Christmas is arguably America’s most popular holiday. Studies
show that the celebration of Christmas is nearly universal in the
United States.
Christmas is arguably America’s most popular holiday. Studies show that the celebration of Christmas is nearly universal in the United States.
Ninety percent of Americans celebrate just Christmas, and another four percent celebrate it along with Hanukkah. More than 74 percent of respondents singled out Christmas as their favorite holiday.
It has also become popular in countries with negligible Christian populations.
In majority-Buddhist Japan, for example, 78 percent of people surveyed said they do “something special” for Christmas.
A recent story in the San Jose Mercury News described “over the top holiday merriment” in Vietnam, a Communist nation where only 7 percent of its 90 million residents are Christian.
Discussing “round the clock Christmas spirituality,” it quotes one young Vietnamese as saying, “I don’t practice the religion, but I enjoy the Western culture a lot. Christmas Day, the Christmas spirit, is happy. It’s a Christmas-spirit thing.”
However, there is a group of fervent Christians who steadfastly refuse to join in the extravagant events that have come to symbolize our society’s celebration of Christmas.
“Awake,” the official publication of the Jehovah’s Witness Watchtower Society, explains in an article entitled “The Truth about Christmas” why the holiday should not be observed by Christians.
“Was Jesus born on Dec. 25?” The answer is almost certainly no. The Bible does not give Jesus’ birth date, but since it says that shepherds were living out of doors watching their sheep when he was born, it would have been before October, when shepherds brought sheep into protected shelters at night to protect them from cold, rain and snow.
Dec. 25 was chosen as the date to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth for political reasons.
The Romans combined festivals honoring two sun gods near the end of December (the Winter Solstice), and in the year 350 Pope Julius I declared Dec. 25 to be Christ’s birthday, “baptizing” the ancient holiday and giving it a new, Christian significance.
Earlier Christians didn’t celebrate Jesus’ birthday; they emphasized Easter, which marked his resurrection from the dead.
“Who were the ‘Wise Men’ and how many were there? The Bible does not say how many “Wise Men” visited Jesus. The Greek word used in the New Testament, “margoi,” means “astrologers” or “sorcerers.”
Because of their long journey, they certainly did not arrive in time to see the baby in the stable where he was born. Rather, after months of travel, they met him in a “house where Jesus was staying.”
“What sort of star led the astrologers?” Clearly, this was no ordinary star. Why would God, who had used angels to inform the humble shepherds about Jesus’ birth, now employ a star to guide pagan astrologers – first to Jesus’ enemy, Herod, then to the child? The only reasonable conclusion is that the star was a sinister device of Satan.
“What does Santa Claus have to do with Jesus’ birth?” The Santa Claus myth owes its origin to St Nicholas, a fourth century bishop. The modern name may be a corruption of the Dutch term for him (Sinterklaas). Jehovah’s Witnesses believe it is wrong to deceive children to expect gifts from a nonexistent being.
“Why do people exchange gifts at Christmas?” Although some feel this tradition follows the practice begun by the gifts of the Wise Men to Jesus of gold, frankincense and myrrh, this is questionable.
In fact, people had been exchanging gifts as part of the solstice celebrations for centuries before Jesus was born.
In any case, the Magi gave gifts to Jesus, not to one another, in accordance with the customary practice when visiting notable people. After all, Matthew’s gospel shows their interest in Jesus is as future King of the Jews.
Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religious body founded in 1872 by Charles Taze Russell, is headquartered in Brooklyn, N.Y. There are more than one million members in the United States, and they are present in most countries in the world.
All baptized members are considered ministers, and they spend considerable time enthusiastically announcing God’s Kingdom to others by distributing literature door to door.
Their beliefs about Christmas are not the only distinctive tenets of their faith.
Despite upholding a strict code of morality, they have been regularly persecuted for such practices as refusing, as a violation of God’s law, to participate in politics, salute the flag, serve in military service or accept blood transfusions.
For more information, contact these Kingdom Halls: Morgan Hill, (408) 779-9364; Gilroy, (408) 848-4128; Hollister, (831) 637-0956.
