livestock and birds.

2. There were no Wise Men or Magi at the Manger
Despite what every nativity scene in the whole world depicts, there were no magi/wise men at the manger the night Jesus was born.  Shepherds, yes.  Angels, yes.  Cows, probably.  But Magi - nope.  Matthew 2 says:

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem...wise men from the east came...and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced...and going into the house they saw the child."

By the time the Magi show up, Mary and Joseph had apparently had enough time to move out of the manger and find a more suitable temporary living space in a small house or dwelling.  If you consider that later in Matthew 2, Herod decides to kill all baby boys under the age of 2 in Bethlehem, it is possible that the Magi may not have arrived until Jesus was a toddler.

P.S. - The Bible never says that there were 3 Magi.  It mentions three gifts - gold, frankincense, and myrrh - but never says how many Magi.

3. Jesus did Not Enter Jerusalem During his "Triumphal Entry"
You know the story about how on the Sunday before Passover, Jesus entered the gates of Jerusalem riding a donkey, and the people cried "Hosanna!" and they laid palm branches and cloaks at his feet.  Well, the part about him entering Jerusalem didn't actually happen.  In Luke 19, we find Jesus telling his disciples to acquire a donkey and colt from the village of Bethphage, outside of Jerusalem.  When the people greet him as he rides, he is near Bethphage, or on a small country road around there.  Then, he approaches Jerusalem and weeps over it from afar.  THEN, he enters Jerusalem and goes directly to the temple, where he proceeds to clean house.  The "triumphal entry" was actually quite humble, and was more of an approach than an entry into Jerusalem.

P.S. - You might hear on Easter morning that the same people who cried "Hosanna!" the Sunday before Passover were crying "Crucify him!" before the end of the week.   It's a common sermon example of how human hearts can be fickle (which is true!).  But, because these two events happened in different places, it's very unlikely that there were any people (outside of Jesus and the disciples traveling with him) who were in both places at all, much less likely that the same people changed their minds on something so crucial, so quickly.

CONCLUSION
What can we learn from realizing that we've had stories wrong all our lives, stories which we thought we had all right?  I know what I have learned - that I can always stand to give my Bible another reading, another careful, focused, and close reading.  As we prepare for Easter, the highest Christian holiday of all, we could use a little bit less of our own concoctions, and a little bit more of what the Bible actually feeds us.

Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays! A New Year's Resolution

Remember when folks used to gripe about those secular !$#@&*s literally Xing Christ out from Christmas? I wonder who was the first person to, perhaps sheepishly, point out that in fact, X works quite well as an abbreviation because it's the symbol for "chi" in Greek (the primary language of the New Testament) and is often used (by Christian theologians) as shorthand for Christ. So... even though most folks were likely just abbreviating, to the handful who were intentionally trying to secularize the spelling of Christmas on greeting cards... joke's on them.

Source: Patheos.com "Keep the X in Xmas"

Well, I haven't seen "Merry Xmas" in a long time. I suppose the usage has gone out of fashion. What is in fashion now, of course, is the more pluralistic (and festively alliterative) "Happy holidays!" The implementation of this phrase very well might have been a more widespread intentional attempt to secularize Christmas, or at least de-emphasize Christ and Christianity, as well as an attempt to recognize that Christmas is not the only holiday Americans celebrate this time of year. And while de-emphasizing Christ as an end in itself is something we should mourn and work against in our own traditions and habits, recognizing and honoring "the other" is extremely valuable.

Interestingly enough, the word holiday does the work of pluralism (which in its best form is an others-oriented understanding that Christians are for) better than secularism because the word means "holy day." It's inherently religious. We can certainly "set apart" days for activities we do not consider religious or spiritual, but as Christians we believe people are spiritual beings and our habits and traditions and holidays, whether candlelight services and family prayers or shopping and football, all shape and form us spiritually (for good or for ill... including hard-hearted church goers and feel-God's-pleasure football players).

In other words, as Christians, we believe everything is spiritual and secularization is a farce---a powerful deception perhaps, but a farce nonetheless. That being the case, it is our job to fight the farce not the fooled:

We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 The Voice)

How do we work to undo the unseen? Well... not by huffing and puffing so to blow happy holidays down. If we keep reading in Ephesians, Paul has some very anti-hot-air tips that include proclaiming peace and begin and end with "Pray always."

Jesus says when we proclaim that the Kingdom of Peace has come, we're not to blow the trumpet (that comes later) or let out a battle cry, we're to work behind the scenes where the real enemy is: "You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove" (Matthew 10:16 The Message).

So when it comes to the fight against the very real agenda of secularizing... well, everything, we might do better to be the hands and feet of Christ to neighbors and strangers, embodying the love-joy-peace (patience, kindness, goodness, self control) of Christ(mas) in the corners of the world we inhabit.

