Why I don't celebrate Christmas
What I Believe pt 1.1.1: The Holidays, Christmas pt 1
Yes, you read that right.
No, I don’t celebrate Christmas.
But why? As a Christian, shouldn’t I be celebrating Jesus’s birth?
Christmas is a celebration of Jesus coming into the world, his birth as a newborn King, our Saviour incarnated.
But is it?
Before I address any claims against Christmas, I first want to say that my family (including me, of course), celebrated Christmas every year until just a few years ago.
As every other person who celebrates Christmas, I had so many warm and joyful memories from it.
Christmas is a time to spend time with family, celebrate the birth of Jesus, open gifts under the Christmas tree, laugh, eat homemade food, and have quality time.
When I think of Christmas, I think of joy, laughter, the nativity, Christmas twinkly lights, and family time.
I also want to say that all of my friends and (extended) family celebrate Christmas. Because I love my friends and I want them to feel loved, I’ll still go to their Christmas parties, say “you too!” when they wish me Merry Christmas, and accept their Christmas presents.
Because loving your neighbour is so important. I’m not going to go around starting arguments and division just because I disagree with someone.
Please have your own opinion.
I’m not here to change your mind, I’m just here to share mine.
As always, please comment on your thoughts!!
But that was a few years ago.
So, what changed?
Some years ago, my father sat us all down to watch a documentary together.
That documentary was called The Christmas Question.
In the documentary, it talked about the pagan origins of Christmas like Yule, December 25th, Christmas trees (even ornaments!), gift giving, mistletoe, St. Nick/Santa Claus/etc, and more. (No matter your opinions on this topic, I highly recommend watching the video!) I’ll be going over a few of them in this article, and after I explain some of them I’ll talk about why it all matters. Because I know you guys aren’t celebrating Yule or Saturnalia or anything like that. You’re celebrating Christmas because of Jesus’s birth! Right?
So please keep reading :)
Yule
Many, if not most, Christmas traditions are based off of Yule. Check this out:
Yule is a winter festival that celebrates the return of light and warmth, and is celebrated on the winter solstice. It is one of the oldest winter solstice festivals in the world and originated in Scandinavia.
When it's celebrated: Yule is celebrated on December 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, which is the winter solstice.
What it's celebrated by: Yule is celebrated by Wiccans and many other Pagans.
What it's associated with: Yule is associated with themes of light, fire, and feasting.
What it's also known as: Yule is also known as Midwinter.
How it's incorporated into Christmas: Yule was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianization of the Germanic peoples.
How it's celebrated: Some traditions include decorating an altar with evergreen boughs and red candles, baking, meditating, and making a Yule log.12345
Uhm, that sounds an awful lot like Christmas, right? (I also recommend reading the articles cited in the footnotes.)
Also, these holidays originated when the Julian calendar was used, and the winter solstice is on December 25th with the Julian calendar.
Saturnalia
Saturnalia was a week-long Roman festival that celebrated the god Saturn, the harvest, and the promise of spring:
Dates
The festival was originally held on December 17, but was extended over time to include the week from December 17–23.
Celebrations
The festival included public sacrifices, banquets, and a ceremony where Romans would cut the woolen ties that bound the statue of Saturn.
Atmosphere
Saturnalia was a time when social rules were relaxed, and people could have fun and celebrate. Slaves were treated as equals, and masters would sometimes serve their slaves dinner. Gambling was allowed in public, and people wore colorful clothes instead of togas.
Activities
People would give each other gifts, eat, drink, and party. In each household, a Lord of Misrule was chosen by hiding a coin in a cake. The person who found the coin would become the Lord of Misrule, who would insult guests, chase people around, and plan party entertainment.678
“People would give each other gifts, eat, drink, and party?”
“Saturnalia was a time when social rules were relaxed, and people could have fun and celebrate?”
Tell me that doesn’t sound like Christmas to you.
Again, please watch the documentary. It’s really worth your time!
But this all doesn’t matter. I’m not celebrating those things! I’m celebrating Jesus’s birth!
How is this connected to Jesus, though?
Is this how God wants to be celebrated? Because we know that this is how the pagans celebrate their gods. We aren’t pagan, so why are we celebrating our God the same way?
Aren’t we to be set apart?
Let’s read Deuteronomy 12.
12 “These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must obey them as long as you live.
2 “When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree. 3 Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods!
4 “Do not worship the Lord your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods.
