Christmas Reconsidered

Rating:
Summary: Christmas, Easter, and Sunday keeping are not biblcial
Review: For all the religious rhetoric in justifying what is not biblical, the annual celebration of Jesus birth, resurrection, and keeping Sunday are nowhere to be found instructed in the Bible. Nor are the also pagan notions of immortal soul, going to heaven (when you don't die), and a triune Godhead.

Those who observe this unbiblical package of paganism do not practice the religion instructed in the Bible, nor do they represent the one and only religion of the Creator God, contained in it.

I believe anyone writting about the religion of the Bible should first read it, then if they believe contrary to it, disclose that and admit to a theology that has its origins elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Searching for Truth from the scripture.
Review: May I establish that God's Word to mankind is good for yesterday, today and forever? And may I establish that God's Word is perfect, complete and has His stamp of approval on it? And may I establish that the examples of the assemblies of God/the bride of Christ/(c)hurch which are depicted for us in the New Testament scriptures falls into the above two catagories?
If so, please consider the following school of thought.
Scriptural soundness/simplicity for a christians' individual life and group life is really the only solid ground we can find in the world, whether today or when the church started. Humanism and other forces have slowly but surely weaved their way into almost every fiber of true christendom. The early church was obviously dynamic. They were daily and constantly 'going out', 'going out', 'going out'. Not 'coming in'. Their only routine 'coming in' was a weekly meeting for the saints to worship. They did not expect the lost to seek them out. They went looking for them. What could please Satan more than for christians to become introverted and expect sinners to come to them for salvation or wait for a once-a-year dose of "Christmas".
Regarding the birth of Jesus, there are no instructions, traditions or institutions set forth for christians to observe or celebrate the birth of Jesus. Obviously it is a paramount event in the history of man. But the advent of a major religion combining the pagan celebration of sun worshippers and the birth of Jesus into a major, so-called "Christian" holiday is one more opportunity that Satan uses to detract from the spread of the gospel of Jesus. The birth of Jesus is a subject which can and should be proclaimed most anytime throughout the year for His glory. This has no date or frequency associated with it other than what the Spirit urges. A conclusion is that it is not OK to let anything out-do, hold a higher priority or be more publicised than the gospel of Jesus, including an annual "Holiday" in honor of His birth.
In conclusion, based on my opening two sentences, if the early christian groups (assemblies of God, [c]hurches)didn't do it, then the saints of God of today have a responsibility to reject rather than be anxious to join in with an obviously scripturally unfounded, traditionally accepted humanistic event which does more harm than good, according to statistics.

Rating:
Summary: Searching for Truth from the scripture.
Review: May I establish that God's Word to mankind is good for yesterday, today and forever? And may I establish that God's Word is perfect, complete and has His stamp of approval on it? And may I establish that the examples of the assemblies of God/the bride of Christ/(c)hurch which are depicted for us in the New Testament scriptures falls into the above two catagories?
If so, please consider the following school of thought.
Scriptural soundness/simplicity for a christians' individual life and group life is really the only solid ground we can find in the world, whether today or when the church started. Humanism and other forces have slowly but surely weaved their way into almost every fiber of true christendom. The early church was obviously dynamic. They were daily and constantly 'going out', 'going out', 'going out'. Not 'coming in'. Their only routine 'coming in' was a weekly meeting for the saints to worship. They did not expect the lost to seek them out. They went looking for them. What could please Satan more than for christians to become introverted and expect sinners to come to them for salvation or wait for a once-a-year dose of "Christmas".
Regarding the birth of Jesus, there are no instructions, traditions or institutions set forth for christians to observe or celebrate the birth of Jesus. Obviously it is a paramount event in the history of man. But the advent of a major religion combining the pagan celebration of sun worshippers and the birth of Jesus into a major, so-called "Christian" holiday is one more opportunity that Satan uses to detract from the spread of the gospel of Jesus. The birth of Jesus is a subject which can and should be proclaimed most anytime throughout the year for His glory. This has no date or frequency associated with it other than what the Spirit urges. A conclusion is that it is not OK to let anything out-do, hold a higher priority or be more publicised than the gospel of Jesus, including an annual "Holiday" in honor of His birth.
In conclusion, based on my opening two sentences, if the early christian groups (assemblies of God, [c]hurches)didn't do it, then the saints of God of today have a responsibility to reject rather than be anxious to join in with an obviously scripturally unfounded, traditionally accepted humanistic event which does more harm than good, according to statistics.

Rating:
Summary: Balanced book which pleads for reason
Review: One of Ralph's best books yet, Christmas Reconsidered silences the hateful rhetoric from the anti-Christmas crowd. This rhetoric is less concerned about "truth" and more concerned about passing judgment on Christians who choose to exercise their liberty based on Romans 14 to keep days that they deem fit to keep. Ralph Woodrow pleads for sanity and reason in the X Mas debate, especially for those who use psuedo-research to show that X Mas was "pagan." Rev. Richard Lee

Rating:
Summary: Balanced book which pleads for reason
Review: One of Ralph's best books yet, Christmas Reconsidered silences the hateful rhetoric from the anti-Christmas crowd. This rhetoric is less concerned about "truth" and more concerned about passing judgment on Christians who choose to exercise their liberty based on Romans 14 to keep days that they deem fit to keep. Ralph Woodrow pleads for sanity and reason in the X Mas debate, especially for those who use psuedo-research to show that X Mas was "pagan." Rev. Richard Lee

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly refutes the supposed connection with paganism
Review: Ralph Woodrow is amazing. Formerly an anti-Catholic, Mr. Woodrow has now realized how hollow, one-sided, biased, and inaccurate the arguments are that attempt to suggest that there is a connection between the Catholic Church and paganism. Some who profess belief in Christ insist that Christmas trees are evil (condemned by the Bible), that December 25 is really the day of the winter solstice on which the pagans worshiped Sol Invictus (a sun-god) and therefore anyone who celebrates Christmas endorses pagan sun-worship, and that nowhere in Scripture are we commanded, or even ALLOWED, to celebrate Christ's birth.

In this book, Ralph Woodrow clearly shows that these arguments are based on an insufficient knowledge of the Bible, mere anti-Catholic bias, have no connection to history, and do not result from sound reasoning. There is no doubt that Woodrow really proves his case. His knowledge of the Bible is amazing, and his fairness in dealing with the issue is commendable. He is still not a Catholic, so some remarks in the book are at odds with Catholic doctrine, but Woodrow is a genuine seeker of truth, and that makes this book especially refreshing.