It’s Christmas today! Here are some thoughts:
1. I didn’t go with my Mom and her husband to midnight mass last
night because, well, it was at midnight, and I was tired. Maybe I’d be
more cheerful today had I gone! Still, at least I got things done this
morning.
I’m not sure if I missed much. They’re kind of the same every year. But I usually do have a feeling of warmth when I go.
2. I grew up in an Armstrongite church that didn’t celebrate
Christmas because it regarded it as pagan. Yesterday, I was reading an
article by the leader of the church that we attended back when I was a
kid. The article is by Garner Ted Armstrong and is entitled “Christmas…the Untold Story.”
The article opens, “Anyone can discover the truth about the pagan
origins of Christmas, simply by looking up the word, along with all its
accouterments and symbols in the major encyclopedias and history books.”
That’s something we’d say: Christmas is pagan, and, if you don’t
believe us, look it up in any encyclopedia! We’d praise one who did so
as someone who was willing to think rather than accept the customs
around him without question. The thing is, what if those encyclopedias
were wrong, albeit understandably wrong? I was reading a blog post
yesterday, Darrell Pursiful’s “When Was Jesus Born? Why December 25?”
Pursiful appeals to scholar William Tighe and says that Tighe asserts
that “there is in fact no evidence for a pagan observance of December 25
prior to emperor Aurelian’s decree [in 274 C.E. that December 25 is the
Unconquered Sun’s birthday,] and, as Hippolytus and Julius Africanus
attest, Christians had already been celebrating the date as the birthday
of Jesus for at least 50 years before Aurelian.” I can
understand how encyclopedias can conclude that Christians got Christmas
from the pagans, for fifty years is not much time, and a person who
fails to look closely at the weeds may walk away with the impression
that Christians were basing Christmas on the celebration of the
Unconquered Sun. But there are reasons to believe the contrary. (Note:
Pursiful still says that certain Christmas customs have pagan roots.)
On a side note, I did not find all of Garner Ted’s arguments to be
bad. Would Caesar Augustus order a nationwide census (Luke 2) during
the winter, when Jesus exhorted his disciples that winter was not a good
time to flee Jerusalem (Matthew 24:20)? Good question!
3. I was reading a blog post this morning, Roger Olson’s “For God So Loved the World…That He Couldn’t Stay Away: A Christmas Meditation.” The following passage especially stood out to me:
“I believe, with the Eastern churches, that the incarnation was God’s
great plan and purpose in creation all along; it was not merely a
‘rescue mission.’ It became a rescue mission, but it would have
happened even if humanity had not fallen due to rebellion. The purpose
of God toward the world, toward humanity especially, was to join with it
and join it with him by becoming one of us so we could become part of
him. The original plan (to speak mythically) did not include
the cross, but it became part of the plan when humanity rebelled.
Because of our rebellion and God’s refusal to give up on his plan, the
wounds of Jesus remain forever embedded in God’s life.”
I was thinking about where this overlapped with and differed from my
Armstrongite heritage. My impression is that Armstrongites believe that
God had grand plans for human beings before they sinned, and that their
sin necessitated God taking certain steps—-sending Christ to die for
our sins—-to get those grand plans back on track. These plans were for
human beings to become part of the God family, spirit beings. I doubt
that Armstrongites would accept, however, that the incarnation would
have occurred even had human beings not sinned. They don’t even think
that Jesus has his fleshly body anymore, maintaining that Jesus is a
spirit being, and they hold that our destiny is to become spirit
beings. It’s almost as if they regard the incarnation as a temporary
stage Jesus had to go through to die for our sins. They may still
acknowledge, however, that Jesus’ incarnation means that God understands
what we are going through, since God himself was a human being.
4. Growing up as someone who didn’t keep Christmas, I felt weird,
yet superior to those who kept it. “There are seriously people who
believe in Santa Claus?”, I thought. It’s interesting to me nowadays
that there are Christians who observe Christmas yet advise parents
against telling their kids there is a Santa Claus. See here.
I tend to agree with them. I am all for honoring the loving deeds of
the historical St. Nicholas, but I don’t see why parents have to lie to
their kids by saying that Santa Claus is real.
Anyway, have a Happy Holidays! (“No, it’s Merry Christmas.” “But
not everyone keeps Christmas this holiday season.” Blah blah. The debates are endless!)