The Anglican Bishop of Durham recently penned a piece (The Seeds of Christmas Were Planted Long Before Jesus' Birth) which explored the ancient roots of the New Testament narrative about Christ's nativity. In the article, N.T. Wright recounted the story of his recent pilgrimage to his family's ancestral church, and how he had studied the stained glass "Jesse Window" at the east end of the thousand-year-old building. He then went on to explain that the window is a depiction of Christ's descent from Jesse, the father of King David (which hearkens back to some of the prophecies recorded about Jesus in the writings of Isaiah).
In particular, Wright focused on this well-known passage from the eleventh chapter of that book:
"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips, he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious." --Isaiah 11:1-10 (NIV)
He went on to reference another familiar passage from the ninth chapter of the same book:
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." --Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)
Bishop Wright then went on to observe: "That 'little child' links back again to the infant Jesus. The picture of animals living in peace under his guidance translates easily into the Nativity scene: Jesus in a manger, Mary and Joseph looking on, with ox, ass, lambs and even camels all clustering round. Killjoy rationalists might object that the stories of Jesus’ birth don’t mention these animals, or that you might actually find a manger in family living quarters; but that’s not the point. The Nativity scene re-expresses Isaiah’s vision in its own symbolic way. The prince of peace, the shoot from Jesse’s stump, will bring all creation into a much-needed new harmony."
He continued: "Jesse doesn’t appear much in the New Testament, but when he does it’s explosive. Saint Paul, like Isaiah, believed in creation’s coming peaceful renewal. But we often forget how he sees that hope being fleshed out. Jesus’ followers, Paul believed, were supposed to be the working model for creation’s hope. At the climax of his letter to Rome, he urges believers from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds to come together in worship. They are to welcome one another across traditional differences, learning to worship the one God, the father of Jesus the Messiah, 'with one mind and one mouth' (15:6). Paul backs up his urgent and eloquent appeal with a string of biblical quotations, saving for the last the telling line from Isaiah 11:10: 'the root of Jesse rises to rule the nations, and in him the nations will hope.'"
Wright then concluded his thought with this astute observation: "Paul is here looking through the biblical equivalent of a Jesse window, glimpsing an entire train of thought—in this case, the prophecy of Isaiah 11—in a single line. In his mind, the different ethnic and cultural groups that have come to believe in Jesus are like the different animals that, in the prophet’s vision, will now feed peacefully together, with the little child at their head, ruling through self-giving love."
Thus, for the bishop, the nativity narrative of the New Testament encompasses a rich prophetic symbolism that points to an even more expansive message of hope for the future of humankind. According to Wright, "Never in my lifetime have we needed that hope as urgently as we do today. The pandemic is still rampant. The global climate is throwing floods, fires and tornadoes at us. Powerful nations rattle their missiles at one another, while babies starve, and refugees drown." And Wright believed that the hope which is an integral part of the narrative about Christ's first appearance on this earth should be the focus and message of the entire Christian community. He wrote: "The Christmas stories themselves call us to a different vision. Matthew’s gospel is the most obviously Jewish, but that’s where we find the story of the (obviously non-Jewish) Wise Men coming to worship Jesus. Luke’s gospel is the most obviously Gentile in orientation, but that’s where we find the (obviously Jewish) shepherds coming to find the newborn child. Like the animals around the crib, the Christmas scenario opens up to include the world. Shame on us if we shrink that vision to fit our prejudices. Jesus’ followers are called to model God’s hope for the world."
This blogger believes that the Bishop of Durham has hit the proverbial nail on the head. The story of Christmas is ultimately a message of universal hope for all of humankind - even those who are not currently a part of the Christian community!
According to St. Francis Borgia Catholic School (from an article written by Kari Frommel), the Nativity began in 1223, inspired by Saint Francis.
ReplyDeletehttps://sfbschool.org/the-origin-of-the-nativity-scene/
This was long after the Christmas celebration (originating from pagan customs of previous centuries) was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.
