There is much of the meaning of Christmas that is Pagan* - in the sense of being a celebration of this-worldly and mortal life. The decorations, feasting, presents, family, light-in-darkness, warmth-in-cold - all of these can make Christmas a truly joyous time for a child who is unaware of Christianity in any meaningful way.
Christmas could, thus far, be considered a celebration of the positive aspects of our life on earth.
Yet, Christmas also leads to much nostalgia, and considerable regret.
As the years roll-by, and Christmas becomes clouded by experience of many losses - not least, memories of the loss of the unalloyed happiness possible only to young children.
With age and experience; the happier has been the Christmas, the sadder its passing.
We celebrate this life and world, but with a growing awareness that all is temporary, and all will be destroyed sooner or later.
Intoxication (of one sort or another) can push this awareness under for a while, but it will always return.
If not before or during; post-Christmas comes the blues. A recognition of the other side of this mortal life; of entropy (degeneration, disease, death) - and of evil.
That is when the Christian aspect of Christmas can do its work. The celebrations of Pagan Christmas are real and valuable, but the sorrow will win in the end; unless there is more and better to come.
Then Christmas can be enjoyed whole-heartedly - by grown-ups, as well as young children.
*Note: There is much of value in paganism - but only in the context of being-a-Christian. It is bizarre, therefore, for Christians (of all people!) to be afraid/ dismissive/ rejecting of paganism!
6 comments:
Christians are hostile to paganism because of Christianity's Jewish heritance (the first testament).
Formerly Jewish Christians like Paul introduce Jewish attitudes to the second testament as well, and in various parts of the second testament, the Christ references the first testament.
I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but this is the explanation
@Hagel - "an" explanation perhaps, but not the most important IMO.
The main reason was was probably the early Christians being killed etc by the Roman pagans, in Rome and other parts of Europe.
The best evidence for this is the exception; which was that the only place where Christians weren't hostile to Pagans in later centuries was in the British Isles; where there had been very little pagan persecution of Christians, and reciprocally a very relaxed attitude to paganism in the Celtic Christian church (which was organized on an Eastern Orthodox, rather than Roman, model).
Christianity in Britain and Ireland seems to have developed from, blended with, and appropriated paganism - most famously in Ireland when the pagan Celtic goddess Brigid became the Celtic Christian Saint of the same name.
It is indeed true that in some places, pagan characters became demons, and in other places, they became saints. We can add some Slavs to your list of absorption over annihilation.
However, I thought we were talking about current Christians today (you might dispute their claim to follow Christ), who are, from what I can tell, hostile, including those on the British Isles, although you seem to be an exception, and the reason they are hostile (they tell you this when you ask them) is that their first book, and their second book when referencing the first, instruct them to be
@Hagel - And I thought you were talking about why Christianity was set off on an anti-pagan path in its beginnings,
As for Christianity now - my main explanation would be related to the development of human consciousness, and the modern phase that led to our current alienated consciousness, without spontaneous awareness of God and the spirit.
This began to dominate from the late 1700s in Western Europe, and led to the Romanticism as an attempted corrective. Initially there were Romantic Christians like Novalis, Coleridge and Blake - but mainstream church-Christianity chose to reject Romanticism and Romaticism became anti-Christian.
So nowadays the choice is between being and alienated Christian living an assimilated modern life focused on The World and regarding all occut/ esoteric/ magical stuff as anti-Christian; or else trying to cure alienation by seeking participation in reality in a context of "anything but Christianity" - which confirms the church Christian prejudice.
Both sides have made wrong choices, and there is no hope in either. That's why "Romantic Christianity" is needed. (And needed means Needed!)
"It is bizarre, therefore, for Christians (of all people!) to be afraid/ dismissive/ rejecting of paganism! " This made me laugh out loud. I think you are right, but it really struck with great humor.
@Lucinda - Thanks! It is pretty funny, when you think about it.
My favourite example of Christian pagan-phobia is the Harry Potter books, which were excoriated and shunned by many evangelicals (Because Magic); when these are By Far the most influential and deeply Christian novels of the past fifty years. https://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-us-evangelical-christians-threw.html
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