Why the Jehovah Witnesses Don’t Believe in Celebrating Christmas
People across the country are preparing to celebrate Christmas with friends and family, but there’s one group that won’t be joining in the festivities: Jehovah Witnesses. You may be one of those people who are wondering what they believe and why they refrain from most traditional holidays like Christmas, Easter, birthdays, and New Year’s. While many people view Christmas as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Jehovah Witnesses assert that His early followers didn’t celebrate His birthday. They point out that neither the word “Christmas” nor the notion of celebrating Christ’s birthday even appear in the Bible. Consequently, the Jehovah Witnesses believe that the Christmas celebration is a mix of pagan customs and superstitions. On the other hand, Christians point to Scriptures like Philippians 2:6-8 and John 1:1, 14 to highlight Christ’s incarnation as God in human form, and emphasize sincere worship (Romans 14:5-6), rather than debating dates or traditions. Christmas to followers of Jesus Christ is celebrating the event of God’s Son becoming man to save humanity, a joyful act of worship. While acknolwedging that December 25th isn’t the actual birthdate of Christ, Christians believe the act of remembering the incarnation is a meaningful reason to celebrate.
