Although C.S. Lewis wrote this article over fifty years ago, his thoughts on the commercialization of the holidays are as needful today as they were back then:
Three things go by the name of Christmas:
One is a religious festival. This is important and obligatory for Christians; but as it can be of no interest to anyone else, I shall naturally say no more about it here.
Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences
1. When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”, he called for the entire life of believers to be one of penitence.
2. The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, i.e. confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.
3. Yet its meaning is not restricted to penitence in one’s heart; for such penitence is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of the flesh.
4. As long as hatred of self abides (i.e. true inward penitence) the penalty of sin abides, viz., until we enter the kingdom of heaven.
5. The Pope has neither the will nor the power to remit any penalties beyond those imposed either at his own discretion or by canon law.
A Calvinist (Charles Simeon) and an Arminian (John Wesley) had this conversation over two hundred years ago and we can all learn much from it today:
Charles: Sir, I understand that you are called an Arminian; and I have been sometimes called a Calvinist; and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers. (more…)
When Flavius Claudius Julianus became the Emperor of Rome in A.D. 361, he did everything in his power to destroy Christianity and by reviving the old pagan religion of Rome (more…)
They live in their own countries, but only as aliens; they participate in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign. (more…)