At first it didn’t make much sense to me. A Christmas without women? Why would a Church be promoting such a crazy idea? Sure, it would probably reduce the Christmas present expenses of men by a good 50%, but… to deny the female section of our population the enjoyment of Christmas? It just seems a bit uncaring and uncompassionate. And that’s against the spirit of Christmas.
Still, I was intrigued by the idea. So I decided to follow it up with a bit of Internet research. And what I discovered was even more bizarre. It turns out that my local Christadelphian Church isn’t necessarily against a female-inclusive Christmas day, as the sign would suggest. No, I’m afraid, my local Christadelphian Church is against Christmas as a whole.
This is because Christmas is never actually mentioned in the Bible. In fact, the Bible seems to specifically rule-out any form of Christ worship. To quote Mathew 15:9, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”. According to the Christadelphians, Christmas was instead originally derived from a Roman harvest festival. This celebration only morphed into what we now know as ‘Christmas’ after the pagan harvesters converted to Christianity, and still wanted a reason to party in late December. So, instead of celebrating the moon and the sun like they used to, they decided to celebrate Christ’s birth.
The Christadelphians have a problem with this, because this harvest festival, as Wikipedia describes, used to be “a time of general relaxation, feasting, merry-making, drinking, gambling, and singing, and even public nudity”. In other words, Christmas was originally a pagan ritual, and therefore, it is actually against Christ’s teachings.
So, then, why label Christmas in such a cryptic message as “a tradition of men”? It’s because, supposedly, Christmas is not a tradition of God, or Christ. Instead, it is a tradition of those decrepit, sordid, despicable types that we all loath: men. Which means Christmas is no different to celebrating one’s own birthday. Or the Clipsal 500 race. Or going out to a strip club on Saturday night in honour of your winnings at the greyhound races. Like all the above, it’s a pagan thing.
So you should all watch out. Celebrating Christmas could result in your banishment to the gates of hell. As one website advises in an article, “Resisting the Christmas Spirit”:
God expects you - as a pioneer of His soon-coming perfect society - to stand against the current. But, as December 25th approaches, you must prepare now, and be ready to stand your ground without compromise - to properly go against the Christmas-keeping crowd, and to be a witness of God's truth to your peers.
Here’s another example, from “The True Origin of Christmas”:
The most common justification that one will hear regarding Christmas is that people have replaced old pagan customs and intents by asserting that they are now “focusing on Christ.” I have heard many say that they are “honoring Christ” in their Christmas-keeping. The problem is that God does not say this is acceptable to Him! Actually, He plainly commands against it! Keeping Christmas dishonors Christ! He considers everything about it to be an abomination!
I just thought all readers should be aware of these developments so that they can make informed decisions about avoiding hell in future. I know that some sections of Christianity, such as the Catholic Church or the Anglican Church, do recognise and celebrate Christmas… but really, who is to say that just because they represent 95% of believers, their views are necessarily correct? Maybe they are secretly sending you all down the festive, merry road to DEATH BY DAMNATION.
So be warned. The Christadelphians say no to Christmas. And maybe next year, you should too.
For more information, consult the Christadelphian Hall, Goodwood Road, Adelaide, Australia. Merry pagan harvest to you all!
PS - Seeing as Christmas is now a “tradition of men”, could someone please inform the following Murray Bridge chapel about this:
There’s no man in ‘minge’. What an embarrassment.
6 comments:
I think we are past the point where there is any chance of going to heaven. We are already in hell. It is so cool we don't even realize. Oh wait! I think the hellfires have a really slow tempo ... hence global warming is taking a bit of time to pick up :)
Worst post ever Nick. If I wanted to be bored about religious crap, I would read the Da Vinci code.
Actually, since Christadelphians don't believe in Hell either, nobody's being banished to its gates.
Also, "the majority must be correct" is a flawed argument by any standards. More than 95% of the population once believed the earth to be flat.
An interesting article, but as a christadelphian myself, I would not agree that all chrsitadelphians do not celebrate Christmas. I do, and many of the people I know do also. For the ones that don't, I think they have missed the point. I celebrate Christmas, to remember Christ. He had to be born to die. Without birth, you can forgot about the new testament. It's also one of the only times when most people outside of christianity actually think about Jesus and God. The Christadelphian Church is not an exclusive club, it should be trying to bring people into the truth, not by dropping its standards, but by recognising what is important, and that is salvation for anyone that will follow God's and Jesus's teaching, baptism and have faith.
Bro. Phil (Vic)
It is a shame that everyone seems to have missed the important point in all this (including the other Christadelphian blogger).
What you or I think is not what is important. It is what God tells us and how He wants us to live.
If you don't believe in God, then you can please yourself, but if you do you are wasting your time unless you are prepared to do those things that He requires.
What we now call Christmas is a pagan ritual dating back to ancient civalisations well before the Romans and as such cannot in any way, shape or form, be used to 'celebrate' anything Christian. If you believe different to this, then you are deluding yourself.
But don't concern yourself by what I think. If you want to know what God thinks - Read the Bible. Other wise, enjoy Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day and whatever else. They ALL are just as insulting to God.
As a Christad.... I understand the confusion that arose from the cryptic sign! - as both the comments above clearly show, some Christadelphians do celebrate Christmas with their families, and some dont and to the majority of Christadelphians this is no big deal. This sign would seem to condemn some of our own and is specifically designed to be controversial. In fact, if you were to attend a particular Christadelphian meeting in Adelaide around Christmas time there is a spirit of love and joy which encourages Christmas as a time to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the point of the topic was not to condemn those that keep Christmas but rather to educate people on the origins.
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