Easter & Charlton Heston

by Dawn 24 Replies latest jw friends

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  heathen

  I thought an interesting conclusion to this is that Dec. was a bad month altogether as far as the evidence in the bible was concerned , that the INN was full and they had to stay in a manger which would have had sheep in it had it been winter time and that spring thru fall would have accounted for alot of travel to jerusalem so explaining why the INN was full.It's pretty clear to me that if jesus wanted people to observe his birthday he would have said something kinda like people do today when the want others to buy gifts and celebrate .The total lack of interest by jesus and the apostles lead me to the conclusion that it's all based on pagan beliefs anyway.

  Bona Saturnalia
• 

  DJ

  HEATHEN,

  No one has said here that Jesus was born in December.......please reread it!
• 

  Valis

  Man I hated watching that movie as a kid...My parents w/the bobble head action..."uh huh...see what Jehovah did to the Egyptians?" Uh huh"...blah blah blah...*LOL* My favorite part these days is the green stuff that sneaks down the streets taking people out...I thought hmmm...looks like SARS instead of Jehover...*LOL*

  Sincerely,

  District Overbeer
• 

  blondie

  First, DJ, the whole Law was a tutor leading to Christ. Of course, the Jewish feast days were centered in him. There are 2 celebrationsdays that were not originally given to the Jews in the Law, Purim (see book of Esther), the celebration of the defeat of the genocidal attack on the Jews orchestrated by Haman. If it had succeeded, there might have been no Jesus. Second, the Festival of Lights was Chanukah, is a celebration of the victory of the Maccabees and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple. This occurred after the writing of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, and before the appearance of Jesus in 33 CE. It commemorates the miracle of the oil that burned for 8 days. If you check the dates of this festival (Kislev 25), it varies in December, and can come as early as December 6 no where near the 25th. I have never seen it associated with Christmas except in the minds of some Christians because gifts are exchanged. The customs connected with Chanukah have little else in common with Christmas. Both these festivals, Purim and Chanukah, were not mandated like the Passover.

  http://www.hebcal.com/hebcal/

  2003 December 19-27

  2004 December 7-15

  2005 December 25 - January 2, 2006

  http://www.rigal.freeserve.co.uk/jewish/chanukah/chanukah.htm#Development

  The website above is a good detailed description of what happens at Chanukah and how it has little resemblance to Christmas.

  Blondie
• 

  DJ

  Blondie,

  Thanks for the lesson. I still feel as though the roots of the Christmas celebration for Christians most likely came as a result of an attempt to date the conception of Jesus. After all, when you think about it the Catholics do tend to put an extreme emphasis on Mary. It cannot be mere coincidence that The Festival of Lights and the miracle of the virgin conception which is Jesus, of course is called the Light of the World, the True Light an on and on. Don't you see it as rather suspicious that as jw's we were never taught of the possibility of Dec. 25th being the date of conception. Instead we were only taught about the pagans. There is no way to prove that the 25th is the exact day but you have to admit that it is a possibilty that we are very close. Also we need to remember that the whole season is treated as a holiday....such as the saying of the 12 days of Christmas. The logic that today's Christmas celebrations show little resemblence to Hanukah is the same as saying that because Passover bears little resemblence to Easter bunnies...we should not celebrate the resurrection. When I read the account in Luke of the birth of Christ and how the heavenly hosts visited the shepherds, etc..it makes me want to relive it and honor that time in historyand the gift of our common salvation. Just the same way, when I read the account of the last supper AND the resurrection, I want to celebrate and honor that time. If someone wants to get stuck on the exact day and the exact hour so be it. We are free to hold one day as above another or we are free to judge all days the same, right? That is what Paul said. The whole teaching that holidays are evil is absurd. The watchtower has made it's bed with their hypocrisy about what is pagan and what is not. You've heard about the Hawaiian Luah 'new light' and the toasting a drink 'new light' haven't you? The whole premise of avoiding all things pagan has turned and exposed them as the hypocrital false teachers that they are. I suppose some pagan things are ok and some are not as dictated by the GB. It is much like some blood fractions are ok and some are evil. The Lord Jesus had it so precise as usual when he spoke of those who clean the outside of the cup and forget the inside.Judgement is not about these holidays according to the scriptures. It is to the watchtower though.....why else would they df someone for having them? Avoiding holidays is not what Jesus meant when he said to be no part of the world.