Latest / Scripture-ish / Biblical Authorization for Celebrating Christmas

Transcript

Biblical Authorization for Celebrating Christmas · Scripture-ish

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Hi, this is Ed Gallagher and in this one I'm continuing talking about Christmas
0:05
SPEAKER_00: and I'll be reading an essay called Biblical Authorization for Celebrating Christmas.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we know that it's sinful, displeasing to God
0:20
SPEAKER_00: to celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday
0:23
SPEAKER_00: but we saw last time that by the turn of the 20th century
0:31
SPEAKER_00: had come around to the by now traditional trappings of
0:36
SPEAKER_00: the day feasting gift giving time with family and even christmas trees
0:43
SPEAKER_00: and santa claus i say most christians had come around this notion not all in
0:52
SPEAKER_00: the churches of christ discomfort with christmas or even outright rejection
0:59
SPEAKER_00: continued to the midpoint of the 20th century or even later but
1:05
SPEAKER_00: when i was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s i was completely unaware
1:12
SPEAKER_00: that some people thought that christmas should not be celebrated at all not even as
1:18
SPEAKER_00: a family holiday that view was and is still around but it's still pretty fringe
1:28
SPEAKER_00: but where do some people get off actually talking about the birth of jesus
1:34
SPEAKER_00: on christmas how could they do such an ungodly thing come to think
1:40
SPEAKER_00: of it how do we know that observing christmas as a religious holiday is sinful
1:48
SPEAKER_00: or ungodly
1:51
SPEAKER_00: last time we encountered the argument that we've got to avoid anything
1:55
SPEAKER_00: that makes us look like one of the denominations
1:59
SPEAKER_00: and celebrating christmas is apparently what the denominations do then again
2:06
SPEAKER_00: last time we also learned that it was protestant denominations like
2:10
SPEAKER_00: the presbyterians who spearheaded the christian opposition to christmas
2:16
SPEAKER_00: so it might be that refusing to celebrate christmas is an imitation of
2:21
SPEAKER_00: the denominations hmm let's go back to the 1976 essay by john waddy published in
2:32
SPEAKER_00: the firm foundation and i quoted from that essay
2:36
SPEAKER_00: in the last post I'll do it again here here's a quote from John Waddy
2:42
SPEAKER_00: but no New Testament writing instructs us to observe a holy day for Christ's birth
2:50
SPEAKER_00: to so observe the day is to go beyond what is written according
2:57
SPEAKER_00: to Christ such religious practices are vain worship for they are the precepts
3:02
SPEAKER_00: of men Matthew 15 9
3:06
SPEAKER_00: God gave his church only one special day, the first day of the week.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: That's the end of the quote.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: Wait a second.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: Is that the reasoning?
3:19
SPEAKER_00: Let's go over that again.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: No New Testament writing instructs us to observe a holy day for Christ's birth.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: Hmm, okay, what in the world does that matter?