Every time I hear some well-meaning Christian bluster a vehement, pointed "Merry Christmas," usually to other Christians they assume agree that "Happy holidays" is inexcusable, I think, Mmmm, yes, that's the Christmas spirit. (I think this video from The Skit Guys pretty much sums it up: "Stuff Christians Say on Xmas.")

I realize Christmas was last week and this is mostly a moot point (until this time next year), but what if we prayerfully make it our New Year's resolution to take Ephesians 6 and Matthew 10 seriously? What if we reconsidered the so-called Culture Wars in general, from "Happy Holidays!" to Duck Dynasty, in the light of these passages? What would it look like to value wisdom and discernment over shouting matches and taking sides?

Let's keep Christ in Christmas, and in our hearts, by being everyday messengers of peace on earth, good will toward men (Luke 2:14 King James Version).

Christmas: Fear Not

On Christmas Eve, my mom and I went to the candlelight service at Christ Church Plano, where I regularly attend. It was beautiful, as always. Of the music that evening, my two favorites were Christina Rosetti's "Christmas Eve" (enjoy this performance by the choir and orchestra at First United Methodist in Denton) and the soprano soloist who sang the Wexford Carol. Divine. 

Can't beat this rendition by Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma.

The music, however, is not what I primarily wanted to share with you (though I couldn't help linking to videos of those ancient hymns). Classical choral music is a favorite of mine in general, and especially when it comes to Christmas music, so it's no surprise that I found the music from that evening impactful. 

Even more impactful for me that night was Father David's sermon; I found it fresh and refreshing, which is no small thing for a Christmas message. The text was familiar, Luke 2:8-14, where angels announce the birth of the Savior to lowly shepherds (imagine if when the 'Royal Baby' arrived the first birth announcements Kate and William sent went out to construction workers). "Fear not" are the first words proclaiming the birth of Jesus, and that's what Fr David focused on in his message. 

It was powerful. I'd never associated that particular instance of those words, "Fear not," with Jesus. Angles, far from being cute, must be terrifying because they always have to assure the recipients of their messages that they need not fear. So since angles are always saying something along the lines of "Fear not," I've never really thought anything of it; in this instance in Luke, I've always (accurately) associated those words with the messengers, but the (now obvious) connection to the Message, Jesus, never crossed my mind before.

"Fear not" was a beautiful message for me this Christmas Eve. I'm not an especially fearful person by nature, but Christmas is not my most favorite time of the year; this year in particular has asked a lot of this introvert. In addition to the socially and emotionally taxing elements of the holiday, Christmas has, in my view, never quite been able to stand up to the power of Easter. I have a difficult time really understanding the point of Christmas, which is terrible, I know... and probably has more to do with the family drama that can often surround my holiday season more than anything else.

Well, all that is to say, "Fear not" is a good Christmastide message for me, but it is also a good reminder of the anti-fear Life Christ came to bring to those who cry out to him for Peace any day of the year.

For these reasons I wanted to share this message with you all... on the off chance that I'm not alone in my reason-for-the-season struggle.

(Click here for HD.)

Merry Christmas season---Peace on Earth.

This is How We Should Read the Christmas Story

Think about this for a moment:

• A miracle baby is born to a couple too old to have children.
• A son is born as a sign that God's people will be redeemed.
• Someone named Yeshua will lead God's people into enjoyment of the blessings promised to Abraham.
• A shepherd-king comes out of Bethlehem.
• A wicked king tries to kill all the male babies, but one escapes: the one through whom redemption will come to God's people.
• God speaks through dreams to a man named Joseph, the son of Jacob, who comes to Egypt for the redemption of God's people.

You may recognize these as the stories of Zechariah and Elizabeth and John the Baptist; of Mary and Jesus (in Hebrew, Yeshua); of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem; of the escape from king Herod to Egypt; and of Joseph, the son of Jacob and husband of Mary.

These are also the stories of Abraham and Sarah and Isaac; of Isaiah; of Joshua (also Yeshua in Hebrew); of king David; of Pharaoh and Moses; and of Joseph the son of Jacob and grandson of Isaac.

The characters in the Christmas story recorded in the early chapters of Matthew and Luke re-live the stories of the redemption of God's people.  In this way we see a confirmation that all the old stories were pointing to this story.  This is how we need to see Christmas: as the beginning of the climax of a long history of redemption, which begins with Adam and leads all the way to Mary.

