• Home Page
  • Samson: The Separation Of Religious Holidays

Samson: The Separation Of Religious Holidays

Improved Essays
Show More
Samson, the last Israelite judge, was quite an evil guy. He routinely murdered people, committed adultery, and even disobeyed God's direct command. Despite his flaws, God used Samson to establish justice in Israel and destroy the Philistines. The story of Samson raises some serious questions about how Christians should react to a mix of evil and good. A very practical and prominent issue among Christians is the celebration of religious holidays, such as Easter and Christmas. The controversy stems from the way the world has twisted the holidays and fact that they holidays originated as pagan celebrations. Christians today rightly question if they should engage in worldly traditions and celebrate holidays so far removed from God. A close look at the Bible reveals that it permits the celebration of religious holidays, but Christians must celebrate them differently from the world and use the holidays to proclaim the Gospel and honor God.

Many unorthodox Christians, and even Evangelicals, condemn Easter and Christmas because of their pagan roots. However, the Bible never states that celebrating a day formerly associated with pagan traditions violates …show more content…
Many today continue to practice the traditions surrounding these holidays, and many Christians unite to celebrate Jesus' birth and resurrection. Nevertheless, celebrating the holidays still remains controversial among some Christians. Indeed, it is dangerous to allow evil to influence one's actions, but God has a way of using evil for good. Those who study the Bible realize that although it never denounces these holidays, Christians must ignore the worldly aspects and focus on proclaiming and praising Jesus. As long as giving all glory to God remains the central focus, Christians can celebrate Christmas and Easter with confidence, knowing that God is

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Ritual And Festivals Dbq
    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ritual And Festivals Dbq

    Rituals and Festivals in Europe: What’s the point?- DBQ Essay The anxiety and eagerness with which the people of traditional Europe awaited rituals and festivals leads to the interesting question of what their true purpose in society was. Communities and members of various groups would gather to hold ceremonies covering multiple aspects of society that affected their everyday lives. Rituals can be traced back to the early churches and their original practices, but evolved over time to become what are more known as holdings to bring people of all types together to support a common event. Writers, artists, and historians of the time recognized that these festivals had the potential to be seen as altering moments in European life spanning from the mid-fifteenth century as far as the late-nineteenth century.…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Olmec Religion Research Paper
    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Olmec Religion Research Paper

    Olmec Religion Report By Uyen Pham Who, why, and how did the Olmec worship? The Olmec were rich in religion, all ceremonial or activity in the religion were done by shamans, people who were believed to have supernatural powers to spirits. Priests and rulers also participated in ceremonial activities, but rulers were the most influential to others because they were thought to be relatives of the gods in Olmec religion.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Analysis Of Contact And Conflict In Pontiac's Speech At Detroit
    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis Of Contact And Conflict In Pontiac's Speech At Detroit

    Samson wrote “From a Short Narrative of My Life,” in which he wrote his personal experiences and thoughts about his people and the English. Occom converted to Christianity and was educated by fellow Christians. From reading his entry, the reader can easily see that he was a sincere follower of Christ. He loved and was compassionate of his fellow man, Native American or English, referring to them as “poor kindred” and “English neighbors”. The tone of his entry is very sincere.…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Samson Research Paper
    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Samson Research Paper

    In the fourteenth chapter of Judges, Samson encounters a young, Philistine woman and Manoah questions his son’s judgment. Nevertheless, Samson convinces his father that the Philistine woman is the perfect woman for him and Manoah journeys with him to Timnah. While in Timnah, a young lion comes out of nowhere so Samson tears the lion apart with his bare hands. Samson does not tell his parents about the lions. Days after his encounter with the lion, Samson scoops some honey out of the lion’s carcass and he shares the honey with his parents.…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Thanksgiving In American Civil Religion
    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Thanksgiving In American Civil Religion

    In Bellah’s article “American Civil Religion,” Bellah describes the way that the United States government not only interacts with religion, but actually has religion ingrained in it. From the America’s founding documents, to holidays, to the Pledge of Allegiance, to the phrase “In God We Trust,” religion everywhere in our government even when it isn't supposed to be anywhere within our government. However, Bellah makes the argument that even though there is religion in our government it serves a different purpose than traditional religion. This difference is what differentiates between “religion” and “civil religion.”…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Research Paper On Samson's Dichotomy
    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Research Paper On Samson's Dichotomy

    The narrative of Samson bringing down the Philistine temple, murdering thousands as well as himself, raises the matter of viewpoint. Acts of terror are condoned when the motivation is a belief that one holds. Contrarily, if one does not hold the incentivizing belief, the act is understood as bloodshed. First, the Israelite people likely considered Samson’s murder-suicide an act of war while Philistines saw it as unjust manslaughter. This dichotomy is exemplified in modern times when Jihadist use violence as a device of holy war, and others view it as a senseless massacre.…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Philo Of Austria In Flaccus
    • 129 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Philo Of Austria In Flaccus

