𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

Many dear brothers and sisters love God with all their hearts. Some of them have grown wary of Christmas because they were taught that it is pagan. I understand that fear. But fear can harden the heart if we never stop to look at the fruit. Yeshua told us to judge teachings by what they produce. He said a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit (Matthew 7:17). That is where our conversation begins.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐞

A whole movement has grown from Alexander Hislop’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑤𝑜 𝐵𝑎𝑏𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑠 (1858). Hislop claimed that Rome adopted pagan festivals and renamed them Christian. Modern scholars say his method was weak and his conclusions unsupported. Ronald Hutton calls Hislop’s approach “deeply flawed and historically unreliable” (Hutton, 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛, 1996). Evangelical historian Ralph Woodrow later withdrew his own book based on Hislop because the evidence did not hold up (Woodrow, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑏𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛?, 1997).

Yet many sincere people still follow Hislop’s ideas. They avoid Christmas. They judge Christians who celebrate it. Some even withdraw from fellowship. They say, "God wants you to 'come out of her!'" Their hearts grow cold toward the very people Yeshua loves.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬

When we look at history, a very different story rises to the surface. Christmas did not grow from pagan worship. It grew from the church’s meditation on Luke 2. Early Latin Christians tried to estimate the date of Yeshua’s conception and birth through biblical patterns, not pagan calendars (Tighe, “Calculating Christmas,” Touchstone, 2003).

I believe that the movement to claim Sukkoth as the real birthdate of Yeshua comes from the rejection of December 25th and the frustration of reading the birth narrative in Luke 2 and then wondering when this actually happened. If the frustration gets too great and the person is unable to justify another date, I've seen people simply reject birthdays as unbiblical (not noticing Job's kids), as though Yeshua may not have actually been born. Rejecting the "Yeshua wasn't real" temptation, too commonly, they start attacking people. This is bad fruit.

But back to the story: Long before Hislop, Christmas had already become a season of mercy. In the 1200s, St. Francis created the first live nativity to help ordinary people see the humility of Yeshua’s birth. It reflected Luke’s picture of a God who draws near to the lowly (Luke 2:11). Medieval mystery plays carried that story into towns where few could read. Later, German chorales and Bach’s sacred works carried the gospel through music. English choirs added beauty and Scripture. Handel’s Messiah wrapped Isaiah’s promise around the hearts of nations.

By the 1800s, Christmas had become one of the great engines of charity. Dickens gave voice to Leviticus 19:18—love your neighbor—and awakened compassion throughout England (Flanders, 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑠: 𝐴 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑦, 2017). Historian Judith Flanders shows how hospitals, orphanages, and prison ministries expanded during the Christmas season.

This is good fruit. It looks like the kingdom.

Ironically, the real engine behind abandoning Christmas is supersessionism (replacement theology) - the same error that the Catholic Church reasoned why "God judged the Jews for 'killing Jesus'." They hold that God's judgment was to abandon his covenant - to replace it with "the New Covenant." They think that God has abandoned his covenant with Israel and made the "true believers in Yeshua" the "real Israel." This is a deception born from hell.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐎𝐰𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

God never told Gentiles to convert to Judaism. Acts 15 makes this clear. Sha’ul asked Gentiles to stay within their calling and honor God from within their cultures (1 Corinthians 7:17–20). Isaiah foresaw nations coming to worship with their own gifts and stories (Isaiah 60:3). When Gentiles set aside a day to honor Yeshua’s birth, they fulfill prophecy. They are not betraying Torah. They are walking in it.

𝐀 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞

If you have rejected Christmas out of fear, I ask you to pause. Look at the fruit of the movement that formed from Hislop. It often leads to suspicion, isolation, pride, and anger toward most Christians. That is not the way of Yeshua. Let your heart soften. Let forgiveness wash through old wounds. Let the story in Luke 2 shine again with wonder.

You do not need to adopt every tradition. You do not need to embrace everything culture does. You only need to open your heart to the Child born in Bethlehem and to love the family He has redeemed - even the Gentiles. That love is the true feast.

B"H

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞.

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