Religion & Spirituality - 5 December 2007

With all of the exploring that human beings are doing, I would wonder what would happen if we found such a scenario. There are surely many planets that are "suitable." It's just a matter of finding one that offers the "exchange" that humans can tolerate.

2007-12-05 15:51:40 · 9 answers · asked by In God We Trust 7

2007-12-05 15:49:13 · 17 answers · asked by Jesus is the best. 3

2007-12-05 15:47:28 · 29 answers · asked by Rachel 1

2007-12-05 15:46:06 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous

Why December 25?

According to conventional wisdom, Christmas had its origin in a pagan winter solstice festival, which the church co-opted to promote the new religion. In doing so, many of the old pagan customs crept into the Christian celebration. But this view is apparently a historical myth—like the stories of a church council debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or that medieval folks believed the earth is flat—often repeated, even in classrooms, but not true.

William J. Tighe, a history professor at Muhlenberg College, gives a different account in his article "Calculating Christmas," published in the December 2003 Touchstone Magazine. He points out that the ancient Roman religions had no winter solstice festival.

True, the Emperor Aurelian, in the five short years of his reign, tried to start one, "The Birth of the Unconquered Sun," on Dec. 25, 274. This festival, marking the time of year when the length of daylight began to increase, was designed to breathe new life into a declining paganism. But Aurelian's new festival was instituted after Christians had already been associating that day with the birth of Christ. According to Mr. Tighe, the Birth of the Unconquered Sun "was almost certainly an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians." Christians were not imitating the pagans. The pagans were imitating the Christians.

The early church tried to ascertain the actual time of Christ's birth. It was all tied up with the second-century controversies over setting the date of Easter, the commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection. That date should have been an easy one. Though Easter is also charged with having its origins in pagan equinox festivals, we know from Scripture that Christ's death was at the time of the Jewish Passover. That time of year is known with precision.

But differences in the Jewish, Greek, and Latin calendars and the inconsistency between lunar and solar date-keeping caused intense debate over when to observe Easter. Another question was whether to fix one date for the Feast of the Resurrection no matter what day it fell on or to ensure that it always fell on Sunday, "the first day of the week," as in the Gospels.

This discussion also had a bearing on fixing the day of Christ's birth. Mr. Tighe, drawing on the in-depth research of Thomas J. Talley's The Origins of the Liturgical Year, cites the ancient Jewish belief (not supported in Scripture) that God appointed for the great prophets an "integral age," meaning that they died on the same day as either their birth or their conception.

Jesus was certainly considered a great prophet, so those church fathers who wanted a Christmas holiday reasoned that He must have been either born or conceived on the same date as the first Easter. There are hints that some Christians originally celebrated the birth of Christ in March or April. But then a consensus arose to celebrate Christ's conception on March 25, as the Feast of the Annunciation, marking when the angel first appeared to Mary.

Note the pro-life point: According to both the ancient Jews and the early Christians, life begins at conception. So if Christ was conceived on March 25, nine months later, he would have been born on Dec. 25.

This celebrates Christ's birth in the darkest time of the year. The Celtic and Germanic tribes, who would be evangelized later, did mark this time in their "Yule" festivals, a frightening season when only the light from the Yule log kept the darkness at bay. Christianity swallowed up that season of depression with the opposite message of joy: "The light [Jesus] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).

Regardless of whether this was Christ's actual birthday, the symbolism works. And Christ's birth is inextricably linked to His resurrection.

2007-12-05 15:44:08 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous

just asking. i want it in an average of years, or percentage, if you could.

2007-12-05 15:43:18 · 20 answers · asked by peepoohead7 2

handle an abusive spouse
I will be leaving soon ;;God willing''
but,in the meantime,I try to just pretend I am staying in a compfy shelter

obviously,when hes home(which really isnt much) this is hard to do,and all those horrible emotions come flooding back!!
I have soo much hurt/anger towards him
I know i will let go of this when i am away from him,but while im still living with him,its hard to let it go

if I didnt have a baby,I would be gone already,but in the best interest of the baby,I am waiting it out a couple months to go to a safe shelter
so please,any tips on how to handle,the horrible emotions I have when he walks in the door??

2007-12-05 15:42:44 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous

Just wondering.

2007-12-05 15:38:02 · 41 answers · asked by Anonymous

Each Sunday, the children in the church take up loose change and put it in a jar, and after they get enough, they send it to an orphanage over seas to help those children.

I am painting a money jar for them to keep their money in, right now, they use a plastic water jug.

I'm thinking this:

Little children hand-in-hand wrapped around the base of the jar, then over them, flies a white dove holding a banner that wraps around the top of the jar.......

What does the banner say?

