Religious Holidays, Special Days
Bible study on religious holidays.

Gal. 4:10-11; Col. 2:16, 23

Observance of religious holidays as worship or a work of the church is not authorized in God's word.

Also, see AUTHORITY. God is silent regarding religious holidays; therefore, they are not authorized.

Rom. 14:15; Col. 2:16,23

We may observe special days on a personal basis (Rom. 14:15) but they cannot be observed as worship or a work of the church, or bound upon other people.

Lk. 2:8

At the time of Jesus' birth, shepherds were living in the fields keeping watch over their flocks. Therefore, Jesus was not born in December at which time the sheep would not have been in the fields.

The exact date of Christmas (i.e., the mass of Christ) was set in A.D. 440 as December twenty-fifth by the Catholic Church. This date was chosen to compete against the pagan worship of sun gods and the winter solstice festivals observed throughout much of the world.

For several centuries, history records that Christmas was observed in the Catholic Church solely in religious church services. But as the practice spread, pagan practices such as trees, lights, decorations, mistletoe, giving presents, yule logs, and merrymaking (originating from sun worshiping) were mixed with Christmas traditions. Therefore, many Christmas traditions, as they exist today, ironically predate Christianity and the birth of Christ.