Is Christmas still Christmas?

RubberDucky

RubberDucky

New Member
Out of curiosity, and partly due to my cynical nature, I want to know what y'all really think about when you hear that word, Christmas. Now I'm not looking for "Sunday School" answers. It may be true that some of you honestly first think of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But truly, how many actually first think about gifts and snow and Frosty and that Reindeer with the inflamed nose? I want to know how my fellow Christians still view this day. I want to know if the mass amounts of commercialization has affected our observation of this day. I want to know if some people have ever been honestly tempted to type "Happy X-mas" instead of taking the time to type "Merry Christmas", in my opinion, those 5 letters, Christ, are the most important part of that word. After all, what is the point of the holiday without it? Sorry for the random soapbox session, but I really am curious. And what I will wonder later is how many people are honest with themselves about how they view Christmas. How many people take the time to read Luke chapter 2. If no one posts, I understand. But I think it would be interesting to see who is honest here.
Joey.
 
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What do I think about the word, "Christmas." (I know you don't want Sunday School answers..)Being raised in a good Christian home has definitely influenced the way I think about it. I think about all that Christ has done for me throughout my life, about how much he has changed me for the better and how much he is still changing me for the better. I think about the fellowship that my family and I hold so dear during the Christmas time. Every Christmas, as a family before we open gifts, we sit down and read Luke Chapter 2.THEN comes gift thinking, haha. Now in all honesty, that is not always the first thing that comes to mind. Sometimes I think we as Christians (I included) take the wonders that Christ has done for us for granted.Its something that I recognize I need to work on, and I think that is one of the works that God is doing within me as we near the Christmas holidays.

There's no need to apologize for a "random soapbox." Your question definitely needs to be asked. When you look at society and media today, you no longer see "Merry Christmas." Instead you now see "Merry X-mas" or "Happy Holidays." The media has washed the true meaning of Christmas out of the minds of most people today. Like you...I am a bit of a cynic. It sickens me to see the people that turn Christmas into praising Santa or Frosty or "that Reindeer with the inflamed nose." (Gotta say, that made me laugh)

Anyway, I hope my answer satisfied you. Hadn't checked this forum in a couple of weeks and this thread was the first one that caught my eye. Later.
 
Good answer, and I'm glad someone liked my joke about the mammal with Rhinitis. What I hate most is "Seasons Greetings", Ugh.
Joey.
 
My thoughts on christmas can be summed up in this: I work in retail, they WANT us to say "happy holidays" and I dont care how red a customer's face gets, I'll still say "Merry Christmas". It's celebrating God's gift, not a over-commercialized shopping and gluttony frenzy.
 
How do I view Christmas? Well, coming from a family that never went to church, never talked about God....

I started with the view that Christmas is about gifts and toys and reindeer and snowmen... and I've slowly been shifting to the view that it's about family, about love, about Christ.

Have I shortened my greetings to X-mas? Nope. Although I'm terrible at writing things out by hand, I still do individual Christmas cards with personalized notes. Most of them say generally the same thing (and quite a few are just signed), but I still write Merry Christmas on each one.
 
Short answer? Depends on who you ask. To those who have Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, Christmas is a time to celebrate Him.

To the rest? Time off work, family time, Santa Claus, presents. Even worse, many people are actually MOST depressed during this time of year, as some people's joy is a reminder of their depression. Suicide rates are typically highest (or so I've heard) during the Christmas season.

I think the most important thing this time of year is to not only celebrate Jesus, but to use the opportunity to tell others about Him. There's just something magical about this time of year...even for non-believers.
 
For all of us who are Chritians - Jesus is the reason for the season. At the same time - for all of us who are Christians it is also, "time off work, family time, Santa Claus, presents."

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive - that you have to be one or the other. I enjoy all the stuff about Christmas - even much of the commercialization. Although - I have to admit - that German company selling chocolate Jesus was going a bit too far (http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1128/chocolatejesus.html).

It gives me a great chance to interact with unsaved people - we have a season in common. Even the unsaved enjoy the Holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

My Christmas season kicks off with The Bishop's Wife (the old one) and Ernest Saves Christmas. We have a tree at church and openly talk about Santa Claus. Saint Nick was a big time believer in our Savior.

Yes - it is true - many of our Christian Christmas traditions came from the secular - which we baptized and Christianized. There is still much of the secular that we can bring into our Christmas without losing the real reason for the season.

