Across the globe, the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated today. In this piece, MOSES ALAO and KEHINDE OYETIMI write on the essence of His birth and present the various perceptions held by different denominations concerning the day.

CHRISTMAS comes but once in a year; whenever it does, it brings a mixture of solemn worship and festivity, highlighting the birth of Jesus Christ, giving many people the reassurance of salvation while opening unto others the window to have limitless fun.

Christmas, whenever it comes to town, brings varieties of experiences for a variety of people; leading to the ageless question of what really constitutes the essence of what has come to be a worldwide celebration and holiday. Far from the mistletoe, away from the caroling, farther away from Santa Claus and his plethora of gifts, and definitely beyond the wining and dining that comes annually with Christmas every 25 December, the questions continue to pop up on whether the celebration is godly and what should form the whole essence of the celebration.

According to history, Christmas as it has now come to be known did not begin as a Christian celebration, neither could it be undoubtedly proved that the Lord Jesus Christ was actually born on 25 December.  Roman pagans, according to an online source, introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, which lasted between December 17-25 and it was a week of unabated indulgence in sex, alcoholism and other mundane pleasures.

However, around the 4th century CE, Christianity was said to have imported festival with the intent to draw the multitude of pagans at the time, a development which was said to have converted large numbers of pagans who still reveled in the fact that they could continue to enjoy Saturnalia festival.  Since Saturnalia had nothing to do with Christianity, Christian leaders had to refine the festival by naming the concluding day, 25 December as Jesus' birthday.

Sadly, it became impossible to situate such festival within the scripture, as there was no clear cut expression of a birthday celebration or anywhere Christ commanded the commemoration of his earthly birth, and this has continued to the bone of contention on how Christ-like it is to celebrate Christmas. The Jehovah Witnesses lead the fold of those who speak against the celebration of Christmas, noting that Christmas is an un-Christian pagan holiday.

“Christmas is nothing but an importation of earthly tradition. There is nowhere in the Bible that Christ talked about his birthday or even commissioned Christians to celebrate it. In fact, the only occasion that Christ wanted Christians to commemorate is the Lord Supper, as he said in Luke 22:19. So, it is saddening to see Christians celebrate a festival of sin and earthly pleasure in the name of our Lord,” declared Mr. Simeon Ademola, a Jehovah's Witness.

He further criticised some of the Christmas traditions that have become popular over the years, declaring them as the exaltation of earthly traditions. For instance, he pointed out the unchristian nature of Christmas trees, a tradition that has become universally known and accepted with Christmas, citing Jeremiah 10:3-4, where the Bible talked about idolaters cutting down trees and decorating them with silver and gold. “Look at Christmas as it is being celebrated worldwide, do you think Christ will be happy seeing his birthday celebrated in such manner?” he asked.

Dating back to a long time ago, several materials and gestures have come to be known with Christmas celebration as people worldwide mark the celebration with symbolic gestures and materials that often pointedly declare the coming of the season. One of such gestures is gift-giving or what has come to be largely known as Santa Claus, a symbolic white-beaded priest that often distributes gifts to people especially children in the spirit of Christmas. According to history, what has now come to be known as a Santa Claus tradition began also did not start from the church. A certain Nicholas born in Parara, Turkey around 270 CE and later became a Bishop of the Catholic church was said to have been idolized by some Roman sailors and they reportedly gave him the status of Pasqua Epiphania, a boon-giving goddess that filled children's stockings with gifts. Ever since, every Christmas season around the world brings the 'good Santa' back, restoring brief moments of love and care about neighbours.

Many Christians have, however, argued that the cacophony of the carols, the glistering Christmas trees, the 'free-giving' Santa, the endless pleasure of wine and the culinary delights that come with Christmas have overshadowed the real significance of the festival- the birth of Christ and ultimate salvation for the world that was condemned as a result of sin.

The arguments for the 25 December celebration of Christ's birth and the traditions that have come to be known with Christmas have been that though some of the dates and traditions might have been borrowed, they are now symbolically adapted to accentuate the importance of Christ's coming and the spiritual values of such coming and celebrations continue to reawaken people yearly, while also bringing millions to the vineyard.

For instance, the gift-giving tradition has been modified in several ways; with thousands of Christians around the world using the occasion of Christmas to reach out to the needy, taking gifts and foods to the orphans and the less-privileged. To many, Santa Claus represents an annual reminder of how love should prevail in a world already overshadowed with hatred.

