[Updated 24 December 2014]
A Christian holiday honoring the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas evolved over two millennia into a worldwide religious and secular celebration, incorporating many pre-Christian, pagan traditions into the festivities along the way. Today, Christmas is a time for family and friends to get together and exchange gifts.
~ History.com. Christmas. Retrieved from: http://www.history.com/content/christmas, updated 24 December 2014
syn⋅cre⋅tism
/ˈsɪŋkrɪˌtɪzəm, ˈsɪn-/ … [sing-kri-tiz-uhm, sin-]…
noun
1. the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.
~ syncretism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved 21 December 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/syncretism, checked 24 December 2014
29 When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
30Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
31Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. (Deuteronomy 12:29-32, King James Version)
2Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. (Jeremiah 10:2-5, King James Version)
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,
the very names of the idolatrous priests—
UCG writers frequently print articles about The so called “War on Christmas”. The articles just like Sunday keepers and nothing like Sabbath keepers.
@Anonymous: Really? I don’t exactly keep tabs on them, but I’ve only noticed a smattering, and I’ve not seen any this year. In fact, Bill O’ Reilly, the main man behind the “War on Christmas” stuff, declared that the war has been won. So, what’s left to write about that? Can you point to any articles UCG has done on the “War on Christmas” this year?
Out of curiosity I did a search on the UCG website with “war on Christmas”. To the best of my knowledge, I am only aware of one article written in 2012 that used that exact expression. It’s titled, “4,000 Years of Christmas”. Anyone is free to read it and determine whether or not it is like a Sunday keepers article and nothing like Sabbath keepers.
From what I can tell, a real big issue for any one of us is about making those general sweeping comments, are we able to back up and explain them? It’s not an easy thing to do and making an attempt to do so can be a personal learning experience. A fair minded person can find out how much they don’t know compared to how much they do know.