Making use of holidays...

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Afterthought

Puritan Board Senior
This thread will take for its premise that Christmas and like holidays should be abandoned and not be celebrated or participated in whether in a secular or religious manner. If that premise is taken, what is left for the Christian to make use of the circumstances that such days bring? Using Christmas as a particular example.... There are charities--some related directly to the day, some not. There are seeming "evangelistic" opportunities (e.g., caroling in nursing homes). There is a religious sort of sentiment that is stirred. There is depraved behavior and parties. (From these last three, it is often argued that we should take advantage of it for evangelism and so it is useful to have non-mandatory services on that day to both evangelize and keep people from depravity) There is time off and sometimes bonuses for workers. There are family expectations, and special dinners. What use could lawfully be made of these?

I'm trying to ask this question in the abstract because discussions of this nature can be sensitive (though I wouldn't mind discussing the particular days directly too!). Hence, I bring up Christmas as a particular kind of these sorts of days so that the more abstract question can be understood in a very clear manner. Perhaps other particular examples may occur if a Christian were in a land where some religion with holidays (maybe Judaism) had dominence and support by the civil magistrate of the land. Or maybe another example is the use some Christians make of Ramadan by fasting and praying during that time for the conversion of those who celebrate it. Or perhaps a Jewish convert to Christianity who is still expected by the family to take part in various religious holidays--some with biblical warrant (Yom Kippur), some not; though this last example may not be clear enough, because some may argue that the Jewish Christians may still take part in or celebrate such activities (maybe cause of Romans 14), or may say that they may participate in the non-religious ones, or only some of them but not the ones that typified Christ, or may take part in all cause the corruptions of them mean they no longer typify Christ, or may say that they may participate non-religiously in such days as merely being a part of their Jewish heritage (perhaps like Cinco de Mayo for some hispanics).


I guess to start, one obvious lawful thing is that for any food that is necessary to be eaten or actions necessary (or forced) to be done, it may be lawfully eaten or done provided such actions are lawful in themselves (this seems to be what Gillespie argues for in his English Popish Ceremonies).
 
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