Monday, December 26, 2016

Responding to Christmas


Browsing YouTube this evening I found a Fox News video titled something about 'The War on Christmas'.  Realizing this is a place where I can contribute in a valuable way I tried to set the tone or reset the tone for discussions.  People of all faiths other than Christianity have many reactions to the huge deal the Christmas celebration has been made in to.  But especially atheists are upset and keep repeating the same old tripe.

Here was my response:
     Everyone's first response to this premise (War on Christmas) is always going to be ignorant, abrupt, savage or flippant. So for any meaningful commentary you'd best review a compilation of facts found here: http://christianity.about.com/od/christmas/f/christmashistor.htm I could not even watch the rest of this video because it begs the same questions that atheists have blurted out for centuries- They want God to come down and dance a jig for them, do some cool magic tricks and take them back in time to do scientific investigations as to whether a virgin conception is possible. They would be dragging their MRI machine and a generator with them in the time machine. THEN and only then would they believe that God is who He said He is. Obviously from my phraseology you can tell I'm a believer. 

     So with that the very simplest explanation I can give you as to why Christmas exists is that God came to earth and put on a man suit as one of 3 persons in the trinity. God the Son came the way you did but did not leave the way you will. He was and is considered a gift to mankind because our sins make us undeserving of forgiveness. Like(sic) if someone paid off a loan you have that you know you could never repay. People who have received this gift of forgiveness understand what a gift is. We give gifts, its in our nature to do so...part of our divine component if you will. For centuries Christians have wished so much to pass along this gift that they tied their celebration to existing festivals of a pagan nature. 

     A tug of war for the soul that will never end until something happens. "The term Christmas appeared in Old English as early as 1038 A.D. as Cristes Maesse, and later as Cristes-messe in A.D. 1131. It means "the Mass of Christ." This name was established by the Christian church to disconnect the holiday and its customs from its pagan origins. As one fourth century theologian penned, "We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of Him who made it." For various and sundry reasons Christmas is offensive to many when other festivals of the world are not.   


     Jesus Christ is the stone that causes men to stumble. He is the stone the builders rejected but that is the capstone. The foundation stone is Peter's confession that Jesus was the Messiah. That is why Peter's name was originally Simon and Jesus renamed him "Rock" in another language. So people just be honest in your living. If you are not a Christian please wish people a happy holiday because they probably are having one. And if you are Christian just be simple and wish people a Merry, Happy, (insert your positive adjective here) Christmas.