Do you agree or disagree with Durbin? I agree with him. I don’t believe the regulative principle should be applied to ALL areas of life. Just because a holiday isn’t in the Bible doesn’t mean it is improper or that it can’t be God-honoring. I have wonderful childhood memories of celebrating Christmas and Easter with my family. I cherish those memories and would feel deeply deprived and poorer had I not had the chance to have those experiences.
I respect Christians who believe the only holiday we should observe is the Christian Sabbath (Sunday). However I *strongly* disagree with them if they start criticizing those of us who do celebrate holidays not enumerated in Scripture explicitly, or if they assert those of us who celebrate them are somehow sinning. I can’t fathom how a Christian could object to someone celebrating the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ!! What is more worthy of a joyful celebration than that? I would argue that holidays like Christmas and Easter *are* biblical. Because they are real events that happened and are defined in Scripture. To say that God prohibits us from celebrating any holiday except the Sabbath is to go too far.
I am an outlier as a Reformed believer on this issue. Most Reformed apply the regulative principle strictly and eschew celebrating holidays like Christmas and Easter. I usually find myself in agreement with the beliefs of the Puritans, however, on this issue, I think they had a very severe and reactionary attitude towards such celebrations due to their historic association with the Catholic church.
The debate about whether holidays like Christmas or Easter should be celebrated by Christians will likely keep raging till Christ returns. In my experience, online debates are often heated and lack charity. I hope we can discuss this issue in a respectful way and stay focused on biblical support.
Zach Uram's Blog 
2 responses to “Celebrating Holidays: Yay or Nay?”
The Christmas season is special and joyful! A great occasion to celebrate the birth of Jesus!
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Christmas is not holiday. It is Holy Day in which we celebrate the mystery of incarceration. God who spoke to us through Moses and the prophets, at the fullness of time came to our planet in person to address us directly. So He took our human nature and resembled us in everything except in sin. The Holy Trinity existed always. This ministry was not known before the second Person was incarnate. Nobody knew the Holy Trinity before the Son of God became the Son of Man. The three angels who were hosted by Abraham, and he spoke to them as to one. That was prediction of mystery of the Holy Trinity. The Son of God was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. Virginity is not only for purity and chastity and release from lust and sexual pleasure, but there is something more deep and essential than that. Scientifically we know that the formation of humanity is due to the unity of sperm and the oval. Since there was no sperm, then Jesus’ human nature came only from the Virgin alone. She gave Jesus the human nature. There will be no redemption if there was not incarnation. So our salvation was fulfilled through the full human nature the Virgin gave to the Lord by which He suffered death on the cross, and the same human nature rose from the dead on the third day.
In regard to the new sabbath which is the first day of the week, not the seventh day we took it from the apostles who always gathered in the upper room was always on the first day of the week without Thomas, with Thomas and on the Pentecost.
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