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Where is the real Christmas?

Jesus was not born on December 25, yet at this time we can’t help thinking about him, his birth, his life and his mission.   On Dec 26, the radio program Christian Questions broadcast a beautiful devotional and musical journey with scripture readings and discussion, all surrounding the birth and mission of Jesus, our Savior.

Where is the real Christmas? Christian Questions Program # 639.

Jas 1:17 says Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights in whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning.

9 comments to Where is the real Christmas?

  • Nell

    Can u brief on christmas and birthdays¿

  • James

    The Torah does not have a lot to say about birthdays. In their fascinating essay “Birthdays, Jewishly,” Lisa Farber Miller and Sandra Widener point out that the Encyclopedia Judaica is very blunt on this topic: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” In fact, they say, the encyclopedia says the only birthday party mentioned in the Bible is for Pharaoh! (Genesis 40:20).True practicing Jews realize that the pagan nations that surrounded their Forefathers used their birthdays in worship to thier pagasn gods.“Originally the idea [of birthday greetings and wishes for happiness] was rooted in magic. The working of spells for good and evil is the chief usage of witchcraft. One is especially susceptible to such spells on his birthday, as one’s personal spirits are about at that time. Dreams dreamed on the birthday eve should be remembered, for they are predictions of the future brought by the guardian spirits which hover over one’s bed on the birthday eve. Birthday greetings have power for good or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day. Good wishes bring good fortune, but the reverse is also true, so one should avoid enemies on one’s birthday and be surrounded only by well-wishers. ‘Happy birthday’ and ‘Many happy returns of the day’ are the traditional greetings” (The Lore of Birthdays, Linton, p. 20)…
    The giving of birthday gifts is a custom associated with the offering of sacrifices to pagan gods on their birthdays. Certainly the custom was linked with the same superstitions that formed the background for birthday greetings. “The exchange of presents… is associated with the importance of ingratiating good and evil fairies… on their or our birthdays” (ibid.).
    The traditional birthday cake and candles also have their origin in ancient pagan idol worship. The ancients believed that the fire of candles had magical properties. They offered prayers and made wishes to be carried to the gods on the flames of the candles. Thus we still have the widely practiced birthday custom of making a wish, then blowing out the candles. The Greeks celebrated the birthday of their moon goddess, Artemis, with cakes adorned with lighted candles…
    “The Egyptians… discovered to which of the gods each month and day is sacred; and found out from the day of a man’s birth, what he will meet with in the course of his life, and how he will end his days, and what sort of man he will be” (Herodotus, Persian Wars, Book II, ch. 82)
    Since it was believed that the positions of the stars at the time of birth influenced a child’s future, astrological horoscopes came into being, purporting to foretell the future, based on the time of birth. “Birthdays are intimately linked with the stars, since without the calendar, no one could tell when to celebrate his birthday. They are also indebted to the stars in another way, for in early days the chief importance of birthday records was to enable the astrologers to chart horoscopes” (The Lore of Birthdays, p. 53). Rawlinson’s translation of Herodotus includes the following footnote: “Horoscopes were of very early use in Egypt… and Cicero speaks of the Egyptians and Chaldees predicting… a man’s destiny at his birth”…
    When we examine the principles of God’s law closely, as they relate to birthday celebrations, we can understand why neither Christ, nor His Apostles, nor their true followers, observed their birthdays. As noted earlier, the practice has its origin in idolatry and the worship of the sun, moon and stars…Some may view birthday customs as purely secular, lacking any religious significance. Yet we need to be aware of the broader perspective of their origins, and the religious significance they have had—and still have—for vast multitudes of people. (Reynolds, Rod. Should Christians Celebrate Birthdays? LCN, May-June 2002. pp.16-18).
    Furthermore, the book The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952) by Ralph and Adelin Linton, on pages 8, 18-20 had this to say:
    The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born. The Romans also subscribed to this idea. . . . This notion was carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel, the fairy godmother and the patron saint. . . . The custom of lighted candles on the cakes started with the Greeks. . . . Honey cakes round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on the temple altars of [Artemis]. . . . Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic for granting wishes. . . . Lighted tapers and sacrificial fires have had a special mystic significance ever since man first set up altars to his gods. The birthday candles are thus an honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring good fortune…
