Are Christian holidays really biblical?

Scripture:
Are Christian holidays really biblical? There is no command to celebrate Christmas and Jesus probably wasn't born in December anyway. The resurrection did take place near the time of the Passover. We should not be caught up in the pagan trappings of these holidays, but we can certainly remember what Christ did for us.
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Caller:  Are Christian holidays, like Christmas and Easter, are they really Biblical - because I can't really find them in inaudible.

Pastor Doug:  Ok well I can't answer that in one or two words - let me explain. There's no command in the Bible to remember the Birth of Christ. Jesus was most likely not born the 25th of December. He was probably born in the fall. That was a date that was adopted by the church because it was the winter solstice and it was already a popular holiday in the Roman Empire. So the date for the 25th of December was really adopted from the pagans. Is it a sin to remember the Birth of Christ? No. There's no command to do it. Easter, on the other hand, does come during the time of the Jewish Passover, which is in the Bible but we're never commanded to celebrate the Resurrection. What the Bible tells us to do to remember the Resurrection it says Baptism is a symbol of the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus. Is it wrong to remember the Resurrection? No. I think it would be wrong to ignore it. Does it only need to be done during one day of the year? No. There's no Bible command that says that.

So I hope that gives you a little background. Now there's a lot of paganism attached to some of these holidays. Nothing in the Bible talks about Easter bunnies and chicks and egg hunts - that all comes from pagan fertility festivals. And so Christmas all had to do with the - a lot of it was surrounding solar worship and things, so, avoid the pagan trappings. Morally there's nothing wrong with remembering the Birth or the Resurrection of Christ.

Caller:  A lot of people have been blessed by your recent magazine on Temptation.

Pastor Doug:  Oh well praise the Lord! I'm glad to hear that.

Caller:  A lot of people have - I'm Bible Instructor over the Internet - a lot of people have been coming back.

Pastor Doug:  Well great! I'm going to try and turn that into a book you know because we wanted to get it where it's on a regular basis in people's hands.

Caller:  Okay praise the Lord. Have a good week.

Pastor Doug:  Thank you Brett. God bless you.

Co-Host:  Brett thanks for the call.

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