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Well, Wadi thinks that to observe this holy day in the absence
3:45
SPEAKER_00: of New Testament instruction would entail going beyond what is written,
3:52
SPEAKER_00: an allusion to 1 Corinthians 4, 6.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: And he thinks Christ characterized such a departure from the written word as vain worship.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: citing matthew 15 9 that's the same argument you'll find in other authors
4:10
SPEAKER_00: the early protestants often opposed christmas because it couldn't be found in
4:15
SPEAKER_00: the bible let me quote again
4:18
SPEAKER_00: an essay from the Oxford Handbook of Christmas from the year 2020.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: Quote, those opposed to Christmas in the 16th and 17th centuries objected
4:30
SPEAKER_00: to any religious observance that was not explicitly commanded in the Bible and
4:36
SPEAKER_00: which was seen as a vestige of popery or Catholicism.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: And just to be clear about the argument, let me quote
4:48
SPEAKER_00: one of the most authoritative voices in churches of christ in the second half of
4:52
SPEAKER_00: the 20th century in the first volume of his questions and answers guy
4:58
SPEAKER_00: in woods had this to say about christmas quote the observance of christmas as
5:03
SPEAKER_00: a religious holiday did not originate in the apostolic age and is thus
5:10
SPEAKER_00: without divine sanctioned
5:14
SPEAKER_00: continuing the quote as a matter of fact it is not possible to determine
5:18
SPEAKER_00: in what month or on what day the savior and i pause just to note that
5:26
SPEAKER_00: the word savior in the questions and answers is spelled in the british fashion with
5:32
SPEAKER_00: a u i just think that's weird anyway back to the quotation from woods um
5:40
SPEAKER_00: there's no way to determine on what day the savior was born and in as much
5:46
SPEAKER_00: as there is neither precept nor example
5:48
SPEAKER_00: for its observance faithful christians do not keep it as
5:52
SPEAKER_00: a religious festival
5:56
SPEAKER_00: okay neither precept nor example for its observance
6:02
SPEAKER_00: that sounds similar to what wadi had said honestly i can't make any sense out
6:07
SPEAKER_00: of this
6:09
SPEAKER_00: To go over it again,
6:10
SPEAKER_00: the idea is that it would be vain worship to observe a holy day in honor
6:18
SPEAKER_00: of Christ's birth because such a holy day is not mentioned in the New Testament.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: I think part of my difficulty is this term holy day.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: That's Wadi's term.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: Woods used the term religious festival.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: and i assume that in this context holy day
6:38
SPEAKER_00: and religious festival are basically synonymous whatever wadi meant woods meant
6:43
SPEAKER_00: the same thing with his term i'm not sure what these terms are supposed to mean
6:49
SPEAKER_00: or what opponents of holy days think that they are opposing isn't holy day
6:58
SPEAKER_00: and holiday like the same thing
7:02
SPEAKER_00: it's just a day set aside to observe
7:04
SPEAKER_00: a particular thing right i mean everyone would agree that it's okay for christians
7:10
SPEAKER_00: to observe mother's day wouldn't they have you ever heard of a church preaching
7:15
SPEAKER_00: against mother's day and i'm sorry i asked please don't answer that i don't want
7:20
SPEAKER_00: to know about it
7:22
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember Mother's Day being mentioned in the New Testament,
7:26
SPEAKER_00: but it doesn't seem like Christians have usually thought about a special day
7:32
SPEAKER_00: for mothers as going beyond what is written as vain worship.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: In fact,
7:39
SPEAKER_00: for my entire life,
7:40
SPEAKER_00: every single time the second Sunday of May rolls around,
7:44
SPEAKER_00: the sermon has revolved around mothers.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: and the mothers in the audience are specially singled out for greetings
7:52
SPEAKER_00: and warm wishes and maybe even given a flower or some other present oftentimes
7:59
SPEAKER_00: the children's bible class that day focuses on mothers and the children make
8:04
SPEAKER_00: a craft designed for their mothers in a similar way the churches i have been a part
8:10
SPEAKER_00: of have observed father's day and veterans day and thanksgiving day
8:17
SPEAKER_00: and the fourth of july and other special days is this going
8:24
SPEAKER_00: beyond what is written is this vain worship these special days are certainly not
8:31
SPEAKER_00: mentioned in the new testament but the excuse for observing mother's day
8:36
