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Transcript 002C — Is it Sinful to Observe Christmas?
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Hello. I'd like to ask about the holidays, whether Christians should celebrate them or not.
HC: Well, there are those who try to contend that it is sinful to observe Christmas. Now the Bible does not command us to observe Christmas. It would not be sinful if we did not observe Christmas. We're not commanded to observe Christmas. But on the other hand, to observe Christmas as a day when we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, is not contrary to the Bible in any way.
And I rejoice that at one season of the year we can focus our eyes, and hopefully the world itself to some degree focuses their eyes on this marvelous event of the fact that God took on a human nature and became a human being so that He could be the Savior of all who would believe on Him. I just don't find anything in the Bible that would say that that was a sinful practice.
CALLER: So you say that you can observe the birth of Christ.
HC: I believe that with all my heart. Now we don't observe it, saying, "We know that Jesus was born on December 25." In fact, we know He was not born on December 25. More likely He was born in October some time, or late in September. At least, the burden of the evidence points to that. But it's immaterial as to the precise day that He was born. On Christmas a day has been selected simply as a day when we celebrate or remember the birth of Christ. And no intention is made that this is the day that He was born.
CALLER: Do you know the day He was crucified, around the time?
HC: Yes, He was crucified in the spring of the year, on Passover Day. He was crucified in AD 33, and it would have been around March or April.
CALLER: Okay.