While the prophecy of Isaiah is certainly talking about Jesus Christ and his future rule - that prophecy has no connection or relevancy to Christmas. And while extraordinary heavenly events occurred at Jesus birth - that also does not rationalize keeping the man-made custom of Christmas. (Also, a great earthquake occurred when Jesus died. Should mankind also celebrate that occurrence? There's no scriptural instruction to do so.)
When I grew up in the 60s and 70s, most Christians still believed that they have an immoral soul and will go either to heaven or hell when they die. As far as I know, most Christians who keep Christmas, still believe in 2021, the "heaven and hell" doctrines. Or, has this changed?
It's likely that most Christians don't even understand what the Kingdom of God is, or that Jesus Christ is coming to rule on earth.
They likely don't even know or understand the prophecy in Isaiah 11, which has no biblical/scriptural connection to instruct Christians to celebrate Christmas.
The fact that some religious leaders are aware of the Isaiah prophecy does not give them authority to apply that prophecy to the pagan-rooted origin of the modern day Christmas celebrations.
Dean,
DeleteThe authors of two canonical gospels (Matthew and Luke) felt that the events surrounding Christ's first coming to this earth were important enough to include detailed accounts of them. Moreover, both of them went to great pains to connect those events to Old Testament prophecies. More particularly, both gospels include a genealogy intended to demonstrate Christ's descent from King David and make David's hometown (Bethlehem) the site of his birth.
Hence, I don't think that it's unreasonable to read: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots..." and see a connection to both of these gospel accounts of Christ's birth. If the two are not connected, then why did the authors of these canonical gospels choose to underscore that Christ was a descendant of Jesse and David?
As for those "extraordinary heavenly events" which you referenced in connection with Christ's birth, are you suggesting that they are not worthy of celebration by Christians in 2021? Why did God cause them to be included in these accounts of Christ's birth? Was Christ's birth as a human worthy of our attention? Was that event a major turning point in human history? Is our thankfulness for this event commanded or does it arise naturally in the hearts of all true believers? And, even if you do not formally celebrate Christ's birth, don't you at least celebrate it internally? As for the earthquake, wasn't that occurrence a consequence of an event (the death of Christ) which all UCOG members continue to observe/celebrate? Aren't you also thankful that the curtain in the temple was ripped apart (symbolizing that Christ's sacrifice had given us access to the Most Holy Place)?
As for what you, I or other Christians believe about the afterlife, how does that change/modify what actually happens? God's reality is all that matters. In other words, what we believe about it is really of no consequence! Whether you or I understand what is going to happen, doesn't/cannot change what is going to happen! Likewise, God's Kingdom will triumph irrespective of what you, or I, or anyone else believes about it!
Finally, you continue to repeat the Armstrong narrative about the pagan origins of Christmas without offering any tangible evidence to back up your claim. I will not repeat here all of the evidence which I have presented that directly challenges/contradicts that narrative, but it exists on this blog in a number of past posts which anyone who is truly interested in getting to the truth of this issue is free to peruse.
The "Armstrong narrative" that you refer to is also confirmed by other sources, including this one:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
Is it odd or inappropriate that Matthew and Luke would write about the specialness of Jesus' birth, including the details mentioned in scripture. Of course not! It would seem very strange if events surrounding the birth of Christ were not included in scripture.
But, in my mind, that doesn't rationalize into keeping Christmas - a purely man-made custom that the scriptures don't mention as an example of Christian worship toward God. The early Church did not celebrate Christmas - and even early Americans (the Puritans) did not do so, as they knew that scripture did not sanction it.
But if you think it does, then I hope we can agree to disagree.
Dean,
DeleteHistory.com is a great resource for a quick overview of historical topics, but it does not constitute the kind of in-depth scholarly research on the topic I was talking about. However, the link which you provided relative to their article on Christmas does NOT support the Armstrong narrative about the holiday.
