What If It Was Always Winter And Never Christmas?
(What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?)
Part #2 – December 18 – “A world without Jesus would be a darker world”
I read about how Japan celebrates Christmas, which has become a major event over there. They put up decorations, exchange presents, send cards, sing yuletide songs, decorate trees, serve special seasonal treats (especially strawberry-decorated cakes), and make a big fuss over St Nick, Rudolph and Frosty. Their Santa is sometimes dressed like a Samurai (I wonder if he carries a sword). It is very important for single adults to have a date for a romantic dinner on Christmas Eve. In fact, Christmas for them is very much like Valentine’s Day is for us. And for reasons I couldn’t determine, a big Christmas tradition is attending a concert of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. The one thing the Japanese do not do at Christmas is honor Christ. That’s because Japan is nearly 99% Shinto and Buddhist. Only ½ of 1% of Japan’s population is Christian. So where do you think they got this commercial version of Christmas? From us. They are attracted to the glitter and romance of the American version of Christmas, and have adopted nearly everything except the spiritual significance of the season.
Some people don’t like Christmas because of the Christian roots. In fact, some cultural analysts have said there is a war on Christmas right now. If you watch the news, you have heard about the recent trend in retailing to ban the greeting of “Merry Christmas” and opt for “Happy Holidays” and Christmas trees are now to be called Holiday trees.
Some companies which have refused to mention Christmas in their advertising or in store decorations or in their employee greetings include Target, Kroger, Office Max, Walgreens, Sears, Staples, Lowe’s, J.C. Penney, Dell, Best Buy, Wal Mart and Kohls.
Ask these companies why they banned "Christmas" in their in-store promotions and retail advertising and they will tell you they didn’t want to offend anyone. They mean, of course, anyone except Christians.
These retailers are willing to use Christmas to secure about 20% of their yearly sales, but they refuse to mention the Reason for the season.
Yes, Virginia, there is a war on Christmas. It’s an attempt to secularize a Christian holiday and the ever-stronger push toward a neutered “holiday” season so that non-Christians won’t be even the slightest bit offended.
Traditionalists get upset when they’re told—more and more these days—that celebrating Christmas in any public way is a violation of church and state separation. That is certainly not what the founders intended when they wrote, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
John Gibson, a popular anchor for the Fox News Channel, has been digging up evidence about activists, lawyers, politicians, educators, and media people who are leading the war on Christmas. And he reveals that the situation is isn’t just hype. For instance:
• In Illinois, state government workers were forbidden from saying the words “Merry Christmas” while at work
• In Rhode Island, local officials banned Christians from participating in a public project to decorate the lawn of City Hall
• A New Jersey school banned even instrumental versions of traditional Christmas carols
• Arizona school officials ruled it unconstitutional for a student to make any reference to the religious history of Christmas in a class project
Millions of Americans are starting to fight back against the secularist forces and against local officials who would rather surrender than be seen as politically incorrect. Gibson shows readers how they can help save Christmas from being twisted beyond recognition, with even the slightest reference to Jesus completely disappearing.
Now, honestly, I don’t care if someone says Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. I don’t look to retailers or the general culture to validate the meaning of the season for me. What does concern me is the attempt to rewrite history to rob Jesus of the enormously positive influence He has had on the world over the past two thousand years.
The truth is that even Atheists enjoy Christmas – without realizing it – Why?
Luke 2:10-11 – “The angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! The Savior--yes, the Messiah, the Lord--has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David!’”
The truth is that even Atheists enjoy Christmas – without realizing it – Why? They enjoy the benefits of the birth of Jesus. Last week – education and literacy, the concept of tolerance (where do you find true tolerance?) the value of human life: benevolence, charity, women’s rights, children’s treatment, the elderly, hospitals and care of the sick, the end of slavery,
But there are other significant ways Jesus changed the world that we take for granted – assume have always been this way.
Jesus changed the world in terms of:
1) Science and Technology
Haven’t Christianity and science always been at odds, been enemies? No! In fact, many scholars agree that the scientific revolution that gained momentum in the 17th century was birthed during the reformation – a return to the Bible!
Genesis 1:27-28 – “So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them. God blessed them and told them, ‘Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals.’”
Francis Schaeffer, in his book, How Shall We Then Live, shows how historians agree that the Christian worldview paved the way for scientific inquiry and thought.
Unfortunately, many books have been written that suggest that science and Christianity are antithetical and can have nothing to do with each other. It leads to arguments such as the current one over teaching the theory of evolution exclusively or alongside the theory of intelligent design.
