Hello community,
My question in a nutshell is whether there is justification in celebrating worldly holidays, such as the 4th of July in the USA?
Let's look at a parallel.
My question arises from John 10:22. It says, " At that time the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was wintertime, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Sol′o·mon.
The WT admits Jesus attended Hanukkah, per insight book,
"The... Festival of Dedication ... was not one of the great festivals requiring attendance at Jerusalem. (Ex 23:14-17; Le 23:4-44) Celebration was held throughout the land in the many synagogues, according to Jewish tradition. Later, at John 10:22, Jesus is specifically mentioned as attending one such Festival of Dedication in Jerusalem.
For any not familiar with Hanukkah, the story is contained in the apocrypha, 1 & 2 Maccabees. These books tell the story of the Maccabees, a small band of Jewish fighters who liberated the Land of Israel from the Syrian Greeks who occupied it. The Greeks sought to impose their Hellenistic culture. By 167 B.C.E, the Greeks intensified their campaign by defiling the Temple in Jerusalem and banning Jewish practice. The Maccabees, led by Judah, waged an uprising that culminated in defeating the Greeks and rededicating the Temple.
So here are the issues. (& perhaps you can think of more)
1] Hanukkah, like the 4th of July, celebrates independence from an imperial nation (like England).
2] There is no evidence that the Maccabees had God's approval. In fact, WT rejects their writings as uninspired, even though Hanukkah also celebrates the miracle of the oil: that God miraculously made a 1-day supply of oil burn for 8 days, to provide light.
2] Per WT, this holiday is not inspired by God, unlike Passover, feast of weeks and booths. It was not foreshadowed in anyway. There was no requirement to attend.
Jesus would be well aware of the above issues. But why then attend? The WT would reprove if not Df a JW for unrepentantly attending the 4th of July (for not keeping separate from the world). Is there a difference?