I’m hearing the phrase more and more. You’d think it was from an atheist, offended by the word “Christ.” Or from Scrooge, jealous of the coins the holiday might steal from his pocket. But no, it’s from Bible-believing Christians who refuse to celebrate Christmas because of its pagan origins.
I was a little confused on that point. So I pulled out the “C-Ch” volume of The World Book Encyclopedia and turned to “Christmas.” Sure enough, I hadn’t been mistaken. It read, “Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.”
According to The World Book Encyclopedia, the celebration of Jesus’ birth on December 25 was probably influenced by pagan year-end festivals held to celebrate harvest. Christians apparently decided to create their own holiday with religious symbolism. As Skylar Hamilton Burris pointed out in his online article “Is Christmas Pagan?”, “Paul himself did not tear down the altar ‘To the Unknown God’ nor claim that it was meaningless; instead, he gave it a new Christian symbolism, and used it to reveal God to the pagans in terms that they could understand.”
I don’t celebrate Halloween because of its evil roots and practices. No matter what way you cut the pumpkin, Halloween is not a Christian holiday. But Christmas and Easter—Thanksgiving too—are recognized across the country as Christian holidays, with Christian stories, traditions, and meanings. Sure, bunnies and eggs may represent a god of fertility—but they also happen to be symbols of new life that God created. And maybe turkey farmers invented Thanksgiving, but that’s not how my history book reads: it’s a day for thanking God for the blessings He has bestowed on us. Likewise, Christmas is a day to remember His birth, and the gift of eternal life that He offers freely, just like the gifts we give one another.
Yes, maybe a tree was used for pagan celebrations. But you know what? God created those trees first! An evergreen tree can symbolize eternal life. And the star atop it? The World Book Encyclopedia says, “It represents the star that led the wise men to the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.”
A few years ago in Eugene, Oregon, the fire department banned the display of a Christmas tree because it was a religious symbol. Now they’re calling them “Holiday Trees.” If they knew their morphology a bit better, they’d realize there is still a problem. As Jim Hills points out, the root words of “holiday” are “holy day.”
While I’m sure those who don’t celebrate Christmas have good intentions, I won’t be joining them. What would it say to my non-Christian neighbor, who knows I claim to be a Christian, that I don’t even celebrate the holiday (holy day) of Christmas, that boasts Christ’s name?
Some Christians complain that the world has “x-ed” Christ out of Christmas by shortening it Xmas. I always thought it was because they couldn’t spell. But The World Book Encyclopedia explains that X is the first letter of Christ’s name in the Greek. “It was frequently used as a holy symbol,” they add.
The whole world recognizes that Christmas and all it’s trappings are associated with Christianity and our Savior Jesus Christ. And as Skylar Hamilton Burris reminds us, “This is the time of year, perhaps more than any other, when men’s minds are open to the possibility of God.” So instead of ranting on about pagan symbols and commercialism, let’s use Christmas as an opportunity to share the joyous news that Christ came to earth. I’m all for making the holidays simple, filled with relaxing family time instead of stress. Do spend more time making memories than shopping. But please don’t throw Christ out with the wrapping paper and bows.
Charles Dickens puts my thoughts into words in his classic The Christmas Carol. I second Ebenezer Scrooge’s nephew when he told his uncle: “I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely. …And therefore, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket…I say, God bless it!”
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