Anyone NOT celebrate Christmas?

I don't-I am Christian but I don't like the fact that Christmas has pagan origins. And I also believe that if God wanted us to celebrate the birth of Jesus he would have told us to in the bible....

I find it fascinating that most of the traditional Christmas comes from pagan rites. Do tell Celtic!

Barbe - Without getting too indepth, and recognizing that there are many different pagan schools of thought (kind of like Catholics, Baptists, Episcopalians, and Mormans), here are a few Yule traditions that we can see in how Christmas is celebrated today:

In ancient times, in the northern countries of Europe, animals were brought in from the high meadows as winter approached. Because fodder was scarce, only the strongest and finest beasts were kept. The others were killed and, because citizens of the Dark Ages didn't have refrigerators, the meat had to be consumed or dried quickly. This called for a feast.  People often exchanged gifts of meat or other food they had grown, or linens they had woven, soap they had made, etc.  Thus we have the prototype of our basic Christmas morning get-togethers celebrated today.

People would visit each other's homes to exchange goods, and they were often served a strong, hot drink or ale. They would toast the host and say "waes hael," which is Old English for "be hale." Recognize that word? We know know it as "wassail."

Yule fell during midwinter, the darkest time of the year. To encourage the return of the sun, fires were lit (think, today, candles and Yule logs). Pagans think very circular, and the year is seen as a "wheel." The Druids of Britain would bless a log and keep it burning for 12 days during the winter solstice (how often does "12" show up in regards to Christmas?). Part of this log was preserved for the following year, with it would be used to light the new log, thus completing a wheel or circle. Today, we often hear Christmas referred to as "the season of light" or "the celebration of light." The boar  (Boar's Head) was a favorite dish, as the boar was a solar animal, having bristles of gold like the rays of the sun. Today, many people serve ham as their Christmas dish. The ancient Celts and Norse also cherished evergreens, esp. at this time of year, as they are the natural symbol of rebirth and life amid winter's whiteness. Today, we decorate with pine trees and holly.

Thanks Celtic_Spirit. And I believe the pagan rituals were brought into the church by the catholics. They wanted the pagans to join their church so they offered to incorporate their festivals into church life....so Dec 25 had nothing to do with Jesus-it's the date of a pagan festival. The trees, presents etc have pagan origins and Christians just embrace it...IMO I don't think God would be pleased to see pagan symbols in the church today...but that's just how I feel and so I don't celebrate Christmas.

Mom3 is it the part in the bible that says not to mark days the reason why you don't celebrate Christmas, Easter etc?

You are correct, lmc1970. And I remember reading years ago that, by using references to events mentioned in the Bible relating to Jesus' birth (shepherds in the field, the census taking), Biblical historians were able to determine that Jesus was born in the summer, and I want to say in August. What I've always wondered is, why didn't the early priests affix "Christmas" to the pagan celebration of Lughnassadh, which takes place around August 1, instead of Yule.

I don't celebrate Christmas as I am Jewish....I have my own holidays that have much meaning and ritual for me and my family.     Karen

Mom3, This time of  year is a beautful season of lights, "the Festival of Lights " if you will.  It's not surprise that ancient people used lights as part of their festivals to God when they worshipped. Can you imagine how very cold and dark blackeness overtook the land for long periods of time, and when the sun began to give warmth to them again after a season of cold darkness, it must have felt like a blessing from God to have the sun shine again, and renewal of the land again.  Festivals to celebrate life, and prosperity again. 

