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Evangelical · 12-18-2016, 10:54 PM

My comment about the Bible was an analogy. Christmas is about taking something of another religion, making it pretty, and saying it reminds us of something genuine.

We see eye to eye on a few things - that God hates religion. Now Christmas came from religion not from the bible or Judaism. So why defend it? Religion is a substitute for the true God, so religion is an idol, right?

Remember that the Israelite's built a golden calf to remind them of God, because Moses took a long time coming down from the mountain. What was Aaron's problem? He merged the worship of God with the worship of the idol. Aaron let the people get out of control. Some might say "the golden calf was only a reminder of God", but God did not see it that way.

It is like that today with Christmas. Religion is an idol, people worship the idol of Christmas and say "it is only a reminder". God does not see it that way. We may not have been involved in paganism or even understand what pagan gods are. But God does and only His opinion truly counts here. We might say "Christmas reminds us of Jesus's birth". But what if Christmas reminds God of all the times when His people worshiped an idol

Probably when God sees a Christmas tree it reminds Him of this:

"Hosea 4:13 They sacrifice ..., under oaks and poplars and elms" .

Jeremiah 10:1-4

“Do not learn the ways of the nations... -clearly this rules out taking pagan things such as trees and decorating them

"For the practices of the peoples are worthless;... -Christmas is basically a worthless occasion, it has no spiritual value.

"they cut a tree out of the forest, ... - many people cut trees out of the forest to make Christmas trees

"They adorn it with silver and gold;... - referring to the pagan practice of decorating trees.

People only care about their own selfish feelings. They want to remember God in their own way and not consider His feelings about the matter. The only reminder Jesus asked us to keep was the weekly Lord's Table meeting and that was remembrance not just of his birth but his whole life including his life-purpose to die for the world on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:24). Not only has Christmas become commercialized as you rightly said, but Christmas is the only time of the year when many will go to church to remember God and they do not attend weekly or even monthly communion. In other words, they substitute the genuine remembrance in the Lord's Table with their own way of remembering the Lord. That is also religion. Religion is doing things man's way instead of God's way.

The Lord's table is the genuine remembrance of the Lord and it happens week by week. So there is really no need for a Christian to celebrate Christmas to supposedly "remind them" of Jesus's birth. First and foremost we are to remember Jesus's life and death in the weekly Lord's Table meeting. The real reason people celebrate Christmas is because it is a man-made tradition started in 336 AD.

A lot people have the wrong idea about what it means to be religious. To many, to be religious is to not observe Christmas, Easter etc. Actually, a person who does not observe the occasions that came from religion such as Christmas, are the truly non-religious ones. A truly non-religious person is one who does not observe Christmas but remembers Christ in regular Lord's Table meetings.

If we defend Christmas we are defending that which God hates and are being religious. We are making a mockery of the Lord's Table not only because the Catholic "mass" is wrong, but by substituting the true remembrance with a counterfeit remembrance day, we are being like Aaron who saw nothing wrong with merging genuine worship of God with pagan idols. To create our own occasions for worship such as Christmas, following the traditions of men and setting aside the commandments of God, is the true definition of self-righteousness and religion. The person who wrote the article you posted does not know what self-righteousness means.

"And you know, Elijah was translated/raptured on a chariot with horses ( a sleigh) "

Unfortunately the idea of Santa being pulled by reindeer (not horses) comes from paganism. Reindeer represent the horned god prevalent in pagan/Satan worship.

Ancient nomadic pagan Eurasian tribes featured reindeer in sacrificial religious rituals.

“Santa’s reindeer evolved from the Celtic
Horned God. Eight reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh,
representative of the eight solar sabbats.
From their late Autumn dramatic rutting displays,
stags represented strength, sexuality and
fertility.”

https://christmaspagandeception.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/whats-with-the-reindeer/

Pagans seem to know where Christmas is really from more than Christians themselves...

From: https://www.paganspath.com/magik/yule-history2.htm

As we pagans already know, many of today's Christmas celebrations are rooted in pagan practices. And Santa isn't an exception.
At Yule, Odin leads a great hunting party through the sky in celebration. This story gives rise to comparisons of Santa and his 8 reindeer flying through the sky.

