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Doctrine changes · Claim record

The organisation’s own list of the earliest references warning against other holidays dates them to 1928 for Easter, 1929 for Valentine’s Day, 1936 for birthdays and 1946 for New Year’s Day.

Claim ID claim-doctrine-holidays-first-objections-datedConcerns 22 December 1946Organisation's explanation
Organisation's explanation · 22 December 1946 Verified

The organisation’s own list of the earliest references warning against other holidays dates them to 1928 for Easter, 1929 for Valentine’s Day, 1936 for birthdays and 1946 for New Year’s Day. God’s Kingdom Rules!, 2014

Show the evidence (1 source)
Primary JW publication Verified

God’s Kingdom Rules!, “Chapter 10: The King Refines His People Spiritually”

2014 · pp.102-105 · pars. 8-9, 12-13; boxes on pp. 102 and 105 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“Yet, the Bible Students did not at the time clearly see the need to stop celebrating Christmas. It continued to be celebrated even by members of the Brooklyn Bethel family. … For many years, the Bible Students viewed the cross as an acceptable symbol of Christianity. … they proudly wore a cross-and-crown pin as an identifying badge. … Beginning in 1891, a cross-and-crown symbol appeared on the cover of the Watch Tower.”

The chapter dates the Christmas change to the years after 1926, quotes a letter of 14 November 1927 from Frederick W. Franz saying ‘The Bethel family has voted not to have Christmas anymore’, and lists the steps by which the cross was dropped: the 1928 Detroit assembly (‘not only unnecessary but also objectionable’), Preparation (1933) p. 239, The Golden Age of 28 February 1934 p. 336, and The Golden Age of 4 November 1936 p. 72 together with Riches (1936) p. 27 for the teaching that Jesus died on a stake. A separate box gives the earliest references against Easter (1928), Valentine’s Day (1929), birthdays (1936) and New Year’s Day (1946).

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Chapter opened on the Watchtower Online Library and re-opened for audit on 19 September 2026 and read in full. The Christmas sentences follow the page 102 marker; the cross sentences are in paragraph 12, which straddles the page 104 marker, so the first of them is on page 103 and the rest on page 104. The box on other holidays is headed ‘Exposing Other Holidays and Celebrations’ and follows the page 105 marker. Of the publications the chapter cites, only The Golden Age of 4 November 1936 was separately opened.

Corroborated by. src-chg-p-jv-1993-ch14-abandoned, src-chg-p-ga-1936-1104-cross

Notes. The box on other holidays gives the earliest published objection, not the date on which Bible Students stopped observing each one.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-p-kr-2014-ch10-refining

Claim page

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