Wait; this picture's not accurate!  They left out the little drummer boy!
(from Abraham Hondius, 1663)

Of course, a story that has been going on for a couple of millennia will have a climax that lasts a few years.  It lasts about thirty, in fact, and the other end of it is captured in two other holidays: Good Friday and Easter, where some of the other stories of redemption are re-lived:

• The seed of the woman defeats Satan—the story of Eve, and the story of Mary.
• A holy God must punish sin, but people can be saved through the wooden way God provides—the story of Noah's ark, and the story of the Cross.
• God tells his people how a lamb may die in their place for their sin—the story of the Passover, and the story of the Cross.
• A prophet is in darkness for three days.  His message is a light to the Gentiles, a preaching of repentance and forgiveness of sins for them—the story of Jonah, and the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The last prophet to hail the coming of the Christ sums it all up nicely: John the Baptist:

"Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!"

O Come, O Come: The Meaning of Advent

Image Source

The four Sundays preceding Christmas are what is known on the Christian calendar as Advent. There is still a lot I do not know about Advent. I know that the term derives from the Latin, adventus, which means, coming. It's the time of year that we focus ourselves on various aspects of Christ's comings, both his First Coming, which we celebrate at Christmas, and his Second Coming, which we anticipate and hope for with deep yearning.

(Notice we do this at Easter too. Easter Sunday we celebrate Christ's resurrection, his coming back from the dead, his coming back. And in remembering, we also anticipate. This is the direction in which we point our hope and set our faces. It is the major telos (direction) of the way of a Christian's life: Advent.)

Since I'm still learning myself about the specifics, I wanted to point to a few articles that discuss Advent in more detail. Below I will include excerpts, but I encourage you to read them in entirety (they're not long).

So here are some helpful articles. (I'd be remiss not to point you to the sidebar for a very helpful, though less brief, article right here at TTC posted during this time last year. For whatever reason the images are no longer functioning, so please excuse our technical difficulties.)

1) Advent 2012: A Season of Waiting for the Coming of Christ

I confess I was surprised to find this piece from The Huffington Post. I start with it for the excerpt I include below; however, the piece also includes a spectacular slideshow of Advent's Darkness to Light Procession, a visual discourse on the question, What is Advent? So be sure to check it out.

For now, "just the facts":

In 2012, the Advent season begins on Dec. 2, 2012 and ends on Dec. 24, 2012. The Eastern Churches' equivalent of Advent, Nativity Fast, is 40 days long and began on Nov. 15, 2012. 

The themes of the Advent season are Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Lighting of candles, especially the circular Advent wreath with five candles is an important tradition of the Advent season. Each Sunday of Advent, one of four candles is lit -- with the final candle, the Christ Candle, being lit on Christmas Eve.

2) Advent – Holy Dissatisfaction and Hopeful Anticipation

Blogger Joel Willitts constructs a helpful metaphor for Advent by recalling the intense dissatisfaction and anticipation that accompanied the waiting period of his 8-month engagement. Willitts's reflections are extremely apt for helping us understand Advent (both the Advent of Christmas and the everyday advent of a believer's hope) as this is essentially the metaphor Scripture uses. Dissatisfaction and anticipation. When we discuss Advent, particularly as Advent is "in vogue" (for all the right reasons) among otherwise non-liturgical Evangelicals, we tend to only regard Advent as a time of anticipation. But as Willitts notes, it is more than that:

Advent’s two heart postures, holy dissatisfaction and hopeful anticipation, also have two corresponding practices repentance and meditation. 

Advent’s Holy Discontent – Repentance of

• Apathy
• Indifference
• Distance
• Sin 

Advent’s Hopeful Anticipation – Meditation on

• Jesus’ Second Coming
• Jesus’ birth
• Jesus in our lives 

3) The Essence of Advent

This piece provides a super-brief historical survey of Advent and then goes on to discuss Advent's significance and place in our (daily) Christian lives. The following resonated with me in particular:

Advent is intended to be a season of fasting and reflection, as well as anticipation. Reflecting on the violence and evil in the world leads us to cry out to God to make things right—to put death’s dark shadows to flight. Our exile in the present makes us look forward to our future Exodus. And our sinfulness and need for grace lead us to pray for the Holy Spirit to renew his work in conforming us into the image of Christ.

Amen.

"Will there be another king like this?"

Andrew Peterson has some great Christmas music, available here. The song "So Long, Moses" has made me weep. It puts Christmas—and life and history—in perspective. "So Long, Moses" summarizes the history of Israel's yearning for a king, for a Messiah who would be a king like David: "Will there be another king like this?"

The author of Judges says that when the people of Israel first came to the Promised Land they had no king; each person considered himself his own lawmaker; instead of a king, sin reigned in the land. As bad as that was, the Israelites sinned when they longed for a king in those days. This longing was a rejection of God as their king; it was a longing to be like the other nations, a longing not to be a people who were set apart for God because they were ruled by God's law only.

They got the trouble they asked for with Saul and a number of their other kings. But Israel was not without good kings. Above all, there was King David.

