Denison Forum
Dr. Jim Denison
My wife and I attended a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. You may have done the same. Or your church may have offered something different: a “Christmas Adam” service the day before.
New York Times reporter Elizabeth Dias tells us that “some evangelically minded and social-media-savvy Protestant churches and families have embraced [this] celebration” on December 23. Why the name? “Because Adam came before Eve.” Dias explains that for many, holding a Christmas Adam event is “a practical way to compete in a crowded holiday season by offering church services a day before the holiday actually starts.”
Christmas Adam was just one of this week’s holidays:
- Hanukkah fell on the same day as Christmas for the first time since 2005, a convergence that occurs an average of five times a century.
- Kwanzaa begins today, a weeklong celebration of African American culture held annually from December 26 to January 1.
- There’s even “Chrismukkah” for interfaith families, combining elements of Christmas and Hanukkah such as a Christmas tree with Hanukkah ornaments.
Here we see America’s pluralism on full display, a vivid reminder of the popular assumption that “all roads lead up the same mountain,” so it doesn’t matter what you believe so long as you are tolerant of the beliefs of others. After all, the holidays will soon be over and life will return to “normal” for another year.
Until it doesn’t. The Rest of The Story Here