Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Is Christmas Pagan?

Around this time of year, it is very common to hear the oft-repeated claim that Christmas is a pagan holiday and that Christians ought not celebrate it.  Below, I have assembled resources that address some of the common concerns both Christian and non-Christians have around this time of year.

Articles

Is Christmas Pagan?

Is Christmas Pagan? by Greg Koukl

Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday by R.C. Sproul

Is Christmas Purely a Pagan Holiday? by "The John Ankerberg Show"

No, Christmas is Not Based on a Pagan Holiday by Lenny Esposito

Were Christmas and Easter Based on Pagan Myths? by Timothy Paul Jones

5 Questions Every Christian Should Learn to Answer about Christmas by Alisa Childers

The Christian and Christmas: Is Christmas a Christian Holiday? by Hank Hanegraaff

Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? by Christian Research Institute 

Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? by Bible.org

Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? by John Piper

Problems with the Pagan Origin of Christmas Argument

How December 25 Became Christmas by Andrew McGowan

Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? by gotQuestions.org 

Do Some Christian Traditions Have Pagan Origins? by gotQuestions.org

4 Christmas Myths We've All Totally Bought by Tyler Huckabee

Christmas: Christian or Pagan Holiday? by Joel Furches

Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? by Rich Deem

A Messianic Jew Reflects on Christmas by Michael Brown

Are Christmas Trees Pagan?

Should We Have a Christmas Tree? by gotQuestions.org

Pagan Christmas Trees and the Burden of Proof by Lenny Esposito

No, Christmas Trees are Not Based on a Pagan Holiday by Lenny Esposito

Why Do We Have Christmas Trees? by Edwin and Jennifer Woodruff Tait

Should Christians have Christmas Trees? by John MacArthur

Does Jeremiah 10:1-5 show that we should not have a Christmas tree in celebration of Christmas? by bible.org

What Does the Bible Say about Christmas Trees? by Bibleinfo.com

Does Jeremiah 10 forbid Christmas trees? by Matthew Slick

Videos


Is the Christmas Tree a Pagan Symbol? by Bobby Conway

Is Christmas Pagan? by Brett Kunkle

Is Christmas Pagan? by Marie Wood (Funny!)

Is Christmas a Pagan Festival? by Bobby Conway

Inspiring Philosophy - "Christmas is Not Pagan"  Pt. 1 (Scripture)   Pt. 2 (History)

What Should We Do With Christmas?

You can find answers to other common questions here.

As for me, in regard to Christians and Christmas, I believe what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 14:5- "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.  Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind" (ESV).

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Related Posts

11 Christmas Books Everyone Should Read

Parents and Santa Claus

I Still Believe in Santa, and God Too

Friday, December 07, 2018

12 Historical Facts About Jesus, 13 Theories to Explain

My wife recently shared this resource with me that was posted by the 1 Peter 4:12-16 Christian Worldview Blog back in November.  The chart was created by Craig Hazen of Biola University.  
The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus includes 12 facts agreed upon by scholars, both liberal and conservative. A reasonable approach is to evaluate those 12 known facts against 13 theories about what happened to determine each theory’s explanatory power (which of the 12 facts it doesn’t account for). The only 2 theories that account for all 12 known facts are:
  1. Jesus was an alien
  2. Jesus was bodily resurrected
Here are the 12 facts (gotten from a presentation by Dr. Craig Hazen):
1.    Jesus died by crucifixion [*** core fact #2]
2.    He was buried
3.    Jesus’ death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope, believing that his life was ended
4.    The tomb was discovered to be empty just a few days later
5.    The disciples had experiences which they believed were literal appearances of the risen Jesus [*** core fact #3]
6.    The disciples were transformed from doubters who were afraid to identify themselves with Jesus to bold proclaimers of his death and resurrection [*** core fact #1]
7.    This message was the center of preaching in the early church
8.    This message was especially proclaimed in Jerusalem, where Jesus died and was buried shortly before
9.    As a result of this preaching the church was born and grew
10. Sunday became the primary day of worship
11. James, who had been a skeptic, was converted to the faith when he also believed he saw the resurrected Jesus
12. A few years later, Paul was also converted by an experience which he, likewise, believed to be an appearance of the risen Jesus [***core fact #4]
Here is a chart of 13 theories that attempt to explain the facts (again, credit is given here to Craig Hazen for this excellent chart):