I read some very interesting websites while doing some online research for my annual Thanksgiving sermon, which will be given on Sunday, November 21st. These sites strenuously object to the Christian observance of Thanksgiving. The objections raised by these websites seem to fall into two main categories. The first category of objections claim that Thanksgiving should be ignored because the holiday fell on the same dates associated with pagan harvest rituals earlier in human history. The second category of objections focuses on the idea that thanksgiving to God should be given every day and that a single day focusing on thanksgiving to God somehow robs God of the thanks He is due every day.
First, I will discuss the objection concerning the accusation of pagan roots of the holiday.
To my surprise, I discovered several websites that put forth the idea that our current celebration of Thanksgiving Day has its roots in pagan practices, and thus should be rejected by all Christians. A good representative sample of this philosophy appears below in a statement by John D. Keyser of Hope of Israel Ministries. I have pasted these comments exactly as they appear from Mr. Keyser’s site:
"On the surface Thanksgiving seems like a harmless enough observance; however, the surface ice is very thin! Lurking in the murky depths below is a veritable lake of PAGANISM awaiting the unsuspecting participant. The HARVEST HOME, CHRISTMAS and HALLOWEEN all have rituals in common that date back to ancient BABYLON and Semiramis! Many of the foods on the Thanksgiving table were a part of PAGAN WORSHIP, and one food in particular was REJECTED by the early Puritans as being UNFIT TO EAT AT ANY TIME! Read how Thanksgiving is an INFERIOR SUBSTITUTE for the TRUE Feast of Ingathering set apart by your Creator God as part of His Holyday calendar to teach mankind about the INCREDIBLE HUMAN POTENTIAL awaiting each and every one of us."
After reading similar arguments from other websites, I offer some comments in defense of celebrating Thanksgiving Day even though earlier pagan societies celebrated harvest feasts.
I have no doubt that pagan societies celebrated successful harvests with a variety of civil and/or religious ceremonies. So, I will not bother to dispute that pagan harvest rituals took place throughout early history. Using Mr. Keyser's argument to not celebrate Thanksgiving Day because pagan societies also celebrated harvest rituals, I could argue that married Christians shouldn't engage in sexual intimacy because pagan societies since the beginning of time have engaged in sexual practices that Christians declare to be immoral. Or that Christians shouldn't eat food because pagan societies in millenia past have practiced gluttony and drunkenness. I hope you can see the problem with Mr. Keyser's teaching (and those who are similarly mistaken in their teaching).
However, just because pagan harvest rituals took place in the autumn, that doesn’t automatically mean Christians cannot thank the true God for His blessings at that time of year (since the harvest season occurs at the same time of year for pagans and for Christians). To forbid a Christian observance of Thanksgiving Day just because pagan societies have previously observed pagan celebrations on the same date is a flawed argument. As I have already stated, using the argument of past practice as a reason to prohibit the observance of Thanksgiving Day, a person can easily cast doubt on the most innocent activity. Consider the following argument, “Are All Firemen Communists?”:
The color red is considered to be the color associated with virtually every communist revolution in history. Socialists in Europe adopted the red flag as their symbol during the Revolution of 1848, also known as the Spring of Nations, People's Spring, Springtime of the Peoples, or the Year of Revolution. The red flag has been a symbol of left-wing politics since the French Revolution (1788-98). The red flag was the symbol of the Paris Commune which ruled Paris for a short time in 1871. Debates over the policies and outcome of the Commune had significant influence on the ideas of Karl Marx, who described it as an example of the "dictatorship of the proletariat". Since then, virtually every communist revolution of the 20th century has taken place under the red banner of communism.