As the history of Israel unfolded, the Hebrew wish for a king took on a new quality; it became a longing for a Messiah who would occupy David's throne and set things right for God's people. The prophets told of such a Messiah, the heir of David, whose throne would last forever.

When I listen to "So Long, Moses" I feel the weight of Israel's two thousand years of longing for this Messiah.

When I listen I am saddened by the tragedy that when the King came the first time few recognized Him because, as Isaiah had foretold and as Peterson's song reminds us, He came as a suffering servant.

When I listen I feel the continuing longing for the King to set things right for God's people—and, through them, as Abraham was told in Genesis 12, all the world. In fact, every time a Christian longs for things to be set right in the world, he inherits the ancient longing of Israel for the Messiah.

It's Christmastime, and the King has already come once. He himself taught us to pray for the consummation of His work on earth: "Thy Kingdom come."

Where Did Christmas Come From?

I've written a lot about this topic in the past, so I'll keep this short, and then I'll link to my previous posts.

The early church celebrated mass every Sunday - that was their church service.  Sometimes, they took mass for a particular reason, and one of those reason's was the birth of Jesus.  This "Christ-mass" took place at different times; some churches celebrated in the summer, and some churches did this more than once a year.

Eventually, a tradition caught on that said Jesus was born on December 25.  Since early records of the church were destroyed by Rome, we have no way of knowing if this tradition was based on fact, but it's a tradition, and one day is as good as another for a holiday.  It's widely believed that this day was chosen because of pre-existing Roman/Pagan/whatever holidays, but there's no evidence of that.  Besides, every day on the calendar was once a holiday celebrated by an older culture.  The early medieval scholars who chose December 25th as Christmas were trying to work it out historically and gave no evidence that they were harkening to a pagan festival that no longer existed in their time.  (Whether or not their historical efforts were successful is a good question, however.)

Christmas was more of a season than a holiday, in older times.  The weeks leading up to Christmas were (and still are) known as "Advent" and sometimes these celebrations began early in November.  (Which is why I will listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving as long as I live.)  It was a season, not just a one-day celebration, and we still celebrate "the holidays" in the same way.

So, with that introduction, here's what I've had to say on Christmas in the past, for those of you who are new to this site:

What's the deal with Christmas Trees?

More on the supposed Pagan roots of Christmas.

Why is Christmas on December 25?

Have a good holiday season, and love your neighbor.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ADVENT

I know, I know. It's way to early for a Christmas blog entry. BUT this is an entry about the Advent season, which begins less than two weeks from now (Nov 27), making it both a timely and a relevant topic. So there. Loophole. And there's nothing you can do about it.

For those of you who might not know, Advent is a season of reflection that many Christians set aside in order to meditate upon and celebrate the birth (or advent) of Jesus Christ. There are, of course, a great variety of Advent traditions, but most churches that celebrate Advent center the season's events around a special wreath (pictured right) with five candles, each with a special significance. The white candle always represents Christ, while the other four vary. Some churches use the other four to emphasize some of the important themes of the season (e.g. Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love), while others use the four candles to progress through the Christmas story itself (e.g. Prophecy, Bethlehem, Angels, Shepherds).

Now, most people would see the importance of celebrating Christmas for Christians (notice how "Christ" is part of both words ...), but why set aside five weeks to do so? In reality, Advent is only a small part of the larger Christian calendar. Depending on your branch of Christianity, this calendar gets full pretty fast! So why all feasts, events, remembrances, etc?

The early church understood something very important: how we order our time, plays a large part in orienting our identity. I don't know if "we are what we eat," but I can guarantee that, to a large extent, "we are what we do." The earliest Christians wanted to make sure that throughout the year various holidays and celebrations would keep them focused on who they were: the people of God awaiting their risen Lord. To this day, almost all Christian branches continue to employ some sort of church calendar for this very purpose, even if it's nothing more than a special worship service to mark Easter and Christmas.

Extended seasons of Christian reflection are important because there are so many competing systems trying to order the Christian's time, and thus his or her life and our world. Some systems of timekeeping are imposed upon us. Think about school, for example. As a child my entire year and life revolved around whether or not I was in class. Rather than the four seasons of Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, my life was "Cold School," "Last Part of School," "No School!!!," and finally "Schoool! Noooooo!" I came to see myself primarily as a student, and the school seasons came to dictate my mood, feelings, actions, and even self-perception for any given part of the year.

While you and your pagan friends were trudging around on January 2, 1987 like it was just another day, my fellow devout students and I were celebrating the Holy Feast of SNOW DAY!!!