SPEAKER_00: that i have heard and that i have made is that romans 13 7 tells us to honor those
8:43
SPEAKER_00: who deserve honor and mothers
8:47
SPEAKER_00: most mothers deserve honor it is not going
8:53
SPEAKER_00: beyond what is written it is doing what is written now i've never heard anyone say
9:02
SPEAKER_00: that mother's day is being observed as a holy day for mothers or as
9:07
SPEAKER_00: a religious festival but i have heard people talk about
9:12
SPEAKER_00: the holiday called mother's day
9:15
SPEAKER_00: i'm not sure what the term holy day is supposed to communicate and i'm not sure
9:21
SPEAKER_00: that people that oppose holy days do either
9:27
SPEAKER_00: let's go back to the reasoning
9:28
SPEAKER_00: for opposing the religious observance of christmas nope actually before we do
9:34
SPEAKER_00: that let's think about the phrase religious observance do churches typically oppose
9:42
SPEAKER_00: or embrace
9:44
SPEAKER_00: the religious observance
9:46
SPEAKER_00: of mother's day i don't know how you could get any more religious
9:52
SPEAKER_00: than centering your worship service around the reason for the season in
9:56
SPEAKER_00: the second week of may yes
9:59
SPEAKER_00: of course most american churches observe mother's day religiously again it's
10:04
SPEAKER_00: the same for father's day and thanksgiving day and even the fourth of july
10:11
SPEAKER_00: Now let's go back to the reasoning for opposing the religious observance of Christmas.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: As Wadi put it, no New Testament writing instructs us to observe a holy day for Christ's birth.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: I have suggested that holy day is a term without clear meaning and is basically
10:34
SPEAKER_00: in this discussion a red herring, a distraction.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: Let's omit it.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: no new testament writing instructs us to observe christ's birth or
10:46
SPEAKER_00: as wood said there is neither precept nor example for its observance
10:54
SPEAKER_00: as i see it the
10:56
SPEAKER_00: that claim is the nub of the argument against the religious observance
11:01
SPEAKER_00: of christmas we will have to consider whether the claim is true
11:06
SPEAKER_00: does the new testament instruct us to observe christ's birth
11:14
SPEAKER_00: does god want us
11:17
SPEAKER_00: to celebrate the birth of jesus celebrate it in our churches and
11:23
SPEAKER_00: in our homes does god want us to religiously observe
11:31
SPEAKER_00: does woods correctly evaluate the new testament when he says
11:35
SPEAKER_00: that there is neither precept nor example for the observance
11:42
SPEAKER_00: the religious observance of the birth of jesus or are there examples in
11:49
SPEAKER_00: the new testament does the new testament instruct christians
11:54
SPEAKER_00: to celebrate jesus's birth
11:59
SPEAKER_00: yes
12:03
SPEAKER_00: yes
12:07
SPEAKER_00: yes
12:10
SPEAKER_00: it is the most significant event in the history of the universe
12:20
SPEAKER_00: and Christians should celebrate it celebrate it religiously
12:31
SPEAKER_00: as a holy day,
12:33
SPEAKER_00: whatever that means,
12:34
SPEAKER_00: the New Testament instructs Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: Let's probe why the birth of Jesus is so important.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: And here I want to go back to what I said last time,
12:51
SPEAKER_00: that celebrating the birth of Jesus is not really the right way of saying it.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: to my mind the phrase birth of Jesus gives the wrong impression
13:03
SPEAKER_00: about what we're doing if a friend has a baby and we go to the hospital to celebrate
13:10
SPEAKER_00: with her the birth of her child we will be holding the child
13:15
SPEAKER_00: and making goo goo noises at the child or at least my wife Jody will do
13:21
SPEAKER_00: that I myself will simply observe the infant from a safe distance
13:26
SPEAKER_00: but i'm not a normal person most people will talk about how cute
13:30
SPEAKER_00: the baby is how much fun infants are
13:34
SPEAKER_00: the little noises they make their silly little outfits this has little
13:41
SPEAKER_00: correspondence to what we celebrate about jesus at christmas it's not so much
13:46
SPEAKER_00: the birth of a baby but the incarnation of god that we are celebrating
13:54
SPEAKER_00: incarnation comes from a latin term that means something like enfleshment think
14:02
SPEAKER_00: about john 1 and the word became flesh this is the word
14:09
SPEAKER_00: that john has already told us was with god in the beginning and was itself
14:15
SPEAKER_00: or himself god this word this god became flesh
14:23
SPEAKER_00: the human being jesus of nazareth was god there is much to discuss here
14:31
SPEAKER_00: and much mystery there were many early christian debates lasting centuries
14:38
SPEAKER_00: or actually still ongoing about how exactly to understand the identity of jesus