    Thus it appears that birthdays had their origin in mythology and magic, with horoscopes also probably playing a role.
    Jews, Jewish Christians, and Old Testament Birthdays
    But what were early Jewish practices?
    The first century Jewish historian Josephus noted that Jewish families did not celebrate birthdays:
    Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make festivals at the birth of our children, and thereby afford occasion of drinking to excess (Josephus. Translated by W. Whiston. Against Apion, Book II, Chapter 26. Extracted from Josephus Complete Works, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (MI), 14th printing, 1977, p. 632).
    Now although there is no specific command against the celebration of birthdays in the Bible, the Jewish custom in those days was apparently based on the negative occurrences in the Bible surrounding birthdays, as well as the astrological implications of the celebration of birthdays (pagan practices, like astrology, were specifically prohibited in the law.” ince nearly all of the first Christians were Jewish, this may partially explain why the celebration of Jesus’ birth would not be consistent with that early custom.
    Notice two reports that would seem to support that:
    “There is no tradition in Judaism of celebrating birthdays as holidays, otherwise we would expect holidays for the birthdays of Moses and Abraham, among others, but there is no such thing. The Bible does not even record their birthdays, just as the New Testament does not record the date of Yeshua’s birth.” http://www.amfi.org/mailbag/messiahmas.htm
    The interesting thing about birthday celebrations is that, for much of our history, they were not a very “Jewish” custom.
    …as a rule, Jews did not celebrate their birthdays. Indeed, while the dates of passing (yahrtzeit) of the great figures of Jewish history are recorded and commemorated, their dates of birth are mostly unknown. (Yince nearly all of the first Christians were Jewish, this may partially explain why the celebration of Jesus’ birth would not be consistent with that early custom.
    Notice two reports that would seem to support that:
    “There is no tradition in Judaism of celebrating birthdays as holidays, otherwise we would expect holidays for the birthdays of Moses and Abraham, among others, but there is no such thing. The Bible does not even record their birthdays, just as the New Testament does not record the date of Yeshua’s birth.” {http://www.amfi.org/mailbag/messiahmas.htm}
    The interesting thing about birthday celebrations is that, for much of our history, they were not a very “Jewish” custom.
    …as a rule, Jews did not celebrate their birthdays. Indeed, while the dates of passing (yahrtzeit) of the great figures of Jewish history are recorded and commemorated, their dates of birth are mostly unknown. {Your Jewish Birthday. Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center. http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2527/jewish/What-Happened-on-Your-Birthday.htm}
    In their essay titled “Birthdays, Jewishly,” Lisa Farber Miller and Sandra Widener point out that the Encyclopedia Judaica is very blunt on this topic:
    “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.”
    Notice what the Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies reported:
    The Encyclopedia Judaica could not be more blunt: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” In fact, it says, the only birthday party mentioned in the Bible is for Pharaoh! (Genesis 40:20).
    The tradition also holds that your birth alone is not as significant as the way you live your life. After all, King Solomon is thought to have said, “The day of death is better than the day of one’s birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). As a midrash explains, ‘When a person is born, it is not known what he will be like when grown and what his deeds will be – whether righteous or wicked, good, or evil. {http://www.ritualwell.org/lifecycles/babieschildren/firstmilestones/BirthdaysJewishly.xml/view?searchterm=birthdays}
    Here are some passages in the Old Testament that the Jews tended to looked at in order to come to their conclusion about birthdays:
    Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker (Genesis 40:20-22).
    There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
    You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame (Isaiah 47:13-14).
    After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said:
    “May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’ May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it. May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it (Job 3:1-5).
    Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away–indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”…If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression (Job 1:13-15; 8:4).
