The plain truth about Christmas
YES, AND EVEN SANTA CLAUSE
But surely dear old Santa Claus is not a creature of pagan birth? But he is, and his real character is not so benevolent and holy as many suppose.
The name "Santa Claus" is a corruption of the name "St. Nicholas," a Roman Catholic bishop who lived in the 5th century. Look in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, volume 19, pages 648-649, 11th edition, where you'll read: "St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, a saint honoured by the Greeks and Latins on the 6th of December... A legend of his surreptitious bestowal of dowries on the three daughters of an impoverished citizen...is said to have originated the old custom of giving presents in secret on the Eve of St. Nicholas [Dec. 6], subsequently transferred to Christmas day. Hence the association of Christmas with Santa Claus..."
Through the years, parents punish their children for telling falsehoods. Then, at Christmas time, they themselves tell their little children this "Santa Claus" lie! Is it any wonder many of them, when they grow up and learn the truth, begin to believe God is a myth, too?
One little fellow, sadly disillusioned about "Santa Claus," said to a playmate, "Yes, and I'm going to look into this 'Jesus Christ' business, too!" Is it Christian to teach children myths and falsehoods? God says, "Thou shalt not bear false witness." It may seem right, and be justified by human reason, but God says, "There is a way that SEEMETH right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." "Old Nick" also is a term for the devil! Is there a connection? Satan appears as an "angel of light," to deceive (2 Cor 11:14; Rev 12:9).
And so when we examine the facts, we are astonished to learn that the practices of observing Christmas is not, after all, a true Christian practice, but a pagan custom - one of the ways of Babylon our people have fallen into.
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE
But if the Bible is silent about telling us to observe Christmas, or recording any such observance by the apostles or early true Church, it DOES have something to say about the Christmas tree.
This will come as a real surprise to many. But here it is: Jeremiah 10:2-6: "Thus saith the Lord, LEARN NOT THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN...FOR THE CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE ARE VAIN: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."
There is a perfect description of the Christmas tree, termed by the Eternal as "the way of the heathen - the customs of the people."
We are commanded not to learn that way or follow it. It is also viewed in this passage as idolatry. The fifth verse shows that these trees cannot speak - cannot walk - must be carried. "Be not afraid of them; for THEY (the trees) cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good."
They are not gods to be feared. Some people Misreads this to make it say there is no harm in having a Christmas tree, but that is not what it says.
By: Herbert Armstrong