14:45
SPEAKER_00: One influential statement from the Council of Nicaea in the year 325 said that
14:51
SPEAKER_00: the Lord Jesus Christ is of one essence with the Father, very God of very God.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: While this language is not found in Scripture,
15:03
SPEAKER_00: the concept is, as we have just seen from the Gospel of John.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: Other stories depict divine beings
15:14
SPEAKER_00: taking on flesh but not like this Zeus sometimes became human or some other creature
15:25
SPEAKER_00: of flesh usually in order to get to know a young maiden better
15:31
SPEAKER_00: if you know what I mean but Zeus did not stay in that form for long certainly not
15:38
SPEAKER_00: for a lifetime Zeus did not spend any length of time as a baby
15:44
SPEAKER_00: getting his diaper changed or as a toddler or adolescent or teenager zeus did not as
15:52
SPEAKER_00: a human being grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with god and men as jesus did
16:03
SPEAKER_00: in the gospels we encounter the high god creator of heaven and earth through
16:08
SPEAKER_00: whom all things were made
16:11
SPEAKER_00: who became a real human being experiencing everything that human beings experience
16:18
SPEAKER_00: from birth to death.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: That's incarnation.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: Early Christians celebrated the incarnation of God.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: i mean come on you don't think christians in the first century read the story of
16:36
SPEAKER_00: the annunciation in luke 1 and praised god that the holy spirit overshadowed
16:43
SPEAKER_00: a young woman to form within a virgin the holy son
16:48
SPEAKER_00: of god don't you think early christians read about the praise of the angels before
16:54
SPEAKER_00: the shepherds in luke 2 and joined in the celebration
16:59
SPEAKER_00: neither precept nor example give me a break check out this passage
17:08
SPEAKER_00: let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form
17:15
SPEAKER_00: of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation
17:22
SPEAKER_00: and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men
17:31
SPEAKER_00: and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself
17:36
SPEAKER_00: and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross
17:43
SPEAKER_00: Paul is talking about
17:45
SPEAKER_00: the incarnation one who existed in the form of God and emptied himself to take on
17:52
SPEAKER_00: the likeness of people many scholars have thought that this section
17:58
SPEAKER_00: of Philippians 2 represents an early Christian hymn if that's the case
18:05
SPEAKER_00: then we have first century christians praising god in song for the incarnation
18:13
SPEAKER_00: the birth of jesus even if this passage wasn't originally
18:17
SPEAKER_00: a song it is certainly our scripture now and we should sing it we should praise god
18:25
SPEAKER_00: for the incarnation
18:28
SPEAKER_00: we might also check out colossians 1 where paul says in him all the fullness
18:34
SPEAKER_00: of god was pleased to dwell
18:39
SPEAKER_00: i said earlier that the incarnation the the birth
18:43
SPEAKER_00: of jesus is the most significant event in the history of
18:49
SPEAKER_00: the universe more significant than the crucifixion of jesus yes
18:58
SPEAKER_00: more significant than the resurrection of Jesus?
19:01
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: Many other people died on Roman crosses and their deaths had no bearing on me at all.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: Some other people rose from the dead,
19:17
SPEAKER_00: even in the Gospels, but their resurrections were not for my justification.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: What made the death and resurrection of Jesus different?
19:27
SPEAKER_00: from those of other people.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: The incarnation, that's what.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: His death was the death of the incarnate Son of God.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: His resurrection was the resurrection of the Lord of life who could not be held
19:48
SPEAKER_00: in death's power.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: The crucifixion and resurrection are meaningless without the incarnation.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: we should celebrate the birth of jesus
20:04
SPEAKER_00: let me deal with a few stray points here at
20:08
SPEAKER_00: the end first i am fully confident that guy in woods and john waddy
20:14
SPEAKER_00: and whoever else celebrated the birth of jesus maybe they didn't put it
20:19
SPEAKER_00: in those terms they certainly said they didn't celebrate christmas religiously
20:26
SPEAKER_00: But they must have celebrated the Incarnation Why?
