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04-13-2003, 06:00 PM
Sorry, this will be two posts because of the length, but good reading all the same.
Paganism — Where Should Christians Draw the Line?
Paganism, as we know, is a highly controversial subject, but it does need to be discussed. Can we use pagan customs in the church of God? We need to recognize that we already do. Simply because something has a pagan origin does not mean that it is sinful to use it, even for a religious use.
Wedding rings were and are a pagan custom, and there is no biblical command for them, but we use them in church-sanctioned ceremonies.
Wedding ceremonies themselves were also a pagan custom, and are not commanded in Scripture.
Funerals include pagan customs, too, based on erroneous ideas about the afterlife. Scripture says nothing about putting flowers on graves, etc. Egyptian mythology said that the dead should be embalmed, and Joseph participated in this custom (Gen. 50:2-3) despite its pagan origin.
Pagans created statues -- of animals and people, both life-size and miniatures. They had statues in their flower gardens and statues in their homes. But statues have lost their "pagan" connotations because people do not believe in such gods and goddesses anymore.
Money has pagan designs on it. Some U.S. coins used to have the goddess "Liberty" on them. Dollar bills have an eye over a pyramid.
Pagans assigned days of the week to different gods, and we still use these names.
So the question arises, How careful must we be in weeding paganisms out of our lives? Where do we draw the line? The answer is, different Christians draw the line in different places. We need to allow some diversity on these issues, especially when we remember our historical tendency to judge people about paisley neckties, medicine, makeup, birthdays, skirt lengths, etc.
Of course, we are not the only ones who made mistakes like that. Some conservative churches used to forbid wedding rings. These kinds of concerns were common among conservative Christians. We want to be careful to do what God says, and if God tells us to avoid paganism, then we carefully do it. So we, and many others, erred on the side of forbidding too much -- but we erred. We made commands about things that God didn't command, and we had to back off when we learned more.
When was Jesus born?
Some people have claimed that Jesus was born near the fall festivals. That is possible, but it is not proven. It is not likely that Augustus would risk a rebellion by requiring each person to go to his own city at the same time as the local religion required everyone to go to Jerusalem.
Many people have objected to the idea that Jesus was born in December, since there were shepherds in their fields (Luke 2:8), and shepherds didn't normally do that in December. But we must remember that this was not a normal year. Augustus had told everyone to go to their own city (verse 3), but the shepherds had not. Perhaps they were staying in the fields later than usual in order to avoid taxation. Perhaps it was because the cities were full. We do not know, but for some reasoning they were not obeying Caesar's order to go to their city. So because of the unusual circumstances, it is possible that the shepherds were in the fields as late as December. Of course, this doesn't prove that Jesus was born in December, but it does show that the chief objection to a December birth isn't necessarily conclusive.
In the year 221 (long before the time of Constantine), Julius Africanus came up with December 25 as the date of Jesus' birth. He doesn't tell us how he came up with this date, but a later author calculates the date in this way: Zechariah was serving in the temple during the fall festivals when Gabriel told him that his wife would conceive (Luke 1:8, 23). Jesus was conceived six months later (verse 26), near the spring equinox. Jesus would therefore be born in late December. Of course, this calculation is not proof (the starting assumptions are not proven) but it shows that the date was not necessarily based on paganism. The date could have been calculated without any reference to pagan customs.
Julius' calculation may have been innocent, or it may have been contrived. We do not know what his motive was. Therefore, we cannot dogmatically say that the December 25 date was contrived simply because a pagan festival already existed on that date. We weren't there, so we cannot claim to know that it was a deliberate attempt to get Christians to observe a pagan day. When the church first began celebrating Christmas, it had nothing to do with trees and holly and reindeer. All those were added centuries later in northern Europe. The fact that nonChristian customs were later associated with the festival does not prove that the date itself originated in paganism. It may have been based on Julius' calculation instead.
However, for the moment let us suppose that Christmas originated as a deliberate substitution for Saturnalia. Many of the people who attended church were recently-converted pagans. Some were not-yet converted pagans. They were attracted to the Saturnalia festivities, and sitting at home alone was not a desirable option when merrymaking could be heard in the streets all around. So, the theory goes, the church provided a clean alternative: going to church.
Would it be wrong to have a church service in deliberate opposition to Saturnalia? No. There is no question of the church trying to worship God by the customs of the heathen -- the church is fighting against the customs of the heathen. Only the date is the same, and there is good reason to have church services on that date, on which members can invite their unconverted friends and family into church and away from paganism. At some point, Christians could have made the comparison: on this date, pagans celebrate the birth of the sun god, but we are worshipping the sun of righteousness (Mal. 4:2). We can celebrate his birth, too.
That may have been the way Christmas started. Apparently in the early centuries it was primarily a church service. And the strategy seems to have been successful: no one celebrates Saturnalia any more. Christians don't observe Christmas in honor of the sun god, just as Christians don't worship the figurines or statues that they have in their homes. Although the day was once used for idol worship, it isn't anymore.
Consider the case of Christians in Korea, for example. December 25 was not a pagan holiday there. And yet Christians there now observe December 25. Why? Because missionaries introduced the holiday. For them, it has a Christian origin, not a pagan one. Should the scrupulous Christians go in to tell them that December 25 was once sacrificed to an idol and should therefore be avoided? That approach creates doubts, not dedication. It does not edify or encourage.
cont. below...
