By Biblestudycompany.com Ric Joyner
We will state upfront that Christmas is not a biblical holiday. But it is not unbiblical to celebrate the birth of Christ. We should also not equalize Christmas with the advent of our Savior. The Old Testament prophesized over the birth of the Savior to come. The current secular traditions of Santa, with almost God-like qualities and manipulating kids to "further fantasize" a jolly old man who can give all children on earth toys and an "elf on the shelf" that watches how they behave, is unbiblical. Still, some feel it is acceptable to create a myth around Santa Claus while children are young. We disagree. It is always best to be honest with children about Santa. Giving presents at this time of the year is not wrong because the Magi gave Christ's family gifts in worship to the young boy Messiah, who helped the family with the expenses of fleeing to Egypt. Consumerism and greed are wrong and sinful, but only the Holy Spirit can lead you to that truth, and He knows your heart.
Frustration mounts as we approach this time of year in the Christmas season. Screams of "Christmas is pagan" escalate into a crescendo with arguments against Christmas on social media and by some bible teachers. Could this be a veiled attack on the Gospel in the name of "we don't want to be idolators"?
Let's take a look. Please reread these scriptures prayerfully as we begin our biblical study.
Matthew Chapters 1-2 highlights
"30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel."
Luke Chapters 1 and 2. Pay attention to what the angels say a couple of times: "Good news," translated as the same word… Gospel. The birth of Christ was good news for Jews because their long-awaited Messiah was finally here, and the prophecy was fulfilled. We write this paper 2,000 years later for Gentiles, grateful that the apostles preached the Gospel to us: Good news: Christ came as a child to break the back of sin and death and allowed us Gentiles an eternal "home" and become children of God! Gentiles are not part of the nation of Israel, but we are part of God's family! (Eph Chap 1-4) We celebrate the birth of Christ because of the Gospel!
Read John 1 for a view from heaven of why Christ came.
"9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the intention of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. We saw His glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."
If it is, then are you a pagan for celebrating the Day of Christ's birth? The historical false proof that Christmas is pagan is thrown at you with overwhelming emotional authoritarianism. Is emotionalism based on biblical truth? How about historical facts? We know the origin of Christmas (birth of Christ) is biblical. The story of our Savior starts with His birth because the prophets mentioned He was coming. We suspect the anti-Christmas vehemence is agenda-driven. We ask this question because born-again believing Christians are not worshipping pagan deities by participating in the birth of Christ called Christmas today. I spoke to a Torah-keeping brother who said, "Yes, Christmas is pagan." I asked how that could be, and he shared, "When you put a present under the tree, you are 'bowing' down to the tree." I was stunned. The logic he displayed defied logic. Yeah, no. Worshipping a pagan deity requires one to engage the diety knowingly.
In our research, there were pagan celebrations that started around the time of 274 AD, but they appear to be in response to Christians in Rome celebrating the birth of Christ! We then ask what came first, the "chicken or the egg?" "However, it has also been argued that, on the contrary, Emperor Aurelian, who in 274 instituted the holiday of the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, did so partly as an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already important for Christians in Rome.[76]
Is the nearness of a pagan holiday make Christmas pagan? When I sift through the concerns of 'Christmas is pagan,' people, did you know there was a pagan holiday at this time? We will deal with this later, but does that make celebrating the birth of Christ pagan today? Let's ask another question: Is Hanukkah pagan? The answer is no. Yet, Hanukkah is square in the middle of this pagan holiday called Saturnalia. The true church pushed hard against these wicked holidays, and to assume born-again believers were participating in pagan festivals doesn't make much sense since Christians had to live outside of society for several hundred years because of severe persecution.
Calling Christmas pagan because of the nearness of the same period of a pagan holiday would be the same as calling Easter (the resurrection of Christ) and Passover pagan. The proximity does not work because a pagan spring festival may happen simultaneously.
We can confidently say that born-again believers would not have observed a pagan holiday and dishonored our Lord Jesus Christ, who rescued us from sin and death. Born-again believers do not participate in pagan rituals today, and Christmas is about the birth of Christ.
Conclusion. We will focus on the birth of Christ currently and not conflate the past to today.