20:32
SPEAKER_00: Because Woods was a Christian and Christians celebrate Jesus His birth,
20:38
SPEAKER_00: his life,
20:38
SPEAKER_00: his death,
20:39
SPEAKER_00: his resurrection,
20:40
SPEAKER_00: his ascension,
20:42
SPEAKER_00: his present intercession on our behalf It is inconceivable to me
20:46
SPEAKER_00: that Woods did not celebrate these aspects of Jesus' life Second,
20:53
SPEAKER_00: is December 25th the actual birthday of Jesus?
20:57
SPEAKER_00: no of course not or maybe it was i don't know against this date you've got
21:03
SPEAKER_00: that argument about the shepherds that i mentioned last time
21:06
SPEAKER_00: but i'm not sure how solid of an argument that is i don't know at any rate
21:11
SPEAKER_00: the date was not chosen because anyone had any actual knowledge of jesus's birthday
21:18
SPEAKER_00: and it probably wasn't chosen because of the saturnalia festival
21:22
SPEAKER_00: the most common theory as to why this date was chosen is the
21:27
SPEAKER_00: it's called the calculation hypothesis and i'll let you read about it on wikipedia
21:34
SPEAKER_00: at any rate it's just a day set aside for
21:36
SPEAKER_00: an observance just like every other holiday third what
21:41
SPEAKER_00: about those pagan symbols
21:47
SPEAKER_00: sometimes christians say we shouldn't like have a tree
21:50
SPEAKER_00: in our house for instance because it's a
21:55
SPEAKER_00: Symbols mean different things to different people.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: An image of the sun,
22:00
SPEAKER_00: the sun in the sky,
22:02
SPEAKER_00: the ball of fire in the sky,
22:04
SPEAKER_00: that an image of the sun might mean God to the ancient inhabitants of Egypt
22:11
SPEAKER_00: who worshipped the sun.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: but it might represent jesus
22:15
SPEAKER_00: to ancient christians check out this word verse this is malachi 4 2 but unto you
22:20
SPEAKER_00: that fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings
22:26
SPEAKER_00: and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall a lot
22:34
SPEAKER_00: of early christians took that verse as a reference to jesus the son of righteousness
22:39
SPEAKER_00: the sun of righteousness
22:43
SPEAKER_00: just because it's a pagan symbol in egypt doesn't mean it needs to be a pagan symbol
22:48
SPEAKER_00: for us the meaning of symbols is not established forever without the possibility
22:55
SPEAKER_00: of evolving just because some people may have worshipped a tree
23:00
SPEAKER_00: at one time does not mean that i should chop down every tree i see as
23:06
SPEAKER_00: if they're all idols
23:09
SPEAKER_00: i don't have to regard them all as objects of pagan worship especially
23:14
SPEAKER_00: when i don't know anyone who worships trees or uses trees prominently
23:19
SPEAKER_00: in their worship i'll admit this may have been a more potent argument
23:25
SPEAKER_00: in early medieval germany so the christmas tree is
23:31
SPEAKER_00: a christianized pagan symbol isn't that a good thing
23:38
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't God want us to take pagan symbols and transform them into symbols of our faith?
23:47
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that what has happened to the cross?
23:53
SPEAKER_00: Here's a quotation from the historian Tom Holland's book, Dominion.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Quote, whether in Korea or in Tierra del Fuego,
24:06
SPEAKER_00: in Alaska or in New Zealand,
24:09
SPEAKER_00: the cross on which Jesus had been tortured to death came to serve as
24:16
SPEAKER_00: the most globally recognized symbol of a God that there has ever been.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: Is that a bad thing?
24:27
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, in conclusion,
24:29
SPEAKER_00: It is a good thing for the people of God to join with the angelic chorus
24:35
SPEAKER_00: and celebrate the incarnation of our God.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: That is the birth of Jesus.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: It is the most important event in the history of the universe.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: We should celebrate it at any time, even on a particular day set aside for that express purpose.