The War On Christmas – Advent Blog Tour & Giveaway

The War On Christmas

Review Copy

The War On Christmas – Advent Blog Tour

When I was a child, I looked forward to Christmas – and so, it seemed, did everyone else. No matter where you went, you saw homes decorated with glistening Christmas lights, lawns lit with sparkling Christmas trees, and Nativity scenes large and small. People greeted you and signs proclaimed Merry Christmas! Everyone knew the reason for the season and even those of different faiths acknowledged it.

Fast forward a few decades and – it appears – the world has changed.

Have you noticed that during the course of your lifetime, Christmas has come under attack? Don’t get me wrong. People still want the benefits of Christmas – they want the day off, the deep shopping discounts, and all of the cheer that surrounds the holiday. But there are some who want the religious aspects of the holiday removed, and those who are steadily chipping away at the religious freedom we once took for granted.

How, you might ask, can one remove Jesus Christ – the person whose birthday we commemorate on Christmas – from this sacred day? Do those who celebrate Christmas really have anything to be concerned about?

In his fascinating book, The War On Christmas – Battles In Faith, Tradition, and Religions Expression, Bodie Hodge seeks to explore the varied reasons and subtle ways that Christmas is coming under attack in our culture – and how Christians can respond. This book is easy-to-read – well-documented – and enlightening. Bodie does a fabulous job of educating readers about the many myths and misconceptions that have cropped up over the years.

What is real – what is tradition – and what is revisionist? I highly recommend The War On Christmas to you. I think you’ll find this book both fascinating and informative!

I cordially invite you to follow The The War On Christmas Advent Blog Tour from December 2-24, 2013 as some of your favorite bloggers take an in-depth look at different chapters in this book – and a few (including Create With Joy) offer special giveaways as well!

In a moment, I’ll be delving into Chapters 8 and 9 of The War On Christmas – Misconceptions Surrounding Christmas and The X Stands For Christ – but first, I encourage you to watch this video and to discover just how Christmas-literate you are!

The War On Christmas Video

Can you separate biblical truth from holiday tradition? Answer the questions in this fun video to see just how knowledgable you are!

The War On Christmas – Misconceptions Surrounding Christmas

The War On Christmas

If you watched the video I shared a few moments ago, I’m sure you walked away with a sense of how easy it is get confused about what is and isn’t real about Christmas – even if you are an educated Christian who grew up in the church.

Can you imagine how much more challenging it must be to separate fact from fiction to those who aren’t Christians – to those who are new to the faith – and to those who are seeking the truth but aren’t sure where to look?

In Chapter 8 of The War On Christmas – Misconceptions Surrounding Christmas – Bodie Hodge reminds us that no matter what our church traditions are – no matter what our culture espouses – no matter what our favorite Christmas songs or television programs teach us – there is really only one way to learn what’s real and what’s not when it comes to Christmas and that’s to read the Bible.

Many of us have been lead to believe that the Bible claims things it really doesn’t. How will we know what the Bible really says if we haven’t read it for ourselves?

This season, I encourage you to read one or more of the Bible accounts about the birth of Jesus Christ and see how it compares to your understanding of the event. Are there any details that the actual Bible story includes – or lacks – that you’ve always thought are true? How do you account for these differences?

The War On Christmas – The X Stands For Christ

Merry Christmas! Merry Xmas. Is there really a distinction between these two sentiments?

For many years, I thought that those who wrote Merry Xmas were either trying to eliminate Christ from Christmas or had gotten a hand cramp from writing too many Christmas cards! However, I’ve also heard that you really can’t take Christ out of Christmas – that whether people realize it or not, that X still stands for Christ.

What does the X in X-mas really mean? Here’s what Bodie has to say on the topic:

Christ is a title given to the Lord Jesus to signify that He is the Messiah. In Greek, this word is Christos. Since the first Greek letter of this title (the letter chi) looks like an x in English, some have used it as an abbreviation for Christ. Many have claimed that this practice dates back to the first century, and there is solid evidence that shows this was practiced in the 16th century, perhaps as a time-saving measure for those using the printing press. However, those using the abbreviation would still pronounce the X as Christ.

So, it appears that the joke is on those who are trying to eliminate Christ by “x”-ing Him out!

