Christmas Reconsidered [Paperback]

Ralph E. Woodrow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1994

A balanced and healthy consideration of Christmas--neither debunking Christmas as "pagan and un-Christian" nor encouraging an over-emphasis of the materialistic or secularization of the holiday.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"After all the years standing for truth, you have now gone backward. There's nothing in Christmas that is true. Many people worship the Christmas tree. Christmas is pagan.... Why tell people its okay and send them to Hell? How much blood will be on your hands on Judgment Day?" -- Arkansas

"For a period of several years I was bitterly against celebrating Christmas. This accomplished nothing positive-it only put a wall between me and Christians who in all good conscience do celebrate Christmas. This year for the first time in over a dozen years, I sent out Christmas cards-there were 57 surprised friends and relatives around the country! I got back some very warm replies. You were right to mention Romans 14...to emphasize that Jesus is what really matters, not some religious tradition and all the arguments for or against it. Please take heart and stick to your approach-it is the right one." -- West Virginia

"I just want to thank you a million times over for your book! I was born into a church that was very "anti-Christmas".... Thank you for your research that makes it so clear that honoring Christ anytime of the year is just plain good to do! I'm 29 years old and celebrating my "first Christmas!! I have had so much joy in giving gifts and telling the Christ-story to unbelievers. "It's a Wonderful Time of the Year." So I wanted to take this moment to wish you a Christ-filled Christmas Holiday Season!" -- California

"I used to be a staunch supporter of your teachings and have ordered many of your books.... I firmly believe that Christmas is a huge hoax perpetuated by Satan to dupe all the people of the world.... I won't be ordering any more books from you, you have flip-flopped one time too many." -- Minnesota

"Just a note to say how much I appreciate your materials, especially the balance on the Christmas/Easter debate. I would like to remain on your mailing list." -- Pastor, Missouri

"Thank you for CHRISTMAS RECONSIDERED. My last Christmas was when I was 6 years old. Now 31 years later, my children are so excited we have a tree and presents to look forward to. I just wanted to send you my first ever Christmas card. When I was little I secretly wrapped up an old book in paper so I would have something to open on December 25th. I was considered weird at school because holidays, birthdays, etc., were out.... I'm no longer a legalist, and I don't look down on others as I was taught to do.... Just wanted to express my appreciation." -- California

"Thank you for the Christian love that has gone into the writing of the Christmas book. I look forward to the one on Easter. I wish that Christians could get along with one another and tolerate each others differences more. Good work!" -- Oklahoma

From the Author

On a personal note, early in my Christian experience, I was intrigued to discover that a number of things practiced among Christians were not mentioned in the Bible-one of them being Christmas. In time some of these things were mentioned in my writings, particularly "Babylon Mystery Religion-Ancient and Modern." I pointed out that-"the word 'Christmas' is not in the Bible; the combining of 'Christ' with 'mass' indicates a mixture; ...the wise men never came to the manger, but to a house-they did not exchange gifts among themselves, but presented their gifts to Christ...."

For the most part, this information was not untrue; but it was incomplete. I was seeing only one side of the coin, and one-sided information can be misleading. To show only the pagan elements in Christmas leaves many unanswered questions.

I never regarded a person's belief about Christmas, pro or con, as an essential of the Christian faith. I never believed that differences about Christmas should bring divisions in families or churches. It was never my desire that people become fanatically anti-Christmas in their attitude.

But as time went on, I would be quoted as though I were some "authority" on the anti-Christmas position, in numerous books and booklets, some of which were very radical. One could have easily gotten the impression that I thought an anti-Christmas position was essential, that division was justified, and that fanaticism on this issue was only spiritual fervency.

In 1979 I sought to clarify my position by writing an article: "Christmas 1979-A Study in Extremes." Because I advocated balance on the matter-and not a radical and rigid anti-Christmas position-a number of the letters I received were not only critical, they were hateful. I have probably never received as many hateful letters! If, as some say, the "Christmas spirit" is bad, the response to my article let me see there is an anti-Christmas spirit that can be very bad....

Let me hasten to say, there are Christians who hold the anti-Christmas position who have a good spirit about it. They have taken a stand for what they believe is the purity of the gospel, and are very sincere in their belief. They want to serve the Lord with their whole heart. There are others, however, who become cynical and critical of any and all who do not see things the way they do. It would seem their religion consists more in what they don't believe, than what they do believe. They think more in terms of what they are against, instead of what they are FOR! On numerous occasions I have been asked in conversations and letters: "Can you recommend a church to me, one that does not keep Christmas?"-as though this one point was the standard whereby a church should be judged! I don't mean this unkindly or to make light of anyone.

Having had the opportunity over the years to speak for many different churches and groups that hold varied views on the Christmas issue, I can draw from personal experience. I have not found churches that take a rigid stand against Christmas to be more spiritual, more victorious, more fruitful, or more blessed of God than the others. Does this tell us something? If God considers Christmas observance to be Baal worship (as some claim), doesn't it seem He would greatly bless a group that forsakes Baal? And wouldn't those who persisted in Baal worship, if that were the case, be cut off from his blessing?