    Although, I have heard some say that the “day” referred to in Job 1:13 was a birthday celebration, the passage in Job is not explicit and Job himself indicates he was more concerned with what his sons might have said, than done, in their other celebrations (Job 1:4-5). However, it should be noted that there are no positive statements in the Old Testament related to birthdays.
    The prophet Jeremiah wrote:
    14 Cursed be the day in which I was born!
    Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
    15 Let the man be cursed
    Who brought news to my father, saying,
    “A male child has been born to you!”
    Making him very glad.
    16 And let that man be like the cities
    Which the LORD overthrew, and did not relent;
    Let him hear the cry in the morning
    And the shouting at noon,
    17 Because he did not kill me from the womb,
    That my mother might have been my grave,
    And her womb always enlarged with me.
    18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow,
    That my days should be consumed with shame? (Jeremiah 20:14-18)
    The Hebrew calendar itself makes the celebration of birthdays somewhat difficult when one attempts to superimpose it on our modern (essentially Roman-derived) calendars. And the reason for this is that it is about 11 days shorter than the annual orbit around the sun, and hence it adds a thirteenth month seven times in every nineteen year cycle. Thus, one’s “birthday” on a modern calendar will vary 11 or so days from year to year–and the positions of the constellations in the sky would always to some degree be different. Therefore, from an astrological perspective, one’s alleged “sign” would often be different. If God wanted birthdays celebrated, He probably would have given the children of Israel the type of calendar which would have made it possible to for the “birthday” to fall on the same solar calendar day each year–instead that basically cannot happen but a relatively few times in a life.
    It may also be that one of the reasons for circumcising males at eight days (see Genesis 17:12), as opposed to the day of birth (which is what tends to often happen in modern societies who circumcise), would be to change the emphasis from the date of birth to other events as important.
    Of course, it should be noted that since the ages of many people in the Hebrew Bible are recorded, some type of acknowledgement of when people were born apparently did take place.
    Acknowledgement of years to some degree had to take place as the Old Testament categorizes various people at various times based upon age (e.g. Leviticus 27:3-7; Numbers 4:2-3). But there is no recorded example of the Hebrews actually celebrating their dates of birth.
    If you search the scriptures you will notice that many people are mentioned being born, but that the precise date (either with a lunar or solar calendar reference) is not given. If God wanted birthdays to be celebrated, than perhaps He would have given specific birth dates in the Bible–but He did not. Jewish Birthday. Cince nearly all of the first Christians were Jewish, this may partially explain why the celebration of Jesus’ birth would not be consistent with that early custom.
    Notice two reports that would seem to support that:
    “There is no tradition in Judaism of celebrating birthdays as holidays, otherwise we would expect holidays for the birthdays of Moses and Abraham, among others, but there is no such thing. The Bible does not even record their birthdays, just as the New Testament does not record the date of Yeshua’s birth.” {http://www.amfi.org/mailbag/messiahmas.htm}
    The interesting thing about birthday celebrations is that, for much of our history, they were not a very “Jewish” custom.
    …as a rule, Jews did not celebrate their birthdays. Indeed, while the dates of passing (yahrtzeit) of the great figures of Jewish history are recorded and commemorated, their dates of birth are mostly unknown. {Your Jewish Birthday. Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center. http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2527/jewish/What-Happened-on-Your-Birthday.htm}
    In their essay titled “Birthdays, Jewishly,” Lisa Farber Miller and Sandra Widener point out that the Encyclopedia Judaica is very blunt on this topic:
    “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.”
    Notice what the Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies reported:
    The Encyclopedia Judaica could not be more blunt: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” In fact, it says, the only birthday party mentioned in the Bible is for Pharaoh! (Genesis 40:20).
    The tradition also holds that your birth alone is not as significant as the way you live your life. After all, King Solomon is thought to have said, “The day of death is better than the day of one’s birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). As a midrash explains, ‘When a person is born, it is not known what he will be like when grown and what his deeds will be – whether righteous or wicked, good, or evil. {http://www.ritualwell.org/lifecycles/babieschildren/firstmilestones/BirthdaysJewishly.xml/view?searchterm=birthdays}
    Here are some passages in the Old Testament that the Jews tended to looked at in order to come to their conclusion about birthdays:
    Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker (Genesis 40:20-22).