Have you ever wondered why fire engines are red? Given the radical political meaning associated with the color red, certainly patriotic American firemen should rebel against red fire engines/gear… unless of course, all firemen are really communists! The color red has been associated with communist revolutions since the 1800’s, yet fire departments love the color red EVEN THOUGH RED IS THE COLOR OF COMMUNISM. Think about this: the lightbars on their fire engines proclaim their political leanings. While the lightbars atop most police vehicles are some combination of red, white and blue (good American colors), fire engines only seem to use red lights on their engines. Also, firemen are always rushin’ (Russian?) from place to place. And let’s not forget that they wear “turn-out” gear (really a code for turn-coat?). This information should cause us to question the political leanings and the trustworthiness of firemen. True American patriots would make sure that their engines were painted any color OTHER than red since red is the world-wide color of communism! Lastly, firefighters typically belong to a union which is pledged to the mutual good of all their brother firefighters, similar to the communist philosophy of “to each according to his need, from each according to his ability.” They refer to each other as “brother” just as dedicated communists refer to each other as “comrade”.
Beware of your local fire department, they may just be communists!
Does the fact that most fire engines are painted red really proclaim that all firemen are communists, just because communists used the color red as their symbol earlier in history? The answer is, OF COURSE NOT. There are reasons that fire engines are red, and none of them have to do with communism. According to the TrulyGeeky website:
"An emergency vehicle like a fire truck or ambulance should be noticed by everyone so that people can make way to it, so it can reach its destination as quickly as possible. We are all inherently trained to associate red with “danger or emergency”. It is the least scattered, most visible color to the human eye. Not to mention, red captures attention and it is the color of fire and blood that explains why the fire trucks, siren alarm, fire extinguishers in buildings, stop signs and stop indications in traffic signals are all red."
See? There are several good reasons why fire engines are red – and none of them have to do with communism.
Or, does Mr. Keyser (in his comments above) mean that the ONLY proper time for Christians to give thanks to God is during the Jewish Feast of Ingathering (a.k.a. the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths)? First, I would remind Mr. Keyser that some of the pagan harvest feasts he maligns actually predated the Jewish Feast of Ingathering and took place at the same time of year. So, how is it OK to celebrate the Feast of Booths and how does he forbid the celebration of Thanksgiving Day when both Thanksgiving and the Feast of Ingathering were predated by pagan feasts which took place at the same time of year? Or is Mr. Keyser saying that Christians must be bound by ONLY Jewish holydays to please God? The Apostle Paul took Peter to task for the practice of forcing Gentiles to live as Jews, celebrating only Jewish holidays:
Galatians 2:11-14 NKJV Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I [the Apostle Pau] withstood him [Peter] to his face, because he was to be blamed; (12) for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. (13) And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. (14) But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?
Paul covers the same topic of forcing Gentile Christians to observe Jewish holydays in Colossians 2:16-23:
Colossians 2:16 NKJV So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,
So, why must a day given specifically to thanking God, which has nothing to do with earlier pagan worship, be prohibited? It is entirely possible to pick any day on the calendar and find that some pagan society held that date in esteem. It is also entirely possible to take any date on the calendar and consecrate that date to worship God in thanking Him for His bounty and goodness to us. The command for God’s creatures to give thanks to Him is a major theme throughout the Bible.
Now to the second objection. Some theologians object to Thanksgiving Day because they say people should give thanks to God every day and not just on one special day of the year. I agree whole-heartedly that all people should give thanks to God at all times. However, giving thanks to God on a special day does not stop us from giving thanks to God on a daily basis in addition to that special day of thanksgiving.
Consider the following: I have been married to my wife for 42 years. And during that time, we have practiced acts of love and thoughtfulness toward each other on a daily basis. However, even though we display our love to each other on a daily basis, there is one day each year that we mark our relationship in a special way. There is one special day each year that we celebrate our love in a meaningful way, remembering all the years of our lives together and the events that brought us to this day. That special day is our wedding anniversary. For that one day, our focus is on the love we have for each other to the exclusion of other people. Can you imagine the fate of the husband who does nothing to celebrate his wedding anniversary, telling his wife that there is no need for a special day to celebrate his love for her since he loves her every day?
In like manner, we are to give thanks to God every day. But I see absolutely nothing wrong with marking a special day each year when thanksgiving to God is emphasized. And a special day of thanksgiving does not diminish our thankfulness for God’s daily blessings and His daily deliverance from harm and evil.
