by sabastious 202 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
They're not known for refusing to go to NFL games or NASCAR races.
True. I think this is because they don't feel comfortable using the reasoning you had in your last post about Jesus not watching sports. I know it's similar to their stance on Birthdays, but the x-factor in the BD explanation is the fact of the two bad instances in the Bible of BDs. It's just enough to apply pressure to the R&F.
-Sab
Maybe a list is in order:
Jesus did and Jesus didn't:
According to the bible Jesus DID ( not including any miracles of course):
Attend a wedding, drink wine, celebrate Jewish festivals, feed people for free, preach in public and in the syngouges, debate the religious leaders of His time, curse fig tress, accuse chestnust of being lazy ( opps, that was Dr.Evil's father, sorry), eat without washing his hands, tell people that it is not what they eat or put in them but goes out of them that condems them, He fasted, hung around with prostitutes, tax collectors, fishermen, assorted mal contents and undesirables, beat up maonly lenders and more I am sure.
Jesus DID NOT:
Celebrate Bdays, Celebrate anniversaries, get married, bar-b-que anything except fish, change clothes, laugh, joke, have any bowel movements, speak to his brothers and sisters, eat anything other than bread, fish and passover food, dance, gamble, dress up, surf, swim, work out, and more that I can't recall right now.
By Pastor G. Reckart
Paganism or mental fantasy: At issue here is if observing birthdays is of pagan origin? Second, is there a Biblical doctrine AGAINST observing birthdays? Are many being subjected to mental fantasy and trying to make this into religious faith?
Is there a Biblical doctrine against observing birthdays?
No!
The Law:
There is nothing in the 613 precepts of the Law about birthdays. If God does not specifically condemn or prohibit something, then man has no authority to create a law and bind it upon others for obedience and faith. Man-made edicts and religious laws have no Scriptural authority. No one is obligated to follow or observe what is not found in the Word of God by principle or by direct reference. There is nothing in the Word of God that by principle or direct reference condemns observing birthdays.
The New Testament:
There is not one verse of Scripture in the New Testament against observing birthdays. Even when John was beheaded on Herod's birthday, the Church did not issue a warrant in form of doctrine to exclude those from the Church who observed theirs.
Candles, round cakes, etc. I was given a silly piece of internet junk the other day that claimed birthdays were pagan because candles representing each year of a person's life was used to decorate the round cake. In this anti-birthday article it was claimed that round birthday cakes were a symbol of the sun god. I read through the print-out and was amused at how this was so neatly woven with falsehood and yet so many believe this kind of stuff has Divine sanction and blessing. There is absolutely no historical record that candles on a birthday cake are of pagan origin. Nothing that round birthday cakes represent the sun or the sun god. Most cakes are square or rectangle. These are all fantastic suppositions that have no historical foundation.
Whatever the case, the Latin observance of Dies Natalis Invicti was indeed replaced by the Catholic Church with the observance of the birth of Jesus. It is true Christmas is a pagan holiday and the practice holds much of the ancient Saturnalia. Other then the falsehood the birth of Jesus was on this date and used to replace a pagan holiday, where is there any truth that birthdays are pagan? There is none!
What of Eve when Cain was born? She rejoiced at the birth of the first human being. She spoke with praise and exaltation, saying: "I have gotten a man from the Lord" (Genesis 4:1). She was excited about this new baby. Excitement shows up in many places in the Word of God at the birth of a son or daughter. What is being celebrated? It is life! God has shown his creative power in the life of a baby. A baby's birthday is nothing more then remembrance of the day God gave life to the child. Birthdays that do not hold in memory that God gave life is in my opinion disrespectful to God. Even the life that we "now live" after conversion, we give credit and honor to God in the person of Jesus Messieh-Christ. On days when souls are born of the Spirit, there is a frenzy of worshippers rejoicing, shouting, and praising the Lord. This is an observance of a BIRTHDAY! Our annual remembrance of that one day is not pagan and did not derive from paganism rooted in worship of idols and false gods.
The Birth of Jesus: We know Jesus was not born in December and so the Christmas festivity celebrating this is false. We do know he was born in September. Do we have any record the Apostles observed the birthday of Jesus? No, there is no record. But there is also no record of them performing a wedding ceremony! There is no record of them conducting a funeral. There is no record of them concerning wedding anniversaries. There is nothing about bridal or baby showers . And, there is no actual Church service that shows use of musical instruments. There is nothing about indoor toilets, offering plates, or song books. There are no choirs, no fifth sunday dinner's on the ground, or women's meetings. There are no Church garage or yard sales, no fund raising for missions, no prison ministries for sinners, and no hospital visits for sinners who are sick. There are no home Bible studies for sinners. So far as we know, there were no church buildings owned by Christians. They met in homes and in other places. There were no baptismal tanks or other devices used for immersion of converts, but rather baptisms were done in streams, rivers, or natural ponds. There were no New Testament Bibles in the possession of the Saints or Church members. Few had the Old Testament or could even afford to own one that was available. The most they could do was look upon the scrolls in the Synagogue or Temple and hear them read there. There are no business owners in the New Testament among Church members, and so far as we know, no one who held employment working for another. We could go on and on and list the things NOT FOUND in the practice of the Apostles and use the absence of these to place bondage upon Believers. To do so is insanity. That is why we are enjoined to RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE WORD OF GOD. This is not the work of novices. If there is evil, sin, or wrong in a thing we have no reservations, we will oppose it. But we must have Bible for the sin or evil that is in a thing. What about the birth of Jesus, was there evil in this event?