The Christian faith and worldview assumes a world of order and the ability for true rational thought (man made in the image of God) that allows and encourages scientific inquiry into the world the creative and rational God created. It assumes that mankind was invited by God to investigate the world He had given them to master and take care of. Science has its historical roots in Christianity. Other religions express a world view of fatalism or illusion/dualism. Science could not have arisen from such worldviews. Christianity on the other hand, is based on the idea that there exists a rational God who is the source of rational truth. This brought about the idea of scientific laws that could be studied and understood.
The pioneers of science were committed Christians. Scientists like Keppler, who said he was “thinking God’s thoughts after Him” when he studied the natural world or Blaise Pascal, who said, “Faith tells us what the senses cannot, but it is not contrary to their findings. It simply transcends, without contradicting them.”
Isaac Newton not only was a scientist but a theologian as well. He wrote, “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being.” He also wrote, “Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance form the sun to receive the proper amount of heat and light. This did not happen by chance.”
In fact, look at this partial list of outstanding Christian scientists from history, considered to be the founders of specific branches of science.
Antiseptic surgery Joseph Lister Electromagnetics Michael Faraday
Bacteriology Louis Pasteur Energetics Lord Kelvin
Calculus Isaac Newton Fluid Mechanics George Stokes
Celestial Mechanics Johannes Kepler Genetics Gregor Mendel
Chemistry Robert Boyle Gas Dynamics Robert Boyle
Comparative Anatomy Georges Cuvier Gynecology James Simpson
Computer Science Charles Babbage Hydrostatics Blaise Pascal
Dynamics Isaac Newton Isotopic Chemistry William Ramsey
Electronics John Ambrose Fleming Natural History James Ray
Electrodynamics James Clerk Maxwell
And the list could go on and on.
But to be honest, how do we explain the times “the church” suppressed scientific finds? Regrettably, the Catholic Church, at times in history has persecuted scientists who were doing mankind much good. With Thomas Aquinas, the church did not oppose him on biblical grounds, but because his ideas opposed those of Aristotle, When the Catholic church imposed Aristotle’s views on the Bible, it was on dangerous ground. It happened again with Copernicus and Galileo between 1564 and 1642. In recent years, the Catholic Church has officially admitted the mistake and apologized, reaffirming the importance of science in our lives.
What about science today?
The “glasses have been taken off. John Calvin once said that God’s special revelation, the Bible, were the spectacles we must put on if we are to correctly read the book of nature – God’s revelation in creation. Scientists did that in the 15th through 18th centuries. But something happened in the 19th and 20th centuries. Many scientists took of those spectacles. As a result, distortions have followed. Now, science and technology are an end in themselves rather than a means of understanding God, leading to worship of Him and using the information to help humankind. Now, many secular scientists act in the realm of philosophy more than they do science. This is the case with the debate over the origins of life. Many scientists have wrongly concluded that science cannot and should not lead us to God or even suggest His existence. That is unscientific. Honest science should go where the evidence leads, even if it leads to a supernatural God. Taking off the spectacles has led to false presuppositions that not only deny God, but lead to the use of science in the wrong way.
Science without proper moral restraints is a very dangerous road.
Why do Christians oppose the use of certain available technologies? It’s about the balance of ability vs. ethics. Opposing embryonic stem cell research while supporting adult stem cell research is a good balance of science and ethics. Just because we can do something does not mean we should. But that is where science without the spectacles leads us. The charge that Christianity is a brake to progress rather than a pathway to it ignores history but also ignores the proper definition of “progress.” Just because something can be done does not mean it should be done.
Jesus left us a positive pathway to understand creation and use it for good. But when Jesus is taken out of the picture, we can expect man without moral restraints to do much harm.
2) Art and Literature
The influence of Jesus on art and literature is enormous. The Chronicles of Narnia are an example of this. I am thankful that such works as this and Lord of The Rings have made it to the theatres and proved to be the very kind of work people crave to see. Jesus has given art and literature it’s most loftiest themes. As Dr. Peter Taylor wrote, the idea that God spared not His Son but delivered Him up for us all has “inspired the highest flights that pictorial art has reached.”
It was a servant of Christ, Bach (a man who dedicated every note he wrote to the glory of Jesus Christ), who changed Western music for all time.
Unfortunately, many Christians today don’t seem to put much emphasis upon the arts. They are, as Franky Schaeffer once said, “addicted to mediocrity.” But as Christians, we believe that in all areas, our lives must be offered up to God and His glory. God deserves our best.
1 Corinthians 10:31 – “Whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God.”
Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks to Him to God the Father.”
Author Cynthia Pearl compiled an anthology of some of the greatest works of art, poetry, music and stories about Jesus in a work titles “Christ And The Fine Arts.” In it she writes, “More poems have been written, more stories told, more pictures painted, and more songs sung about Christ than any other person in human history, because through such avenues as these the deepest appreciation of the human heart can be more adequately expressed.”
