It is today that we celebrate one of the most important dates on the Christian Calendar; the birth of Jesus Christ. Notice I said it is the day we celebrate Jesus’ Birthday. Historians are not able to determine or agree upon Jesus’ actual birthday as accurately as they can His death and resurrection.^[1]

But when Christians celebrate Christmas is not nearly as important as why. You see, Christians celebrate Christmas (that is, the birth of Christ) every day. The day that Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit; the day that God (the Son) became a man, is called the Incarnation. Don’t get hung up on the ‘Christianese’. Just as Chilli Con Carne means “Chilli with meat”, the incarnation basically means God with “meat” or flesh. God became like one of us. This does not mean that Jesus began to exist at the incarnation, for He is the Creator of all things and existed before all things (John 1:1-3, 10). This also does not mean that Jesus ceased being fully God at the incarnation, but that He also became fully human (John 1:14). Only in this way could He pay for the sins of men (Col 1:16-20).

Accepting this is part of what makes us Christian. But understanding it is another thing altogether. So I wanted to try and explain as simply as I can, and as best as I understand it: 1) What is so amazing about this; 2) Why Christians celebrate it, and; 3) Why God did such a thing?

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(The following is an excerpt from remarks on lighting the National Community Christmas Tree, December 15, 1983, by President Ronald Reagan at the South Portico of the White House during the annual Christmas Pageant of Peace, a great statesman who never forgot the reason for the season.)

Many stories have been written about Christmas. Charles Dickens’ “Carol” is probably the most famous. Well, I’d like to read some lines from a favorite of mine called “One Solitary Life,” which describes for me the meaning of Christmas. It’s the story of a man born of Jewish parents who grew up in an obscure village working in a carpenter shop until he was thirty; and then for three years, as a preacher. As the story says, he never wrote a book, he never held an office, he never had a family, he never went to college, he never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He never did any of the things that usually accompany greatness.

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for the only piece of property that he had on Earth. When he was dead he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave.

Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone, and today he is the centerpiece of much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon Earth as powerfully as this One Solitary Life.

I have always believed that the message of Jesus is one of hope and joy. I know there are those who recognize Christmas Day as the birthday of a great and good man, a wise teacher who gave us principles to live by. And then there are others of us who believe that he was the Son of God, that he was divine. If we live our lives for truth, for love, and for God, we never need be afraid. God will be with us and we will be part of something much larger, much more powerful and enduring than any force here on Earth.

• Woolley, J. & Peters, G. (n.d.) Remarks on lighting the National Community Christmas Tree, December 15, 1983. Retrieved 24 December 2010 from the The American Presidency Project web site: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu.

Merry Christmas to all of our readers
and your families, and may the grace
and blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ
carry you in the coming New Year.

a star

and under it,
would the men who rode to bethlehem
have caught joseph
playing at peekaboo
with the child at mary’s breast?

perhaps

perhaps they knelt–
like we see them in shop windows–
and gave their gifts
of gold and myrrh and frankincense,
their wandering
having led to wonder,
to the baby at rest
in the manger

and if i had stole away
in a pack on the mule’s back
of the men who rode to bethlehem,
and if i had seen what they saw,
or if i had known what they knew,
or had brought what they had brought
for Him,
i’d go up to Him too, i reckon
but having stole away,
what would i give Him,
the drummer-boy that i am?
i could give Him my thanks,
yes,
i’d thank Him
if i were with those men
who rode to bethlehem,
i’d thank Him,
‘cause now we no longer have the need
to go chasing after stars

Download and listen to an mp3 of the poem being read

Did you ever wonder what a real Christmas must have been like, before being obscured by the likes of Santa, shopping, office parties, commercialism, and merrymaking assisted by the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol? In the introduction to his book, Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas,^[1,2] Ace Collins explores this pastime, beginning with a caution: Before You Wish for an “Old-Fashioned” Christmas…

What follows are excerpts from the introduction that provide just a snapshot of these Christmases of old, and there is hardly one of them that is to be expected.

It seems that the most awesome event in human history, the coming of God to earth as a babe in a manger, has been forever obscured by Santa, shopping, and merrymaking… [But before] we brood and protest too much over what we think Christmas must have been like in generations long past, we might actually feel encouraged about the season we celebrate today when we consider what Christmas was really like in the days of old.

Only in relatively recent times, the past two hundred years, has Christmas even been celebrated by most Christians. Up until the 1800’s the day recognized as Christ’s birthday was largely a pagan celebration. Those who bemoan the lack of religious zeal in modern Christmases would have been appalled at the way people in early America celebrated the day. For a majority of people who embraced Christmas throughout history, Christ wasn’t a part of the day at all. In most of the world, especially in England and America, Christmas was not a time of worship, prayer, and reflection; rather, it was a day set aside to sing bawdy songs, drink rum, and riot in the streets.

