Just Do It! Christians, Jews and Holy Days. True Origins of Christmas.

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Just Do It

“Promises are easy to make.

Annie Spratt/Unsplash

When we make a promise or the more official vow — just do it! That is what God would have you do.

We promise we will be better, that we will do this or that, that we will change. Those who hope in those promises are often disappointed because the one making the promises is usually the one who has left so much undone that promises of doing better are needed. Red Auerbach wrote, "An acre of performance is worth the whole world of promise."

We rejoice when we meet a person of their word. There is a quality of character in such a person that we admire. Jesus Christ was a little more forceful in His comment. He said, "Let your 'yes' be ‘yes' and your 'no' be ‘no' for whatever is more than these is from the devil" (Matthew 5:37). Promises are usually a "yes" that has not been carried out. When we make a promise or the more official vow—just do it! That is what God would have you do.”  From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/blogs/this-is-the-way/just-do-it

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Christians, Jews and Holy Days

“Both Christians and Jews, for entirely different reasons, lost something so significant that it totally altered their understanding of a core biblical truth!

I was surprised today to see that my word processor’s thesaurus lists only one antonym for “evolution”—regression. On the other hand, synonyms include positive words like growth, progress, advancement, development.

I got the message: if you’re not evolving, you’re going backward, degenerating!

Curiosity prompted my thesaurus check. Are there better words than “evolution,” I wondered, to describe the monumental changes that have altered Christianity’s practices over the centuries?

Well, if evolution means progressing and advancing, I’ll find another word. I cannot say, in good conscience, these changes have been good.

What Christianity and Judaism lost

It’s commonly recognized that many of the practices and doctrines of the New Testament Church for the first couple of centuries after Christ are vastly different from what we see today. A prime example is in this issue’s lead article examining how Easter and its observances found their way into the Church. People write about this every year, so you’ve probably seen before its ties to paganism.

What you hear little about, however, is what got lost in all the religious confusion that arose after Christ.

Both Christians and Jews, for entirely different reasons, lost the same thing—something so significant that it totally altered their understanding of a core biblical truth!

After Jesus’ death, the symbolism and meaning of the holy days and festivals God gave Israel in the Old Testament stood to take on far greater clarity and depth by the revelations God would give the Church in the New Testament. They could open a beautiful understanding of how God was working out His salvation for humanity! But something blocked that.

Within a couple of centuries after Christ, fiercely anti-Semitic leaders rose to power in the Christian church. They systematically rejected anything perceived as “Jewish,” in particular, the seventh-day Sabbath and the holy days and festivals that God ordained. These are the days Jesus observed—the days the apostles and early Church kept.

And among the Jews a related problem developed. From the time of Christ, Jewish leaders had vehemently rejected Him as a radical, a dissident, a threat to their power base. His followers, who converted from Judaism to Christianity, were likewise heretics and enemies.

So, while Christianity kept a knowledge of Christ, by rejecting God’s holy days and festivals, it lost understanding of God’s plan. And, while Judaism kept the knowledge of those holy days and festivals, by rejecting Christ, it lost the chance to understand God’s plan.

Adopting these positions deeply affected how both Christianity and Judaism would develop—and it wasn’t progressive evolution! Today both are stuck without fully comprehending God’s plan of salvation—the Jews because they don’t connect Christ with the holy days, and the Christians because they don’t connect the holy days with Christ.

The Jews held onto the biblical holy days, but by pushing Christ out of the picture, they failed to develop deeper understanding of how He revealed the plan of salvation through those festivals. Christians held onto Christ, but by replacing God’s holy days with pagan-originated, empty-of-meaning religious festivals, they totally muddled what God is doing in His step-by-step plan of salvation.

You can find what they lost!

How many of the 2 billion-plus Christians today, would you say, can name more than one or two of the seven festivals that God gave in the Bible and describe their significance?

Likewise, although many of the 14 million-plus Jews steadfastly observe those festivals, how many have any idea of Christ’s role in them?

What about you? If you are not very familiar with the biblical holy days and festivals, I invite you to explore our Life, Hope & Truth website (just type “plan of salvation” in the search box) or download from the website’s Learning Center our booklet From Holidays to Holy Days: God’s Plan for You.

It’s an amazing truth that both Christianity and Judaism lost along the way, but it is waiting for you to rediscover!”  

From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/discern/march-april-2020/christians-jews-and-holy-days/?

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True origins of Christmas

“Most people never stop to ask themselves what the major symbols of Christmas—Santa Claus, reindeer, decorated trees, holly, mistletoe and the like—have to do with the birth of the Savior of mankind. In the southern hemisphere summer climate of December, few people question why they observe a Christmas with northern hemisphere winter scenery!

The fact is, and you can verify this in any number of books and encyclopedias, that all these trappings came from ancient pagan festivals. 

Even the date, Dec. 25, came from a festival celebrating the birthday of the ancient sun god Mithras.

Jesus never told His followers to celebrate Christmas, but He did warn us not to adhere to false, man-made religious doctrines: "And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Mark 7:7). The truth is, Christmas and other non-biblical religious holidays constitute vain or empty worship of Christ.

The Catholic Encyclopedia indicates that the Christmas season came from an ancient midwinter festival that occurred at the time of the winter solstice. Interestingly, the previously noted Origen, despite the early period in which he lived (ca. 182-251), never even mentioned it (The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol. 3, 1967, and "Christmas and Its Cycle," The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913, Vol. 3, "Christmas").

Tertullian, another Catholic theologian who lived at about the same time (ca. 155-230), referred to compromising Christians then beginning to join in the pagan midwinter festival celebrated in the Roman Empire, which eventually evolved into what is now Christmas:

"The Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year's day presents are made with din, and banquets are celebrated with uproar; oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians" (Tertullian in De Idolatria, quoted by Hislop, p. 93).

In time Catholic religious leaders added solemnity to this pre-Christian holiday by adding to it the Mass of Christ, from which it eventually came to be known by its common name of "Christmas."

From:  https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/why-some-christians-dont-celebrate-christmas

If you'd like to learn more about the origins of the many customs and symbols associated with Christmas, request our free booklet Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep?

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