In Defense of Christmas Trees and Dec. 25th as DOB
by Sea Breeze 3 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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The Fall Guy
Interesting and pointed comments in the video:
At 4:05 - "It just became a Christian tradition." (Because the Bible says nothing about it)
At 4:37 - "[Christmas] is not mandatory [for Christians." (Because the Bible says nothing about it)
6:55 - "Don't divide the body of Christ on a non-issue." (Christmas is a non-issue for Christians, because the Bible says nothing about it)
7:10 - "We [as Christians] need to make sure we know what we are talking about." (so why not say that the Bible says nothing about it?)
So if the Bible says nothing about it being a Christian teaching/festival/holy day, just say so and have a good time. (p.s. The Bible doesn't mention Ramadan either. Another day off!)
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Earnest
Another interesting and pointed comment in the video:
At 1:40 - "So some people will talk, for instance, about Christmas is ... is not the right date. We know that. That's irrelevant."
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Finkelstein
The cerebration and dating of Christmas (Dec.25) is connected in its originality to past ancient Roman pagan tradition as well from other ancient civilizations.
The history of Christmas trees goes back to the symbolic use of evergreens in ancient Egypt and Rome and continues with the German tradition of candlelit Christmas trees first brought to America in the 1800s.
How Did Christmas Trees Start?
Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.
In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.
The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from his illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes, which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.
Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon, farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs.
In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder.
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.