by Rev. D.J. Macdonald, M.A.
By the time this will be in your hands the ‘festive season’ will once more be upon us. What we are most concerned about is the day celebrated allegedly in honour of the birth of Christ. How this event is connected with the 25th of December is surely a relevant question. There is not a word in the Scriptures about the precise day of His birth or even the time of year when He was born. There can, however, be no doubt that this ‘celebration’ dates back to Pagan times and is now thoroughly Romish in character. There is also a strong implication that it could not have been on the 25th of December. We base this on two indisputable facts. (1) The climate of Palestine is not so severe as that of Britain but the cold of the night from December to February is very piercing and it was not the custom for the shepherds of Judea to feed their flocks in the open during this period. (2) Customs in Palestine have not changed much and at present shepherds do not feed their flocks in the open later than the end of October. These are not assumptions but facts which can be proved by anyone who cares to take the trouble. The truth is that the date of the birth of Christ cannot be determined and that within the Christian church no such festival as ‘Christmas’ was even heard of till about the end of the fourth century. Writing in 380 A.D. Chrysostom says, “It is not yet ten years since this day was made known to us.” What follows furnishes a remarkable example of the ease with which customs of recent date were made to assume the character of apostolic institutions. There is ample evidence in secular history to prove that the 25th of December was celebrated as a special day long before the Christian era, by heathens. That this day was originally a Pagan festival is beyond all doubt. At that precise time of the year a festival was celebrated in Babylon in honour of the birth of the son of the Babylonian ‘queen of heaven’. In Egypt the son of Isis (the Egyptian title for the ‘queen of heaven’) was reputedly born at this precise time. The 25th of December was called Yule-day (or the child’s day) by our Pagan ancestors in this country long before the advent of Christianity. Examples could be multiplied but sufficient has been said to prove that far and wide in realms of Paganism this day was celebrated as a special festival.
How the Church of Rome Fixed the Date
How then did the Church of Rome fix on the 25th of December as the alleged day of Christ’s birth? The answer is that to conciliate the heathen and to swell the number of nominal adherents of Christianity the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ. This tendency to meet Paganism half-way has been a feature of the Roman Church from the beginning and one of the reasons why it is so submerged under Pagan superstition. One matter of chief relevance to us today is that there is no warrant in Scripture to celebrate the birth of Christ on the 25th December or any other day for that matter. We are told specifically to remember Christ’s death and the manner in which it is to be remembered. The manner of this remembrance is calculated to bring to our attention the nature of His death. It was an atoning death, the just died for the unjust. Alas as far as celebrating the birth of Christ is concerned how true are the words of the American preacher and broadcaster, Dr De Hann, “They have kept the manger but thrown away the Cross.” Our forefathers, the Reformers, were scrupulous in purging the land of all Romish idolatory and with the rest went the celebration of Christmas. How different things are today. It is not only in the Romish churches that Christmas trees are to be found but alleged Protestant churches throughout the land are polluted by the tree, the crib with a plastic doll depicting the child Jesus, the Madonna and the trappings of Rome.
Christmas in Protestant Homes and Schools
In Protestant, yes in Free Presbyterian homes, “Christmas” cards are openly displayed, many of them displaying pictures or drawings which are open breaches of the second Commandment. What would our fathers far less our forefathers have said? Many plausible arguments are put forward. “They are only for the children,” is a favourite one. What kind of parents are they who keep a bottle of poison and on being challenged say, “It is only for the children”? In the realm of nature this would seem preposterous. Is it not equally so in the realm of religion? This insidious evil of celebrating Christmas is creeping in more and more every year. At that time Christmas cards and ‘nativity plays’ are the order of the day in our schools. Our children are being ‘brainwashed’. But that is where our duty and responsibility lies. No child can legally be made to take part in these frivolities without the consent of his parents. It is for us to make our position crystal clear and take our stand four-square on the Word of God. “But no child wants to be branded ‘odd’; no child wants to have a feeling of being deprived,” argue the protagonists of “Christmas”. To my way of thinking, if the Scriptural position in this matter is reasonably explained to any normal child he will not feel ‘odd’ or ‘deprived’. Do our children feel ‘odd’ or ‘deprived’ because they are not allowed to play football or other games on the Sabbath? Has God not said, “Them that honour me I will honour”? Surely it is not asking too much of those who seek and receive the privilege of Baptism for their children to be prepared to bear the reproach of Christ to this extent that they would keep their children separate from this blasphemy which has flooded our land.
Opposition to Christmas is Not a New Idea
It is important to bear in mind that opposition to the celebration of “Christmas” is not a new idea dreamt up by the Free Presbyterian Church. As I have already mentioned the Reformers swept it out of the land and it is only because of the determination of the Romish church and the laxness which has been creeping into the National Church for years that leaves us almost alone today in holding a true Scriptural position on this matter. But let us be sure we are holding it and let us be convinced of our Scriptural foundation for so doing. Though we may suffer for it and be derided and mocked let us keep ourselves from recognising this blasphemy in any shape or form and avoid the slightest suggestion of any of its vestiges.
The Importance of This Matter
But how important is this matter? Very, for every year “Christmas” seems to be making fresh inroads and is so insidiously pushed that only by being on our guard can we be kept. Surely any practice that involves flagrant breaches of the second and third Commandments cannot be indulged in without incurring guilt. Surely anyone to whom the name of Christ is precious cannot but grieve at the manner in which the alleged day of His birth is celebrated, religious services consisting mostly of “nativity” plays and highly unscriptural “cards”, orgies of eating, drinking and dancing. Even if the date of Christ’s birth was known for a certainty no right thinking person would celebrate it in this way. Let me go back to where I started. The whole matter is Pagan in origin and Romish in character. Let us, therefore, shun it as the plague that it is.