"Certainly today, the mix of consumerism (AKA Santa Claus) can take people's eyes off Christ, but our job is to bring them back to the salvation message of the Gospel. Will you join us?" BSC.
Note: In our extensive research, we stumbled upon a Wikipedia article. We usually would bypass Wikipedia as higher education frowns on the use of Wikipedia; however, this article has stood the test of time (2001) and is updated continually, even in 2021. Once you dive into the article, you will see the extent and expanse of the research on Christmas.
"Got you, Biblestudycompany…see, Christmas is pagan". Well, no, and not so fast. This Wikipedia article on Christmas is excellent and thorough for a balanced perspective.
Here are some highlights:
"Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's mass." The word was recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131.[22] Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah," meaning "anointed";[23][24] and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist.[25]”
"December 25 was the winter solstice date in the Roman calendar.[16][53] A late fourth-century sermon by Saint Augustine explains why this was a fitting day to celebrate Christ's nativity: "Hence it is that He was born on the Day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us chose the shortest Day, yet the one whence Light begins to increase." [54]
We conclude by the historical facts that the Roman Catholic Church did not exist at the beginning of Christian recognition of the birth of Christ.
"The Roman Emperor Constantine established himself as the head of the church around 313 A.D., which made this new "Christianity" the Roman Empire's official religion. The first actual Pope in Rome was probably Leo I (440-461 A.D.), although some claim that Gregory I was the first (Pope) (590-604 A.D.). This ungodly system eventually ushered in the darkest period known to man, called the "Dark Ages" (500-1500 A.D.). Through popes, bishops, and priests, Satan ruled Europe, and Biblical Christianity became illegal."
"And therefore, we should not celebrate the birth of Christ." We would say, "Tell that to the angels engaging the shepherds because heaven celebrated the birth of God's Son!" Luke 2:2-14
"And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
Note: the words Good News are translated from Greek
Original word: εὐαγγελίζω
Transliteration: euaggelizó
Definition (short): preach
Description (complete): to announce good news
Yep, evangelize during Christmas. There are hurting hearts at this time of the year, and many blindly celebrate a holiday not connected to Christ's birth. Let us help people relate it to Christ, our Savior.
If not Christmas, what should we celebrate instead? We should celebrate Hanukkah to return to our Jewish roots. Hanukkah was not part of the Gospel, and the birth of Christ IS part of the Gospel.
We encourage everyone everywhere to ask God whether one should participate in the celebration of the birth of Christ. We say YES! We can confidently push back on anti-Christmas and anti-birth of Christ people with correct historical and biblical facts.
During this time of the year, people are open to the Gospel for nearly one month. Do we let this opportunity slide through our fingers? In Matthew 28, our commission is to go and make disciples. To make a disciple, we must present the Gospel first. Will we waste our time arguing over the birth of Christ, whether it is pagan or not? To this, we say that people saying Christmas or the celebration of the birth of Christ is pagan are avoiding the Gospel! Why? Who in the spiritual realm attacks the Gospel and wants it destroyed? Satan. Think about this tidbit. Imagine a worldwide focus on Christmas, even in Buddhist countries. Why not present the Gospel at this time of the year? As Paul said, his focus was on getting people reconciled to God. (2Cor 5:18-21)
"15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." The Accuser is bound and determined to use people, even with good intentions, to stop the message of the Gospel of Salvation. We use the word accusation intentionally because people who celebrate traditional Christmas are called pagans. A severe charge but, fortunately, untrue.
God is a God of prophecy. He wants us to know what is coming. He answered His word and has "healing in His wings" to "reconcile us to God." There are no other holy books that contain prophetic words fulfilled!
Every Christmas season is a literal miracle that this holiday (holy Day) is focused worldwide on Jesus Christ, our Savior. Even the Wikipedia article acknowledges this undeniable fact.
Therefore, let us turn aside from the poor handling of scripture and agenda-driven history "facts" and focus on the birth of Christ and sharing the Good news of His coming to rescue us from our sin, thus giving us eternal life without works and fear in the blood of Christ!
What can you and your family do to share the love of Christ with a hurting world this Christmas season? Here is one video that touches our hearts when we watch it.
Feel free to share the resources.
