"Christmas was not celebrated by the apostolic church. It was not celebrated during the first few centuries of the church. As late as A.D. 245, Origen (Hom. 8 on Leviticus) repudiated ...the idea of keeping the birthday of Christ, "as if he were a king Pharaoh." By the middle of the 4th century, many churches in the Latin west were celebrating Christmas. During the 5th century, Christmas became an official Roman Catholic holy day. In A.D. 534, Christmas was recognized as an official holy day by the Roman state.The reason that Christmas became a church holy day has nothing to do with the Bible. The Bible does not give the date of Christ's birth. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to celebrate Christmas. Christmas (as well as many other pagan practices) was adopted by the Roman church as a missionary strategy." - The Regulative Principle of Worship and Christmas by Brian Schwertley (empases added), FREE BOOK at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/CHRISTMAS.htm or on the Puritan Hard Drive http://ow.ly/dZ3ua.
"If you want to understand Reformed theology (i.e., the whole counsel of God) the Puritan Hard Drive is unsurpassed, outside the Bible itself. ... There is no other resource, outside Scripture itself, where you can find so much of God's truth as in the Puritan Hard Drive. ... now that I have the Puritan Hard Drive, I am able to use my time much more efficiently in finding that particular document I need by quickly searching for it and finding it in a matter of seconds. ... I am able to simply cut and paste from the Puritan Hard Drive to my own document with ease." - Pastor Greg Price (Covenanter Author and Theologian) http://ow.ly/fPY4o
All human inventions which are set up to corrupt the simple purity of the Word of God, and to undo the worship which he demands and approves, are true sacrileges, in which the Christian man cannot participate without blaspheming God, and trampling his honour underfoot. - John Calvin on the Puritan Hard Drive http://ow.ly/dZ3ua.
In 1899, the General Assembly of the PCUS was overtured to give a "pronounced and explicit deliverance" against the recognition of "Christmas and Easter as religious days." Even at this late date, the answer came back in a solid manner: "There is no warrant in Scripture for the observance of Christmas and Easter as holydays, rather the contrary (see Gal. 4:9-11; Col. 2:16-21), and such observance is contrary to the principles of the Reformed faith, conducive to will-worship, and not in harmony with the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." - Kevin Reed, Christmas: An Historical Survey Regarding Its Origins and Opposition to It (Free Online Book at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/Xmas_ch2.htm)
Are Easter, Christmas, Other Popish/Pagan Holy Days (Not Authorized In the Bible), Man-Made Hymns and Musical Instruments In Worship, Etc., Idols? - According To the Classic Reformed View Of The Second Commandment (Free Reformed MP3s, Videos,...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
