Catholic priest: Pentecostal churches contradicting themselves on Christmas

The Catholic Priest of Abuja Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Chinenye Oluoma, on Thursday, condemned comments by some clerics that Christmas was unbiblical’
Oluoma, who reacted on his Facebook page, said Christmas was celebrated only for its theological mystery.
Oluoma was reacting to statements credited to some renowned clerics.
The statements have continued to raise dust over December 25 set aside by Christians all over the world to mark the birth of Jesus Christ.
“I wanted to pretend that I didn’t read the comments by Pastors Daniel Olukoya of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) and Williams Kumuyi of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry that `Christmas is unbiblical’.
“It is the same funny mentality of those who confuse terminology with theology.
“Easter as a term is not in the Bible, but we celebrate it, because it is an event and a mystery recorded in the scripture. This is the same with Christmas,’’ he said.
Oluoma said that Christians do not celebrate Christmas for the term or calendar date but rather for the event and mystery.
“If we are not careful, one day, someone will wake up, get intoxicated on anointing and ask me to tell him why I call myself a Catholic since that term doesn’t exist in the bible.
“Same folly can be extended to all churches because no church has a name that’s used as a group of church members in the bible.
“A Pentecostal church that says it doesn’t celebrate Christmas because the term doesn’t exist in the bible but calls itself a Pentecostal church is just a comic contradiction,” he said.
He further pointed out that Pentecost in the bible meant the 50th day of every year set aside to celebrate agricultural feast, which had nothing to do with the Holy Spirit.
The catholic priest, however, said the day became significant only when the Holy Spirit fell on the Apostles as captured in Acts Chapter two in the Holy Bible.
“Even after that, there is no record in scripture that the Holy Spirit fell on other people on Pentecost Day,’’ he said.
Oluoma said that the Bible was not a dictionary or history book but a book containing theologies rather than terminologies.
He added that Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Children’s Day, among others were not in the Bible either, adding that the bible doesn’t have anything against their celebration.
“So, when you want to use the bible to validate or invalidate any religious practice, you look for the biblical theology about it, not the terminology.
“If anyone cares to know, there are many things we do in life that are not in the Bible,” Oluoma said.