Angels worshiped. Yes, here is what the Word of God says about the angles on the birthday of Jesus:
"And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him" (Heb 1:6).
The shepherds abiding in the field came to the birthday of Jesus. Did they celebrate it every year after that? No, but they were there on his birthday. We do know according to Job 20:15 it was a custom to carry the news of a child's birth to all who had a reason to know.
Conclusion: What does the Bible say against celebrating birthdays? NOTHING!
Is it pagan to celebrate a birthday? NO!
Has anyone proven birthday celebrations began with pagans? NO!
Will you go to hell for celebrating your birthday? NO!
Is it a sin to celebrate your New Birth in Christ on its annual day? NO!
Is it a lie to teach the Bible is against celebrating birthdays? YES!
Is it a lie that birthdays began within paganism? YES!
Did people in the Bible count their birthdays? YES!
Did Jews celebrate the 12th birthday of boys and girls? YES! Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah
Did the parents of Jesus take him on his 12th birthday to Jerusalem and celebrate his Bar Mitzvah? YES!
Did Levites on their 30th birthday celebrate becoming a priest? YES!
Anyone who teaches celebrating a birthday is pagan is lying and for this, they will go to hell if they do not repent.
A great article by Pastor Reckart.
I would just add the Christmas was indeed a strategic move on the part of the church BUT it was NOT to celebreat the DAY of Christ's birth, but simply to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Sure nowadays there is no real difference and many do think that Jesus was born on December 25th instead of Dec 25th being the day we celebrate the birth of Christ.
Personally, If some how the date was Changed to the probably more correct September I think that Dec 25th shoudl still be kept as "World Peace Day" or something like that.
Of course, this part here should be enough to end the issue:
The Law:
There is nothing in the 613 precepts of the Law about birthdays. If God does not specifically condemn or prohibit something, then man has no authority to create a law and bind it upon others for obedience and faith. Man-made edicts and religious laws have no Scriptural authority. No one is obligated to follow or observe what is not found in the Word of God by principle or by direct reference. There is nothing in the Word of God that by principle or direct reference condemns observing birthdays.
The New Testament:
There is not one verse of Scripture in the New Testament against observing birthdays. Even when John was beheaded on Herod's birthday, the Church did not issue a warrant in form of doctrine to exclude those from the Church who observed theirs.
Any god that is worried that a 6 year old celebrating becoming 7, is going to rob the god of its glory, loses my vote.
Fail!
Any god that is worried that a 6 year old celebrating becoming 7, is going to rob the god of its glory, loses my vote.
Fail!.....THE GLADIATOR
Are you saying you don`t believe in an UnIntelligent Supreme Being?..
There is no All Powerful Stupid?..
.......................... 
...OUTLAW
In Judaism , the perspective on birthday celebrations is disputed by various rabbis . [11] In the Hebrew Bible , the one single mention of a celebration being held in commemoration of someone's day of birth is for the Egyptian Pharaoh . [12] In addition, in the Greek Scriptures, King Herod beheaded a Christian, John the Baptizer, at his birthday celebration. On the other hand angels and shepherds celebrated the day of birth of Jesus Christ, and by reading first Job 1:4 and then Job 3:1, 3 it is seen that the children of righteous Job had special banquets for their days of birth. ( Job 1:4 Does not say anywhere that is was on there birthdays, it just states that they did not all hold it on the same day, but they took turns. Job 3:1,3 does not talk about a yearly birthdays celebration, but about the day he was actually born. That is quite clear from the last part of verse 3)
Do Birthdays rob the glory of God" .... Any god that is worried that a 6 year old celebrating becoming 7, is going to rob the god of its glory, loses my vote.
It all comes down to our proper understanding of language. ...Would honor entail all the terms worship, honor, praise ??
Consider some of these points ,
For many centuries, the term worship simply meant showing respect or honor, and an example of this usage survives in contemporary English. British subjects refer to their magistrates as "Your Worship," although Americans would say "Your Honor." This dozen’t mean that British subjects worship their magistrates as gods (in fact, they may even despise a particular magistrate they are addressing). It means they are giving them the honor appropriate to their office, not the honor appropriate to God
Outside of this example, however, the English term "worship" has been narrowed in scope to indicate only that supreme form of honor, reverence, and respect that is due to God. This change in usage is quite recent. In fact, one can still find books that use "worship" in the older, broader sense. This can lead to a significant degree of confusion, when people who are familiar only with the use of words in their own day and their own circles encounter material written in other times and other
Even with God.. you worship God because he is loving. You praise him because that love has manifested itself in the form of salvation
To praise (show honor ) to a child on their birthday is not worship
God is worthy of honor and respect and worship. That’s why it’s so important to understand praise and worship as two separate concepts
(these thought above are a compilation of thoughts from several Webb sites)
