{"id":985,"date":"2013-12-23T21:40:18","date_gmt":"2013-12-24T02:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=985"},"modified":"2013-12-23T21:40:18","modified_gmt":"2013-12-24T02:40:18","slug":"answering-christmas-discontents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html","title":{"rendered":"Answering Christmas’ Discontents"},"content":{"rendered":"

While 2 billion people\u2014one third of the Earth\u2019s population\u2014celebrate the Birth of all births at this time of year, Christmas\u2014or at least the conventional manner of celebrating it\u2014remains an object of derision, even of contempt, for some.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For all of their differences, its discontents\u2014unbelievers, non-believers, and Christian \u201cpurists\u201d alike\u2014unite \u00a0in mocking it for the pagan symbols that have come to be associated with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given that their self-assuredness is as invincible as is their condescension, the discontents would have us think that Christians are unaware of the pagan sources of many of their Christmas-oriented traditions.\u00a0 Not only is this not the case; Christians are the people who originally appropriated what the pagan world had to offer in order to enrich their celebrations of Christmas. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And there isn\u2019t anything in the least objectionable about this\u2014at least not from a Christian perspective. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Christmas marks the birth of Christ, i.e. the event whereby God assumed flesh<\/i>: the Incarnation. <\/i>\u00a0God, you see, transcends the world, yes, but He is also immanent in it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christianity, in other words, precludes those species of purism that insist that there is some allegedly \u201coriginal\u201d Christianity that can be separated out, neat and tidy, from the paganism new and old that have corrupted it.\u00a0 There is no such thing.\u00a0 God\u2019s Word is as dynamic, as lively, as creation itself. Indeed, creation is<\/i> as much <\/i>God\u2019s word as is the Bible, reason, and tradition. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In becoming \u201call things to all people,\u201d as he described himself, St. Paul\u2019s belief in this truth was second to none.\u00a0 Those Christians who conscripted aspects of the pagan world into the service of developing both their theology as well as their worldview is exactly what the greatest of Apostles, Paul, did when bringing the Gospel to the gentile world. <\/span><\/p>\n

Christian purists should consider that charging the contemporary celebration of Christmas with lacking in authenticity for its pagan influences is like charging as inauthentic any version of the Bible that isn\u2019t written in Hebrew or Greek.\u00a0 Atheists and nonbelievers should consider that this allegation is akin to the charge that modern science is inauthentic or hypocritical because of its <\/i>origins in Christianity. <\/span><\/p>\n

And make no mistakes about it, science has emerged and flourished in the West precisely because of the religion of the West.\u00a0 More specifically, Christianity relies upon metaphysical assumptions that are, or have always been, absent from much of the world.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

First, for Christians, the world does not, <\/i>as the ancient Greeks supposed, emanate <\/i>from a deity. And, unlike what Easterners of various sorts assumed, the world is neither an illusion<\/i> nor identical with an abstract, impersonal \u201cAbsolute\u201d or Tao.\u00a0 <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rather, the universe is a creation, <\/i>an entirely, fundamentally distinct thing from the Supremely Personal, all benevolent, omniscient Being that made it.\u00a0 Because of its divine origins, it is purposeful, meaningful, and good. <\/i>The universe, then, is an object that both can and should be studied. Thus, Sir Isaac Newton, one of the founders of modern science, spoke for legions of some of history\u2019s most renowned scientists\u2014Galileo, Kepler, Boyle, to name but a few\u2014when he famously remarked that in doing science, the scientist was doing nothing more or less than \u201cthinking God\u2019s thoughts after Him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So too is what we call \u201cmorality\u201d indebted to Christianity. \u00a0If Christmas is a fake because popular celebrations of it have their roots in a pre-Christian world, then morality as Westerners conceive it is as well a fake because of its <\/i>roots in Christianity. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are two notions central to Western morality\u2014\u201csecular\u201d morality\u2014that are distinctly<\/i> Christian. It\u2019s their combination that is uniquely <\/i>Christian. The first is that all human beings, regardless of their individuating characteristics\u2014\u201crace, color, creed,\u201d etc.\u2014possess an inviolable dignity, a worth beyond all price for having been created by an all perfect, all loving God.\u00a0 The second is that each of us has an obligation to act <\/i>toward each person as we would act in the presence of God Himself, for in the presence of each person, we are <\/i>in the presence of God. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And to fulfill this obligation the God-Man\u2014Christ\u2014gave us the example of His own Person.\u00a0 To treat others as if we were serving God is to care, genuinely care<\/i>, for them, and to do so at once tirelessly and<\/i> joyfully.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That Christ\u2019s disciples fail to fulfill their calling, that they\u2019ve sinned, <\/i>they are the first to admit.\u00a0 As their Lord taught them through His own self-sacrificial life, humility is a cardinal Christian virtue.\u00a0 Still, given the foregoing considerations, to say nothing of the fact that the overwhelming majority\u2014the overwhelming majority\u2014<\/i>of the planet\u2019s charitable organizations are Christian-based, no one with two eyes to see who isn\u2019t a boldfaced liar could so much as think to deny that Christianity has been as powerful an engine for good as any to which the world has ever given rise. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the interest of keeping this engine humming along, decent people everywhere should, with one voice, shout \u201cMerry Christmas!\u201d this Christmas season. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While 2 billion people\u2014one third of the Earth\u2019s population\u2014celebrate the Birth of all births at this time of year, Christmas\u2014or at least the conventional manner of celebrating it\u2014remains an object of derision, even of contempt, for some.\u00a0 For all of their differences, its discontents\u2014unbelievers, non-believers, and Christian \u201cpurists\u201d alike\u2014unite \u00a0in mocking it for the pagan…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAnswering Christmas' Discontents<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Answering Christmas' Discontents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While 2 billion people\u2014one third of the Earth\u2019s population\u2014celebrate the Birth of all births at this time of year, Christmas\u2014or at least the conventional manner of celebrating it\u2014remains an object of derision, even of contempt, for some.\u00a0 For all of their differences, its discontents\u2014unbelievers, non-believers, and Christian \u201cpurists\u201d alike\u2014unite \u00a0in mocking it for the pagan…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-24T02:40:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jack Kerwick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Answering Christmas' Discontents","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Answering Christmas' Discontents","og_description":"While 2 billion people\u2014one third of the Earth\u2019s population\u2014celebrate the Birth of all births at this time of year, Christmas\u2014or at least the conventional manner of celebrating it\u2014remains an object of derision, even of contempt, for some.\u00a0 For all of their differences, its discontents\u2014unbelievers, non-believers, and Christian \u201cpurists\u201d alike\u2014unite \u00a0in mocking it for the pagan…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html","og_site_name":"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture","article_published_time":"2013-12-24T02:40:18+00:00","author":"Jack Kerwick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html","name":"Answering Christmas' Discontents","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-12-24T02:40:18+00:00","dateModified":"2013-12-24T02:40:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/6832222998cc14717ded1849531201c5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2013\/12\/answering-christmas-discontents.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Answering Christmas’ Discontents"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/","name":"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Jack Kerwick","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/6832222998cc14717ded1849531201c5","name":"Jack Kerwick","description":"I have a Ph.D. in philosophy from Temple University, a master's degree in philosophy from Baylor University, and a bachelor's degree in philosophy and religious studies from Wingate University. I teach philosophy at several colleges in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania areas.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jackkerwick.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/author\/jkerwick"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":986,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions\/986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}