Holidays and the Feasts

Holidays and the Feasts, revised and expanded, looks at three major subjects: The Old Testament feasts, Christmas, and Easter. Within this book the author examines the alleged pagan roots of Christmas and Easter, provides a biblical case for celebrating Christmas, and answers the question 'Are Christians obligated to observe Old Testament feasts?'Contents:Part 1: Christians and the Feasts. Part I examines the Old Testament feasts, their function, and how Christians should understand them today. This section of the book begins by summarizing the Old Testament festivals and how they were understood in Jesus’ day. Following this, applications are drawn concerning contemporary Christian practice.Part 2: Christmas and Paganism. Part II of the book examines the alleged claims of Christmas’ pagan roots. In this section, Holidays and the Feasts argues that Christmas developed independently from pagan celebrations before speaking to various pagan ties Christmas is often charged with. The book looks at what ancient Christians wrote and thought concerning Christmas and weighs whether those Christians would form a holiday for the sake of replacing a pagan one.Part 3: A Biblical Case for Celebrating Christmas. Part III of the book presents a biblical case for celebrating the incarnation despite not being an explicitly instituted observance. This section speaks to celebration in general before moving into the Gospels and Paul in order to demonstrate that the incarnation was celebrated by the New Testament Christians, leaving an annual observance permissible.Part 4: Easter and Paganism. Part IV of the book challenges the claims that Easter is pagan by examining what is ’pagan’ and then moving into the term 'Easter' itself. Following this, the section discusses the connections of Easter with Ishtar and Eostre before demonstrating that Easter was a very early observance in church history formed to commemorate the resurrection.On the Third Edition:Reformatted for ease of readabilityReorganization of parts of the bookExpansions in parts I, II, and IV.New Chapter in Part IVTwo new Appendices for supplemental reading