12-18-2016, 10:54 PM	#5
Evangelical Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3,965	Re: Tis the season My comment about the Bible was an analogy. Christmas is about taking something of another religion, making it pretty, and saying it reminds us of something genuine. We see eye to eye on a few things - that God hates religion. Now Christmas came from religion not from the bible or Judaism. So why defend it? Religion is a substitute for the true God, so religion is an idol, right? Remember that the Israelite's built a golden calf to remind them of God, because Moses took a long time coming down from the mountain. What was Aaron's problem? He merged the worship of God with the worship of the idol. Aaron let the people get out of control. Some might say "the golden calf was only a reminder of God", but God did not see it that way. It is like that today with Christmas. Religion is an idol, people worship the idol of Christmas and say "it is only a reminder". God does not see it that way. We may not have been involved in paganism or even understand what pagan gods are. But God does and only His opinion truly counts here. We might say "Christmas reminds us of Jesus's birth". But what if Christmas reminds God of all the times when His people worshiped an idol Probably when God sees a Christmas tree it reminds Him of this: "Hosea 4:13 They sacrifice ..., under oaks and poplars and elms" . Jeremiah 10:1-4 “Do not learn the ways of the nations... -clearly this rules out taking pagan things such as trees and decorating them "For the practices of the peoples are worthless;... -Christmas is basically a worthless occasion, it has no spiritual value. "they cut a tree out of the forest, ... - many people cut trees out of the forest to make Christmas trees "They adorn it with silver and gold;... - referring to the pagan practice of decorating trees. People only care about their own selfish feelings. They want to remember God in their own way and not consider His feelings about the matter. The only reminder Jesus asked us to keep was the weekly Lord's Table meeting and that was remembrance not just of his birth but his whole life including his life-purpose to die for the world on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:24). Not only has Christmas become commercialized as you rightly said, but Christmas is the only time of the year when many will go to church to remember God and they do not attend weekly or even monthly communion. In other words, they substitute the genuine remembrance in the Lord's Table with their own way of remembering the Lord. That is also religion. Religion is doing things man's way instead of God's way. The Lord's table is the genuine remembrance of the Lord and it happens week by week. So there is really no need for a Christian to celebrate Christmas to supposedly "remind them" of Jesus's birth. First and foremost we are to remember Jesus's life and death in the weekly Lord's Table meeting. The real reason people celebrate Christmas is because it is a man-made tradition started in 336 AD. A lot people have the wrong idea about what it means to be religious. To many, to be religious is to not observe Christmas, Easter etc. Actually, a person who does not observe the occasions that came from religion such as Christmas, are the truly non-religious ones. A truly non-religious person is one who does not observe Christmas but remembers Christ in regular Lord's Table meetings. If we defend Christmas we are defending that which God hates and are being religious. We are making a mockery of the Lord's Table not only because the Catholic "mass" is wrong, but by substituting the true remembrance with a counterfeit remembrance day, we are being like Aaron who saw nothing wrong with merging genuine worship of God with pagan idols. To create our own occasions for worship such as Christmas, following the traditions of men and setting aside the commandments of God, is the true definition of self-righteousness and religion. The person who wrote the article you posted does not know what self-righteousness means. *"And you know, Elijah was translated/raptured on a chariot with horses ( a sleigh) "* Unfortunately the idea of Santa being pulled by reindeer (not horses) comes from paganism. Reindeer represent the horned god prevalent in pagan/Satan worship. Ancient nomadic pagan Eurasian tribes featured reindeer in sacrificial religious rituals. “Santa’s reindeer evolved from the Celtic Horned God. Eight reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh, representative of the eight solar sabbats. From their late Autumn dramatic rutting displays, stags represented strength, sexuality and fertility.” https://christmaspagandeception.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/whats-with-the-reindeer/ Pagans seem to know where Christmas is really from more than Christians themselves... From: https://www.paganspath.com/magik/yule-history2.htm As we pagans already know, many of today's Christmas celebrations are rooted in pagan practices. And Santa isn't an exception. At Yule, Odin leads a great hunting party through the sky in celebration. This story gives rise to comparisons of Santa and his 8 reindeer flying through the sky.