Galatians 4:10
Galatians 4:1010You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!
JWs sometimes cite — "you are observing days and months and seasons and years" — to argue that Christians should not celebrate holidays like Christmas, Easter, or birthdays. Paul's rebuke of the Galatians for returning to day-keeping is applied to any observance the Watchtower classifies as having pagan origins or lacking explicit scriptural command.
Paul rebukes the Galatians for letting Judaisers pressure them into Mosaic Torah observance — "days and months and seasons and years" (). His concern is legalism: day-keeping imposed as necessary for salvation. But Paul's principle cuts both ways: explicitly forbids judging over festival observance, and permits one Christian to observe a day and another to treat all days alike — both "to Jehovah." The Watchtower's own sixty-year beard ban (reversed October 2023) fits Paul's description of the decrees he condemns in : "do not handle, do not taste, do not touch" — rules with "the appearance of wisdom in self-imposed worship" but no actual spiritual value. records Jesus attending the Festival of Dedication (Hanukkah) — a post-biblical feast with no divine command. If Jesus attended a festival not commanded in Torah, the "pagan origins" standard applies a stricter rule than Jesus himself observed.