Do Christians have major holidays in the year?

Answer 1

Easter. “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament,” states The Encyclopædia Britannica. How did Easter get started? It is rooted in pagan worship. While this holiday is supposed to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection, the customs associated with the Easter season are not Christian. For instance, concerning the popular “Easter Bunny,” The Catholic Encyclopedia says: “The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”

New Year’s Celebrations. The date and customs associated with New Year’s celebrations vary from one country to another. Regarding the origin of this celebration, The World Book Encyclopedia states: “The Roman ruler Julius Caesar established January 1 as New Year’s Day in 46 B.C. The Romans dedicated this day to Janus, the god of gates, doors, and beginnings. The month of January was named after Janus, who had two faces—one looking forward and the other looking backward.” So New Year’s celebrations are founded on pagan traditions.

Halloween. The Encyclopedia Americana says: “Elements of the customs connected with Halloween can be traced to a Druid [ancient Celtic priesthood] ceremony in pre-Christian times. The Celts had festivals for two major gods—a sun god and a god of the dead . . . , whose festival was held on November 1, the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The festival of the dead was gradually incorporated into Christian ritual.”

Other Holidays. It is not possible to discuss all the observances held throughout the world. However, holidays that exalt humans or human organizations are not acceptable to Jehovah. (Jeremiah 17:5-7; Acts 10:25, 26) Keep in mind, too, that the origin of religious celebrations has a bearing on whether they please God or not. (Isaiah 52:11; Revelation 18:4) The Bible principles mentioned in Chapter 16 of this book will help you to determine how God

views participation in holidays of a secular nature.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

Yes Easter and Christmas are the most very important because Jesus rose on Easter and Jesus was born on Christmas.

Answer 5

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.