Friday, December 18, 2009

Celebrating Christmas

Dr. Couch, should we be celebrating Christmas, since this is a "Catholic" word: Christ-mass? We are not commanded to do so in Scripture.

ANSWER:  This reminds me of the Church of Christ folks who argue, since musical instruments are not mentioned in the Bible to use for worship, therefore, it is wrong to use musical instruments in church worship!

   And, I guess Christ was wrong to go up to Jerusalem to celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, since the Jews were not commanded to do so in the OT! (see John 10:22-30.) Did you know that He did that? There is nothing wrong with remembering certain blessings in either the OT or NT. This is what Christ did. This is what we do with the Lord's Table. It is a "remembrance" and it is Passover condensed and abbreviated. I don't know of any true believer in Christ who became a Catholic because of the word Christmas. Some words become embedded in our vocabulary by usage, but most people don't know of the origins of such words.

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch
(Dec., 09)