Although they note that "The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world," the fact that pagans celebrated the Winter Solstice before Christians began celebrating Christ's birth demonstrates exactly NOTHING! We would, of course, be absolutely accurate in pointing out that all of the pagan peoples surrounding the ancient Israelites observed harvest festivals prior to the institution of the festivals of Leviticus 23. Are you suggesting that this history implies that the Israelites borrowed their observances from the pagans?
Moreover, the article's discussion of the Roman Saturnalia and Mithra's birthday make clear that both celebrations were very different in nature from the modern Christian's observance of Christmas. And the article goes on to point out that the Christian's observance of Christ's nativity did not begin until more than three hundred years after Christ's death!
Our discussion begins to remind me of an old axiom that Herbert Armstrong repeated over and over again: One convinced against his will is of the same opinion still! Yes, we can agree to disagree on this one, and I invite my readers to peruse the evidence for themselves and decide if Mr. Armstrong's claims about the overwhelming influence of paganism on this holiday are valid.
Here's another source that talks about the pagan origins of Christmas:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-unexpected-pagan-origins-of-popular-christmas-traditions/
Dean,
DeleteAlthough many within the ACOG community would label CBS News as part of the "lamestream" media, they are a widely recognized as a credible source for news. Even so, these little popular snippets (like this piece on Christmas) are usually included as light entertainment to relieve some of the heaviness of the subject matter being reported on.
First, technically, the Saturnalia celebrated Saturn. The Brumalia underscored the solstice. Second, all of the things mentioned by Professor Davis ("gift giving, candle lighting, and singing and decorating houses") were associated with the Saturnalia, NOT the solstice. Moreover, if we would bother to dig just a little deeper into the Roman traditions (as I mentioned previously), we would see that the Roman traditions associated with the Saturnalia only bear a very superficial and general resemblance to the modern celebration of Christmas.
Likewise, although it is accurate to point out that pagans sometimes decorated their houses with greenery, it is misleading to suggest/imply that this involved bringing whole trees into their houses and decorating them with anything. As noted here before, most historians credit the appearance of evergreen trees and lighting as being a German development of about five hundred years ago (well within the Christian era).
Finally, yes mistletoe was used by the pagans, and it is a relevant observation to note its pre-Christian uses. Likewise, the Yule log originated in pre-Christian times and could rightly be characterized as pagan. It should also be noted, however, that Yule logs are not part of most folks' celebration of Christmas in 2021 (although mistletoe is still widely popular). Moreover, these elements have to be considered against the totality of observances associated with the holiday (as I've previously noted, MOST of the imagery/traditions/music which we associate with the modern observance of Christmas are developments of the last two hundred years).
Some in the ACOG's like to reference the Catholic Encyclopedia on this topic. I wonder how many of them have actually read their article on Christmas. Dig a little deeper - and their article on the topic would be an excellent starting point.
The Catholic Encyclopedia says: "Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=2933
I understand that the modern way people keep Christmas differs from the ancient pagan customs. But, those ancient customs echo forward through time, to what is now appropriated as a Christian celebration: Christmas. Here's another news source talking about Christmas:
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna50284202
Dean,
Delete"Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church." Nothing in this statement speaks to or even suggests pagan origins for the holiday. Indeed, this reaffirms my contention that the holiday belongs wholly to the Christian era (which the Catholic Encyclopedia article goes on to demonstrate with a more extensive treatment of its origins).
Practices involving mistletoe and Yule logs echo forward ancient customs. Practices associated with celebrating the birth of Christ, erecting Christmas trees and decorating them, Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas and the legends surrounding him gave rise to this character and folks like Thomas Nast and Clement Clarke Moore are largely responsible for the way he is depicted in popular culture), erecting manger scenes, playing Christmas music (and singing Christmas songs), reading Christmas stories, watching Christmas movies and cartoons, bringing Poinsettia plants into homes, sending/receiving Christmas cards, etc. are ALL features of the Christian era and have NOTHING to do with paganism!
