Holidays or Holy Days

“ Therefore ‘ Come o u t from amon g them and be sepa rate, says the Lord . Do not to u ch what i s u nclean, and I w i ll rece i ve yo u. I w i ll be a Father to yo u , and yo u shall be My sons and da ug hters, says the Lord Alm ig hty .’ There fore,hav i n g these prom i ses, beloved, let u s cleanse o u r selves from all filth i ness of the flesh and sp i r i t,perfect i n g hol i ness i n the fear of God ” (2 Cor i nth i ans 6 : 14-18 ; 7 : 1) . Instead of renam i n g some of the pa g an c u stoms as Chr i st i an or allow i n g the new converts to reta i n some of the i r former pract i ces, the apostle P a u l commanded them to leave beh i nd all of these forms of worsh i p . He con demned the sex u al i mmoral i ty that was a common part of the fert i l i ty r i tes i n honor of the g oddess Aphrod i te (1 Cor i nth i ans 6 : 13,18 ; 1 Thessalon i ans 4 : 3) . No do u bt the new ch u rch d i d not part i c i pate i n w i nter-solst i ce celebrat i ons to the s u n g od,Apollo . Chr i st i an i ty that i s fa i thf u l to the B i ble teaches i ts fol lowers that “ o u r old man was cr u c i fied w i th H i m [Jes u s Chr i st], that the body of s i n m ig ht be done away w i th, that we sho u ld no lon g er be slaves of s i n ” (Romans 6 : 6) . If someone i s stron g ly comm i tted to follow i n g Chr i st, “ he i s a new creat i on ; old th i n g s have passed away ; behold, all th i n g s have become new ” (2 Cor i nth i ans 5 : 17) . P a u l expla i ns that we are not to reta i n o u r favor i te past rel igi o u s trad i t i ons . Indeed, “ all th i n g s have become new ”! As part of the “ old man ” (Ephes i ans 4 : 22 ; Coloss i ans 3 : 9), o u r former styles of worsh i p m u st g o . As Jes u s ta ug ht, we s i mply cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6 : 24 ; L u ke 16 : 13) . We cannot s i m u ltaneo u sly embrace two compet i n g systems of worsh i p . We see the obv i o u s cont i n ui ty between the Old and New Testaments of the B i ble ; the new forb i ds m i x i n g pa g an trad i t i on w i th the “ worsh i p i n sp i r i t and tr u th ” God commands (John 4 : 23-24) . Authority from man or God? S i nce God i s so stron g ly opposed to alter i n g H i s revealed days of worsh i p (De u teronomy 12 : 32 ; Revela t i on 22 : 18-19), by what a u thor i ty d i d h u man be i n g s chan g e the days we observe ? Here i s what the E n c y clop a ed ia Br i t anni c a says abo u t some early Chr i st i ans : “ Tho ug h many of [Jes u s ’ ] d i sc i ples cont i n u ed to observe ther originated from paganism, although over the cen turies these celebrations have taken on some practices, like the Hanukkah bush, that are rooted in paganism. In their original form, Hanukkah and Purim, like the American holiday of Thanksgiving, are celebrations of thanks and honor to God for His intervention and bless ings. The way some Americans celebrate Thanksgiving is far removed from the original intent, but that does not alter the real meaning and significance of the day. An important distinction between acceptable holi days and those rooted in paganism (like Christmas and Easter) is that they do not alter, replace or distort the meaning of a festival of God or other biblical truths.

c i ty sat on an i mportant trade ro u te . Its i nhab i tants g rew r i ch by transport i n g g oods across the fo u r-m i le i sthm u s, wh i ch saved them a 200-m i le tr i p by sh i p . Worsh i p of Aphrod i te (the Greek g oddess of love) had lon g been part of the c i ty’s h i story . It also boasted a temple to Apollo, the Greek s u n g od . What was Cor i nth l i ke i n the first cent u ry ? “ [Here] the apostle P a u l establ i shed a flo u r i sh i n g ch u rch,made u p of a cross sect i on of the worldly m i nded people who had flocked to Cor i nth to part i c i pate i n the g ambl i n g , le g al i zed temple prost i t u t i on,b u s i ness advent u res, and am u sements ava i lable i n a first-cent u ry navy town . . . “ The c i ty soon became a melt i n g pot for the approx i mately 500,000 people who l i ved there at the t i me of P a u l ’ s arr i val . Merchants and sa i lors,anx i o u s to work the docks, m ig rated to Cor i nth . P rofess i onal g amblers and athletes, bett i n g on the Isthm i an g ames, took u p res i dence . Slaves, somet i mes freed b u t w i th no place to g o, roamed the streets day and n ig ht . And prost i t u tes (both male and female) were ab u ndant . P eople from Rome, the rest of Greece, E g ypt,As i a M i nor— i ndeed, all of the Med i terranean world—rel i shed the lack of standards and freedom of tho ug ht that preva i led i n the c i ty . “ These were the people who event u ally made u p the Cor i nth i an ch u rch . They had to learn to l i ve to g ether i n harmony, altho ug h the i r nat i onal, soc i al,econom i c,and rel igi o u s back g ro u nds were very d i fferent ” ( Nelso n ’s Wr i t i n g to th i s d i verse g ro u p,pr i mar i ly g ent i les w i th a trad i t i on of i dol worsh i p (1 Cor i nth i ans 12 : 2), P a u l addressed the i ss u e of whether o u ts i de rel igi o u s c u stoms and pract i ces had any place amon g God ’ s people . “. . . What fellowsh i p has r ig hteo u sness w i th lawless ness ? And what comm u n i on has l ig ht w i th darkness ? And what accord has Chr i st w i th Bel i al ? Or what part has a bel i ever w i th an u nbel i ever ? And what a g reement has the temple of God w i th i dols ? For yo u are the temple of the l i v i n g God . As God has sa i d : ‘ I w i ll dwell i n them and walk amon g them . I w i ll be the i r God, and they shall be My people .’ Ill u str a ted B i ble Di ct i o na r y , “ Cor i nth ” ) . Paul’s instruction on other practices

What About Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Purim? S ince the Jews added the feasts of Purim (the origins of which are described in the book of Esther) and Hanukkah, otherwise known as the Feast of Lights or Feast of Dedication (mentioned in John 10:22-23), some believe we are free to add any religious holidays and celebrations of our own choosing. Is this true? Important differences in the background and intent of these observances are obvious when we compare them to Christmas, Easter and Halloween. The Jews instituted Purim to commemorate their deliverance dur ing the time of Esther, and Hanukkah to celebrate the rededication of the Jerusalem temple after its defile ment by the Syrian invader Antiochus Epiphanes. Nei

Does It Matter to God? 23