For centuries, Christmas was anything but a holy day. It was most often a sinful parade of excess, a day set aside for ignoring laws and even terrorizing citizens… Those who attended church did so in wild costumes, the messages of many priests were anything but scriptural, and gambling was common during the services. After church the poor often stormed the homes of the elite in moblike fashion, pounding on doors and windows, demanding the finest food and drink. If the hosts did not respond, the guests [for want of a better word I guess?] broke into the home and took what they wanted. The drunken celebrations hearkened back to the time when Romans and Greeks marked the winter solstice with a weeklong festival of self-indulgence. As nothing about these celebrations was staid or reverent, many devoted Christians loathed the holiday and considered it an instrument of sin and evil.

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It was the evening of December 23, 2007. Christmas day was just two more days away. We’d finished our shopping several months prior and I was privately scoffing at those who had to endure the spirit of Christmas commercialism. It was then that my wife realised she was short one art smock for child number three. Apparently this was a problem, because child number two would be smock-ing about on Christmas day and child number three would not. So having been assured by the woman of the house that the situation was indeed grave, and having not completely appreciated why, I found myself out shopping for forgotten gifts only two sleeps from Christmas.

I eventually located a manifestation of the Christmas spirit in the form of a very busy car park outside of K-Mart. Inside I found an exact duplicate of child number two’s art smock (the second last one on the shelf) and proceeded to the checkout.

“Have you finished your Christmas shopping?”, asked the friendly young girl serving me.
“Well, I thought I had,” I replied.
“Have you finished shopping for Santa?” she asked, noticing child number two with me fingering through the deviously-placed chocolate stand.
Partly distracted by child number two I asked, “Sorry, did you just ask if I’d finished shopping for Santa?”
“Yes,” she said with a smile.
“Oh, well we don’t shop for Santa.”
“Oh no, I mean… never mind.” She now looked confused and perhaps even regretted ever bringing it up. How was she to know I was a nutter, right? I tried to put her at ease. “The truth is, my kids don’t know much about Santa. We don’t really talk about him at home.”

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Just a quick public note to let people know that I have been under a demanding work schedule over the last couple of weeks and will continue to be for at least the next two days (tomorrow and Thursday). I have been putting in roughly 70 hours a week, and tonight just finished working a 16-hour shift. My apologies to people here and over at AtheistForums.org for falling behind on my responses, but I simply have not had the time available for online activities. At the end of my day I just want to collapse in bed. But as I said, the work schedule should ease back to more sensible levels over the next couple days so hopefully by this weekend I can get caught up here, too.

While I am here, though, I might as well respond to Joe.

Back in November, a story hit the newspapers about two same-sex attracted school girls at Ivanhoe Girl’s Grammar High School. The sensationist story was all about how the school did not allow these two girls to go to their year 11 ”Preston Dinner Dance” together as a couple. They were instead requested to invite males as partners to this dance. The immediate outcry was that of discrimination based on sexual orientation. The school responded with the fact that since this was an all-girls school, they wanted to host an activity where they could meet boys in a social scenario. If the girls were not requested to bring boys as partners then they would just invite, and go with, each other (which had happened in the past).

During the course of the media coverage it was revealed that the school was a Christian school and was thus harshly accused of being hateful and bigoted by the media and public. Given the sudden anti-Christian sentiment toward the school board and principal, my wife sent the following email of encouragement.

To the principal and staff,

I would just like to extend my thanks and appreciation of the schools actions in relation to the item in the news regarding the schools formal. It’s wonderful to see that there are still people out there who are willing to stand up for the faith and stand strong in the face of adversity. It’s not something that you see very often anymore, and it cannot be easy being the target of a hate campaign aimed at your school and Christian “bigots”.  Well done. We will be praying for you all.

Sincerely

C M

This was the reply:

Thank you for your correspondence in response to the media coverage of our Year 11 formal.  I appreciate your point of view on this matter.

We have apologised to both girls for the hurt and distress they have felt as a result of the unintended consequence of our school policy for social events.

Our current policy as a single sex school is to make the Year 11 social event one that includes a balance of males and females and our policy is to ask girls, if they wish to bring guests, to bring male guests.  However, there is no pressure on them to do so and often students come on their own.  At all the events there are significantly more girls than boys and this is our way of trying to address this imbalance.  It is important to note that this applies only to Year 11 and below.

Unfortunately this has been misconstrued as if the School was not supportive of same sex relationships.  Same sex partners have attended the School’s Year 12 Formal for many years.

Ivanhoe Girls’ is a diverse and supportive community which certainly supports all students, parents and staff in their life choices.

In the light of this current matter, however, we will be reviewing and revising our policy regarding social events with our school community to ensure such a misunderstanding may never recur.  The review process will be thorough and involve consultations with our current and past students, as well as parents, starting with a forum and continuing with further consultation next year.

The care and wellbeing of our students is of paramount importance, both to me personally and the entire School.

Dr Heather Schnagl

Principal

Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School

This response took us a little aback. Wasn’t this a Christian school?