Melton, James. "The Plain Truth about the Roman Catholic Church." biblebelievers.com. Bible Baptist Publications, 1998. https://biblebelievers.com/jmelton/Catholic.html.
Wikipedia Contributors. "Christmas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 31, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas.
———. "Christmas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 31, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
William Federer: There is a Santa Claus - History of Saint Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions
by Amazon.com Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0965355748/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_QVM4MJF835RK35KMWAHR
Christmas has nothing to do with paganism: Red pen logic
Was December 25 the date of Christ's birth? The Greek Orthodox church thinks so.
Mike Winger on Christmas:
1. Is Christmas PAGAN? In defense of Christmas
3. Stop Twisting Jeremiah 10 Because It's Not About Christmas Trees
4. Alisa Childers on Christmas
5. For the extensive history of Christmas with the discussion of the dates for the birth of Christ, God Became Incarnate James Quiggle by Amazon.com
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/149918669X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_AR6NEZ6XB0TPZ5N1VB90
6. The star of Bethlehem is an excellent movie on the astronomical view of the star. https://youtu.be/55VRdLnkvDw
Playlist of videos that will go step by step
Article On how to study the Bible from BSC step by step
Article by Dr. Baruch on how to study the Bible
Article on how numbers play a role in Bible Study
Blog article and podcast on how we learned to study the Bible with Dr. Baruch
See full post & commentsThis prayer is a guide and biblically based. All a person needs to do is cry out to God in their own words. If you are not sure how to pray, please use this as a guide.
To have a relationship with God versus religion, pray this prayer sincerely and in your own words.
Dear Heavenly Father, (Matt. 6:9) I want a relationship with You...not a religion. I come to You and open my heart. (John 3:16) I will be honest and sincere with You. (John 4) I am running my life and need Your help. (Matt. 6:10) I am made in Your image (Gen 1:26, 27), and I won't be happy until I am in a relationship with you. (Gen. 3) Most of my behavior does not please You. (Romans 3:23) I know I am a sinner, so please forgive my sins because of Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who came to die for my sins. (John 3:16) His death on the cross is the punishment I should receive, but You were gracious to die in my place through Christ. By faith, I place all of my past, present, and future sins on Christ. I believe Jesus Christ is my Savior, and salvation is a gift! I know I cannot earn my way to heaven by being good through good works. (Eph. 2:8) You did this so I can be in a relationship with You on earth and for all eternity. (Romans 10:9-13) And I will forgive those who have sinned or hurt me because you have forgiven me. Take away any bitterness or resentment I carry toward You or other people. (Matt. 6:13-14) Please show and teach me how to live a praiseworthy life on earth to You starting today. (Matt. 6:33, Acts 9 and 10) I ask you to be in my heart, as Paul said in Ephesians 3:17. I know that You love me, Father, and I want to love You and that you have a purpose and plan for my life. I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Lord, because You gave me breath in my lungs and Savior, because you paid my sin debt. Please teach me to pray. (Matt. 6:9) Thank You, Jesus, for saving me to Yourself (Ex. 19:1-8) and making me a new person! (2 Cor. 5:17) In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!
Learn to grow at www.biblestudycompany.com, Grace Bible Church, and Christ Community Church.
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Is Exodus a symbol of our walk with Christ? Ric and Mary Joyner of Biblestudycompany.com start our Exodus study asking God questions. What if we are not trained in bible study will You still speak to us? Why did the Hebrews go into slavery? How do we respond to God?
Let’s take a different approach to the bible. What if we change our focus to finding out what God’s agenda is for our lives? Are we not in a relationship with Him? The intimacy we have with people in our lives is in direct proportion to the time and knowledge of the person. The disciples had a close relationship with the Lord. We are called to be disciples so we can carry out His Will. And now we are going to open our bible study with Exodus Chapter 1 discussing the methods and principles we learned from Dr. Baruch Korman of Loveisrael.org. Come join us on discovering intimacy with our Creator and how to respond.