5 Rather, you must seek the Lord your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored. 6 There you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks. 7 There you and your families will feast in the presence of the Lord your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 “Your pattern of worship will change. Today all of you are doing as you please, 9 because you have not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. 10 But you will soon cross the Jordan River and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you. When he gives you rest from all your enemies and you’re living safely in the land, 11 you must bring everything I command you—your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, and your offerings to fulfill a vow—to the designated place of worship, the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.
12 “You must celebrate there in the presence of the Lord your God with your sons and daughters and all your servants. And remember to include the Levites who live in your towns, for they will receive no allotment of land among you. 13 Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings just anywhere you like. 14 You may do so only at the place the Lord will choose within one of your tribal territories. There you must offer your burnt offerings and do everything I command you.
15 “But you may butcher your animals and eat their meat in any town whenever you want. You may freely eat the animals with which the Lord your God blesses you. All of you, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as you now eat gazelle and deer. 16 But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.
17 “But you may not eat your offerings in your hometown—neither the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, nor the firstborn of your flocks and herds, nor any offering to fulfill a vow, nor your voluntary offerings, nor your sacred offerings. 18 You must eat these in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose. Eat them there with your children, your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns, celebrating in the presence of the Lord your God in all you do. 19 And be very careful never to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
20 “When the Lord your God expands your territory as he has promised, and you have the urge to eat meat, you may freely eat meat whenever you want. 21 It might happen that the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—is a long way from your home. If so, you may butcher any of the cattle, sheep, or goats the Lord has given you, and you may freely eat the meat in your hometown, as I have commanded you. 22 Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as you do now with gazelle and deer. 23 But never consume the blood, for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the lifeblood with the meat. 24 Instead, pour out the blood on the ground like water. 25 Do not consume the blood, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what pleases the Lord.
26 “Take your sacred gifts and your offerings given to fulfill a vow to the place the Lord chooses. 27 You must offer the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat. 28 Be careful to obey all my commands, so that all will go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and pleasing to the Lord your God.
29 “When the Lord your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land, 30 do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ 31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.
32 “So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.
You don’t have to read all of this (it’s a lot!), but I want to highlight the beginning and the end of this passage (the highlighted portions), and verse 4.
What can we gain from this?
God hates the worship of other gods. He wants us to be set apart from the other nations and have nothing to them. (12:29-32)
We are not to worship God in the way that the pagans worship their gods (12:4).
Christ is not in Christmas.
Yes, we can put Him in Christmas, but that would be celebrating Him the way the pagans do.
Do you celebrate Christmas as Jesus’s birth? I would love to hear your thoughts and reasons! ☺️ Like seriously, I want to talk to you about this! It’s okay to not agree with someone!
Thank you for reading, and come back next week for Christmas pt 2!
https://www.interfaithamerica.org/article/pagan-celebration-of-yule/ this one is so creepy and crazy!
There is actually no evidence that Christmas traditions come from paganism. Most Christmas traditions originated in Europe after the region had been Christianized and Christmas had nothing to do with either Yule or Saturnalia. Please watch the videos below!
https://youtu.be/4bWSrF7kNpM?si=P7mN97cr4V7b2Y4g
https://youtu.be/UlEQW-NPqWI?si=-DkHWBwVJdyoGJsp
https://youtu.be/ca_Yx3aMCiE?si=obsPLgzOjei9hr3f
https://youtu.be/DfcvJWPTY64?si=XWswh5iIdhMHALX-
I think my struggle with this argument is that, even a consumerism Christmas isn't anything like how the pagans celebrate their gods...like they legit had orgies, did blood magic, conjured demons, sacrificed women and children... they were savages.
A consumerism Christmas would fall more under idolship so ya, definitely not a celebration of Christ.
In Luke 2, we see an Angel of the Lord come to the lowly of those on the social ladder to say:
[10] And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. [12] And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
I don't see God condemning us for wanting to celebrate the good news of Jesus's birth after 400 something years of silence. Especially because after this announcement the angels did this:
[13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, [14] “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
These angels brought some of the best news in human history, that there would be hope for our relationship with God!
This historical moment is now the reason why thousands upon thousands of people, every year are exposed to the gospel in some way. God can use our mistakes to further His will, which is for all to come to Christ and be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 ESV
[18] All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; [19] that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. [20] Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Maybe we aren't celebrating like the ancient Hebrew culture, but God knew we wouldn't celebrate that way this far down the line in time. He absolutely still uses our celebrations as a way to draw sinners closer to Him to change their hearts.
As long as we aren't celebrating with sacrificial murder, orgies, and drugs, we aren't anywhere near celebrating like pagans.