Other seasons we choose to organize our time around, such as sports seasons for guys. I love football (college and pro), and its shows. I get a little more spring in my step come August (It's almost Football Christmas!), and I come down from my emotional high fairly soon after the Super Bowl. It's a long, cold, bitter sports winter between February and August for me. It's so bad, I tried out the XFL one time when it was still on. "Football Season" is a very real season of life each year for me, one full of celebrations, meaningful rituals (BBQ!), and unfortunately often mourning, given some of the teams I cheer for.

Pictured: "The time of year the Cleveland Browns are effectively eliminated from playoff relevancy." Also known as early September.

One of the best ways to reinforce a Christian identity is to order the calendar year around Christian events, rituals, and remembrances. Some churches will remember and celebrate Jesus' advent on one Sunday they choose in December (though Christmas does actually fall on a Sunday this year). Our church will remember it for five weeks. Thus, while no Christian ever actually forgets Christmas, for our community, the events and significance of Christ's birth will be at the forefront of our minds for an extended period of time, shaping how we see ourselves, our lives, and our world.

Some branches of the Church will immediately transition into the season of Epiphany. Our congregation will rejoin them on the calendar at Lent/Easter. From there some churches will include other important seasons like Kingdomtime as they await the arrival of Advent once again. Though all of these seasons of church life congregations will be remembering and rehearsing what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do -- and who they are as a result of all this.

Do you have to celebrate Advent to be a good Christian? I'm definitely not saying that. What I am saying is that seasons of the church calendar, such as Advent, are incredibly powerful tools for ordering time -- and thus a sense of identity and purpose -- year round. Why not take advantage of them, especially with so many other systems for ordering time competing for your attention, some imposed and some by your own choice?

Keeping Christ at the forefront of our lives can start with our calendars!

Why is Christmas Celebrated on December 25th?

 Last week, after discussing the non-Pagan roots of Christmas, I got this comment on that blog entry:

There is no evidence that Jesus was born on Dec. 25 nor in the winter for that matter. 

I could only think of one thing to say: well, duh. Everyone knows that.  And no one cares.  Did "anonymous" think that this would be some terrible blow to my self-esteem?  (John Gram, friend and fellow blogger, gave this anonymous contributor a proper response in his own comment.)  Here's the facts about December 25th:

Dating events from antiquity is very difficult.  In fact, for a very long time in mankind's history no even cared about chronology.  It's surprising to us, but even the intelligent Greeks didn't know when the battle of Troy took place, for example.  Eratosthenes would attempt to place events like that one in a timeline, but he was unusual for doing so.  The Greeks were happy to remember the lessons of the event and ignore the details.  (George Feeney has written a book called Caesar's Calendar that discusses man's apathy toward calendar dating until recent times, if you are interested in reading more about this.)

As a result, it's no surprise that we don't know when when Jesus was born.  The Bible doesn't give us much in the way of dates; in fact, the most specific dates we can discern come from passages like "In the year that king Uzziah died..." which is how ancient historians kept records.  No years, just landmark events to provide some context.  This sort of thing tells us approximately when something happened, and only more modern historians would later try to work out the exact dates.

The early church probably had no idea when Jesus was born (their big holiday was Easter, anyway), and since they were facing persecution they didn't really have the time to figure it out while running for their lives from Roman troops.  The Romans also burned the Christian documents and buildings, so if these records ever did exist then we would have lost them. 

Because these early people did not concern themselves greatly with exact chronology, the arbitrary choosing of December 25th as Christmas Day is not a serious issue.  Christmas is not a superstitious festival for Believers who think that they must celebrate Jesus' birth only on a specific date.  It's a time for reflection on Jesus' birth and the implications of His birth.  Any date on the calendar will do.

People like to say that December 25th was chosen because it was a Pagan holiday, but there is no documentation to support this.  Early church records indicate that church leaders were not interested in copying local polytheistic customs.  And, as I've said before, this is sort of an unfair thing to say.  Every day on the calendar was a holiday for some religion, so if the church had gone with a different date we would be hearing the same argument.

But, going back to the original complaint, I hear it said often that December 25th is a stupid time to celebrate Christmas.  I read an article at Relevant.com recently that explained the tired old adage about shepherds watching their flocks by night:

According to biblical scholars, it’s unlikely that the Christ child arrived on the day we celebrate Christmas—or even during the winter season. For one thing, we’re told of shepherds “keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8). Decembers in Bethlehem are cold and regularly drop below freezing once it gets dark...

(You know what bugs me?  I write original things on the site each week, but real journalists who are paid to write just rehash old conversations that everyone has heard before.  But I digress.)

According to Weather.com, the average low temperature in Bethlehem is 42 degrees (F) - not below freezing.  I know people who camp out in freezing weather for fun, so this old argument is not very good.  Also, climates change over time, and unless you are an expert in late antique middle-eastern climate then you aren't qualified to know the temperature in Israel 2,000 years ago.  Plenty of winter nights in December are warm enough to watch sheep by a fire.  (By the way, Relevant.com writers, you are supposed to quote your sources instead of just saying "According to biblical scholars..."  Wikipedia even has higher standards than that.)

