Guest column: Christmas is a religious holiday
In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant declared Christmas a legal U.S. holiday.
There also is overwhelming evidence that the Bible is an accurate historical document, but many people still refuse to believe what the Bible says unless there are independent, non-biblical sources that substantiate its statements.
The truth is that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was well-documented during the first three centuries of the new calendar known as Anno Domini (Year of Our Lord). The Romans confirmed they crucified Jesus, and during the 30 to 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus was seen by more than 500 people.
While most Christians accept the Bible’s New Testament as a valid source of history regarding Jesus Christ, there is much historical evidence outside of the Bible; evidence such as that found in Tacitus’ history of Rome (115 A.D.)
Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus lived between 55 and 120 A.D. He was a Roman senator and a historian for the Roman Empire and he referred to the life and execution of Jesus by Pontius Pilate and the existence of early Christians in Rome in his final work, “Annals,” written in 115 A.D.
Will Durant, a non-Christian historian who wrote “The Story of Civilization,” in discussing the historical validity of Jesus, said: “The denial of that existence seems never to have occurred even to the bitterest gentile or Jewish opponents of nascent Christianity.”
Space doesn’t permit a lengthy list of independent historians who confirmed the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, but there were many. They include: Flavius Josephus, a famous Jewish historian, and Julius Africanus, who quotes the historian Thallus in a discussion of the darkness that followed the crucifixion of Jesus.
Perhaps the most logical reason to believe in the reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus is the fact that all but one of his Apostles were martyred. As one writer said: “Perhaps the greatest evidence that Jesus existed is the fact that literally thousands of Christians in the first century A.D., including the 12 apostles, were willing to die as martyrs for Jesus. People will die for what they believe to be true, but no one will die for what they know to be a lie.”
Skeptics always debunk history they don’t want to believe; but the reality is we are now and have always been predominately a Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian principles.
Another reality is this: Despite secular efforts to remove Jesus from the marketplace and ongoing efforts to promote the concept of separation of church and state, Christmas is a national religious holiday.
Don’t let skeptics ruin your celebration of the birth of Jesus. While it is true we don’t know the exact date of his birth, Dec. 25 is the day we symbolically pay homage to the man who gave us the two greatest commandments: love God and love one another.
Christmas is an exciting time to share that love. Give thanks to God that we have a constitutional right to do so, and remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.
Gilleland is an evangelical Christian who is retired and lives in Suntree.