In addition, thousands of churches use the Christmas celebration to remind people of the virgin birth of Christ and the imperative of his coming as the savior of the world, thus making the occasion an annual reminder of salvation and redemption. “Christ did not ask Christians to celebrate his birth, but the commemoration helps to serve an important purpose in Christianity. It is an annual reminder that whatever one must have done or is doing, a point did come when salvation needs to enter one's life, a turning point, and that is what Christ's birth symbolises. I do not subscribe to the idea that because Christ was not exactly born on 25 December, Christmas is not worth celebrating,” Mrs Grace Alade argued in defence of Christmas and the noble ideals it has come to represent for the Christendom.

Sharing a different stand from the popular opinion, the President of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Nigeria, Pastor (Dr) Oyeleke Alabi Owolabi, argued on the church's refusal to celebrate December 25 as the birth of Christ. According to him, “We do celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as a church because in the Bible, Jesus gave us specific instruction before he departed. He said do this in remembrance of me and that is the Holy Communion. Any time we partake in the Holy Communion service as a church, we believe wholeheartedly that we are celebrating the remembrance of Jesus Christhis birth, his ministry and his resurrection.

“We believe that baptism is a sacred service. When you are baptized as a Christian, you are baptized into the death of Christ and his resurrection. So at that point, remembering Christ becomes a daily activity not once in a year as many claim to be doing now.

“December 25 is a questionable date of the birth of Jesus Christ. Who was there when Christ was born? What are the historical facts to justify that Jesus Christ was born on December 25? We are careful as Christians and Christian leaders not to deceive people. Was Christ born on that day? The answer is no because there are no historical evidences.

“Unfortunately again, the way people celebrate the period is terrible and alarming.”

For Archbishop J.O. Akinfenwa, the Anglican Archbishop of Ibadan Province and the Bishop of Ibadan Diocese, Jesus should form the focus of the celebration. “The reason for celebrating Christmas is Jesus. If you remove Jesus out of the celebration, it is no longer a celebration. But unfortunately, people have drummed up different kinds of things into the celebration--the rush, the traffic, and the excesses. The reason is Jesus and to put into practice the reason for which he came into the worldto show us how to love and to show us the true colour of the father, to reconcile to one another, to show us how to live peaceably with all men. We must abide by his words at all time. If you take away his word then we are finished. This is what the foreign powers want us to do, to begin to disobey God by legalizing homosexuality. No, we cannot please man and please God,” he stated.

Dr Chris Agulana, one of the pastors at the Deeper Life Bible Church, contended that dwelling on the exegesis of whether Christ was born on December 25 or not was not the point but the purpose of his coming. According to him, “Jesus was born and died for our sins. He rose again for our justification. But In our contemporary world, people have shifted the focus from remembering the Christ who died for them to celebration and for just revelry, eating and drinking. Since the government gives us holiday, it is a time for us to leave the noisy environment, go to a secluded area and talk about the Jesus who died and draw closer to him. Our focus is not the ceremony but to remember the Jesus who died and rose again for our justification.

“That is why we invite our neighbours and friends to the December retreat so that people would get the right understanding about Christ. The reason why Jesus came is to save us from our sins but people get into drinking. Jesus would be weeping where he is that people have desecrated what he came into the world to do. Since the Deeper Life Bible Church is a Bible believing church, we want to bring people back to the realization that the purpose of Christmas or whatever is called is to surrender to the lordship of Christ. There is a controversy whether Jesus was born in December or not. We do not want to go into such controversy. If the world decides to look for a day to remember him, the important thing is that he died for us and that people should draw closer to him.

“It is not the celebration but we should rejoice that he saved us from sin. Anybody who is celebrating Christmas but is yet to be born again is just wasting his or her time.”

Sharing similar position, the Kano State chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), Bishop Ransom Bello, stated that the period should be used to reflect on what Christ did.

“The essence is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Saviour and to have some reflections on that because every celebration must have some reflections. Individuals have reasons for what they do. But the issue is that as a minister of God that understands scriptures, it is a time to reflect over the reason why he was born. Whatever others are making out of it only reveals our levels of understanding. There are those who may not understand today, perhaps they would understand tomorrow,” he submitted.”