Jayson Edgerle
Reporter
As Christmas approaches, many Christians are preparing to celebrate what they believe is the birth of Jesus Christ. However, there is a group of Christians on campus that won’t be, the Elohist Club.
The Elohist Club is a religious charter club on campus that is also international. According to Paloma Rosales, former president of the club, the club is different in that they follow the literal word of the bible. They also view God in a different way, stating that the bible eludes to an additional side, a feminine side of God called “God, the Mother.”
The student adviser for the group, Salvador Vargas, said the group’s main goal is “to teach people commonly overlooked teachings of the bible that are important, such as Passover, the Sabbath, prayer times, etc.”
Rosales explained the founding of the club and its ideology.
“We were actually established in 2015 and we have been running it for three years now,” said Rosales. “I was originally one of the founding members and we have actually been having a bible study group here on campus.”
But how does that all amount to disowning Christmas? Isn’t it a Christian holiday to begin with? According to members of the club, that isn’t the case. Many biblical historians, like Paul L. Maier, speculate that the birth of Christ wasn’t on December 25. Maier believes that winter nights in Judea would be too cold for shepherds to tend to their flocks in the dead of night and that this is evidence enough to dispel the belief.
According to the Elohist club, the reason why his birth is celebrated in December stems from the Romans, who had adopted Christianity as their own official faith. To ensure a more fluid transition, many of the holidays were moved to sync up with the older traditions. Dec. 25 had originally been the day that they celebrated the birth of their Sun God so the newly formed church replace the old God for Jesus to be celebrated on that day.
Theology major Ruben Jimenez suggested alternatives to celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25.
“We could do all these things on any other day, throughout the year we have time to gather and unite with one other,” said Jimenez. “Our belief doesn’t have to focus on what most people say are national holidays or a time to gather because that can happen throughout the whole
year.”