Baptists and Holy Days

For the vast majority of the Christian world and non-Christian world, people are gearing up for the big day on 25 December. This is, of course, Christmas Day; it is the birth of Christ. This day and this season was my absolute favorite time of the year. I dreamt of toys, feasting, conviviality, etc. I believed in Santa Clause, and I believed that 25 December was the actual birthday of Jesus Christ. Maybe you know where I'm going with this. Before I get into the real reason for this entry, allow me to share my story.

As a child, I was a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church. Officially, I was a Roman Catholic until I was six. Then I became a Baptist. My mother was still Catholic, and I went to Catholic school. At school, we would light the Advent wreath every day beginning after the first Sunday of December. We sang, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" every day. It was very pious. I was a Christmas traditionalist.

While we did this in Catholic school, our Baptist church did other things. There was no Advent wreath, and our church never observed Advent, per se. We did put on a big Christmas play the Friday before Christmas. One year, I was the lead shepherd with a speaking part. My brother played Joseph during the same production. It was fun, fun, fun.

I loved helping put up the family Christmas tree, and making sure the wreath hung outside on the door. Of course, by Christmas Eve I was ready to burst. As a young child, I went to bed early anticipating Santa's arrival. One year I really believed I heard his sleigh park on our roof. On Christmas morning, I would wake up while it was still dark---maybe six o'clock. I would run to the tree and find all of the toys I wanted---racing car set, electric football set, etc. After this, it would be feasting with the family.

If the 25th of December was my absolute favorite day, the 26th was probably the most non-descript day of the year. I had my toys, and I would go to my friends' houses to play with their new toys. It just wasn't the same. Santa was back at the North Pole, and I wouldn't see him again until next year. Nevertheless, the Advent season would last until January 6, which is the feast of the Epiphany. That's when the tree would come down. I insisted that the decorations had to remain through January 6; I was a traditionalist.

As the years wore on, I became more sober-minded regarding Christmas. No more toys; I no longer believed in the myth of Santa Clause. I still looked forward to Christmas, but it was more nostalgic. I listened to the music, I looked forward to being out of school, and seeing family members. I tried to focus on the coming of Jesus Christ. Attending church became important for me, and that became part of my new tradition.

Something began to change. My father said that Jesus wasn't born on Dec 25, and that Christmas was invented by the Roman Catholic Church. I looked in the Scriptures, and there is nothing in Matthew 1, or Luke 2 stating that this was Christmas. There is no month and day given to mark the birth of Jesus. I read some of the history of Christmas, and I found that my father, a pastor, was right. I was still confused because he continued to celebrate Christmas and have church. This was a contradiction. Why if we are Baptists, a people who believe that we need biblical warrant to support worship practices, celebrate Christmas?

This turned me against Christmas because I saw so many inconsistencies. The confession my old churches held to stated that the Holy Scriptures are the "supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried." Let's apply this to Christmas and the celebration of other Holy Days like Easter. Do we read in the Scriptures were the Church is to celebrate the birth of Christ as its own regular, annual day? The answer is no. In fact, the Scriptures teach against such. Paul commanded the Colossians and the Laodiceans, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ" (Col 2:16-17). This is a clear statement that under the New Covenant the Church is free from celebrating yearly feasts, or even a Church calendar. All of the biblical feasts of the OT: passover, pentecost, firstfruits, New Moon Sabbaths, Seventh Day Sabbaths were shadows, or types that Christ through his person and work fulfilled. To celebrate those would be tantamount to rejecting Christ's perfect work. What about New Covenant feats? What about them? Where are they? They are missing. Why? Because Christ has come and fulfilled all of the types.

Paul, again, makes it clear that there are no NT holy days: "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain" (Gal 4:10-11). The days, months, etc. Paul refers to here in this verse are the OT feasts and times. The occasion of this letter was that Judaizers were teaching these Christians (Gentiles) that they had to be Jewish in order to be Christians. Paul here teaches that certain aspects of Judaism had been abrogated such as the observance of festivals and feasts. The Church looks to Christ as the one who fulfilled all of this, and it looks to him alone.

I'll quit here for today. I hope you understand this argument. There is more to follow.