Should Christians Celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah?
December 25 Jewish-Style: A trek into the origins of the most wonderful season of all
Rarely does a Christmas go by without someone bringing up a controversy about the origins, date, or reason for the season.
In December 25 Jewish-Style: The Ancient Jewish Celebration Anticipating the Birth of Christ, Phillip Kayser presents a view of the holiday that may or may not be in accord with what YOU believe — and I’m still learning myself.
Colossians 2:16-17 should set the tone for the discussion: “Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
Kayser says we ought not judge anyone in how they celebrate a holiday — so long as the method of celebration does not oppose the Bible, replace the gospel, or violate the regulative principle of worship. Kayser also notes that in the Christian church, there remains only one Holy Day — and that is the Lord’s Day or the Christian Sabbath.
Learn more about the Christian Sabbath here.
This means that Christians have freedom to celebrate “holidays” (as we call them) as days of thanksgiving and rejoicing before the Lord with liberty of conscience — so long as they don’t violate the three principles mentioned above.
In his book, December 25 Jewish-Style, Kayser reveals interesting facts and ideas about how, when, and why we celebrate the season of joy we call Christmas.
The Pagan Origins of Christmas
While no doubt, pagan traditions have crept into the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth, the holiday and the date of the holiday may not be as pagan as some would have us believe.
Kayser makes and supports the case that pagans adopted the December 25th date due to the Christian tradition and not the other way around.
Kayser writes:
More to the point of Christmas, “Which celebration of December 25 came first? Did the Christians imitate the pagans, or did the pagans imitate the Christians?” Ever since the writings of Paul Ernst Jablonski (1693-1757), it has been assumed that Christians borrowed the celebration of December 25 from the Roman Saturnalia, and that they began to do so after Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 AD. Hislop’s book, The Two Babylons, reasserts much of Jablonski’s research, and almost all modern literature against Christmas celebration relies heavily on Rev. Hislop’s book.
Kayser points out two major problems with the theory that the pagan holiday came first.
“Recent research has demonstrated that Rome started celebrating December 25 with sun-worship long after Christians had already set apart that date.”
The thesis “fails to account for Hanukkah, the Jewish festival that fell on December 25 in 5 B.C. (the year Christ was born).” See below to learn more about the significance of Hanukkah.
Kayser concludes that Satan sets counterfeit days, seasons, and practices to confuse God’s people.
Just as a counterfeit dollar presupposes a real dollar, and Satan’s many other counterfeits presuppose the real thing, why can’t a pagan day of December 25 (especially when celebrated under so many religions and cults - i.e., not a coincidence) presuppose a “real” day of December 25?
But Kayser does more than just ask the question. He provides solid evidence to support his conclusions, noting that “there was widespread celebration of the birth of Jesus in 200 AD just as there was widespread celebration of at least two other Jewish festivals.” Additionally, “It was not until the Reformation that major opposition to celebrating the birth of Jesus arose among a minority.”
Let’s look at another controversy Kayser tackles.
Was Jesus Born on December 25th?
According to Kayser:
There are only two credible theories for the birth of Christ from the Biblical and historical evidence: 1) that Jesus was conceived on December 25 and born in September, or 2) that Jesus was conceived in March and born on December 25. No other dates have any solid evidence. They are all based on conjecture. The first posits a conception of Jesus on December 25 and His birth in Fall during the Festival of Tabernacles. The other posits a conception on March 25 and a birth on December 25. It is my view that the second alternative has the strongest evidence in its favor; but on either view, Chislev 25 (and the festival of Hanukkah) has great significance.
Kayser defends and supports his position from the Scripture as well as external evidence in his short book December 25 Jewish-Style. I encourage you to take a minute to give it a read. He also supports the theory by sharing the close connection between Christmas and the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah.
The Significance of Hanukkah
How does the Festival of Lights tie into this discussion of the celebration of the birth of Christ?
Kayser writes:
Christmas is the modern name for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah which Christ attended in John 10:22-42 and of which He declared Himself to be the fulfillment. Hanukkah is the Hebrew word for “dedication.” Other names for this festival are the Feast of Dedication, Dedication of the Temple, Dedication of the Altar, Consecration, Feast of Lights, and Chanukah. Very simply, “The 25th of December, which is, according to the Jewish Calendar, the 25th of Kislev, and the generally accepted date for the Day of Hanukkah, has become Christmas.”
So then, Jesus Christ is the final fulfillment of Hanukkah — and the reason we celebrate Christmas on December 25th.
But there is more.
The Bible calls this feast the “Festival of Dedication” (John 10:22) because Chislev 25 was the date in which three former dedications had been made: 1) the dedication of the tabernacle under Moses, 2) the dedication of the altar under Ezra/Nehemiah, and 3) the dedication of the temple under the Maccabees. In addition to those three dedications that set apart Chislev 25, there were two additional dedication festivals of the temple which form a background to Hanukkah: 1) the dedication of the temple under Solomon was celebrated with Hanukkah-style festivities and 2) the dedication of the cleansed temple under Hezekiah was followed by an eight day celebration. So there are four Biblical precedents for Hanukkah and one inter-testamental celebration of Hanukkah with prophetic witness.
Hanukkah set the stage for the dedication of the true Temple of God, namely Christ and we are living stones in that Temple.
This feast celebrating the rebuilding of the Temple points to Christ who is the Temple (John 2:19), and will begin His work of Temple-building. It spells the beginnings of the reversal of the blackness and cold of the long winter nights when all nations except for Israel sat in the darkness of sin. No longer would the nations have to come to Israel to find salvation, but God would send the victory of His kingdom throughout the world and gather in His great harvest from every kindred and tongue. The candles that were lit in the Temple and every home were beautiful symbols of this. Every night more candles were lit as an expression of the increase of Christ’s kingdom.
Kayser maintains that the early celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ were celebrated Hanukkah-style, “with no imitation of the pagan festivals whatsoever.”
While there is no longer a “command” to celebrate the feasts and Holy Days — save the Christian Sabbath — Christians are free to celebrate the birth of Christ according to the liberty of their conscience. The festival is the shadow, but the substance is Christ.
In his book, Kayser shares some of the ways that his family celebrates Christmas Hanukkah-style. “It has certainly been fun for our children to have eight days of gift giving rather than one or two,” he writes.
Truth be told, I have not done justice to December 25 Jewish-Style. Kayser answers many objections and provides historical sources. The book is free to read online. Consider reading it yourself and making up your own mind. There are many references for further study.
May your Christmas season be filled with wonder and joy as you remember and celebrate the birth of Messiah.