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Originally Posted by Evangelical
Because it's not about the terms and labels but the origins. Christmas actually came from paganism, that is a historical fact. Deification did not.
You know some of the denominations are those that celebrate Christmas and Easter but ignore the biblical commands of the Lord. For example they will never fail to observe Christmas and Easter but they do not observe the sacraments of baptism and Communion. This is clear proof they have degraded into paganizing ways, away from Christ and the bible.
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Sanctification did not come from paganism. Holiness did not come from paganism.
Making a man a god is paganism. That is the definition. Whether it is the Pharaoh or Caesar. Witness Lee could have chosen to use the word sanctification, and did do that for the first 50 years of his ministry. During this time he warned about avoiding the term deification because it was pagan. But then in 1994 he all of sudden switched saying this was a "high peak truth". He referred to traditional Christian teachers (Athanasius) who earlier in his ministry he condemned for mixing pagan practices and teachings with the Christian worship and saying that these teachings resulted in divisions.
On the other hand Jeremiah refers to the Christmas tree as a vain idol. It was a celebration that took place to celebrate the rebirth of the sun God. It was originally part of a pagan holiday. Traditional Christian teachers adopted this holiday, changed the name to Christmas. The story of Jesus birth is not in any way pagan, nor does it have pagan roots. The name "Christmas" is not pagan. Placing a star on top of the tree is not rooted in paganism but in the NT story of Jesus. There is nothing pagan about colored lights.
So then, what is pagan about Christmas? 1. The date -- certainly not the day that Jesus was born. December 25th is the first day when you can see the Sun rise in the sky with the naked eye. 2. The use of a tree can be seen as a vain idol. 3. The purpose of the holiday to make merchandise of you.
Since Dec 25th is a national holiday it is a very convenient time for a church to meet. No one is complaining if they meet on other holidays. No one has to use a tree and no one has to buy stuff they don't want.
There is nothing pagan about using this day to tell the story of Jesus birth.
Since I teach Earth Science I have learned that very few, if any of my students know that December 25th is the first day you can see the sun rise with your eyes. They all know about Christmas, they all know about Jesus birth, they all know about the wise men and the star. Yet none of them know about the winter solstice. They have not been celebrating a pagan holiday, they have been celebrating Jesus incarnation.