I suggest you enjoy your time off work - time with family - your gift giving and receiving - whether it be Santa or not - and celebrate the Babe as well.

Just some quick thoughts. Thanks for raising the question.
 
For me being raised in a Christian Home I think of it as Jesus' Birthday and a time to relax and spend with family. I also work retail and I refuse to say Happy Holidays it bugs me more than anything to hear Happy Holidays! I do not say merry Christmas generally till last few weeks up till Christmas. And I hate the commercialization of the holiday and the far Majority of people I talk to that come into my store (A Gamestop) Love Christmas but hate that it is about the gifts and not how Christmas wast 30 years ago. 30+ years ago. There is almost no such thing as the Christmas Spirit any more, peoples random acts of kindness are much less now. I wish Christmas was much more Like Thanksgiving is kinda over looked and about being thankful and having family time. Thanksgiving is probably now my fave holiday other than the 4th of July He he FIREWORKS!!!
 
Abba San said:
... At the same time - for all of us who are Christians it is also, "time off work, family time, Santa Claus, presents."

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive ...
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Agreed, I reread my post and apologize if it sounded to the contrary. I was just thinking along the lines of the meaning that comes to peoples' minds. Nothing wrong with any of that stuff, provided they take a back seat. :)
 
I wasn't taking you to task - I knew what you meant - no need to apologize. I'm enjoying to posts in this thread.

Sometimes we Christians can get upset about things that don't call for a second thought. It is like the Xmas thing. People start saying, "Who took Christ out of Christmas?" It wasn't a bunch of pagans who didn't want to see Christ's name anywhere - it was Christians using a Chi (X). It is the first letter of the word Christ and has long been a symbol for Christ. WE did it, not THEM.

The fact is, no one can take Christ out of my Christmas - no matter how self-centered or commercialized or secularized the season gets. I am the only one who could take Christ out of my Christmas. Ain't gonna happen.
 
One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the word "X-Mas" is not "xing out Christ." In this instance the X is, in fact, a Greek abbreviation for cross or Christ. Most people do not realize this, and the confusion is understandable, but never jump down anyone's throat about it, especially another Christian. Once you realize the true origins of "X-mas," you will look at it differently. I use it from time to time, when writing in crowded areas or in a hurry, when writing out "Christmas" is inconvenient or impossible. This is in no way diminishing Christ's importance to me or to the very nature of this holiday.

Just some food for thought, carry on...


Oh, and having been raised in a Christian home, the first thing that truly comes to my mind is the birth of Christ when I hear the word Christmas.
 
Was Christmas Celebated In The Bible?

Was Christmas celebrated in the Bible?

Where did people get the December 24-25th date as the birth of Christ?

Was the 24-25th of December celebrated by other non christian groups?


Also I think I came across something in the Bible concerning Christmas trees. Jeremiah 10:1-5 read it and let me know what you get out of that.


Thanks, and God Bless
 
Not sure exactly when they got there, but the 3 wise men did travel and bring gifts to celebrate Jesus' birth.
 
Quick response:

Christmas - as we know it - is not in the Bible. The events commemorated at Christmas are in the Bible. We pull things together into one Christmas package. The birth of Jesus may or may not have been in winter. The magi's visit was probably a couple of years later - not on the same page like in the Bible. Magi are biblical - three magi is tradition - it doesn't say how many - we get three from the song and Christmas cards.

Like it or not - non-Christians are correct that there were many end-of-the-year/new-year secular practices that we Christians adopted and gave spiritual significance to. The Roman celebration of the Rising Sun (notice the 'u') at the winter soltice was easy to switch to the Rising Son (with an 'o') of our faith. There is an interesting correlation between our advent celebration and Hanukkah (or Chanukah), the Festival of Lights, which begins on the 25th day of Kislev. Personally, I think that is where we get the 25th of December for our Christmas.

The passage in Jeremiah 10 has nothing to do with Christmas trees - it is about carved idols. I guess you could argue that people today make idols out of their Christmas trees - adorning with silver and gold and putting gifts under it - but that is not what the passage is about. The Christmas tree we know grew out of Germany in the 16th century.

There were times when Christmas was banned by God fearing people - too much revelry. The Pilgrims didn't celebrate Christmas or Easter.