Hanukkah is a happy, festive, joyous eight-day Jewish celebration that starts on Kislev 25 on the Hebrew calendar (same as November-December on the Gregorian calendar). It is also called the Festival of Lights. The word Hanukkah means "dedication." Hanukkah is an important feast for the Jewish people, for it reminds them of how God miraculously delivered their ancestors when they were persecuted. On the first day, the shammash, the prominent branch of the Hanukkah Menorah, the nine-branched lamp is lighted. The shammash, which means "servant," is usually in the center and is the tallest of the branches of the menorah. From it each of the other branches is lighted on subsequent days, until all are lighted. The Historical Events of Hanukkah   The Hanukkah celebrates freedom from oppression. It commemorates the Jewish victory over the Hellenist Syrians. Hanukkah originated with the rededication of the Jewish temple in B.C. 164, after the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes had desecrated it. Antiochus reigned from B.C. 175 to 164, and had a burning desire to Hellenize everyone under his rule. The Syrian-Greeks offered art, poetry and literature to the lives of the Judeans, attempting to create in this way a new mind-set of customs, traditions and pagan faith. Antiochus loved the Greek customs, culture, philosophy, and religions and wanted every one of his subjects to accept it. They attempted to impose their own religious values, dogma and fanaticism upon the people. Some of the Jews welcomed the new ways, but most rejected it. In B.C. 170 Antiochus attacked Jerusalem and 80,000 Jews perished, and that many more were sold into slavery. The Jewish Temple was robbed. He tore down its wall, desecrated its temple by abolishing its sacrifices and carrying away its furniture, banning Jewish religion, massacring many, prohibiting the rite of circumcision, destroying copies of the Law, and establishing the worship of Jupiter (Olympian Zeus) in the temple. During the time of Antiochus it was a capital offence to possess a copy of the law, to circumcise a child. Parents who disobeyed the law and circumcised their boys were crucified with the son hanging around their necks. In December B.C. 168, Antiochus brought matters to a climax in Jerusalem. He sent his general, Apollonius, with twenty thousand troops under orders to seize Jerusalem on a Sabbath. There he erected an idol of Zeus and desecrated the altar by offering swine on it. This idol became known to the Jews as "the abomination of desolation." He profaned the Temple and turned its chambers into brothels for his soldiers. The ultimate abomination was offering swine's flesh to the pagan gods on the Jewish altar. The revolt against Antiochus began when Mattathias, an old priest in the village of Modin, killed a royal commissioner of Antiochus along with an apostate Jew who entered the town to offer heathen sacrifices. Mattathias and his five sons then fled to the hills. In the next few months he and two of his sons died, but the remaining three sons (Judas, Jonathan, and Simon) led the insurrection. Judas was named the "Maccabee" (the hammer), and under his leadership the Jews won major victories in B.C. 165 and 164. In December of B.C. 164, Judas reclaimed the temple, cleansed it of its Syrian pollution, and had it rededicated to God with the festival known today as Hanukkah. The temple was rededicated on Kislev 25, B.C. 164, exactly three years after Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple (1 Mac. 4:52-29; 2 Mac. 10:6-8). Judas Maccabaeus admonished the Jewish people: "The days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year, by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month of Chislev, with gladness and joy" (1 Maccabees 4:59).  One of the traditions in Judaism says one of the priests at the dedication of the Temple in B.C. 164 found a small flask of unpolluted oil sufficient for only one day. With menorah miraculously replenished for eight days. This gave the Maccabees enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. The Jewish people celebrated this great eight-day festival of Hanukkah, sometimes calling it the "Festival of the Dedication of the Altar," "the Memorial of the Purification of the Temple," and the "Festival of the Lights." It is not uncommon to see lights in the windows of Jewish homes. There are two traditions among the Jewish people. Eight lights were set in the window according to Shammai. One was removed each day until on the last day only one was left burning. Hillel tradition begins with one light on the first day and each day one is added until on the eighth day eight are burning. This Festival of Lights celebrates the freedom that had returned to Israel. For the next 100 years the people enjoyed this newfound freedom, until the Romans conquered Judah in B.C. 64. Josephus called this celebration "the festival of Lights" because of the lighting of lamps in Jewish homes, "giving this name to it, I think, from the fact that the right to worship appeared to us at a time when we hardly dared hope for it." In ancient times it was also called "the dedication of the altar" (1 Macc. 4:59). In the Hanukkah celebration Jews play games, exchange gifts, have family dinners, attend plays and concerts at synagogues and schools, and light a candle on each of the eight evenings. In the center of the candles is a more predominant ninth one, the "shammash," used to light the other candles.The First Century Hanukkah Celebration The Hanukkah celebration is not mentioned in the Old Testament because the historical event occurred during the 400-year period between the two Testaments. The Hanukkah is mentioned in John 10:22. "At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem" (John 10:22, NASB 1995). Here it is called the "Feast of Dedication" probably because the word Hanukkah in Hebrew means "dedication." The apostle John tells us, "it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, ‘How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly'" (John 10:23-24). Jesus, the Messiah, brought about an even greater deliverance than Judas Maccabaeus could ever give. He delivers not only for time, but also for eternity. Jesus is also the "prophet" of whom Moses spoke (Deut. 18:15-19; Acts 7:37). He is also the Anointed of the LORD (John 4:25-26), and the Son of God (John 10:29-30). The True Light A couple of months earlier Jesus had declared, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). Soon thereafter Jesus gave light to the man born with a congenital disease (John 9:1-41). The "light" given to the man born blind (John 9) testifies to a greater symbolism of Hanukkah, namely, the light of the Lord shining on those who are spiritually blind.The Hebrew prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming of the true Light. "Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising" (Isaiah 60:1-3). Christ is the true Light that gives light to all who believe on Him. He is the Light of life. He is the "light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel" (Luke 2:32). He alone can "light men into the knowledge and presence of God." Jesus is the effulgence of the glory of God. "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3).  For John, the "light" refers specifically to eternal life which is available to all through Jesus Christ. Christ is "the light of the world" (8:12; 9:5). He is come "a light into the world" (12:46). Indeed, the man who follows Him "shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (8:12). Men can be urged to believe in the light (12:36) just as they are urged to believe in Him. For the Jews in Jesus' day the lights of Hanukkah related to the temple and its dedication, but they would also have had lights in front of their homes during this feast. The Mishnah--the collection of oral laws compiled by Rabbi Judah the Prince (born in the year 135 of the Christian era)--states that outside the entrance of each house the Hanukkah lamp was positioned to affirm publicly the Hanukkah miracle. The lamps, inserted into glass lanterns to prevent the wind from extinguishing them, were placed on pedestals. Archaeological excavations show that these were common in antiquity. These pedestal lamps may be referred to in Luke 11:33, "No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar, nor under a peck-measure, but on the lampstand, in order that those who enter may see the light." At the Feast of Tabernacles two golden candelabra were lit in the court of the women in the temple. But why was this done? Nothing in the Old Testament stipulates such an action. Alfred Edersheim answers this question by showing the connection between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Hanukkah.There is also a tragic consequence for all who reject the Light. "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God" (John 3:19-21).  The Eternal City of Light All believers in the Messiah Jesus, both Jewish and Gentiles, will dwell forever with Him in the city of eternal light. This is what it will be like: "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed" (Revelation 21:23-25).