    There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
    You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame (Isaiah 47:13-14).
    After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said:
    “May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’ May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it. May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it (Job 3:1-5).
    Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away–indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”…If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression (Job 1:13-15; 8:4).
    Although, I have heard some say that the “day” referred to in Job 1:13 was a birthday celebration, the passage in Job is not explicit and Job himself indicates he was more concerned with what his sons might have said, than done, in their other celebrations (Job 1:4-5). However, it should be noted that there are no positive statements in the Old Testament related to birthdays.
    The prophet Jeremiah wrote:
    14 Cursed be the day in which I was born!
    Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
    15 Let the man be cursed
    Who brought news to my father, saying,
    “A male child has been born to you!”
    Making him very glad.
    16 And let that man be like the cities
    Which the LORD overthrew, and did not relent;
    Let him hear the cry in the morning
    And the shouting at noon,
    17 Because he did not kill me from the womb,
    That my mother might have been my grave,
    And her womb always enlarged with me.
    18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow,
    That my days should be consumed with shame? (Jeremiah 20:14-18)
    The Hebrew calendar itself makes the celebration of birthdays somewhat difficult when one attempts to superimpose it on our modern (essentially Roman-derived) calendars. And the reason for this is that it is about 11 days shorter than the annual orbit around the sun, and hence it adds a thirteenth month seven times in every nineteen year cycle. Thus, one’s “birthday” on a modern calendar will vary 11 or so days from year to year–and the positions of the constellations in the sky would always to some degree be different. Therefore, from an astrological perspective, one’s alleged “sign” would often be different. If God wanted birthdays celebrated, He probably would have given the children of Israel the type of calendar which would have made it possible to for the “birthday” to fall on the same solar calendar day each year–instead that basically cannot happen but a relatively few times in a life.
    It may also be that one of the reasons for circumcising males at eight days (see Genesis 17:12), as opposed to the day of birth (which is what tends to often happen in modern societies who circumcise), would be to change the emphasis from the date of birth to other events as important.
    Of course, it should be noted that since the ages of many people in the Hebrew Bible are recorded, some type of acknowledgement of when people were born apparently did take place.
    Acknowledgement of years to some degree had to take place as the Old Testament categorizes various people at various times based upon age (e.g. Leviticus 27:3-7; Numbers 4:2-3). But there is no recorded example of the Hebrews actually celebrating their dates of birth.
    If you search the scriptures you will notice that many people are mentioned being born, but that the precise date (either with a lunar or solar calendar reference) is not given. If God wanted birthdays to be celebrated, than perhaps He would have given specific birth dates in the Bible–but He did not.habad-Lubavitch Media Center. {http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2527/jewish/What-Happened-on-Your-Birthday.htm}
    In their essay titled “Birthdays, Jewishly,” Lisa Farber Miller and Sandra Widener point out that the Encyclopedia Judaica is very blunt on this topic:
    “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.”
    Notice what the Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies reported:
    The Encyclopedia Judaica could not be more blunt: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” In fact, it says, the only birthday party mentioned in the Bible is for Pharaoh! (Genesis 40:20).
    The tradition also holds that your birth alone is not as significant as the way you live your life. After all, King Solomon is thought to have said, “The day of death is better than the day of one’s birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). As a midrash explains, ‘When a person is born, it is not known what he will be like when grown and what his deeds will be – whether righteous or wicked, good, or evil.” {http://www.ritualwell.org/lifecycles/babieschildren/firstmilestones/BirthdaysJewishly.xml/view?searchterm=birthdays}
    Here are some passages in the Old Testament that the Jews tended to looked at in order to come to their conclusion about birthdays:
    Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker (Genesis 40:20-22).
    There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
    You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame (Isaiah 47:13-14).
    After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said:
