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Should We Celebrate Christmas

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Should Adventist

Celebrate
Christmas?
Christmas and Adventist
Adventists are not, nor should we be, against
Christmas. Why would we be against a period
of time when Christians remember the birth of
our Savior? However, since this festivity is not
ordained by Scripture, we don’t consider it to be
binding on believers. We recognize only one
holy day, the Sabbath; and we keep it holy in
obedience to our Creator and Redeemer.
Christmas and History
It is well known that the term “Christmas” is derived from the old English word “Christmesse,”
which means “Christ’s Mass.” The term originated during the Middle Ages from the practice of
having a midnight Mass on the eve of December 25 to celebrate the birth of Christ. In other
languages it is called “Nativity” (Latin, natalis) or “Holy Nights” (German, Weihnachten).
First christmas celebrated on december
25th was 336ad during the time of roman
emperor emperor constantine (1st
christian roman emperor) few years later
pope julius the 1st officialy declared that
the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on
Dec 25
Christmas is somehow connected with the Roman cult of the Invincible Sun (Latin, Sol Invictus), the rebirth of the
sun, which was celebrated on December 25. This could explain the importance of lights during the celebration of
the Nativity, although “light” is also associated with Christ in the Scriptures (e.g., Luke 1:78, 79). It is therefore
common to hear it alleged that Christians adopted and adapted a pagan feast. This is possible, but it’s difficult to
demonstrate from available historical evidence.
Christmas and the
Believer
We should acknowledge two facts: First,
we do not know why God, in His
providence, chose not to preserve for us a
record of the day of Jesus’ birth. There is
no need to speculate about this. 
Second, the fact is that the Christian world
celebrates the birth of Jesus on December 25.
We cannot change this, and there is no reason
to try to change it. Attempts to reject the feast
are based on the absence of biblical evidence
and its possible connection with a pagan
feast. Therefore, we should leave this matter
to the conscience of each individual.
I would suggest that during Christmas we
could spend time thinking about the
mystery of the Incarnation. It is a mystery
in that it testifies to the fact that the Son
of God became “flesh” (John 1:14). The
Creator became a creature in order to save
us from the power of sin and death.
The Nativity can also be understood
as God’s gift to the human race; in His
Son, God gave us the most precious gift
He could bestow on us. He was the bread
of heaven freely given to us by our
heavenly Father (John 6:48-51).
Nativity is also a time of proclamation.
That night angels proclaimed to
shepherds the good news: “Do not be
afraid…. Today in the town of David a
Savior has been born to you” (Luke 2:10,
11).

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