Any biblical quotes come to mind about children helping children?? or helping those in need....

THANK YOU!

2007-12-05 15:37:13 · 16 answers · asked by photocritter 3

I see Him in the stars and moon.
In a beautiful sunset
My nephews smile

2007-12-05 15:34:33 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-12-05 15:34:27 · 9 answers · asked by Jewels 7

We could put in answers for
Why are there still Monkeys(apes)?
Why do or why don't you believe in God? (or put that in our profile and force people to look at that)
Golden Compass
This Question I am asking
Why are Atheists (aka Athiests) Here?
Anything Huckabee
Christian nation
Anything about Evolution is false
please add more... maybe I'll make a page and we can just link to it

2007-12-05 15:34:10 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-12-05 15:34:09 · 16 answers · asked by mishoney 4

2007-12-05 15:33:54 · 34 answers · asked by Anonymous

...they could be using that money to start programs that benefit the less fortunate in the community.

2007-12-05 15:33:23 · 28 answers · asked by Tru Warrior 4

2007-12-05 15:33:21 · 30 answers · asked by madhatter 6

Isaiah 45:18

"For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else."

Source: HOLY BIBLE (King James Version)

2007-12-05 15:32:45 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous

why are followers are willing to give them up?

2007-12-05 15:31:55 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous

i just started attendin services at a different church and basically the reverend is a friar, but i'm not sure if he's a priest too and i have no idea what to call him...father, brother, plain ol' Friar...help me out

2007-12-05 15:31:47 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous

What kind of tree did Ted Haggard grow on?

2007-12-05 15:31:42 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

And Jesus paid the price... how come He isn't still being tormented? Isn't the punishment for sin, death? How could Jesus have paid the price if it was a continuing torment that we deserved? The only price Jesus suffered was death and after paying OUR debt, He was resurrected.

2007-12-05 15:31:35 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

What do you deserve? Are you hoping God will give you what you TRULY deserve? Or would you rather He show you mercy??? And should He show you mercy??? If so, why?

2007-12-05 15:29:39 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous

I was raised outside of the Christian faith, so please bear with my ignorance...

Can Christians believe in evolution? I would think that a non literal translation of the bible would allow you to believe that God designed and guided evolution. However from the answers I have been reading on Y!A it seems that this is not an acceptable belief.

Does this very with which branch (i.e. catholic, protestant, quaker,) or is it a universal to truth to all Christian faiths?

Thank you for your answers and please try to be polite.

2007-12-05 15:25:55 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous

Alright. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree, they basically chose to do evil or to do good. The serpent said you would be like God, knowing good and evil. So who do you think created Evil?????

Another thing, why do people expect everyone to be good? People are naturally evil. I don't care what ya say.

You don't have to teach a toddler to do bad things. They do that on their own. Parents have to teach their kids how to do good!

Please note, I am a Christian.

2007-12-05 15:25:47 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-12-05 15:25:27 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous

i have to do a paper on a religion that involves this..they ask for a step by step how to get into it and what it is??? idk..i need help.

2007-12-05 15:25:00 · 32 answers · asked by Anonymous

any thoughts-laughter does count

-didnt want to get to serious---smile and enjoy the night

2007-12-05 15:24:46 · 17 answers · asked by lazaruslong138 6

Why do Christians always like to assume that atheists reject God because of a bad experience that they use to blame God for.

Let me make it clear to you Christians that we atheists are not angry at God or had any bad experience that we blame on God.

Since we are open-minded we actually read the Bible and learn about your religion and even consider the possibilities of God existing.

I even prayed when I was in trouble. And yes, my prayers were answered sometimes.

However, after some real soul searching and eye-opening facts about the real world and the Bible was revealed I came to a conclusion, just like most of us atheists, that Christianity and its Bible is not valid or making enough sense to believe in.

We don't just reject your God senslessly.
We have firm reasons on why your God does not exist and once we have our mind open there is nothing that will ever bring us back to delusion.

No anger or disappointments involved.

Hope you Chrisitans got that.

2007-12-05 15:24:34 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

christain theology is so well known, that anyone with half a brian can make a joke from parts of it (whether that joke is good or bad, is all on one's opinion).---- i have proved that already myself witha few deleted questions.

but i got to be fair. so if there is some major atheist that i can point my finger at and laugh would be all the more better.

(again, there might be spelling errors, but i am behind schedule, so checking my work doesn't matter as much)

2007-12-05 15:23:55 · 3 answers · asked by assh☺le supreme 3

I'm confused about the JW view of heaven- if only 144,000 people can ever get into heaven, can heaven get closed off because it's "full", or are people's fates predetermined before they're even born?

2007-12-05 15:17:39 · 23 answers · asked by Viggy 3