My wife’s response to this revelation was fairly brief and to the point, and I think it’s a good example of Christian diplomacy in this kind of situation.

Dear Dr Schnagl

Thank you for responding to my email, I can imagine you had more than a few to read. It was, however, my mistake to send my initial email. On the schools website it states that the School wishes to “provide the best learning and teaching …underpinned by the Christian philosophy…”. I’m not sure how you define Christian philosophy, but I think I wrongly assumed you were referring to Christian values and law.  I see that this is not the case as it seems that the school is in fact supportive of same sex relationships.

Kind regards

C M

In other words, please forgive us for mistaking your school as one that upholds Christian values.

Essentially it came down to this – don’t call yourself a Christian if in fact your convictions are not in accordance with Scripture, but rather, are more in step with the main stream media and anyone else who wants to blow a trumpet for secular values.

Modified: 11 December 2010 (“Objections and questions”)

For some of our readers and most of our staff, this argument is not exactly new. It was an argument I had formulated back in May of this year, in support of an article Adam had written against “pro-choice” rhetoric on abortion (Morgan, 2010). After having evaluated this argument from different angles and subjecting it to several tests from critical opponents, it appears that the argument is unassailable. Thus I want to use it as an illustration of what a strong argument is and what goes into it.

The anatomy of an argument

First, a few words about arguments, starting with what they actually are. Most people think of arguments as being a quarrel between two people, such as spouses or siblings, in which heated words are exchanged, voices raised, doors slammed and so forth. While that is the colloquial or informal sense, it is not how the term is used here, which is the formal sense of being a set of propositions intended to establish a conclusion. (A hat tip must be given to Michael Palin for this definition, which he expresses in the comedy sketch “Argument Clinic” in Monty Python’s Flying Circus [Cleese, 1972]. Sure it was comedy, but his definition of an argument was spot on). So to give an argument is to demonstrate the reasoning by which some belief is reached, where the belief functions as the conclusion that is then established by supporting reasoning.

Now there are two tests an argument must satisfy in order to be persuasive: it must be valid and it must be sound. Validity is the primary or most important test because the truth of the premises must logically guarantee the truth of the conclusion, otherwise the truth of the premises is made irrelevant (by failing to justify the conclusion). That is why the other test, soundness, is predicated on validity and thus secondary. In other words: (a) an argument is ‘valid’ if and only if the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion; (b) it is ‘sound’ if and only if the argument is both valid and the premises actually are true. Consequently, an argument that is valid and sound should be persuasive. ^[1] (It is worth pointing out that only arguments can be valid or invalid, not propositions, and only propositions can be true or false, not arguments.)

An example of a strong argument

Having said that, I would like to present what appears to be a sound argument; i.e., it is logically valid and the premises are actually true. In the face of critical evaluation by myself and several opponents, the argument holds firm. Even though the conclusion is highly controversial, neither premise can be easily denied.

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From the thinking matters website:

The EPS has just made available all of their conference lectures on their website for download. And not just the audio from this year’s conference but from all of their apologetics-themed conferences up until 2003. That’s around 180 lectures. This is an enormous resource. The downloadable mp3s each cost $1.99 (USD) but this is a small price to pay to hear top scholars such as J. P. Moreland, Craig, Paul Copan, Dr. Ben Witherington III, Dr. R. Douglas Geivett  (and our very own New Zealand apologist, Matt Flannagan), and many, many more. While talks and debates by apologists such as Craig, Habermas, and Moreland are readily available on the web already, it is great to have access to lectures by Stephen T. Davis, Chad Meister, Charles Taliaferro–thinkers that we don’t normally have access to online.

“Do you believe God wants many people saved now?”

That was the question that confronted Tim Scheuer (pronounced ‘shire’) before he began his mission of evangelism in Airds – a commitment that eventually saw him resign his position as the National Director of The Church Army Australia as of February 2010.

At the Church Army 75th Anniversary Conference in 2009, Tim announced:

In late March this year I took the opportunity to spend three days with a Kiwi missionary that we’ll call Barney. Barney has spent the past 12 years serving in China in “Church Planting Movements”; seeing hundreds of small simple churches planted and thousands of people coming to Christ in relatively short periods of time.

The first thing Barney did when he stood up in front of the small group of leaders I was part of was to ask a question; “Do you believe God wants many people saved now?” And then he paused…

I sat there thinking, “If I say, ‘no’, it will be very hard to justify that ‘no’ from scripture. But, if I say ‘yes’… I sensed there would be more questions coming, confronting questions. At the same time I knew that what God was saying to me could not be brushed off by explaining to him that I was the National Director of Church Army Australia and that we were planting LMB’s, training local missionaries and running a good residential restoration programme. “Hey God, I’m a busy religious guy doing good things – off my back” was not going to wash…

http://www.churcharmy.com.au/downloads/Tims_Conf_Address.pdf

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