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What is the Kingdom of God? How do we find it? How should we respond? Dr. Baruch of Loveisrael.org and Ric Joyner of Biblestudycompany.com are discussing this very topic on the latest Podcast for Pew-sitters. Coming to an understanding of the Kingdom of God is vitally important to us as believers. Christ came as a King and He said to Pilate, just before the crucifixion for our sins, that “My Kingdom is not of this world….” We can read a scripture and take the meaning for granted. At Loveisrael and Biblestudycompany, our mission is read scripture to find God’s agenda as our Creator. Thus, everything in this world is made by Him and for His glory. We want to see His plan and will for our lives so that we too can live a praiseworthy life to God. Why should we seek to find the Kingdom of God? Come with us as we ask these questions. Don’t forget to dialogue with us on our blog.
See full post & commentsCan we turn the Living God into an idol? I think we can by the way we treat Him. Meaning, that if I demand of Him to do for me according to my will isn't that what idols are for? Aren't idols manmade? Once we decide that God does not do our bidding but that He is our Creator and He is the ruler of the universe, Who sent His only Son and wants a relationship, like a marriage (exclusive) with us, our entire lives will change. Let's put this another way. If I discover there was a King who is actually very kind and gracious and let me live the way I choose, but said He had a better way to live than my way, which sometimes my will didn't work out well. But then I discovered we could go into His very throne room, would I come in trembling, fbecause earing to offend this King (this is the fear of the Lord) or do I come in demanding that I "get" what I want from Him? What if this King looks at me and says "Sir, I don't need to answer your prayers the way you want them because My Glory is what counts but if you decide to let me run your life in a relationship, you can know MY WILL, and I will adopt you as my child, which will then cause you to inherit MY Kingdom?" Would you take that deal? I did. I asked Christ into my heart. Romans 14.11 For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD." Now or later? If now, just bow your head and ask Jesus Christ to save you and for His Will to come into your heart and life. Let us know if you did.
See full post & commentsRic and Mary Joyner discuss Exodus 25 and 26 where God commands Moses several times to follow the pattern. Ex:25:40 "See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain." (NASB) The symbolism in this verse is plentiful, and you should take the time to dig into the symbols using biblestudycompany tools. But we see two things God does when building the tabernacle. He speaks to us from Heaven and then asks us to follow the pattern carefully. What is the pattern? We discuss what this pattern is during the podcast. Please join us. In fact, the reason for this podcast is to set the stage for studying Exodus with two pew-sitters; Ric and Mary. We need to understand that studying scripture is a pattern given to us from Heaven. Ultimately Christ is the pattern for us to follow. But we begin the pattern with God speaking to us, and we need to have hearts willing to implement His truth in our lives. Look at Exodus 3 and God moving to draw Moses. He was unwilling to take on the role God gave him at the burning bush, but now in Exodus 25-26, we see Moses being careful to follow the pattern. Listen to the podcast and see what you think. Can we pay close attention to what God says because we were all made to serve Him? We are His creation. Many scriptures verify this truth. Can we become skillful workmen and women in studying the bible? Is our heart willing? Can we be honest enough to admit we might not want the task? Or are unsure of ourselves? What if we have tried and got nothing out of the bible? Or there is too much to learn? Whatever the reason for not studying, will you join us and be willing? Ask the Lord to help you, we did, and we are changed in unexpected ways.
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Erin and Pete Janus are new to bible study and are coming into the podcast to learn. Grab your favorite beverage and open-up biblestudycompany.com and study with us.
Exodus is a key book to start our study of the bible using Bible Study Company tools. It shows the Hebrews believing in the Passover lamb and salvation from Egypt slavery and bondage. We learn that Egypt is the world system ruled by a Pharaoh who is bent on killing the Hebrews, stealing their labor and enslaving them harshly. This sounds like the "god of this world (the devil)" and what we face daily. Even if we ask Christ into our hearts, we will go into the wilderness after believing in the Messiah as the Passover lamb. Or will we? It was a choice to leave Egypt because God made the way and it is a choice for us to leave the world system. Exodus is symbolic in God's plan for us and what happens after we believe in the Passover Lamb. Christ is our Passover lamb. God is a promise keeping God.
We will discover topics like: Why send the Hebrews into the wilderness? How bad IS the wilderness? How will we survive? What does Egypt mean? Some important metaphors develop: Souls, beit or house, Egypt, Wilderness, tent, complaining, manna etc. and how it helps us see God's agenda in our modern lives. Come join us as we explore how to study the bible and look for ways we can find God's agenda and then choose to live a praiseworthy life to Him. His Agenda not ours.
