Why Do People Celebrate Christmas?

In another forum I belong to, someone asked the question why do non-Christians celebrate Christmas. The responses were both eye-opening and discouraging.Most of the respondents took the opportunity to point out that Christmas was of pagan origin and to more or less insult Christians and Christianity. I was stunned and saddened. There was a time when the name of God was revered and respected, even by non-Christians, but now people speak of Him as if He doesn't even exist.

Why have people become so anti-Christian? 1 John 4: 3 says, "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come ; and even now already is it in the world." (KJV)

 This is so true. The spirit of antichrist is already in the world. Some people may profess to believe in God, but they have a serious problem with Christ and anything to do with His name. This Christmas, let us pray against this spirit of antichrist. According to Bible prophecy the antichrist will make his appearance soon, but we can still pray that the Holy Spirit will turn men's hearts to Jesus Christ. That those of us who still call ourselves Christians will, by our example, draw men to Him. 

I addressed this question about Christmas being of pagan origin in a blog post last year. Maybe it will help you respond to people who try to decry Christ and Christmas. http://quildonwrites.blogspot.com/2011/12/should-we-cease-to-celebrate-christmas.html

Should We Cease To Celebrate Christmas?

This week I came across an article on the origin of Christmas. According to this article, Jesus was not born on December 25th and the Christmas celebration has nothing to do with His birth, but has its origin in pagan worship of the god Saturn. The article also mentions the Christmas tree, wreath, mistletoe and Santa Claus as icons of pagan origin. According to the article, the festival was a time of revelry and debauchery, to say the least. After reading the article, I felt very discouraged. Why did Christian leaders choose December 25th, the date which, according to the article, marked the end of the Saturnalia festival, to celebrate the birth of Christ? The reason given is that they were able to convert many pagans to Christianity by promising that they could continue to celebrate the festival as Christians. Puritans later banned all Christmas festivities in Massachusets and the early colonies.

So, where does this leave us as Christians who look forward to celebrating Christmas every year?