But it doesn't matter, because everyone in the church is aware that the date is arbitrary.  For those of you who think that nitpicking this date is a form of attacking the church, you should know that we Believers are well aware of our history and are only interested in remembering Christmas, not scrutinizing a calendar.

Was Christmas a Pagan Holiday? No.

"Christmas is based on a Pagan holiday!"  I've been hearing these accusations my whole life, and I'm happy to tell you that these claims have no grounding in history.  Last year, someone came to my site and gave me all of the normal arguments, and I discovered that they were just copying and pasting from a webpage over at ReligiousTolerance.org.  (A website that is dedicated to the intolerance of Christianity.)  I can't tell what the site is arguing, because the statements they make contradict each other, but it is a good collection of the sort of things people say about Christmas and its origins.

We'll start with the Tertullian argument.  Tertullian was a church father from the third century who is mentioned by many Christmas detractors who think that he condemned Christmas decorations.  ReligiousTolerance.org tells us the following

Tertullian (circa 160 - 230), an early Christian leader and a prolific writer, complained that too many fellow-Christians had copied the Pagan practice of adorning their houses with lamps and with wreathes of laurel at Christmas time.

That is interesting, but they are making a big mistake.  Tertullian is not referring to a Christmas-related practice.  He is complaining about Christians who are doing things to honor Roman heroes, and these wreaths were not necessarily linked to a calendar date.  Furthermore, there was no set date for Christmas in Tertullian's time (instead, people took mass in remembrance of Christ's birthday whenever they wanted to - if they did anything at all), so he could not have been referring to widespread Christian practices about Christmas.


The researchers at ReligiousTolerance.org clearly did not read the entire work when they looked this up.  You can read all of Tertullian's work, On Idolatry, here.

In their strange attack on the Christmas Tree, they also tell us that pagans would never cut down a tree for decoration:

In Europe, Pagans in the past did not cut down evergreen trees, bring them into their homes and decorate them. That would have been far too destructive of nature.

So this practice, according to ReligiousTolerance.org, could not have come from pagan rites.  But, again, they are making mistakes. The modern notion that ancient paganism is akin to our new-age earth worship religions is not supported by historical documentation.  Pagan shrines most certainly made use of wood and other natural resources to build their many temples.  Furthermore, there is no solidarity amongst pagan religions.  There are worshipers of Pan, Isis, Thor, Roman Emperors, etc., and the term "paganism" does not refer to one set of beliefs.  Anyone claiming that pagans all believed or acted in the same way has obviously not done their research.  (Imagine, for example, claiming that all monotheists exclude shellfish from their diet.  That is the logical fallacy that is being made.)

Then, they appeal to an old Egyptian practice:

Not having evergreen trees, the ancient Egyptians considered the palm tree to symbolize resurrection. They decorated their homes with its branches during the winter solstice.

(They do not quote a primary source for this observation, so who knows if it's even true.)  Someone told me this, last year, when trying to convince me that Christmas was a pagan thing, and I was confused.  What did this have to do with my Christmas tree?  Did the person who made this argument think that Christmas trees symbolized the Resurrection for believers?  Frankly, Christmas trees are not symbolic of anything to Christians - it's just a fun tradition.  And it's hard to imagine the Egyptians lamenting their own lack of evergreen trees and using palm trees as the next best thing.  Also, this makes no mention of calendar dates, so it probably had nothing to do with any holiday.  This isn't related to Christmas.

Saturn must be invoked in each of these conversations.  ReligiousTolerance.org reminds us of this:

The ancient Pagan Romans decorated their "trees with bits of metal and replicas of their god, Bacchus [a fertility god]. They also placed 12 candles on the tree in honor of their sun god"  Their mid-winter festival of Saturnalia started on DEC-17 and often lasted until a few days after the Solstice.

Many people will tell you that Christians adapted the celebration of Saturn into their own holiday and called it "Christmas."  This is the work of armchair historians, and not actual scholarship.  If this were true, Christians would have celebrated Christmas sometimes before December 23, not after.  Other than evergreens (which weren't associated with Christmas until much later), there's nothing that these two holidays have in common; they merely took place in the same month.  There are no documents, or other evidence, that indicate that the church relied on pagan festivals for its own calendar, despite what we are often told.  (And, ancient Hebrew writers claim that this festival came from their own Jewish holidays, which would explain the candles.)

What we have here is a confirmation bias.  You can pick any date on the calendar and, with enough work, find out that an older culture celebrated a particular holiday on that day.  It takes more than a correlation to prove something.

