2006-12-18 05:10:02 · 23 answers · asked by kenual 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Christ is biblical. Also Hanuka does the Holy Dedication of the Light of the Temple. And that is biblical, because the Feast of Dedication is mentioned in John 10 and is in Winter. Jesus is the Light of the World. So put Jesus in the Hanuka and it is biblical to Christ. Remember the bright star connection?
It doesn't matter if the date of birth isn't Dec. 25th. What matters is that it is truly an important time of year when the Spirit of Love, Family & Giving is strong. God gave us the best gift of all in that He sent His Word to show us the Way.
Also the Spirit of Love, Family & Giving is of a good Spirit. And their in no law against the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
2006-12-18 05:37:48 · answer #1 · answered by t a m i l 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are lot of things that don't match up as far as the celebration of Christmas.
First of all, it's not cold in Bethlehem in December. There is no snow.
Supposedly the wisemen didn't reach the manger until January 6th. This is called the Epiphany.
And really, people who are native to Israel generally are olive complected.
The reason we celebrate Christmas in December is due to the Christians converting the pagans a long time ago. Pagans celebrate the Winter Solstice, which is December 21st. So, to sort of blur the edges between Pagan celebrations and Christian celebrations, thr birth of Christ was set at December 25th to help with conversions. Converting people is easier when there are similar characteristics.
Happy everything! :)
2006-12-18 05:27:07 · answer #2 · answered by spikeyblonde_22 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
"You cannot drink from the cup of demons and still drink from the Lord's cup. You cannot eat at the table of demons and still eat at the Lord's table. We would make the Lord jealous if we did that. And we are not stronger than the Lord."--- 1 Corinthians 10:21-22
The only thing Christians are commanded to celebrate is the Lord's Evening Meal, which Jesus said to do in remembrance of him. This command was given to his followers on Passover, Nisan 14th and this we faithfully celebrate once a year on that date. The reason no date was given for Jesus' birth is because he did not want it to be celebrated. When we see all the terrible things associated with Christmas, such as lies, drunkeness, greed, commercialism, and more suicides--no wonder he doesn't want his followers to celebrate it.
2006-12-18 05:46:42 · answer #3 · answered by Micah 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As I understand it, the early Christian Church 'appropriated' an existing, pagan celebration that took place at that time. Christians celebrated it as "Christ Mass" while the other pagans kept doing their thing.
It has become tradition for the celebration to occur at this time. But you are correct, based upon descriptions of Christs birth, it would have been in fall, during the harvest.
2006-12-18 05:14:26 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
December 25 was a widely celebrated Pagan holiday of Yule or Winter Solstice. It became Christmas simply because so many people already celebrated that day and it would have been hard to make people stop celebrating the Pagan holiday. In other words, if they actually celebrated Christ's birthday on the proper day, this will not stop people from celebrating Winter Solstice. This would have been a threat to Christianity because they would not have been able to stuff Pagans under the table otherwise.
Just a case of Christians taking over something that isn't theirs. Same with Halloween and Easter.
2006-12-18 05:12:38 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
Even though they are getting thumbed down by the zealots, the people pointing out it was a pagan holiday that the church wanted to stop are correct. In 375 the Pope was a bit peeved people were still celebrating something that had nothing to do with Christianity. It didn't catch on everywhere and some places, even though they were christian, did not celebrate it until the seventh century.
2006-12-18 05:18:42 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
THE Bible shows that Jesus was 33 1/2 years old when he was impaled in the early spring of the year 33 C.E., at the time of the Jewish Passover. This means, counting backward, that he was born in the early fall of the year.
Pagan Rome’s celebration of Saturnalia, the birthday of the invincible sun, was some three months later. How did the celebration of Jesus’ birth get pushed forward to December 25, to make it coincide blasphemously with the pagan celebration of the birthday of the sun?
The ever-shorter days of December stirred up superstitious panic among the sun worshipers, who feared that their god was dying. They burned candles and lit bonfires to help revive the ailing deity. It seemed to work. Following the winter solstice of December 21, the sun-god appeared to regain his strength as the days grew longer.
“December was the major month of pagan celebration, and Dec. 25 was the high point of the winter revelries,” explains Church Christmas Tab. “Some believe the bishop of Rome chose Dec. 25 as the birth date of Christ in order to ‘sanctify’ the pagan celebrations. What resulted was a strange mixture of the pagan and the Christian festivals that the world now calls Christmas.” The article admits: “The word ‘Christmas’ does not appear in the Bible. And Scripture gives no mandate for celebrating Jesus’ birth.”
No wonder theologian Tertullian complained: “By us, who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons and festivals, once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia [and other pagan feasts] are now frequented, gifts are carried to and fro, . . . and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar.”
Pope Gregory I continued this defiling trend. According to Natural History magazine, “instead of trying to obliterate peoples’ customs and beliefs, the pope’s instructions were, use them. If a group of people worship a tree, rather than cut it down, consecrate it to Christ and allow them to continue their worship.”
2006-12-18 05:16:00 · answer #7 · answered by Livin In Myrtle Beach SC 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It's the most beautiful time of the year. How boring it would be w/o this special day. Whoever picked this date did a good job. Pagans are free to celebrate their idols and athiests can ignore it if they choose so I don't see any problem. We accept Halloween which is next to 'All Saints Day' which became obscure.
2006-12-18 05:35:14 · answer #8 · answered by spareo1 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The council of Nicea chose that date because:
- It was the birthdate of several pagan gods such as Dionysis, Oden, etc. and they wanted Christianity to offer an easier transition
- It was close to the winter equinox
- Several cultures used that date for their own celebrations.
SO, the day was already special...they just changed the reason to fit Christianity
2006-12-18 05:14:49 · answer #9 · answered by DougDoug_ 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
because back then, christians were looking for more followers. if you were able to convince others that your religion was very similar to theirs, it was an easier convert. so they had the celebration of the birth of christ at the same time as the pagan celebration basically to convert more people.
2006-12-18 05:16:33 · answer #10 · answered by moonshine 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