Christmas as Christ's Birth Celebration
25 December 2023 By Abiodun Kareem Giwa
Jesus Christ (Courtesy: jesuschristsaviour.net)
The attempt to ridicule Jesus Christ's birth celebration on December 25 is not new. It is as old as the doctrinal disagreement among Christians and the protagonist's birth. Antagonists of the observation of the birth say Christ was not born on the date and that the day was a pagan celebration but didn't include the history of the conversion from a pagan festival to honor Christ. People talk about what they don't know - smirk of ignorance of the Church's history and the Bible. The latter is the first choice for anyone wishing to acquire knowledge about the Jewish story, and the Church chronicles tell us about development beyond the scripture.
My knowledge of the Bible is intact. The first is about the creation and the story of the evolution of the Jewish family from which Christ arose. The second represents the story of Christ's birth, his ministry, crucifixion, and the latter part when his disciples continued from where he left them. Christianity came into context later in the struggle by Peter and Paul when they and their followers beat the opposition that arose against them.
The Israel community from where we learned in the scripture's Old Testament version shows Israel - the descendants of Abraham as God's favored people. The story of their life in Egypt and miraculous escape alongside others is instructive for people caught in a web of oppression but with an unseen hand fighting for them. Prophets existed in Israel as they do today globally. They foretold Christ's birth and his death.
One glaring lesson from the Israelites' struggle is that they represent a human community with leaders expected to be accountable but are not. Christ, therefore, meant a prophet and administrative officer working to hold the leaders responsible. The leaders felt threatened by the prophetic view about the arrival of a new king. Like the powers that be of today, always powerful, were determined to get Christ out, and they were successful because one of his own sold him out.
The Holy Spirit he gave his disciples helped them continue his crusade, turning an enemy like Paul, formerly Saul, into a disciple to further the disciples' progress. They were first called Christians in Antioch Act 11:26, long after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. The Israeli community and tradition were unaffected by Christ's ministry and crusade. The continued opposition against disciples from among their people compelled Paul, a former disciples' persecutor turned into a disciple, to explain what he saw in a dream about an instruction for him to take the message to the Gentiles, meaning to non-Jews. No wonder Christianity expanded like wildfire among Gentiles compared to the Jews.
Notably, Christ continued to help the ministry from heaven because, as explained in the scripture, the grave could not hold him. He rose to heaven on the third day and never stopped engineering his ministry's expansion. First, he appeared to his disciples on the day of Pentecost and gave them the holy spirit - empowering them to do what he was not allowed to do in his lifetime. Second, he pulled Saul away from being a persecutor and made him Paul and the ministry's supporter.
Next came the story of King Constantine and how he helped Christianity in his kingdom by legalizing its practice and fiscally supporting the Church's activities (Britannica). Constantine was in a fierce war for control against the opposition. The story says he had a dream and saw a cross and an instruction that he would be victorious if he fought believing in the Cross. The war's outcome favored him. He erected churches in Rome, Trier, Nicomedia, and Izmit in Turkey and Algeria.
Christ remotely completed his ministry's expansion with Constantine's involvement. The European king not only helped in the progress of Christendom, but the December 25 Christ's birth celebration also originated in his domain in 336 because Christ's birth date was unknown. Sol Invictus and pagan celebrations held on the date displaced in favor of Christ. Christ's life and ministry show prophets' acceptability outside their home. An ongoing war against the evil in Gaza making Bethlehem unable to function and celebrate Christ as his birthplace does not mean rendering the birth anniversary impossible. Through his work, he has ensured a commemoration unaffected by wickedness, which Hama's October 7 attack that caused the war signifies.
My knowledge of the Bible is intact. The first is about the creation and the story of the evolution of the Jewish family from which Christ arose. The second represents the story of Christ's birth, his ministry, crucifixion, and the latter part when his disciples continued from where he left them. Christianity came into context later in the struggle by Peter and Paul when they and their followers beat the opposition that arose against them.
The Israel community from where we learned in the scripture's Old Testament version shows Israel - the descendants of Abraham as God's favored people. The story of their life in Egypt and miraculous escape alongside others is instructive for people caught in a web of oppression but with an unseen hand fighting for them. Prophets existed in Israel as they do today globally. They foretold Christ's birth and his death.
One glaring lesson from the Israelites' struggle is that they represent a human community with leaders expected to be accountable but are not. Christ, therefore, meant a prophet and administrative officer working to hold the leaders responsible. The leaders felt threatened by the prophetic view about the arrival of a new king. Like the powers that be of today, always powerful, were determined to get Christ out, and they were successful because one of his own sold him out.
The Holy Spirit he gave his disciples helped them continue his crusade, turning an enemy like Paul, formerly Saul, into a disciple to further the disciples' progress. They were first called Christians in Antioch Act 11:26, long after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. The Israeli community and tradition were unaffected by Christ's ministry and crusade. The continued opposition against disciples from among their people compelled Paul, a former disciples' persecutor turned into a disciple, to explain what he saw in a dream about an instruction for him to take the message to the Gentiles, meaning to non-Jews. No wonder Christianity expanded like wildfire among Gentiles compared to the Jews.
Notably, Christ continued to help the ministry from heaven because, as explained in the scripture, the grave could not hold him. He rose to heaven on the third day and never stopped engineering his ministry's expansion. First, he appeared to his disciples on the day of Pentecost and gave them the holy spirit - empowering them to do what he was not allowed to do in his lifetime. Second, he pulled Saul away from being a persecutor and made him Paul and the ministry's supporter.
Next came the story of King Constantine and how he helped Christianity in his kingdom by legalizing its practice and fiscally supporting the Church's activities (Britannica). Constantine was in a fierce war for control against the opposition. The story says he had a dream and saw a cross and an instruction that he would be victorious if he fought believing in the Cross. The war's outcome favored him. He erected churches in Rome, Trier, Nicomedia, and Izmit in Turkey and Algeria.
Christ remotely completed his ministry's expansion with Constantine's involvement. The European king not only helped in the progress of Christendom, but the December 25 Christ's birth celebration also originated in his domain in 336 because Christ's birth date was unknown. Sol Invictus and pagan celebrations held on the date displaced in favor of Christ. Christ's life and ministry show prophets' acceptability outside their home. An ongoing war against the evil in Gaza making Bethlehem unable to function and celebrate Christ as his birthplace does not mean rendering the birth anniversary impossible. Through his work, he has ensured a commemoration unaffected by wickedness, which Hama's October 7 attack that caused the war signifies.
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