Christmas is rolling around again and once again complaints are being made that it’s too religious. But are these objections really the greatest threat to a Christ-centred celebration?
SHOW NOTES
Steve McAlpine pulls up a chair to Christmas and asks if the increasingly secular scene we’re looking at is one we’ll be happy with in years to come.
Steve believes Christmas is becoming like so much of the other stuff that Christianity gave to the world – advances that many in the West think sprang up from nowhere.
The idea seems to be that if we can have the fruit of the gospel without the root of the gospel, we’ll be just fine. And now pretty much the same for Christmas. If we can have the effect without the cause, the trimmings without the turkey, the packaging without the present, that will be fine as well.
But Steve says the Christian response should be so much more than just mourning the loss of a nativity scene at the local carols. Something critical is lost when we give up the idea of a free gift at Christmas time – a biblical idea rooted in covenant and the promise-keeping God.
LINKS
Steve recommends you check out the work of uber-historian Tom Holland, The Myth of ‘pagan’ Christmas.
And if you’re interested in having the link between Christmas and pagan celebrations further debunked, check out Pagan Christmas on History For Atheists.
Where are we going as a society? And will you be happy when we get there? Steve McAlpine is here to help you answer those questions.
If a Delorean time machine pulled up in front of your house – Back To The Future style – and someone offered to show you what the future would be like, would you be content with what you found? And if not, what could you do to change it? Thinking this through is what Steve McAlpine calls Delorean Philosophy.
Steve McAlpine is a well-known social commentator, respected theologian and popular author. Each week, he takes a crucial trend or event that’s playing out in society now and asks, “Where is this taking us?”
Rather than just pontificating, Steve then provides practical steps listeners can take if they want to change the future. That’s Delorean Philosophy.