Finally, they try, clumsily, to quote the Bible in their strange discussion of the Christmas tree.  If you work for ReligiousTolernace.org, then the following passage might seem to reference a modern holiday tradition to you:

Jeremiah 10:2-4: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (King James Version)

It's hard to say what they are trying to do with this quote.  For starters, this is obviously not a reference to a Christmas tree.  Unless you came from a pretty strange family, you probably didn't nail your Christmas tree to a wall to keep it from moving.  And sliver and gold adornment are used for a lot of things, in this case these colors indicate that the thing being decorated is important.  It's obviously a shrine that is being built.  Christmas trees didn't exist until the late middle ages, so this must be a reference to something else. 

There you have it; those are the arguments that were supposed to convince me that Christmas is not an original holiday.  I actually have no idea what that ReligiousTolerance.org webpage is supposed to be arguing.  It gives arguments for a non-Christian origin of Christmas decorations, but also states that these decorations are not from pagan sources.  I'm not sure what they are up to, but their sense of history is very bad.

But we can soundly say that Christmas is not a pagan holiday.  It is the Church's celebration of Jesus' birth, and there is no evidence to the contrary.  Those who wish to hate the church will continue to launch these assaults, but history speaks of the truth.

What I Really Want to Say About Christmas

Whining can ruin the holidays. Christmas is my favorite time of year, but I find it difficult to enjoy when those around me can't stop complaining. The following paragraphs really sum up what I have been trying to say about Christmas, lately.

You say that exchanging gifts has nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas; but, I say that nothing is more altruistic than giving someone a present and expecting nothing in return.

You say that it is right to seek out and angrily decry each use of the term "Happy Holidays;" but, I say that it is a greater shame when Christians are the ones saying "Bah Humbug."

You say that Santa Claus is incompatible with Christianity; but, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien included Father Christmas in their stories, because they believed that, like all myths, the enduring myth of Santa can be used to compliment the Christ story.

You say that commercialism has ruined the holidays; but, I say you are cynical and have allowed this to happen in your own heart. If you allow advertisements and store sales to affect your attitude then it is you who should change.

You are furious because you say that the secularism of Christmas has taken Jesus out of the celebration; but, I say that Christ cannot be removed from your heart, so enjoy the True Meaning that you know, and rejoice because it cannot be hidden from you.

You say that the holidays are empty in modern times; I say that they are only as empty as you make them. Some of us never fail to enjoy a holiday season, so the problem must be in yourself rather than in the world around you.

You say you will attack those who remove Christ from the holiday; I say, love your neighbor and, in doing do, show them the True Meaning of Christmas through kindness. Social agendas and political clamor are never useful tools for proclaiming God's love.

You say you are righteous for your militant stance against secular Christmas; I say that your aggressive attitude prevents you from enjoying the blessing of Christ's Incarnation. More importantly, it prevents you from showing others this blessing, because all they know is your anger and defiance.

While some of you will spend the holiday season whining and fighting endless social battles, others of us will be enjoying time with our families, giving and receiving presents, and reflecting on the birth of our Savior. Choose for yourself if you your holiday will be ruled by cynicism or hope. Don't represent Christianity with a bad attitude.

Pagan Christmas (part 2) - Did Christmas Come From a Pagan Holiday?

Rarely can I attend a holiday party without being told by an armchair historian that the Christmas holiday celebrate came from a Pagan holiday which was celebrated on the same day. (For some reason, people who know that I research church history think they should tell me about the formation of Christianity.) Gross extrapolation leads these people to say that Christmas is a sham because the birth of the savior is a myth. Let's examine this claim and face the facts in the second part of my Pagan Christmas series. (See part one, concerning Christmas Trees, here.)

While we're on the subject, try not to tell my cat, Molly, the truth about Santa. It would break her cute little heart. (And she's a bit daft, anyway.)

It's assumed by the armchair historians that a Pope or a church father waved their mighty hand and "stole" the December 25 holiday from the Pagans, and they instituted the holiday of Christmas in its place. The truth is, traditions from the early church did not typically begin in this way.

For example, we don't know who started the tradition of crossing ones self to ask for God's protection or who first put confessional booths in a church. These traditions began in local areas and became so popular over time that the church would officially adopt them - Christmas is no different. It was celebrated in a variety of ways until a consensus was reached that December 25 would be the day the entire church celebrated Christ's birth.

This is pretty boring, so I'm going to add more pictures of cats as we go along to keep you entertained. Unfortunately, it's always more interesting to listen to the nutty alternative theories than it is for me to explain the boring stuff that actually happened. It's unfair to everyone.

Why that date? Unfortunately, no one knows exactly how this started. (Keep in mind that most people couldn't read or write in these days, so keeping records was only done in certain places. Making things worse, the records that were made were often destroyed or lost.) We do know that the other religions celebrated a festival of the sun god on this date, and we also know that church fathers decried any association between this God and Christ. (Frankly, since we don't know when He was born, one day is as good as another; everyone understands the celebration to be symbolic and not an actual anniversary.)