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Bible Study Basics for Pew Sitters Part 2 is a "redux" with less "scholarly" content. We think you will enjoy the nuts and bolts of bible study and take the "fear" or mystery out of study. We are to be disciples of Christ and thus He is our Teacher. If we turn toward Him and ask Him for His agenda we open a whole new world where the bible invades our life. Trials and stresses all now make sense. Why? Because He is working to show us what is in us so we can grow for His purposes and to be used by Him. Come join Ric Joyner and Dr. Baruch Korman of Loveisrael.org discuss the basics of bible study for Pew-Sitters.
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Most of us are what we at Biblestudycompany.com call "pew-sitters". We are not professionals at studying scripture. Good news. The disciples weren't either. Did you know that when Christ sent us the Holy Spirit, He will teach us? Do you have to be an ancient languages expert? No! Do you need advanced degrees to study the bible? No! Biblestudycompany.com can research the languages and definitions and does all that for you with a click of a button or finger push. Join Ric Joyner interviewing Dr. Korman of Loveisrael.org to learn how to study the Bible and what methods work well. It takes a willing heart praying for the Holy Spirit to open up the Word to us. The Holy Spirit is sent to teach us and bring order into our lives through God's Word. Let's shift our focus from knowledge about the Bible to knowledge about Him and His agenda for our lives. Lord, we pray for your will to come. Come follow Jesus by studying His word!
Has anyone ever thought about why the Lord told Moses to build a tabernacle in the desert? I mean really, traipsing around enduring the hot sun, lugging their possession’s, children, animals and Lord knows what else. Wasn’t that enough to deal with for the average Joe? On top of all that, they had to build a tabernacle to the exact specifications the Lord instructed. What’s that all about?
I’ve been studying Exodus for the past few years and I have to admit, I self-righteously thought “why don’t these people get it? Can’t they see all the provisions the Lord has given them?” Then I turned to Exodus 25:2 and it said, "Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.” This seemed very reasonable, until I read the rest of the chapter! God said to Moses, the contributions are everything from gold, silver and bronze, blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breast piece. Guess what? That’s not the end of God’s instructions or the end of the chapter. They were told to build a tabernacle, furniture, gold overlay for rings, and poles, lampstands, dishes, snuffers and trays all out of pure gold. Now do you get the picture? This type of undertaking was not for the faint of heart and spirit. This task was not for the weak, literally!!!!
I began to ponder the reasons why God would ask his people to perform such detailed, laborious and mentally challenging instructions. How could any person or group of people ever accomplish half of this stuff? It was then the light bulb went on in my brain. God was very clear in Exodus 25:2, asking only those whose hearts moved them to raise a contribution. This contribution was only to be raised for God, not for Moses, not for the tabernacle, not for the fellowship of the Israelites but for God and God alone. Could it be that God calls each of us to raise a contribution to him, not because he needs it, but we need it? God surely didn’t need the Tabernacle to commune with his children. He had the power to relate instantly with them. The problem is, they needed it to relate to him. Gods power and majesty go way beyond anything we can handle without his help.
When I think about the jobs that needed to be filled in creating the tabernacle, it boggles my mind. For instance, they were asked to do everything from forging iron, sewing, dying fabric, baking, creating special oils, hunting for the right animals and sea life, jewelry making, designing, candle making, tent making, the list goes on and on. Could it be that the Lord was giving each person the opportunity to use the God given gifts he created them to have? My answer to this question, after much prayer, became very clear. I believe God wants each of his creation to live within the purposes they were created for. I may be a seamstress or designer. Someone else may dye fabric or weave it. Another may forge iron or bake bread. Everyone has a gifting they gravitate to and when operating in it they experience peace, joy and contentment. That’s how God wired us!
With that said, I believe we must be careful not to confuse our God given gifts with our purpose here on earth. Our highest purpose, in my opinion, is to worship and obey our Heavenly Father. Worship represents falling on one’s knees and giving honor to the one who created us. Out of worship comes the understanding that God created our very existence and we are nothing without a relationship with him. When we understand this, our desire to obey him comes from pure gratefulness and a genuine fear to not offend the One we love, our Lord and Savior.
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