To me it seems only fitting that the birth of the Messiah which is celebrated at the time of the Hebrew calender Keslev 25 of Hannukah the festival of dedication and to the temple. Festival of lights. The light that Christians await the Messiah to shine on all mankind .  The temple in Jerusalem was desacrated and thousands of jews perished at the destruction.  Hanukkah is an important feast for the Jewish people, for it reminds them of how God miraculously delivered their ancestors when they were persecuted.   I love this time of year of giving thanks to God, giving to one another in good and charitable ways in the spirit of what the teachings of Christ are about, and living life anew i a spirit of compassion for others, being the best we can be with our own fellow human beings even if they don't happen to be in our own church communiy.  That's what thias season is about. And I do celebrate the idea of a time when the Christ Child came to bring light and deliverance to all humankind.  Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah, and may God bless ALL of you my sistas!

Barb

Barb, the candles confuse me. I thought there were nine, but usually see 7 in menorahs. Then the story talks so much about 8. And the "servant" candle, the tallest in the centre. Is it representing a servant to God or to the people who are lighting the other candles off it?

"I am the Light of the world..." I was raised Roman Catholic and that was in our service too! If everyone would calm down (in the outside world) they'd find an awful lot of cross-over messages and rituals. Just said in a slightly different way. One God.

I love hearing all this!!!!

barbee1958,  I love all this too!!!  I love to learn about ancient civilizations, and their religion and cultures.  It's always been facinating to me.  I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic schools, later stopped practicing actively, and investigated a lot of Biblical teachings.  I don't practice any one religion anymore, but do hold to the idea that the pure teachings of Jesus regarding living by the law of love is something that all humanity can benefit from.  We are all related to one another in that human kindness and the caring not to harm each other is a basic sacred secret of the Universe and something that was all passed down thru prophets of old and humanitarians of recent.

Pure, I too really believe that.  Judging other people's choices.  We speak to God in our heart and somehow we get our answers.

Barb

Maybe He dosn't want us to know how old he is....but that's usually a chick thing! heehehehe

Barbe (and anyone else curious), here's the thing with the menorah and the number of candles:

The lighting of the Chanukah menorah commemorates the miracle of the oil. When the Maccabees cleansed the Holy Temple of the idols & impure sacrifices they wanted to rededicate the Temple and light the Menorah that stands there and was lit every day. It had to be lit ONLY with pure olive oil that bore the seal of the High Priest. They found only one cruse of oil with a seal and it contained only enough oil for one day. It would take 8 days to get more pure oil. They did not want to wait so they sent for the oil and lit the Menorah with what they had. The miracle was that the oil lasted for 8 days until more oil came.

So - the Chanukah menorah has 8 "regular" lights plus one "shammash" ("servant"or "caretaker" is the translation). That one is needed because it is forbidden to use the Chanukah lights for anything - their sole purpose is to remember & tell people of the miracle. Therefore, any light that comes and is used as light is considered to come from the extra candle, which must be either a different height or in different row than the other candles.So that's where you see 9 candles.

The Menorah in the Holy Temple had 7 candles, so that's why ;you will sometimes see pictures of 7-branched Menorah. It is used now as a symbol of the State of Israel.

Chanukah (which means "dedication") celebrates two miracles - the oil that lasted 8 days instead of one, and the victory of the Maccabees.

There is debate is about the correct spelling of the holiday: Chanukah, Channukkah, Hanukkah, Hannuka, etc. Want to know the real spelling?

חנוכה

Happy Chanukah to all!

Leeah

Hi Mom3 and shorbr!! I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses too.  

If anyone is interested in why we don't celebrate Christmas you can read some information here.

http://www.watchtower.org/e/bh/article_16.htm 

Hi Leeah,  Happy Hanukkah!!  Thanks for explaining the menorah and candles.

lauri, I too love the idea of celebrating any holiday that has singing and food!       

Barb

Happy Hanukkah!