Why dont you celebrate birthdays...or Jesus' birhtday, for that matter? When Jesus was born (his birth day) the wise men brought him gifts to celebrate his birth. So how is it a paegan tradition?
2007-09-20 04:45:38 · 8 answers · asked by bellesnail 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Money(gifts) is the root of all evil.
2007-09-20 05:11:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off, they were astrologers. That is a practice condemned in the Bible. They gave notice to the king who proceeded to murder every Jewish male under two.
Third, they did not arrive until well after Jesus birth. You really must do more than accept a manger scene as fact.
On the other hand, neither Jesus nor his apostles ever celebrated his birthday. Don't you think if we were supposed to make a big deal of it that they would have mentioned it?
It was more common for Jews to follow Eccles. 7:1, where it says the day of one's death is better than of one's being born. The idea was to be honored for doing something than for just showing up.
On the occasions when birthdays are mentioned in the Bible, it was never one worshiping Jehovah who had the birthday and always someone who did was killed.
2007-09-20 05:14:00 · answer #2 · answered by grnlow 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Because just like every other religion on earth, JW's have there interpretation of the bible. In there version, They dont see any place in the bible where celebrating Jesus's biirthday was ever an issue, but here is what I find strange, even though they dont celebrate x-mas, on easter they congregate for a special sermon and dinner at there Kingdom Halls,, They dont celebrate the birth and life of Jesus but the do celebrate the death and ressurection...
2007-09-20 06:04:25 · answer #3 · answered by Jennifer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you have to remember is that Jesus never celebrated his birthday, nor did any of his disciples. They did celebrate his birth, which is irreverent to a birthday celebration.
If Jesus was not born on December 25th, then what are you actually celebrating?
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==Christmas==
“The Romans’ favorite festival was Saturnalia, which began on December 17 and ended with the ‘birthday of the unconquered sun’ (Natalis solis invicti) on December 25. Somewhere in the second quarter of the fourth century, savvy officials of the church of Rome decided December 25 would make a dandy day to celebrate the birthday of the ‘sun of righteousness.’ Christmas was born.”
“The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin. The day of Christ's birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source. The fathers of the first three centuries do not speak of any special observance of the nativity.”—Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1981 reprint), by John McClintock and James Strong, Volume II, page 276.
“Most of the Christmas customs now prevailing in Europe, or recorded from former times, are not genuine Christian customs, but heathen customs which have been absorbed or tolerated by the Church. . . . The Saturnalia in Rome provided the model for most of the merry customs of the Christmas time.”—Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics (Edinburgh, 1911), edited by James Hastings, Volume III, pages 608, 609.
==Birthdays==
“The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born. The Romans also subscribed to this idea. They called the spirit the genius. This notion was carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel, the fairy godmother and the patron saint.”—The Lore of Birthdays, Ralph and Adelin Linton.
The keeping of birthday records was important in ancient times principally because a birth date was essential for the casting of a horoscope,” say the Lintons. To early Christians astrology was associated with Eastern religions, Roman Stoicism and the twisted thinking of the Gnostics. Christians wanted no part of that!
2007-09-20 05:56:14 · answer #4 · answered by VMO 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The practice of birthdays and Christmas gift giving is not based on what was done by the Magi. They did not arrive at the time of Jesus’ birth.
'The Encyclopedia Americana' states: “During the Saturnalia . . . feasting prevailed, and gifts were exchanged.” (1977, Vol. 24, p. 299) In many instances that represents the spirit of Christmas giving—an exchanging of gifts. The spirit reflected in such gift giving does not bring real happiness, because it violates Christian principles such as those found at Matthew 6:3, 4 and 2 Corinthians 9:7. Surely a Christian can give gifts to others as an expression of love at other times during the year, doing so as often as he wants to.
Depending on where they live, children are told that gifts are brought by Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Père Noël, Knecht Ruprecht, the Magi, the elf Jultomten (or Julenissen), or a witch known as La Befana. ('The World Book Encyclopedia', 1984, Vol. 3, p. 414) Of course, none of these stories are actually true. Does the telling of such stories build in children a respect for truth, and does such a practice honor Jesus Christ, who taught that God must be worshiped with truth?—John 4:23, 24.
In Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 2, there is no mention of any birthday celebration, nor is any specific time given, though obviously it was some time after Jesus’ birth. In verse 1, Matthew calls the visitors “astrologers [Greek, ma′goi] from eastern parts,” hence pagans with no knowledge of Jehovah God. The star these men followed led them, not directly to Jesus’ birthplace in Bethlehem, but to Jerusalem, where King Herod ruled. Notice that he is described as a “young child,” not as a newborn baby.—Matthew 2:1-10.
As befitted Oriental magnates visiting a ruler, the pagan astrologers fell down and “presented (the young child) with gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew adds: “However, because they were given divine warning in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another way.”—Matthew 2:11, 12. Nevertheless, "Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore" explains that the current custom of giving gifts finds its roots in the Saturnalia gifts that Romans offered their poor neighbors. “The early church . . . cleverly transferred its significance to a ritual commemoration of the gifts of the Magi.” What a contrast this is to the true worshipers—such as the humble shepherds—who simply praised God at Jesus’ birth.
If you would like to learn more - or a free home Bible study, please get in touch with Jehovah's Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit
2007-09-20 07:11:44 · answer #5 · answered by Mr. Cal 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They believe they are putting it back the way it was. "Jehovah" is just a way to spell and pronounce "YHWH", which is the name God gives himself when Moses asks him for his name. Many scholars today think "Yahweh" is more correct; but it might have been 'Yeheweh', 'Yehoweh', 'Yahewah', or anything else similar. No one really knows; 'Yahweh' is a scholarly guess. Think of German: 'J' is pronounced as English 'Y' (as in 'Ja' pronounced 'Ya') and 'v' is pronounced as English 'w' and therefore to a German 'Jehovah' would be pronounced the same as 'Yehowah' in English. This is true in a few other languages, too. All through the bible, words that really ought to be spelled beginning with 'Y' begin with 'J' instead -- including the name 'Jesus' which is really 'Yeshua'. As for the use of Lord: there was a long period of history during which pious Jews would not pronounce God's name at all, even when reading the Tanakh aloud; when they came to YHWH they said 'Lord' instead. When you come across 'the Lord' in a given edition of the bible, with 'Lord' in a large capital L and small capital 'ord', it was probably 'YHWH' in the original Hebrew.
2016-05-19 02:24:27 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus did not command his followers to celebrate his birth. Only his death.
Christmas is not a celebration of Christ's birthday, whether you accept it or not. It is really a pagan observance to the Roman sun god.
True Christians stay clear of all kinds of paganism.
2007-09-20 05:16:35 · answer #7 · answered by LineDancer 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
If you notice Jews don´t celebrate birthdays Jesus didn´t do it nor his disciples and before Jesus none of the servants of God did it , we folloe the example that Jesus left to us.
2007-09-20 08:27:56 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