    Religion can be used as a superficial construct to sequester and segregate communities of disparate religious identities. This stems from the belief that difference procures a need for alienating those of ambivalent religious identities and to suppose them as the “other.” This disposition constructs troubling interpretations of religions and often are used as a rationalization to commit treacherous acts of violence against communities whose religious identities differ from those of the perpetrators. Such accounts of violence against the “other” are prevalent within Jewish history. Accounts of these happenings by Philo of Alexandria in In Flaccus and by Solomon bar Samson in his description of the massacres in Mainz, examine the interaction…

    • 129 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Should Congress Eliminate Religious Holidays?
    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Should Congress Eliminate Religious Holidays?

    When it comes to the topic of American holidays, most would agree that there are quite a lot of holidays. Where this agreement ends, however, is on the line of whether Congress should eliminate some of these holidays. Whereas some believe that Congress should eliminate religious holidays, others maintain the idea that Congress shouldn’t eliminate any holidays because they all honor American culture. Although not everybody celebrates religious or specific remembrance holidays, it is important to acknowledge these holidays as they are what shapes and unites the nation as a whole. Even though many Americans are unaware of the history behind holidays established for historical figures, it would be senseless to eliminate them.…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Essay On Religion: Scourge Or Refugee
    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Essay On Religion: Scourge Or Refugee

    Essay 4: Religion: Scourge or Refugee? I. Scourge In his book Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris analyzes the Abrahamic religions and makes an argument that these religious faiths are based on faulty mythological stories and that the very existence of these traditions is detrimental to society (Harris xi). Harris delves deep into the purpose of morality in these religions, as well as the correlational ties between religion and violence. He also takes the time to question God’s role in the world’s suffering and how perceptions of God can fail to tell the whole story.…

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Easter And Religion Analysis
    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Easter And Religion Analysis

    Cadbury has recently been embroiled in a row with the Church of England after the chocolate maker dropped the word “Easter” from its annual Easter egg hunt, but there are those who are baffled at the Church’s reaction because they say Easter is not really a Christian festival but one of pagan origin. In an op-ed published on The Guardian on Apr. 4, Peter Ormerod voiced out his confusion over the negative reactions of the Church of England and even UK Prime Minister Theresa May to Cadbury’s rebranding of its Easter egg hunt. He pointed out that the name of the Christian festival does not have anything to do with Christianity and that Jesus’ disciples did not celebrate His resurrection by looking for substances that resemble chocolate.…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Analysis Of Angels We Have Heard On High, By Charles Wesley
    • 237 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Analysis Of Angels We Have Heard On High, By Charles Wesley

    Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Many presents are received. Santa is waiting to take a picture with you on Christmas Eve or at many malls around the world. But most of all Christmas is about our Savior's birth on Christmas Day.…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Principal Beliefs Of Christianity
    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Principal Beliefs Of Christianity

    We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son, who came from the father, full of grace and truth”. The humanity of Jesus gives adherents the ability to connect to the divine on a personal level, emphasising the interrelatedness between God and humans. Adherents are able to aspire to an actual factually historical, physical being ensuring leading a Christian lifestyle remains an achievable goal. The transcendent components of the religion are balanced out with the immanent features. Christmas is celebrated by various Christian faiths to acknowledge that Jesus is both divine and lived in human form on earth.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Religious Tradition
    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Religious Tradition

    Describe the purpose of a sacred text within a religious tradition. How and why the Gospel of Luke originated and was transmitted (spread) over time. The three stages of the Gospel formation is The Public life of Jesus, The Oral Period- Preaching and Teaching, Period of the Evangelists- The Gospels are recorded in written form.…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Effects Of Scrooge In A Christmas Carol
    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Effects Of Scrooge In A Christmas Carol

    The Future is determined by one’s action in the present, So when given a chance to look at the future, people will want to come back to the present, and change their actions for a better future. In the novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Scrooge, the main character, is a wicked and grumpy man to start with. As four ghost visits him, with the ghost of future as the most influential, Scrooge becomes a caring, joyful man. All the ghosts are important in the development of Scrooge, but none more important than The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. He shows Scrooge of the consequences , and makes Scrooge acknowledge the alteration of his behavior.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Spread Of Christianity In Africa And Latin America
    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Spread Of Christianity In Africa And Latin America

    Christianity is currently the largest practiced religion in the world with 2.4 billion followers worldwide. The religion started in Palestine about 2000 years ago, which was seen as the Promise Land by the Jews. The area was under rule by the Roman Empire when Jesus the Nazareth was born and Judaism was the religion that was being practiced in the area. The Jews disliked being ruled by the Roman Empire because the Romans oppressed them. As a result of the area being heavily influenced by Judaism, Jesus and the apostles were originally Jews, however at the age of 30 he was baptized.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings