residenttroll CA wrote: Jesus has an historical context; he's neither a myth nor a legend. I am sure a scientist can appreciate historical context.
Ah, but was he the Son of God or was he divinely inspired? The Bible says he is the Son of God. Others believe he was -- like Mohammed, Confucius and others -- divinely inspired.
There's no question there was a Jesus of Nazareth whose followers started a great religion after he died. What's in question by non-believers is whether he really rose from the dead or if he was the Son of God. And how come the Holy Spirit always seems to be left out of the discussion? Christians believe in all three.
And a final question that's always baffled me: If Jesus is indeed the Son of God and only those who believe in him go to Heaven, what happens to the millions of people who were born before he came into this world and those in other parts of the world who have never heard of him?
You're wrong. The celebration of Christmas was God given. Would you like me to retell the greatest story ever told?
Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th. Western Christians celebrate on December 25th. The birthday of baby Jesus is not revealed in the New Testament. Jesus has an historical context; he's neither a myth nor a legend. I am sure a scientist can appreciate historical context.
But the actual date to "celebrate" christmas was arbitrarily selected by Pope Julius I in 350 to try to coopt the pagan celebrations that were occurring on that time around the Winter Solitice and had been going on for centuries, including Saturnalia, Isis, etc. In fact, many of the traditions typically celebrated on christmas have their roots not in christanity but in paganism, such as the tree (celebrated on the winter solstice by Druids, Yuletide was to celebrate the pagan god Mithra, the god of the sun, kissing under the mistletoe was an ancient fertility rite, holly was a sacred plant of the gods, etc. It is now simply a secular holiday with little religious merit.
"Remember to always be yourself. Unless you can be batman. Then always be batman." Unknown
The celebration of Christmas was God given. Would you like me to retell the greatest story ever told?
Does the greatest story ever told (your words, RT) mention celebrating the birth of Jesus each year? Maybe it does somewhere, I don't remember.
Do you think Jesus would be happy with the way Christmas has been commercialized by our society or would he come back and throw them out of the temple, so to speak?
Commercialized by secular opportunists. As well as Jewish retailers who sit around on Christmas Eve counting money, singing
"What a friend we have in Jesus".
Teddy wrote: Commercialized by secular opportunists. As well as Jewish retailers who sit around on Christmas Eve counting money, singing
"What a friend we have in Jesus".
Something the Dog Said wrote: Christmas has a basis in other pagan rituals as well as "christian", and could just as well be called Saturnalia, Mithras, Druidism, Bacchanalia or any other of the myriad rituals celebrated on that date. In fact, the Yule tree probably carries more symbolism to most than Christ and was celebrated to worship the sun god and Druidism.
It might indeed be as easily called Saturnalia, Mithras or something else, but it is not, is it. It is called Christmas and it is a holiday to commemorate the coming of the Christ. Yes, the leaders of the early Church co-opted the celebration of other holidays into a celebration or festival that honored Christ instead of a pagan god, but the holiday is not known by these other names. It is, and remains, an official commemoration of the coming of the Christ. The Supreme Court has danced a merry dance to avoid taking Christmas away from the citizens. After all, they have been known to dance a merry dance to make certain government created Ponzi schemes legal and constitutional after earlier ruling that other legislation using the same funding mechanism were unconstitutional, so we have historical knowledge that some rulings are more politically motivated than constitutionally motivated. That they have decided to do so once more should really surprise no one.
