Question Box - Good News Staff - November 1959

Good News Staff

Question: How should we view the American custom of celebrating Thanksgiving Day? Answer: The Thanksgiving holiday was established in comparatively recent years. It is, of course, not mentioned in Scripture - but the principle of attending and celebrating national holidays is made clear in scripture. Thanksgiving Day was established by the early colonists, not by any divine authority. But this in itself does not make it wrong to celebrate with good fellowship. Notice the example of Jesus Christ. In John 10:22 we find that Christ attended the "Feast of Dedication," which was established by the Jews years before to commemorate the purification of the temple at Jerusalem. That day was celebrated on the anniversary of the day that the reestablishment of Divine work-ship occurred after Antiochus Epiphanes had been vanquished and the temple purified about 165 B.C. Jesus' attendance at that annual holiday clearly illustrated that it is not wrong to attend or celebrate a national holiday established for an honorable purpose. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library