In conclusion, I do not accept either of these objections to a heart-felt day of concentrated thanksgiving to God. So, happy Thanksgiving Day to you and your family!
First, I will discuss the objection concerning the accusation of pagan roots of the holiday.
To my surprise, I discovered several websites that put forth the idea that our current celebration of Thanksgiving Day has its roots in pagan practices, and thus should be rejected by all Christians. A good representative sample of this philosophy appears below in a statement by John D. Keyser of Hope of Israel Ministries. I have pasted these comments exactly as they appear from Mr. Keyser’s site:
"On the surface Thanksgiving seems like a harmless enough observance; however, the surface ice is very thin! Lurking in the murky depths below is a veritable lake of PAGANISM awaiting the unsuspecting participant. The HARVEST HOME, CHRISTMAS and HALLOWEEN all have rituals in common that date back to ancient BABYLON and Semiramis! Many of the foods on the Thanksgiving table were a part of PAGAN WORSHIP, and one food in particular was REJECTED by the early Puritans as being UNFIT TO EAT AT ANY TIME! Read how Thanksgiving is an INFERIOR SUBSTITUTE for the TRUE Feast of Ingathering set apart by your Creator God as part of His Holyday calendar to teach mankind about the INCREDIBLE HUMAN POTENTIAL awaiting each and every one of us."
After reading similar arguments from other websites, I offer some comments in defense of celebrating Thanksgiving Day even though earlier pagan societies celebrated harvest feasts.
I have no doubt that pagan societies celebrated successful harvests with a variety of civil and/or religious ceremonies. So, I will not bother to dispute that pagan harvest rituals took place throughout early history. Using Mr. Keyser's argument to not celebrate Thanksgiving Day because pagan societies also celebrated harvest rituals, I could argue that married Christians shouldn't engage in sexual intimacy because pagan societies since the beginning of time have engaged in sexual practices that Christians declare to be immoral. Or that Christians shouldn't eat food because pagan societies in millenia past have practiced gluttony and drunkenness. I hope you can see the problem with Mr. Keyser's teaching (and those who are similarly mistaken in their teaching).
However, just because pagan harvest rituals took place in the autumn, that doesn’t automatically mean Christians cannot thank the true God for His blessings at that time of year (since the harvest season occurs at the same time of year for pagans and for Christians). To forbid a Christian observance of Thanksgiving Day just because pagan societies have previously observed pagan celebrations on the same date is a flawed argument. As I have already stated, using the argument of past practice as a reason to prohibit the observance of Thanksgiving Day, a person can easily cast doubt on the most innocent activity. Consider the following argument, “Are All Firemen Communists?”:
The color red is considered to be the color associated with virtually every communist revolution in history. Socialists in Europe adopted the red flag as their symbol during the Revolution of 1848, also known as the Spring of Nations, People's Spring, Springtime of the Peoples, or the Year of Revolution. The red flag has been a symbol of left-wing politics since the French Revolution (1788-98). The red flag was the symbol of the Paris Commune which ruled Paris for a short time in 1871. Debates over the policies and outcome of the Commune had significant influence on the ideas of Karl Marx, who described it as an example of the "dictatorship of the proletariat". Since then, virtually every communist revolution of the 20th century has taken place under the red banner of communism.
Have you ever wondered why fire engines are red? Given the radical political meaning associated with the color red, certainly patriotic American firemen should rebel against red fire engines/gear… unless of course, all firemen are really communists! The color red has been associated with communist revolutions since the 1800’s, yet fire departments love the color red EVEN THOUGH RED IS THE COLOR OF COMMUNISM. Think about this: the lightbars on their fire engines proclaim their political leanings. While the lightbars atop most police vehicles are some combination of red, white and blue (good American colors), fire engines only seem to use red lights on their engines. Also, firemen are always rushin’ (Russian?) from place to place. And let’s not forget that they wear “turn-out” gear (really a code for turn-coat?). This information should cause us to question the political leanings and the trustworthiness of firemen. True American patriots would make sure that their engines were painted any color OTHER than red since red is the world-wide color of communism! Lastly, firefighters typically belong to a union which is pledged to the mutual good of all their brother firefighters, similar to the communist philosophy of “to each according to his need, from each according to his ability.” They refer to each other as “brother” just as dedicated communists refer to each other as “comrade”.