    “May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’ May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it. May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it (Job 3:1-5).
    Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away–indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”…If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression (Job 1:13-15; 8:4).
    Although, I have heard some say that the “day” referred to in Job 1:13 was a birthday celebration, the passage in Job is not explicit and Job himself indicates he was more concerned with what his sons might have said, than done, in their other celebrations (Job 1:4-5). However, it should be noted that there are no positive statements in the Old Testament related to birthdays.
    The prophet Jeremiah wrote:
    14 Cursed be the day in which I was born!
    Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
    15 Let the man be cursed
    Who brought news to my father, saying,
    “A male child has been born to you!”
    Making him very glad.
    16 And let that man be like the cities
    Which the LORD overthrew, and did not relent;
    Let him hear the cry in the morning
    And the shouting at noon,
    17 Because he did not kill me from the womb,
    That my mother might have been my grave,
    And her womb always enlarged with me.
    18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow,
    That my days should be consumed with shame? (Jeremiah 20:14-18)
    The Hebrew calendar itself makes the celebration of birthdays somewhat difficult when one attempts to superimpose it on our modern (essentially Roman-derived) calendars. And the reason for this is that it is about 11 days shorter than the annual orbit around the sun, and hence it adds a thirteenth month seven times in every nineteen year cycle. Thus, one’s “birthday” on a modern calendar will vary 11 or so days from year to year–and the positions of the constellations in the sky would always to some degree be different. Therefore, from an astrological perspective, one’s alleged “sign” would often be different. If God wanted birthdays celebrated, He probably would have given the children of Israel the type of calendar which would have made it possible to for the “birthday” to fall on the same solar calendar day each year–instead that basically cannot happen but a relatively few times in a life.
    It may also be that one of the reasons for circumcising males at eight days (see Genesis 17:12), as opposed to the day of birth (which is what tends to often happen in modern societies who circumcise), would be to change the emphasis from the date of birth to other events as important.
    Of course, it should be noted that since the ages of many people in the Hebrew Bible are recorded, some type of acknowledgement of when people were born apparently did take place.
    Acknowledgement of years to some degree had to take place as the Old Testament categorizes various people at various times based upon age (e.g. Leviticus 27:3-7; Numbers 4:2-3). But there is no recorded example of the Hebrews actually celebrating their dates of birth.
    If you search the scriptures you will notice that many people are mentioned being born, but that the precise date (either with a lunar or solar calendar reference) is not given. If God wanted birthdays to be celebrated, than perhaps He would have given specific birth dates in the Bible–but He did not.” That is why Christians today who want to please the True God will obey the principle found at Ecclesiastes 7:1-5 “A good name is better than precious ointment ; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting : for that is the end of all men ; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter : for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning ; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.”
    Jesus Christ taught his disciples not to think to much of themselves but to be humble since they seemed always to be arguing about who was the greater among themselves. But Christ Jesus set the best examples for all of us to follow. Never did he seek his own glory among men but gave all credit to His God and heavenly Father. He even kept with the Biblical principal mentioned earlier at Ecclesiastes 7:1-5 and commanded them to do the same concerning the annual observance of his death at: Luke 22:19,20 and even at 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread : and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat ; this is my body, which is broken for you : this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.” So why is it that when some family members stop celebrating Birthdays and Christsmas, their family members that still do all of sudden decide not to give a material gift to the one who has stop giving to them on those certain days? They must not really love them enough to give them gifts, just because they don’t celebrate these holidays anymore, since their family members may not give presents to them anymore but still give them things throughout the year! Just a materialistic selfish, greedy reason to give a gift, not out of love but under compulsion. Of course the business people are too greedy to give it up! Read your history please! Thanks!

