8. How do you prove from the Bible that 1935 was the year for the selection to heaven stopped due to being filled? What is the difference between a Catholic appealing to "what the organization tells him" about December 25 being the date of Jesus? birthday and a Jw? appealing to "what the organization tells him" about the date 1935? Is it not hypocritical when you chide the "poor deluded Catholic" that his faith cannot find a Bible passage to support it, when the same goes for you and 1935? http://www.bible.ca/jw-questions.htm
A little something for Christmas?
by Glenmore 2 Replies latest jw friends
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Gopher
If one were to go strictly by the Bible, the account says Jesus was born and there was great rejoicing over it. It doesn't give the date, so the date doesn't really matter.
Also, I'd venture that many or most Catholics are aware that December 25 isn't really the "official" birthdate of Jesus, but that it is a tradition (and a harmless one at that).
However, going by the Bible too, there isn't a speck of evidence that suggests that Christians would have a heavenly hope for a while, and then reinstate the earthly hope alluded to in the Hebrew Scriptures. This "earthly hope" was invented by Rutherford and backed by proof texts that he wanted to use, including the interpretation of Revelation 7 and 14 that (in their view) showed that only 144,000 would rule in heaven. Since Rutherford was intent on evangelizing and the growth of the organization, there was only one thing left to do -- and that was to give all the incoming Bible Students/Jehovah's Witnesses the earthly hope.
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Kenneson
I would say that most Catholics are well aware that Jesus wasn't actually born on Dec. 25.
In the Dec. 19, 1999 issue of Our Sunday Visitor, a Catholic paper appeared an article entitled "Our feast of the Son." It presented objections to celebrating Christmas as found in a non-Catholic leaflet. Here is my response entitled "The Son feast" in the Jan. 16, 2000 issue.
"REGARDING "Our feast of the Son" (Dec. 19): When I was a Jehovah's Witness, I held similar views to those mentioned in the leaflet referenced in the article. Now, I am of the opinion that we should not condemn those who refuse to celebrate Christmas--but neither should they condemn us who observe it (see Rom. 14:5)
"There is nothing wrong in celebrating an event on a date other than that on which it occurred. Not only do we not know the day of Christ's birth, but scholars don't even know the exact year. The important thing is that He was born and that we remember it. Any day would be just fine.
"As was noted, Dec. 25 was selected by the Church to supplant the pagan feast of the Unconquered Sun by that of a celebration in honor of the birth of God's eternal Son. It apparently was a successful maneuver; today, those who observe Dec. 25 as a feast in honor of the Son far outnumber those who worship the sun.
---Claude Kenneson
Tallahassee, Fla."