Beware of your local fire department, they may just be communists!
Does the fact that most fire engines are painted red really proclaim that all firemen are communists, just because communists used the color red as their symbol earlier in history? The answer is, OF COURSE NOT. There are reasons that fire engines are red, and none of them have to do with communism. According to the TrulyGeeky website:
"An emergency vehicle like a fire truck or ambulance should be noticed by everyone so that people can make way to it, so it can reach its destination as quickly as possible. We are all inherently trained to associate red with “danger or emergency”. It is the least scattered, most visible color to the human eye. Not to mention, red captures attention and it is the color of fire and blood that explains why the fire trucks, siren alarm, fire extinguishers in buildings, stop signs and stop indications in traffic signals are all red."
See? There are several good reasons why fire engines are red – and none of them have to do with communism.
Or, does Mr. Keyser (in his comments above) mean that the ONLY proper time for Christians to give thanks to God is during the Jewish Feast of Ingathering (a.k.a. the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths)? First, I would remind Mr. Keyser that some of the pagan harvest feasts he maligns actually predated the Jewish Feast of Ingathering and took place at the same time of year. So, how is it OK to celebrate the Feast of Booths and how does he forbid the celebration of Thanksgiving Day when both Thanksgiving and the Feast of Ingathering were predated by pagan feasts which took place at the same time of year? Or is Mr. Keyser saying that Christians must be bound by ONLY Jewish holydays to please God? The Apostle Paul took Peter to task for the practice of forcing Gentiles to live as Jews, celebrating only Jewish holidays:
Galatians 2:11-14 NKJV Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I [the Apostle Pau] withstood him [Peter] to his face, because he was to be blamed; (12) for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. (13) And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. (14) But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?
Paul covers the same topic of forcing Gentile Christians to observe Jewish holydays in Colossians 2:16-23:
Colossians 2:16 NKJV So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,
So, why must a day given specifically to thanking God, which has nothing to do with earlier pagan worship, be prohibited? It is entirely possible to pick any day on the calendar and find that some pagan society held that date in esteem. It is also entirely possible to take any date on the calendar and consecrate that date to worship God in thanking Him for His bounty and goodness to us. The command for God’s creatures to give thanks to Him is a major theme throughout the Bible.
Now to the second objection. Some theologians object to Thanksgiving Day because they say people should give thanks to God every day and not just on one special day of the year. I agree whole-heartedly that all people should give thanks to God at all times. However, giving thanks to God on a special day does not stop us from giving thanks to God on a daily basis in addition to that special day of thanksgiving.
Consider the following: I have been married to my wife for 42 years. And during that time, we have practiced acts of love and thoughtfulness toward each other on a daily basis. However, even though we display our love to each other on a daily basis, there is one day each year that we mark our relationship in a special way. There is one special day each year that we celebrate our love in a meaningful way, remembering all the years of our lives together and the events that brought us to this day. That special day is our wedding anniversary. For that one day, our focus is on the love we have for each other to the exclusion of other people. Can you imagine the fate of the husband who does nothing to celebrate his wedding anniversary, telling his wife that there is no need for a special day to celebrate his love for her since he loves her every day?
In like manner, we are to give thanks to God every day. But I see absolutely nothing wrong with marking a special day each year when thanksgiving to God is emphasized. And a special day of thanksgiving does not diminish our thankfulness for God’s daily blessings and His daily deliverance from harm and evil.
In conclusion, I do not accept either of these objections to a heart-felt day of concentrated thanksgiving to God. So, happy Thanksgiving Day to you and your family!