  • terah

    Isus a mers la sărbătoarea Dedicării Templului care se ţinea în jurul datei de 25 decembrie.Isus a fost crucificat chiar de paştele evreilor.Oare Dumnezeu nu a vrut ca Isus să se nască şi să fie o dedicare a Templului?Prin această naştere să profeşească dărâmarea templului în anul 70 D.Cr.?

  • malcolm Little

    Just want to say that the reason JW’s celebrate their anniversaries and overexaggerate the importance of them is because of having nothing else to “celebrate” that is to say nothing else to party over in their lives. Hence, they overcompensate for this by turning their marriage day into some kind of holy remembrance day that must be worshipped and honoured every year without letup.
    A kind of idolatry.

  • David Lawrence

    I still have issues with Christmas.I am not afraid of it anymore,I just wonder,it is clear, it has pagan origins.I guess,my questions is,if we truly want to please Jehovah,why would we keep a pagan holiday? However,I do understand and respect Anonymous’s view.Can somebody help please? God Bless!

    • Jacqueline

      Hi David, Thanks for commenting.I know as a witness I always thought of things as pleasing or unpleasing to Jehovah, but he does not comment on the celebration of birthdays. Checking the different scriptures where birthdays are mentioned, the subject isn’t about celebration of birthdays at all , there is something else going on. That is why the society says listen to the leanings because they know this. Some that want to remember Christ’s birthday chose to do so at a time when everyone else does. I find that as a JW every aspect of our life was shaped by what the pagans did in the past. Although the society says we are free from Babylon influences. Why stop at pagan influences in holidays? Why not ban the wedding ring, the white dress or I could imagine a lot of things we do in everyday life at some point in the past may have had negative connotations, but we don’t think of it that way, or just don’t know about it. Love is an identifying quality, not whether or not one checks everything for paganism, although one would not go looking for pagan things to do. But it is a smokescreen to keep one from really looking into the Bible by being taken a thither by mundane musings(wow, that was a mouth full, but I like it, ha ha). I always ask is it a salvation issue? The article contains thoughts and scriptures I won’t mention them again here.
      I don’t like the commerciallization of any of the holidays myself. I see nothing wrong however with giving gifts at the end of the year. People expect them in America at that time. I usually use regular wrappings for my paper boy, mail person etc. I like to give children in my family gifts at this time because all their little friends get stuff and it is on sale. (commercialization cheap (:) ). Is Jehovah offended by recognizing his son’s birth?
      Well, at Jesus’ big birthday, Angels sang. I don’t think anyone has had a birthday like that where heavenly host goes and tell the world. And the party continues for a while.
      The magi saw “HIS STAR”. This star was obviously from God. Joseph and Mary was very poor, but the gifts from the magi would allow them to flee to Egypt and be able to support themselves for quite some time. What a wonderful provision for his son and his earthly parents. I think God was glad his son was born. He could not have died if he was not born.
      I don’t personnally believe in being a slave to birthday celebrations, but my cousin was one of the oldest black persons alive when I was a girl at 111yrs. The newspaper came to write the story for her 112th birthday but she died 3days or weeks before. My brother was over this and he and all of our family were witnesses. Most parents like to pay attention to milestone birthdays. My grandson is just so glad he is five, he gets to go to school. He tells everyone he is five. Sweet 16 is a very special time for girls, they are going into womanhood.
      Job had special celebration days for each of his children.
      Anniversaries are celebrated whoelheartedly by JW. They say God created marriage. He also had a big birthday celebration for his son and had it recorded. Some anniverary parties rival huge weddings within the JW organization. This is alright if the couple choses. Most JW women are very tolerant, so a huge party is in order if she is married 25 or more years.
      All seems to come down to whether it is prohibited by Jehovah, Jesus or the Bible. We could probably find some pagan musing wrong with the dreaded Black Cat, they had a lot of pagan symbolism ,mirrors, (I know a few). Bracelets, especially on the ankle,(some would think of prostitution, blacks would think of slavery, see what I mean?) high heels and the front zipper fly on the pants of females. (not needed for a female, think about the origin). We could go on and on and miss out on the real issues in the Bible.
      The Ransom of Christ and the Restitution of all things. If Jehovah didn’t see fit to tell us not to do this or that in the Bible, I try not to lay any futher burden on myself. Only to be more holy in the things Jehovah speaks of in the Bible. !Cor 4:6,7 admonishes, in Part ” Do not go beyond what is written”. It throws one off course with the addtional preferences of the society. Might it just be about CONTROL? Control of the masses, all persons have bithdays but not everyone has a cat or an ankle bracelet or front zip pznts for females..
      This is just how I have learned to deal with the shedding of the mind control. It is a fight, but I try to see if the Bible is really dealing with the issue they say. Well, 90 percent of the time, the answer is no, they are masters however in manipulation of the mind to make you think God said something he didn’t. Like in Eden when satan said is it really so, that God said…….. Eve corrected him and stated it correctly but he still manipulated and deceived her. My opinion only.

  • Anonymous

    Little does the Watchtower advertise that at one time, Christmas was celebrated by the JW’s and even encouraged by Russell!!!! Today, JW’s reject it, because the Watchtower has changed it’s mind. While no where in the Bible does it state that a person MUST observe Christmas, no where does the Bible condemn the observance of the Lord Jesus’ birth. What is MORE troublesome is an organization such as the Watchtower that is supposedly speaking for God to the people of this world and they err. They once said it was okay. Now it’s not. Did Jehovah God changes is mind? Of course not, “I am the Lord, I change not.” Malachi 3:6 Beware….the Watchtower IS a false prophet. Deuteronomy 18:22 “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” The Watchtower has predicted the end of the world and set dates with nothing happening, and it seems they can’t even discern what Jehovah has said concerning Christmas celebrations. Too bad.

    • Jacqueline

      Very insightful Anonymous. Thank you for commenting and feel free to ask questions or comment on any info on this sight. In brotherly Love

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