Christmas is really not a Pagan Holiday. A Very Simple Explanation.

I have no problem if a Christian chooses not to celebrate Christmas.  We are not required to celebrate any feast according to the Bible and there is no command that we honor the Lord’s birthday.  Christian liberty allows us to choose to celebrate or not and directs us not to judge one another for our choice.

However, there are those though who oppose Christmas and attempt to tell others not to honor the day based upon a claim that Christmas is really a pagan holiday.  I disagree with this claim.  The basic argument is that many false religions used to celebrate holidays on or around December 25th and this date was taken for convenience by the Romans to celebrate Jesus’ birthday….so Christmas is necessarily bad.  Pagans celebrated something on the same day and it was already an established holiday so we shouldn’t use that same day to celebrate the Lord’s birth.

My response, simply, breaks down into two points.

1 – Everything in the universe belongs to the Lord and was made by and for the Lord.  Man may have used it for a period of time after the fall for his own uses, but it never stopped being the Lord’s.  Every day belongs to the Lord, including those that have been used by others for bad purposes.  Acting as if the pagan world can dictate anything to God and to His people and lay claim to anything or any day permanently is mistaken as a result.  Jesus had no time for the location related disputes between the Samaritans and the Jews when brought up by the woman at the well, rather He points to worshipping God in spirit and in truth.  That can be done anywhere, any day and any time.

2 – I celebrate my birthday on one day out of the 365 day year every year and sometimes even have a party at my house.  In all of history there have been terrible deeds and actions done on my birthday.  There have probably been pagan holidays associated and sacrifices to idols done on that same day. My house has been owned by non-christians before I lived there.

Yet no one coming to my birthday party at my house is celebrating anything other than my birthday.  They are there to sing me Happy Birthday and eat cake whilst wearing pointy hats.  I know it, they know it and God knows it.   There is no confusion, despite the history of the day or former occupants of my house.

I love my brothers and sisters in Christ who don’t celebrate Christmas and I am happy for them that they are following their beliefs.  But I will celebrate the Lord’s birth on Christmas day with joy and gladness and with a clear conscience and the Lord will know exactly what I am doing.