These religious denominations are
opposed to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25 every
year.
Here are the denominations that
don't celebrate Christmas and why they avoid it.
Jehovah’s Witness
This religious organisation is
one of the biggest group of Christmas-shunners. The interesting thing is that
they were not always this way. Once upon a time, Jehovah’s Witnesses used to
observe Christmas. This was until 1928, after further study by one official.
According to spokesman J.R. Brown
from the church’s Brooklyn, New York, headquarters, this official’s findings
led to the church dropping the holiday.
The official found that this is
based on“false religious beliefs or activities.” Deseret News reports that this
is explained in a 1993 book, “Jehovah’s Witnesses — Proclaimers of God’s
Kingdom.”
Still, it took a while for
everyone to get on board with the new tradition of no longer celebrating
Christmas.
Brown says after the group “cast
aside religious teachings that had pagan roots, they also quit sharing in many
customs that were similarly tainted. But for a time, certain holidays were not
given the careful scrutiny that they needed. One of these was Christmas.”
The major reason why they do not
celebrate it because they believe the Bible would have said something if
Christmas observance was important, however, they do not prevent others from
honouring the day.
In Brown’s words, Witnesses now
ask themselves “does this please God, when it is not mentioned in the scriptures?”
How Witnesses now approach the holiday
Brown says, “If someone is
dealing with you and they say, ‘Merry Christmas,’ we do not go into a sermon
about the pagan origins.
“You don’t make an issue of it
every time because we have to face the fact that they mean well when they say
‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.’
“We will say this is the time of
year many people are actually thinking about Jesus Christ. Did you take notice
of what he put their emphasis on in his life?”
Brown adds, “I personally go out.
I’m 74, and I’ve done this since I was 4 years old.”
Birthdays, Halloween, Easter,
Mother’s Day, New Year’s Day, and Valentine's Day are also shunned because of
their pagan origins.
Seventh Day Adventist Church
Like Jehovah’s Witnesses, this
church is also against the celebration of Christmas.
A publication from the group that
goes to church on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath day, not Sunday reads: “We do
not celebrate Christmas as the Birth of Christ per say since Christ was not
born in Dec.
“He did not want us to celebrate
His birth or He would have told us when He was born. It has become a
money-making celebration with Christ mixed in. It is a pagan ritual.
“We join in to be with the Family
or friends to celebrate their friendship and love as a family gathering and for
the Children. Easter too is a pagan holiday and we do not celebrate the Name
but we honour Christ’s Resurrection and keep the day in mind on what He has
done for us. We do not make an issue out of it but quietly honour Christ….it’s
a gathering also for the Children. It is a personal Choice.”
Deeper Life
A few years ago, Pastor W.F.
Kumuyi, the head of Deeper Life Bible Church announced to his members and the
world that his church does not celebrate the popular holiday.
Explaining why at the 2013
December retreat, he said: “We don’t celebrate Christmas nor sing Christmas
carol; because Christmas is of idolatrous background.”
God’s Kingdom Society (GKS)
This is another church that is
anti-Christmas. According to the church’s official website, they believe that
there is no single evidence in the Bible that Jesus Christ was born on the 25th
of December.
Rather, they believe that He was
born in October and that Christmas originated from “a noisy pagan festival in
honour of the god of the sun”.
While other Christians celebrate
Christmas in December, this church celebrates the birth anniversary of Jesus
Christ in October. This is done with something called the Freedom Day.
The church was started by St.
Gideon Meriodere Urhobo in 1934 after leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses. He lived
from 1903–1952. The headquarters can be found in Warri.
Religious Society of Friends
There is a religious group called
the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers.
This church believes that “every
day is a holy day,” so there is no need to single out just one day to
celebrate.
Another reason why they do not
celebrate Christmas is that some Quakers are trying to go back to the ways of
early Christianity.
Chris Pifer, a spokesman for the
Friends General Conference, says, “There’s an effort within aspects of Quaker
practice to try and explore and find primitive Christianity, the church before
it became a political entity.
“In very early Christianity,
there weren’t holidays like Christmas anywhere close to the form it is today.”
Wikipedia reports that 52% of the
group around the world can be Africa. Kenya reportedly has the largest number
of Quakers in this continent.
According to the church’s
website, fwccafrica.org, the Nigerian branch started as a small worship group
in Lagos in the early 1990’s.
Fun Fact - Mountain of Fire
Ministries (MFM) don’t celebrate Christmas too. According to the founder,
Pastor D.K. Olukoya, “We don’t celebrate Christmas because the root is
demonic.”
He said no book in the bible recorded the word “Christmas”
or that Jesus was born on December 25.
“If you really study the Bible from Genesis to Revelation,
there is no word like Christmas.
“The bible only recorded that the Shepherds were taking care
of their flocks during a very cold season when they sighted the star that
announced the birth of Jesus Christ. This cold period could be around April or
May,’’ Olukoya said.
Regardless of what these churches believe, billions of Christians around the world continue to mark Christ’s birthday on December 25 each year.
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