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Many Christians worldwide celebrate Christmas (on Dec. 25th of the Gregorian calendar according to Western Churches, and Eastern Christians observed Christmas on Dec. 25th of the Julian calendar, which corresponds to Jan. 7th of the Gregorian calendar) as a holy festival. However, going through the Bible, we found out that Christmas is not “holy”!
Jesus’ Date Of Birth Is “Equivocal”
Christians should not celebrate Christmas because they cannot identify a clear-cut day for the birth of Jesus or nativity! The Bible makes only generalizations about Jesus’ Birth:
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-12)
“And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,” (Luke 1:14)
Christ could not have born in December because the incident of the birth of Jesus tells that there were shepherds who tended their flocks at the time in winter! (Luke 2:8). Churches even differed as to the identification of the day of the birth of Jesus; according to the western Roman Empire it should be on December 25 and on January 6 in the East. So even think that Jesus was crucified on the same day he was born.
Jerold Aust, a Christian writer, says “Somewhere in the Gospel of Luke, it speaks of the nativity scene. An angel told some shepherds that were keeping their sheep in the fields at night that the baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem. I think they went to see Jesus at that time. I soon learned that the Bible didn’t teach Christmas. I also found that its origins have nothing to do with the Bible. It was an important lesson about things I’d long assumed to be true.”
Christmas Is “A Grave Sin”
According to some Christian clerics the observation of Christmas is a grave sin: “As [the early Catholic theologian] Origen (late as A.D. 245) views as sinful the very idea of keeping the birthday of Christ”.
Christmas is absent from Jesus’ teachings and writings of early Christians like Irenaeus and Tertullian. There is no explicit text conveying the celebration of the birth of Jesus or even foretelling the occasion. It is a tradition which he did not encourage and was not imitated by the disciples who followed Jesus’ command:
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you”.(1 Corinthians 11:1-2)
Christmas Is “A Heretic Rite”
According to Jesus’ teachings Christmas is a heretic rite which Christians should not observe because Jesus warned his followers against going,
“beyond the things that are written” (1 Corinthians 4:6.) And he says, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
Peter also cites the following words,
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”( 1 Peter 1:14-16).
Christmas Is “A Pagan Tradition”
Many modern thinkers of Christianity have been viewing Christmas as a “pagan tradition”. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the early Christians opposed the “pagan custom of celebrating birthdays.” Christians were facing the roman pagan influence which brought many pagan festivals to their rituals!
Ecclesiastical rites related to Christmas were invented by the Church to present an alternative and combat the influence of the public-pressure welcoming the pagan traditions.
There are many Christian authorities throughout history which banned Christmas and deemed it an “act of atheism”. It was banned by Puritans in England, associating it with “drunkenness and other misbehavior”!
In light of these facts, it is quite clear that Christians have deviated from the true message of Prophet Jesus. Thanks to Prophet Muhammad whose message has been a rectification to Prophet Jesus’ message. Prophet Muhammad came with the Qura’n (Muslims’ Scripture) which ordered him to,
“Say, “O People of the Scripture (i.e. Jews and Christians), you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord.”(5:68)
the Christians are encouraged by Prophet Muhammad to follow the pristine teachings of Christ which order them to follow Prophet Muhammad and know Christ’s real message of Islamic monotheism and noble teachings. If they did so, they will be loved by God and admitted to paradise.
The Qur’an asserts this fact saying,
“And if only the People of the Scripture had believed and feared Allah, We would have removed from them their misdeeds and admitted them to Gardens of Pleasure. And if only they upheld [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to them from their Lord, they would have consumed [provision] from above them and from beneath their feet. Among them are a moderate community, but many of them – evil is that which they do.” (5:65)
References
-Bible
-Qur’an
-Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, 1910, Vol. 6.
-Pruitt, Sarah (2012). Why is Christmas celebrated on Dec. 25th? .
-Gryboski, Michael (2012). Why the Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on Jan. 7th.
-www.ucg.org
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