Thanks for the discourse on this topic - I've enjoyed it! Hopefully this will prove to be an added resource to those folks who are still willing to explore the topic and are open to wherever the evidence leads them.
Dean,
ReplyDeleteIt occurs to me that you have also not addressed the original premise of this post about the ancient biblical origins of this observance. How do we account for the way that the gospels of Matthew and Luke use both the ancient ancestry and narrative associated with King David and what Isaiah prophesied regarding the Messiah's connections to that individual and his story?
Further, how do we explain Matthew's quotation of the seventh chapter of Isaiah? "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Likewise, how do we explain Matthew's use of this passage from Micah: "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people, Israel."?
Finally, if (as Matthew suggests) the birth of Christ was worthy of the attention of three wise men from the East and King Herod, how can we not be interested in celebrating this event? Likewise, if (as Luke suggests) the birth of Christ was announced by angels, who are we to ignore such an announcement? After all, this is pretty powerful language: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." That sounds to me like something worth celebrating! And, if angels could get that excited about something that would accrue to the benefit of HUMANKIND (in other words, NOT them), shouldn't we (as the beneficiaries of that event) feel some cause for rejoicing?
It is perfectly fitting that scripture gives praise and special details about the birth of Jesus Christ. But, we are not instructed to celebrate Christmas to observe the birth of Jesus, which was not on Dec. 25th.
ReplyDeleteWe are instructed by scripture to show gratitude for what Jesus Christ did for mankind, through observing a respectful annual memorial of His death. That memorial is Passover.
Even though you assert that the celebration Christmas has no pagan origins, there are various sources that state otherwise. Here's another one:
https://www.learnreligions.com/christmas-customs-with-pagan-roots-2563021#:~:text=9%20Christmas%20Traditions%20With%20Pagan%20Roots%201%20The,Saturnalia%20was%20no%20exception.%20...%20More%20items...%20
Despite the sincere intent of many Christians, it remains a man-made custom. Let us agree to disagree about the nature and origins of celebrating Christmas.
Dean,
DeleteScripture informs us that angels, wise men and shepherds CELEBRATED Christ's birth. Over and over again, Scripture informs us that God and Jesus Christ are ALWAYS worthy of our worship and praise - whether it arises spontaneously or according to some commanded formula (as in a Passover/Lord's Supper/Communion Service or a more general one to give thanks to God).
Unfortunately, you have also chosen to misrepresent my position on this issue. I have never said that "Christmas has no pagan origins." My thesis is that the overwhelming weight of the evidence suggests that the vast majority of practices associated with the modern observance of Christmas were NOT borrowed from paganism. I have repeatedly acknowledged over the years that a few of our modern practices relative to this holiday are/were associated with pagan practices of the past (like mistletoe, Yule logs, and evergreen branches as decorations). However, when one considers the totality of the traditions we associate with this holiday, the few items which show forth pagan influences become insignificant and a straining at the proverbial gnat to many of us!
For my readers who will not bother to check out the article which you referenced above, I would like to note that the piece is titled, "9 Christmas Traditions With Pagan Roots." Really? Nine out of literally hundreds of traditions associated with the holiday? Moreover, it includes many of the practices which I've already acknowledged (it also includes a few whose origins would be disputed by a majority of historians who are familiar with these practices, like caroling and gift giving). Let's not forget that we owe the 12 months and seven days of the week of our current calendar to the pagans! Let's not forget that pagan nations used things like flags, eagles, lions and columned buildings to represent and glorify the state! Indeed, the list of pagan influences on our culture could go on and on!
Finally, Jesus Christ continuously underscored the importance of a sincere heart as it relates to both obedience to and worship of Almighty God. Paul told the Romans and Colossians that sincerity was the key to every act of worship which they engaged in! So, yes, let us agree to disagree about the nature and origins of celebrating Christmas, and thanks again for your willingness to engage me on this issue.