Paganism — Where Should Christians Draw the Line?
Paganism, as we know, is a highly controversial subject, but it does need to be discussed. Can we use pagan customs in the church of God? We need to recognize that we already do. Simply because something has a pagan origin does not mean that it is sinful to use it, even for a religious use.
Wedding rings were and are a pagan custom, and there is no biblical command for them, but we use them in church-sanctioned ceremonies.
Wedding ceremonies themselves were also a pagan custom, and are not commanded in Scripture.
Funerals include pagan customs, too, based on erroneous ideas about the afterlife. Scripture says nothing about putting flowers on graves, etc. Egyptian mythology said that the dead should be embalmed, and Joseph participated in this custom (Gen. 50:2-3) despite its pagan origin.
Pagans created statues -- of animals and people, both life-size and miniatures. They had statues in their flower gardens and statues in their homes. But statues have lost their "pagan" connotations because people do not believe in such gods and goddesses anymore.
Money has pagan designs on it. Some U.S. coins used to have the goddess "Liberty" on them. Dollar bills have an eye over a pyramid.
Pagans assigned days of the week to different gods, and we still use these names.
So the question arises, How careful must we be in weeding paganisms out of our lives? Where do we draw the line? The answer is, different Christians draw the line in different places. We need to allow some diversity on these issues, especially when we remember our historical tendency to judge people about paisley neckties, medicine, makeup, birthdays, skirt lengths, etc.
Of course, we are not the only ones who made mistakes like that. Some conservative churches used to forbid wedding rings. These kinds of concerns were common among conservative Christians. We want to be careful to do what God says, and if God tells us to avoid paganism, then we carefully do it. So we, and many others, erred on the side of forbidding too much -- but we erred. We made commands about things that God didn't command, and we had to back off when we learned more.
When was Jesus born?
Some people have claimed that Jesus was born near the fall festivals. That is possible, but it is not proven. It is not likely that Augustus would risk a rebellion by requiring each person to go to his own city at the same time as the local religion required everyone to go to Jerusalem.
Many people have objected to the idea that Jesus was born in December, since there were shepherds in their fields (Luke 2:8), and shepherds didn't normally do that in December. But we must remember that this was not a normal year. Augustus had told everyone to go to their own city (verse 3), but the shepherds had not. Perhaps they were staying in the fields later than usual in order to avoid taxation. Perhaps it was because the cities were full. We do not know, but for some reasoning they were not obeying Caesar's order to go to their city. So because of the unusual circumstances, it is possible that the shepherds were in the fields as late as December. Of course, this doesn't prove that Jesus was born in December, but it does show that the chief objection to a December birth isn't necessarily conclusive.
In the year 221 (long before the time of Constantine), Julius Africanus came up with December 25 as the date of Jesus' birth. He doesn't tell us how he came up with this date, but a later author calculates the date in this way: Zechariah was serving in the temple during the fall festivals when Gabriel told him that his wife would conceive (Luke 1:8, 23). Jesus was conceived six months later (verse 26), near the spring equinox. Jesus would therefore be born in late December. Of course, this calculation is not proof (the starting assumptions are not proven) but it shows that the date was not necessarily based on paganism. The date could have been calculated without any reference to pagan customs.
Julius' calculation may have been innocent, or it may have been contrived. We do not know what his motive was. Therefore, we cannot dogmatically say that the December 25 date was contrived simply because a pagan festival already existed on that date. We weren't there, so we cannot claim to know that it was a deliberate attempt to get Christians to observe a pagan day. When the church first began celebrating Christmas, it had nothing to do with trees and holly and reindeer. All those were added centuries later in northern Europe. The fact that nonChristian customs were later associated with the festival does not prove that the date itself originated in paganism. It may have been based on Julius' calculation instead.
However, for the moment let us suppose that Christmas originated as a deliberate substitution for Saturnalia. Many of the people who attended church were recently-converted pagans. Some were not-yet converted pagans. They were attracted to the Saturnalia festivities, and sitting at home alone was not a desirable option when merrymaking could be heard in the streets all around. So, the theory goes, the church provided a clean alternative: going to church.
Would it be wrong to have a church service in deliberate opposition to Saturnalia? No. There is no question of the church trying to worship God by the customs of the heathen -- the church is fighting against the customs of the heathen. Only the date is the same, and there is good reason to have church services on that date, on which members can invite their unconverted friends and family into church and away from paganism. At some point, Christians could have made the comparison: on this date, pagans celebrate the birth of the sun god, but we are worshipping the sun of righteousness (Mal. 4:2). We can celebrate his birth, too.
That may have been the way Christmas started. Apparently in the early centuries it was primarily a church service. And the strategy seems to have been successful: no one celebrates Saturnalia any more. Christians don't observe Christmas in honor of the sun god, just as Christians don't worship the figurines or statues that they have in their homes. Although the day was once used for idol worship, it isn't anymore.
Consider the case of Christians in Korea, for example. December 25 was not a pagan holiday there. And yet Christians there now observe December 25. Why? Because missionaries introduced the holiday. For them, it has a Christian origin, not a pagan one. Should the scrupulous Christians go in to tell them that December 25 was once sacrificed to an idol and should therefore be avoided? That approach creates doubts, not dedication. It does not edify or encourage.
cont. below...