So, why would Christians choose a day normally set aside for the sun god to remember the birth of their Lord? Keep in mind that Christianity was spreading rapidly within a culture that had previously embraced pantheistic or Platonic religions. Many centuries later, people would be pressured to accept Christianity, but in these early days people were walking away from their old ways and embracing the church on their own. By replacing pagan rituals with mass observances and church services they were putting their old religion aside and replacing it with a new one. Independently, believers were distancing themselves from their old ways by taking Pagan rituals out of their lives and replacing them with Christian rituals. No one forced them to do this, nor did anyone in the church "officially" associate this holiday with the sun god and plunder the Pagan holiday for its traditions.

Keep reading. It's almost over.

Did the pagan rituals influence Christmas? No. There is nothing from a Pagan religion that has carried on in modern Christmas traditions. Every belief that Christians attach to Christmas was firmly in place long before the Christmas holiday was officially established. I've heard that certain customs we hold to on this holiday came from older Pagan rites, but it's simply not true; I've never seen a Christmas tradition that pre-dated the church. (I've heard such accusations, but they never hold up. It would be tedious to describe each of these things, here, so I'll just say that the arguments are very weak and not supported any amount of documentation or scholarship. Only armchair scholarship.)

It is true that a Pagan holiday took place on December 25th, but, other than a calendar date, the two celebrations have nothing in common.

Did Christians Win the "Merry Christmas" Battle?

(Would you believe that I normally try to avoid controversial issues?  Well, I do.)

Two years ago, the wife and I hit a Target on Black Friday.  It was a brand new Target and, since no one knew about it, no one was there.  It was blissful lonely shopping with good deals and no crowd.  The oddest thing, though, was a very large and intentional banner that said, "Merry Christmas."

Each year, more and more retail groups are happy to include the word Christmas in their catalogs.  I get warm Christmas wishes from employers and have not seen any new groups moving away from using that word.  Did we win?

Lowe's certainly changed their tune and gave up on the idea of a "holiday tree" very quickly.  It probably helped that no one had ever heard of such a thing.

I bring this up, because Christians don't usually win these types of victories.  I'm not sure why, but this is one that the secular world and the anti-evangelical media simply gave up on and allowed us to win, and Christians have even gotten support from other groups.  I've seen non-Christians like Ben Stein and Glen Reynolds applauding those who are saying boldly "Merry Christmas " rather than "Happy Holidays."  And, at the company Christmas party, a gospel group sang a song with lyrics that quite literally stated "don't forget the baby" and "without Him there would be no Christmas."  So far, no one threatens to sue.  (Even though some people grumbled.)

But, I don't know why this victory was won.  Christmas is the accepted name for the holiday season and the opposition has retreated without much of a fight, which has left me scratching my head.  Maybe it just feels strange to see Christianity on the winning side of a social conflict, for once.

Christianity vs. Santa Claus

Each year, a few people tell me that they don't like the commercialism of the holidays. They are entitled to that, but a few will take it even further and say that they don't like Santa Claus, that he is un-Christian, and that including that 'holiday' stuff in our celebration is evil.

When I was studying to be an educator, I learned that young children have a peculiar psychology that prevents them from knowing fantasy from fiction - there is absolutely no way to keep a child from through this stage.  If your kids are going to play "make believe" games, then it is wise for you to play with them and guide those games.  Telling your kids about Santa isn't lying to them - it's playing along.  It also doesn't get in the way of the real meaning of the holidays.

One of my fondest memories of Christmas came when I was a young boy eager to open my presents on a Christmas morning. My grandfather (who bought us presents signed from "Santa") pulled out his Bible and read the Christmas story to us.  I don't remember what I received for Christmas, that year, but I never forgot why were celebrating.
So, please don't hate Santa.  It bugs me each year when people criticize the commercialism of Christmas so much that the children don't get to enjoy the wonder and magic that the holidays can offer.

Then again, maybe the reason people don't like Santa is because the first one they saw was this one:

He's creepy. You're definitely welcome to keep that guy out of your house.

Bing Crosby Sings Christmas Songs with...David Bowie?

No, I didn't make that up. Crooner Bing Crosby actually sang "Little Drummer Boy" with the curiously androgynous glam rocker in this old TV special. According to Mental Floss, Crosby liked Bowie and wanted to work with him more, unfortunately, he passed away before this was possible.

The Elve's Dance

I love Christmas. I love the religious aspects of the holiday, but I also love the ol' Christmas spirit of Santa Claus and the warmth of giving gifts. This song is becoming one of my favorite songs and rather corny video is somewhat appropriate.