In the first three centuries of the church, there was not much art from the church that survived to today. The church was battling for its existence. But after Christianity became legal in the Roman empire, many great works of art began to appear. Beautiful works of architecture in the form of basilicas were built to the glory of God. The great cathedrals of the pre-gothic, gothic, post-gothic and middle ages still stand as some of the most beautiful buidings every conceived and built. When I enter St. Stephens church in Vienna each year as I return from Ukraine, I am in awe of the work done so long ago, surviving two world wars and time itself, that is a testimony of man’s ability to express praise to God in architecture.
The Renaissance was a glorious age of art, and Christian themes were among the most dominant subjects. Though some historians have tried to categorize it as a time of neo-pagan art, it is not an accurate analysis. In fact, it was a time when Christian themes continued to dominate both architecture and art.
Michelangelo’s greatest works were statues of biblical characters such as David, Moses and the crucified Christ in the arms of his mother. His masterpiece is his work on the ceiling and walls of the Sistene Chapel. Not only did he sculpt and paint great Christian masterpieces, but he himself was a devout Christian.
Other great artists from the time, whether they were Christians or not, were inspired by Christ and Christian themes and produced art revolving around these subjects. Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt and others were inspired to produce great art by Christian themes, and their work still inspires millions today.
It is interesting how modern art often reflects the modern irrationality of man and his desire to dismiss Christ and Christianity from life. Art reflects life, and if life is meaningless to the artist, it will be reflected in their art. To many eyes, modern art is a joke. I used to watch the TV sitcom “Get Smart” as a child. In one episode, Maxwell Smart is trying to admire a piece of modern art and trying to explain what it meant. He was focusing on a small black dot on a blank canvas that seemed to be the focus of the painting. He seemed to be making sense until the dot turned out to be a fly that flew away!
Thomas Howard wrote that modern art purposefully rejects Christian influence in art. He wrote, “Christianity and art were causally linked between the fourth and the twentieth centuries. Even the ‘post-Christian’ art and literature of the last two hundred years in the West emerges from Christian roots – and often involves a more or less conscious repudiation of Christian categories, and an attempt to forge new forms, free from Christian influence.”
When the arts have gone wrong – and its effect upon society.
It is sad but interesting that much of modern art in rebellion against Christianity has to rely on public tax funding to be made and viewed – unlike earlier art commissioned by the church and private individuals. Art that glorifies God – is beautiful and meaningful – will tend to be self sustaining. It won’t need government subsidies.
Robert Maplethorpe was the photographer whose exhibit "The Perfect Moment" depicted
sadomasochistic acts, which spurred charges of obscenity from places like Cincinnati. He died in 1989. His artwork was displayed in a traveling exhibition at taxpayer’s expense, by the National Endowment For The Arts.
Then there was the $15,000 grant given to Andres Serrano in 1989 for his photograph of a crucifix submerged in his own urine. I don’t feel I can even say the title of the photograph. But again, not only was he paid by taxpayer dollars for the work, but the NEA also funded its exhibition.
The charge by those who support this kind of endowment is that if we don’t, it inhibits free speech. It just shows their ignorance in understanding what free speech is. Free speech is not inhibited when taxpayers refuse to buy someone’s art. An artist can still produce the art, but if it is bad art or offensive to those who see it, it is not censorship just because they decide they don’t want to pay for it. If free speech requires public funding to be free speech then I want the government to start paying for my sermons and exhibiting them in newspapers across the nation at their expense.
Jesus also had an enormous and positive impact upon literature. From Dante to Chaucer to Dostoevsky to Shakespeare Milton, Dickens, Tolstoy and many more, the Christian faith has been an inspirational influence. So much of the subject matter of the best stories of all time come from Christianity . . . stories of redemption, forgiveness, good will.
The world without Jesus would be a darker place in many ways . . . And I fear that as Jesus is being pushed out of the public marketplace in our country, we are seeing darker days in terms of human rights, education, science, art and literature. No, the popular culture does not need to align itself with God’s will in order for Christians to flourish. That was made clear in the first two centuries of the church. However, it is our responsibility to understand how culture is going wrong and why. Jesus’ impact upon the world has made it a better place, but when Jesus is forgotten or forcibly removed from mankind’s pursuits, it will lead to darkness.
I want to remind you again of an important point that I concluded with last week. There is no doubt that the world would be different – darker and different – if Jesus, the light of the world had not come as a baby, lived a perfect life, died for our sins on the cross and risen from the dead. But Corrie Ten Boom once wrote something that is pertinent here (Each New Day). She wrote, “If Jesus were born one thousand times in Bethlehem and not in me, then I would still be lost.” Have you let Jesus into your life?
