What Is Wrong With Christmas Customs?

We believe differently about the celebration of Christmas, but I know you
take your stand out of reverence and I respect that. Even so, I hope that
you draw inspiration from the symbol of a light shining in the the darkness.

"Not all the darkness in the world can extinguish the flame of a single
candle."

~Francis of Assisi

I really appreciate that. And you are so right in that the darkness we see in the world today can stop the light found in God’s Word and in his Son, Jesus Christ. I take. great courage from this promise Jesus makes at Matthew 5:5 which states: "Happy are the mild tempered ones since they will inherit the earth."

He was restating the promise his Father made earlier in Psalms at Psalms 37: verses 9, 10 and 29.

They shudda asked for saltine crackers.

Just as a side note to the linked history channel:
In Germany, people didn't honourthe pagan god Oden but Odin in the northern part and Wodan (Wagner's Wotan) in central and southern parts.
(The Nine Herbs Charm, an Old English charm recorded in the 10th-century, mentions Woden [Wodan] as well.)
Wodan's/Odin's "wild hunt" ... was developed by the German folklorist Jacob Grimm, who first published it in his 1835, and interpreted the Wild Hunt phenomenon as having pre-Christian origins.
Source

The Greek and Russian orthodox churches sill use the Julian calendar - so Epiphany is 13 days later as we celebrate it here, too.

Advent was a lend period which ended on December 25. Thus, Christmas was the first day, where full meals were allowed.

THIS JUST IN!!!
"If on Christmas Eve, your hens lay eggs, Winter will be warm and brief"

Screw IPCC, my chickens rule!!

We may disagree on some things. But I raise my shiraz to your last post.

Tipped your stein a little early this year, eh Farmer?
Don't worry.
You'll feel better on the 26th.

dont drink.
Its a Pa Dutch localism. Another is;
"If the willow branches are bedecked in ice on Christmas eve, you will bale-up first cut of clover by end of April."

Obviously you are not aware of the farmers almanac.

Oh.
Ah.
Oh, that's you!
Sorry.
I forgot.

If you will get on google, Christmas trees were worshiped in Germany, but left outside. and when England's queen first received one, with costly adornments, she liked it, and Germany then became the fist country making millions, exporting the adornments.

You're exactly right! It's a money maker. Any store will tell you their 1st million comes on Christmas. If you totally take it away, you'll sell stocks start to slide.

First of all, do you like the idea that so much of the world get rich off the ideals of Christmas? Do you feel good knowing that pagans were the first to worship Christmas trees. Just because they are in your church evry year doesn't make it truth.
Tell me, do you read anything that's full of, sounds like, I think, I feel, what could be? Imagine if all doctors graduated on that theory. There is absolutely no excuse for being ignorant when the computor can give you thousands of examples. It just so happens I did research it. He is absolutely right. Why don't you go and prove it first.

You said the words, that was centuries ago. Does that mean we are all greater than the apostles, who died for what was right.

Nothing wrong with Christmas customs. It's that time of year when people begin to feel the holiday season and good cheer. It's when children can look forward to gifts from Santa, and people become more charitable to the poor and the hungry. Retail businesses do 25% of their business during the Christmas season. When I worked for Florsheim, the company treated all employees to a turkey for Thanksgiving. We see more people smiling during this period. Even on our street, many homes string up colored lights.
When we were kids, we were too poor and didn't receive gifts. I remember telling my wife early when our children were very young, that they received more gifts in one year than we received all our life. I think that's true for many in our country. We are the children of the Great Depression generation.

You also said Yes, the early Christian church took up a lot of local customs to make the religion more popular. Today people are so comfortable, going to church is a popular club. But do you actually think the fist church was after money and popularity, especially after many were abused and martyred. in islamic countries, its happening today.

That was superb, excellently said!

If you'll do some reseach and dig deep, you'll find Christmas trees were first worship in ones backyard. It was never brought in the home. But when one was presented to the queen Victory and prince Albert of England, it was richly adorned. The buisness of ornaments then became Germany's gold mine, making millions by exporting it. So, it then became popular in the Cathlic church when priests adopted it and placed it near the alter.

Actually, I did some research.
And the earliest known documents say, they were inside the houses.
The glas ornaments first were in 1847 in Lauscha, because the glasblowers didn't have the money to buy the usually common apple and walnuts.
That region is since nearly 500 years Protestant/Evangelical.

Woolworth was the first to import the glas ornaments from there, in 1880.

Martin Luther and other reformers declared the {fir) tree the Christmas symbol of the Protestants, just as the manger was for a long time only part of Catholic Christmas. (Similar with gifts: Catholics received the presents on December 6th from St. Nicholas, Protestants thanks to Luther on Christmas Eve from the Christ Child. [Peculiar funny: that changed later, "Christmas man" with the Protestants, Christ Child with the Catholics.]

Indoor "Christmas trees" (mainly yew trees, hollies and box trees) are first documented in southern parts of Germany (1535 in Strasbourg) and in northern Germany in 1570 (Bremen).

From 1730 onwards the trees were also decorated with candles for the first time. The trees of light were initially only found in the houses of Protestant families.
Spanning all denominations, the Christmas tree conquered the living rooms in the era of the wars of liberty against Napoleon at the beginning of the 19th century (because the period of the "cuis regio eius religio" wasn't followed any more at the time in most parts of Germany).

This might be the first time in a decade or more that someone has questioned your research.

Opinions are a different matter, of course.