As Christians, Bodie says we should let our conscience be our guides when it comes to whether we say Merry Christmas or Merry X-Mas – as long as we’re not ashamed of Jesus, the latter is okay. Personally, however, unless I run out of space on my card, I use Merry Christmas because not everyone knows the history behind the X – and I want to use every opportunity possible to celebrate the reason for the season!

These two chapters provide just a sampling of what you’ll find inside of The War On Christmas. For more fascinating insights, be sure to follow the tour!

For More Information About The War On Christmas:

For More Great Books:

The War On Christmas – Book & T-Shirt Giveaway

Thank you for taking the time to join us on The War On Christmas Advent Blog Tour! To help you learn more about The War On Christmas, Create With Joy is teaming up with Handlebar Marketing and the New Leaf Publishing Group to offer one of our US readers a chance to win a copy of this book and a themed t-shirt (unisex, adult sizes small, medium or large). To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment AND submit your entries through the Rafflecopter form. This giveaway is open to all Create With Joy readers residing in the US, 18 years or older, now through Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at Midnight PST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes. I was not compensated or required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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15 Responses to “The War On Christmas – Advent Blog Tour & Giveaway”

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  1. Andrea says:

    This review of yours is fascinating. Thank you

  2. I am interested in learning how we as Christians can respond to this war on Christmas. Myself I work in a Christian radio station. I am very free to say Merry Christmas. I feel it is a shame that some people who would like to say Merry Christmas cannot, because they are afraid someone is going to give them a hard time. Thanks for sharing today!

  3. Dawn Paoletta
    Twitter: breathoffaith
    says:

    I am loving this book and looking forward to sharing on the Blog tour! So loved your review- as always , you do an excellent job. Wait, maybe I mean X-cellent job! 😉

    I think it is so important to know how to pick battles in the faith…and actually better still , let God pick the battles we take up. So often we as Chiristians can get sidetracked and miss the bigger picture in battles God never really meant for us to be in.

    This book does a fine job of bringing light and truth to the most wonderful time of the year for Christians! Great review!

  4. Allie says:

    I’m looking forward to learning more about the religious links to current customs, like the meaning behind the x in the abbreviation x-mas.

  5. dawn says:

    Ha! I am most interested in the QUIET time I will get when reading the book!
    dawnsdisaster{at}gmail{dot}com

  6. Jamie says:

    I would love another of these books to be able to give to friends to read. Finding out all of the great information was such a blessing and I love hearing everyone on the blog tour’s interpretation of their chapters. Great post! Tweeted!

  7. Sue says:

    I would like to learn more about this topic & get back to the real meaning of Christmas

    secook2(at)gmail(dot)com

  8. Kim says:

    On the opposite side, I have witnessed Christians getting offended by the fact there are atheists like myself daring to celebrate the holiday. If Christmas is a religious holiday for you (speaking generally here), that’s awesome. If it’s a fun holiday that doesn’t involve Jesus Christ, that’s also awesome.

    I wish we could learn to just live and let live rather than criticize one another for how we choose to celebrate a holiday.

    • Create With Joy
      Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
      says:

      Dear Kim,

      Thank you for your heartfelt comment and for taking the time to share another perspective! Although I have not always been a Christian, I have always loved Christmas so I “hear” you. Like you, I also wish we could learn to co-exist more peacefully and just enjoy the holidays. I think a lot of people – no matter what beliefs they hold – need to keep an open mind when it comes to topics like these and be willing to engage in open and meaningful dialog.

      I am thrilled that you celebrate Christmas – even if you do so from a non-religious aspect – because it is a wonderful holiday that everyone should enjoy. Even though I now celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, I enjoy many of the non-religious aspects as well.

      Even though you are atheist, you are welcome to enter the giveaway if you’d like to learn more about this topic!

      Have a joy-filled season!

  9. This is a good reminder of The True Meaning of Christmas. We get so caught up in the gift giving aspect many forget the importance of the day! Thanks for your insights. Thanks for posting on The Four Seasons Blog Hop!

  10. Mother of 3 says:

    I have definitely noticed the move to Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas and the like. This sounds like an interesting book.

  11. Alice says:

    Wow this sounds like an interesting and educational read. Going to add this to my list!

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