There are many holidays that "christians" observe. However in order to find out if they should be observed or celebrated we need to compare their origin and what they stand for, against the Bibles counsel for us as "christians."
First off the Bible clearly states, (all translations), at 1 Corinthians 6:14-18 to
to "quit touching the unclean thing", have no stay clear of all things that originate with the "lawless", which includes idol and false gods.
Some may be lost here and wonder what this has to do with holidays. Understandable. So lets look at ta few holidays and there origins.
Christmas
Josef Cardinal Tomko, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of
Peoples, noted: “The missionary Church practiced the work of inculturation long before the term began to be used.” The Christmas celebration illustrates the matter well, as La Repubblica noted. Originally it was a pagan celebration. “The date of December 25 does not correspond to Christ’s birth,” acknowledges the New Catholic Encyclopedia, “but to the feast of the Natalis Solis Invicti, the Roman sun festival at the solstice.”
JUST three days before Christmas 1993, Pope John Paul II acknowledged that the celebration of Christmas is not rooted in the Bible. Regarding the date December 25, the pope admitted: “On that day in pagan antiquity, the birthday of the ‘Invincible Sun’ was celebrated to coincide with the winter solstice.” How, then, did Christmas begin? The pope continued: “It seemed logical and natural to Christians to replace that feast with the celebration of the only and true Sun, Jesus Christ.”
The Christmas tree “has precious little to do with Christian celebration and a lot to do with the stubborn survival through the millennia of pagan rituals of winter light and rebirth.” (The Boston Herald) “Trees with trinkets hanging on them were part of the pagan festivals for centuries.”—Church Christmas Tab.
Holly was popular with the Celts “to keep the house goblins in order at winter solstice time. . . . It could deflect evil, help in the divination of dreams, defend a house from lightning.”— Beautiful British Columbia.
Mistletoe “came from the Druids in England who used it in strange worship relating to demonic and occult powers.”— Church Christmas Tab.
Gift giving was a feature of Saturnalia. “You were expected at this festival to make some present to all your friends.”— Ancient Italy and Modern Religion.
The star “atop the tree was worshiped in the East as a symbol of purity, goodness and peace 5,000 years before the nativity of Christ.”— United Church Herald.
The candle “does not come . . . from the Christian sanctuary. We took it from a much earlier altar, the Druid oak.”— United Church Herald.
Santa was stolen “from ancient German mythology: ‘Thor was an elderly man, jovial and friendly, of heavy build with a long white beard. He drove a chariot and was said to live in the Northland . . . His element was fire, his color red. The fireplace in every home was sacred to him, and he was said to come down into it through the chimney.”— United Church Herald.
Easter
Easter was “originally the spring festival in honor of the Teutonic goddess of light and spring known in Anglo-Saxon as Easter.” -The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible
The rabbit “was the pet of the Germanic goddess Ostara.”— Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend.
The Easter bonnet originally “was a wreath of flowers or leaves. The circle or crown expressed the round sun and its course in the heavens which brought the return of spring.” The new Easter outfit developed because “it was considered discourteous and therefore bad luck to greet the Scandinavian goddess of Spring, or Easter, in anything but fresh garb, since the goddess was bestowing one on the earth.”— The Giant Book of Superstitions.
Hot cross buns: “Like the Greeks, the Romans ate bread marked with a cross . . . at public sacrifices.” They were eaten by pagan Saxons in honor of Easter.— Encyclopedia Britannica.
Sunrise services parallel rites “performed at the vernal equinox welcoming the sun and its great power to bring new life to all growing things.”— Celebrations.
The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us: “A great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. . . . The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”—(1913), Vol. V, p. 227.
Many holidays are steeply based in pagan origin and customs. If we are to please God and stay clear of idolatry, false worship and practices He condones, then we need to stay away from such holidays and traditions that displease Him.
Yes! Christmas IS a Christian holiday. as is Easter, Valentine's Day, and Saint Patrick's Day!
These are also hoildays that are celebrated by Christians: Ash Wednesday, Lent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Advent, and Epiphany.
Easter is the most important.
Some religions do not celebrate most to all holidays.
Yes Easter and Christmas are the most very important because Jesus rose on Easter and Jesus was born on Christmas.
Yes, but they are not called "holi" days . . . they are called Feast Days of the LORD. If you look this up in the Old Testament, you will find them well explained. Sad part is that not many "Christians" even know what these are yet find it very acceptable to celebrate pagan days such as Christmas and yes . . Easter. December 25 was not the day of Christ's birth, and no where did He ask that His resurrection be observed either. If someone wishes to truly serve God and obey His commandments, He will lead and guide them into ALL TRUTH. Most do not care to do that and are perfectly satisfied with following the traditions men have devised . . . and will never take the time or make the effort on their own to study what pleases God.
We celebrate many holidays. Christmas and Easter are the 2 major holidays.
depends on the Christian home. I celebrate most of the holidays for the US on the calender. and most likely so do most other Christians. Specifically Christmas and Easter are the two major holidays celebrated be Christians
No, Dubai holidays are very different from the holidays in America. The only major holiday that is the same is New Year's Day. They have 9 other major holidays throughout the year.
chinese new year
The new year
The birth and death/resurrection of Christ are the main holidays for Christians - Christmas and Easter.
No. Christians do not celebrate Jewish holidays.
Lowe's stores are closed on two major holidays each year. These holidays are Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day, and are considered fixed holidays for employees.
same religious holidays for Orthodox Christians.
Judaism is one of the major religions of the world. Followers of the religion have a few major holidays during the year. These include Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, Passover, and Rosh Hashanah.
Christians fast only once a year on goodfriday.Answer:There are no consistent holidays, festivals, meals, food avoidance, dress patterns , prayers, music or ceremonies that are consistently observed by all Christian sects. Many Christians have "traditional meals" at Easter and Christmas but this is not mandated by any central authority.
there are really only two major holidays- Christmas and Easter, but there are many other smaller holidays within the christian calendar, such as good Friday, all saints day, epiphany, adn many more
According to the site "Holier Than Thou" there are many holidays that have pagan influences. Some pagan holidays that have been adopted by Christians include Halloween and Valentine's Day.
I think the 2 major holidays that Christians have are Christmas and Easter.The reason for this is that because Christmas is the day Jesus was born that is why it is called Christmas. And Easter is another one because it is the day Jesus got nailed to the cross and died for our sins.
Christians celebrate Christians and Easter. Some Christians also celebrate Pentecost and/or lent.
Easter and Christmas are the main ones...
Two major Islamic holidays are Muharram and Ramadan
we have 4 holidays : autumn, winter, spring and summer holidays. the major ones are summer holidays which last for 2 months -from the end of june to august-
They have the same holidays as other Christians.
the Vietnamese do not celebrate Christmas unless they are Christians, but they do have several other large holidays, like Tet and the Asian new Year.
Spain has several major holidays each year. A few of the holidays and dates are; Epiphany - January 6, St George's Day - April 23, and Feast Day of St Isidore - May 15.
All the major Christian holidays.
How many days of vacation do you get? How many holidays do you get? In general it would be about 2000 hours with major holidays.