What if Christ hadn’t been born?
By Paul Bawden
In this Christmas season such is a good question to contemplate. Some may say, “Why even bring up the question?” I bring it up because sometimes it’s well to reflect on what our world would be like without Christ’s birth we celebrate on Christmas.
Obviously, no Christ no Christmas. Celebrating “mas” doesn’t sound too exciting. But consider the following:
Calendar: The BC/AD dating system, based on Christ’s birth, wouldn’t exist, shifting historical timelines. Now there is the secular BCE – Before Common Era. Then CE (Common Era). The BCE/CE system uses the same reference point as the BC/AD system: the approximate birth of Jesus Christ.
Art, Architecture, Literature: No Christian-themed masterpieces like Byzantine mosaics, Gothic cathedrals, or Renaissance art focused on Christian themes. No New Testament, Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost or countless works inspired by Christ – no nativity scenes and religious art.
Music: No Handel’s Messiah, Christmas carols, or vast amounts of Western classical music.
Law & Politics: Modern legal and political systems, influenced by Christian ethics, would be unrecognizable, potentially leading to different concepts of civil liberties and governance.
Morality: Core Western moral frameworks, often rooted in Christian teachings, would be absent, fostering different ethical standards.
Science & Education: The foundations of modern science, influenced by Christian thinkers, might have developed differently or more slowly.
Religion: The religious landscape world-wide would be altered without Christianity being present – not on a good trajectory.
Social: No driving force of Christianity to establish hospitals, orphanages, and charities, thus alleviating suffering and improving the quality of life for countless individuals.
Bible: What the Bible foretells about Christ’s coming to be born, and His arrival in His incarnation in Bethlehem wouldn’t be true. The Bible, then, wouldn’t be true.
Everyday Life: Holidays like Christmas and New Year’s (as we know them) wouldn’t exist; life might have unfolded with different daily rhythms and cultural touchstones.
Salvation: But above all there would be no such experience of forgiveness and eternal life for all people who accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior. In addition, the vast community of the true church of Jesus Christ locally and world-wide that He has established wouldn’t exist.
The above can’t be rationally denied. For without Christ’s birth, our lives individually, as families, as churches, as a nation, and as a world would not be what they are today. Our world would be in a much worse mess than it is. Even though people reject Christmas, and many celebrate Christmas without acknowledging who Christ is and what He has done for them in providing His forgiveness and eternal life, Christ was born those many years ago in Bethlehem just for you.
I trust you have put your trust in Christ as your personal Savior for His forgiveness and eternal life, and you are living for Him to bring His love, grace, and hope to a world that desperately needs Him. Enjoy celebrating individually, with family and friends – Christ is born – the Grand Miracle – Immanuel – God with us! Merry Christmas!!
Paul Bawden is married and served in the full-time pastoral ministry for 45 years, retiring in 2011, after which he and his wife served in four interims, three in Wisconsin and one in Iowa. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.A. in Speech and attended Dallas Theological Seminary, receiving a Master of Theology. He has taken counseling courses at Trinity Evangelical Seminary in Deerfield, Illinois. Paul is a lifetime member of the Evangelical Free Church of America, as well as being a member of Interim Pastor Ministries (IPM), which serves churches during their time of transition in searching for a new pastor. He is also a volunteer writer for GotQuestions.org. Paul likes to write, read, and work in the yard. The Bawdens have had the privilege to travel to Mexico and Romania on mission trips and visited various countries in Europe. They have three daughters and five grandchildren.
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