...I have known a number of people who switched from keeping Christmas to an anti-Christmas position. I have never seen this produce any real spiritual fruit. They did not suddenly become more effective or dynamic Christians. In many cases this change had a reverse effect, because of the confusion and division it generated.

It is difficult for many to understand why a Christian would oppose Christmas-a day set aside to honor the birth of Christ. Even with all the anti-Christmas articles and booklets that are circulated, this inconsistency has still not been satisfactorily explained for most people.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 62 pages
• Publisher: Ralph Woodrow (October 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916938131
• ISBN-13: 978-0916938130
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #664,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CHRISTMAS IS A CELEBRATION OF CHRIST!!!!, November 26, 2007

By 

Mouth of The South (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Reconsidered (Paperback)

You can tell by the amount of vitriol from the other reviews that there's a tremendous amount at stake here! What the "turn and burn" Catholic haters don't realize is you can't simply write off 1500 of Christian history. The ideas that Christian holidays are simply Pagan holidays are the product of overzealous protestants (and I'm not Roman Catholic by the way) and poor scholarship. The 19th century was notorious for bad scholarship concerning folklore and religious matters. This attitude of "Christian Holidays = Pagan Holidays" is what's fueling the Wiccan and Neopagan explosion. People are figuring (erroneously) that Christians simply stole the Pagans religion. I challenge every Christian reading this to buy 10 copies and give them away.

The simple fact of the matter is, historians like Professor Ronald Hutton of Oxford have discovered that many things thought to be Pagan in Christianity are actually not.

We don't know when Christ was born. There are three reasons the ancient Christians decided to celebrate Christ's birth on Dec. 25th. One reason was the Roman Empire recognized Dec. 26gth as day as the birth of Mithras. In protest, persecuted Christians began to celebrate the birth of Jesus on the day before. Good for them! Let us continue to celebrate it on this day if for no other reason than Pagans can't push us around! Another reason Christians derived this day to be the birth of Christ is that Jewish tradition held that a prophet died on the day he was conceived. Since we know Christ was crucified during Passover, which is close to March, counting down 9 months would take us to December. The third reason (and perhaps the most important) was that the Jewish festival of C'hanukka was celebrated for the very first time on what would hae been the equivalent of Dec. 25th on the Western calendar. C'hannuka is a festival of lights. We Christians too, celebrate Christmas with many lights. Christmas is simply our C'hanukka, just as Easter is our Passover. Christians should celebrate Christmas for these three reasons if nothing else.

I imagine the Jack Chick types think the Jesuits "got to Woodrow", and that's to be expected. It takes an extreme amount of courage to admit you're wrong, and Woodrow had courage. It also took courage to face the lions down.

14 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced book which pleads for reason, September 4, 2000

By 

Richard F. Lee - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Reconsidered (Paperback)

One of Ralph's best books yet, Christmas Reconsidered silences the hateful rhetoric from the anti-Christmas crowd. This rhetoric is less concerned about "truth" and more concerned about passing judgment on Christians who choose to exercise their liberty based on Romans 14 to keep days that they deem fit to keep. Ralph Woodrow pleads for sanity and reason in the X Mas debate, especially for those who use psuedo-research to show that X Mas was "pagan." Rev. Richard Lee

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks Be To God!, August 2, 2007

By 

Lovin' The Truth (Deep in the South, US of A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Reconsidered (Paperback)

First, let me say I am not a Roman Catholic or part of the "conspiracy". Jack Chick readers will be disappointed.

I became a Wiccan in my teens because of the things people like Hislop were writing! Eventually I learned the errors of these views...but not until many years later when I was in my 30's. I don't think people realize one iota how damaging and erroneous it is to paint the Roman Catholic Church as a Pagan religion. You can't seperate 1500 years of Christian history from Catholicism. It's like taking flour out of bread. The truth is many of the customs in Catholicism that overzealous Christians, Athiests and Neopagans try to lable as Pagan actually arose during the Christian era, and were not continuation of Pagan practices! You should also read "Stations of the Sun" by Professor Ronald Hutton.

Christmas (Christ Mass) is not a Pagan religion. The early Christians calcuated that the first Chanukka was celebrated on Dec. 25th by the Western Calendar. They were celebrating it as ealry as the 2nd Century, before Christianity was legalized in Rome. If you read the story of the first Chanukka in the historical book of I Maccabees, you'll see it arose over a Jewish priest who REFUSED to be a Pagan! Christians also remember Christ's birth because of a Jewish tradition that held a prophet died during the ninth month after his death. Since Christ died around March, counting down nine months puts it at December.


I applaud Mr. Woodrow for writing this book. It took great courage to admit he was wrong. I hope will strive to make people aware of the truth.
The rest of the Christians who have adopted the Jack Chick/Hislop mindest (and even Chick celebrates Easter and Christmas!) need to realize this too.