I think Christmas traditions are fascinating subjects for discussion. From the tree to Santa - there are good lessons to be learned. Just remember - traditions are not necessarily biblical - but because something is not in the Bible does not make it bad (your computer for example).
 
I have been having an interesting discussion with some friends about Christmas. Primarily in light of the irony behind some Christians boycotting stores this shopping season if they deliberately try not to talk about or celebrate Christmas. In most cases these stores just revert to the "happy Holiday" or "seasons greetings."

I find it amusing that some people cry so loudly for their own religious freedom but then make a stink if someone else wants it too. If we really abandoned doing business with all non-christian organizations or retailers, we would probably be naked, cold and hungry. So why make such a big deal about businesses choosing not to celebrate the same holiday we as Christians do?

Not to mention that Christmas certainly doesn't find its origin in Scripture, but was a combination of pagan holidays adopted by Christians for a different purpose then originally intended. Yeah, that's right. We took a popular celebration of the time (Winter solstice, Yule, and some others) and added our own focus to them.

But that brings up a good question. What is important, the outward appearance or the inward intention? Can we really redeem aspects of our culture for God? There are movies, games, stories, celebrations that were not made with Biblical intent, but may non-the-less contain some truth. Can we redeem that truth and use it to glorify God in some way? Not that we ignore where it came from but create a new focus for it that is honoring to God.

My wife and I have always had a few traditions at Christmas time. Yes, until we moved to our small place in Chicago we always cut down a Christmas tree, hung ornaments, and bought gifts for each other. And moving has not changed our opinions of such things, but we do not do them for the same reasons that most non-Christians probably do. We have our own purpose and reminders woven into each.

What other aspects of our society can we redeem so they glorify God, like those who first began celebrating Christmas?
 
I think this is an interesting discussion as i have heard three different points of view from ppl I know this year.
1. Christmas is a pagan holiday and thus i will not celebrate it.
2. Christimas is the most holy day on the Christian calender and therefore it must be treated with the upmost of reverence (i.e. avoid all commercialisation and try to get people to remember the reason for the season)
3. What ever it was, Christmas is the biggest celebration of consumerism there is and thus it represents meerly a time to get together with family and enjoy there company.

Such a diversity of opinions among pple who grew up together in the same community is quite remarkable I think.
 
RubberDucky said:
I want to know if some people have ever been honestly tempted to type "Happy X-mas" instead of taking the time to type "Merry Christmas", in my opinion, those 5 letters, Christ, are the most important part of that word.
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Art history gave me a whole new perspective on the use of Xmas.

Through the Renaissance, the cross was not the only symbol associated with Jesus. The Chi Rho (kai row, approximately) dates back to at least the third century AD. It's formed from the first two letters of "Christ" in Greek: "Chi," which looks like an "X," and "Rho", which looks like a "P". The two were superimposed, like this:



It's called a Christogram. In English-speaking western countries, the only Christogram in widespread common usage today is "Xmas", which drops the Rho.

So instead of avoiding it, I educate people about it.


ppar3566 said:
2. Christimas is the most holy day on the Christian calender and therefore it must be treated with the upmost of reverence (i.e. avoid all commercialisation and try to get people to remember the reason for the season)
3. What ever it was, Christmas is the biggest celebration of consumerism there is and thus it represents meerly a time to get together with family and enjoy there company.
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Giving gifts at Christmas is a great thing, if done with the right spirit and in a responsible manner.

In the right spirit would be giving it out of love (at least brotherly love) and a desire to bring joy to someone. Responsibly would be to give what you can reasonably afford, NOT putting yourself into debt to give more, more, more.

Looking at it from that standpoint, making and buying gifts is a joy, not a tedious chore. Well, as long as I don't get stuck shopping on Christmas Eve...
 
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With you there, or at least my wife is. She loves buying gifts and plans and shops months before. I tag along and try to be helpful (e.g. I carry the bags). I was just posting the three most (alternative) views I have heard from Christians about Christmas. I find it hard to believe that ppl so similar can find one day so symbolically different.
 
ppar3566 said:
I tag along and try to be helpful (e.g. I carry the bags)
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Isn't that what most guys volunteer or get drafted to do? :D

Part of what you need to realize is that such a large amount of the american populace claims to be christian. Though if you see the way our culture has been perverted over the last decades, you wouldnt really believe it. It's like the definition of christian has switched from "Follower of Christ" to "knowing who Christ is"

/minirant.
 
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