Thread: Christmas poll

I voted yes, definitely.

And to add - I'm not ashamed to admit by faith I believe he was and is the son of God. He has always been an important part of my life.

Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

If it's 8-14 degrees centigrade in Jerusalem (i.e. the city) during the day, (admittedly that's not freezing or anything) then how cold do you think it'll be out in the fields once the sun is gone? You think they'd be camping with their sheep in midwinter?

I grew up on a farm, and I can't tell you how many wet, cold winter nights I spent tending to our livestock for one reason or another -- they need care year-round. Which is why I left the farm as soon as I was able. Those folks who yearn for the country lifestyle have overly romanticized it, or have enough money to where they can pay somebody else to do the hard stuff.

Regarding the dates set to celebrate certain Church events:

The Orthodox Church celebrates the nativity of John the Baptist on June 24th. This is in conjunction with the shortening of the days that come after June 21st, the longest day of the year. This is in recognition of John's statements regarding himself becoming less, and Christ becoming greater:

John 3:

²⁷To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ^j]'>[j] but am sent ahead of him.' ²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰He must become greater; I must become less.

Also, according to Scripture, John was 6 months older than Jesus, as at the time Mary recieved the news that she was to bear a son, she was also told about her cousin, Elizabeth:

³⁵The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^c]'>[c] the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God."

So, according to the Bible, their birthdays are 6 months apart, but it never specifies any exact date for either. But, as outlined in the first part of my post, because of wanting to highlight the themes of the Light that came into the world, they placed the celebrations near the solstices.

John 1:
⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. ⁹ That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.^b]'>[b]

I don't think the Church ever said that those were the actual, historical dates of the birth of each of them?

I can't vote in your poll because my option is not offered.

Although there is no solid evidence for that Jesus so no reason to believe he did exist, there is some damning testimony in the story of the nativity itself which gives us reason to consider it. It is part of the prophesy that the messiah would be born in Bethlehem of David's line. The bible claims there was a Roman edict sending Israelites back to the city of their birth for a census. The Romans were arduous record keepers and this never happened. Jesus was a Nazarene.

Why invent such a lie as the false census if there was no real person from Nazareth to prop up as the messiah? If he's completely made up why expose the sham with such an obvious lie?

Although there is no reason to accept that Jesus ever existed, this is a plausible and interesting reason to accept that he may have.

Originally Posted by xman

I can't vote in your poll because my option is not offered.

Although there is no solid evidence for that Jesus so no reason to believe he did exist, there is some damning testimony in the story of the nativity itself which gives us reason to consider it. It is part of the prophesy that the messiah would be born in Bethlehem of David's line. The bible claims there was a Roman edict sending Israelites back to the city of their birth for a census. The Romans were arduous record keepers and this never happened. Jesus was a Nazarene.

Why invent such a lie as the false census if there was no real person from Nazareth to prop up as the messiah? If he's completely made up why expose the sham with such an obvious lie?

Although there is no reason to accept that Jesus ever existed, this is a plausible and interesting reason to accept that he may have.

I don't quite follow what you're getting at? He didn't exist because he wasn't in the census? Or He did exist, because in actuality the census itself didn't exist?

Jesus has been described by Roman non-Christian writers so why would they lie?

I voted "Yes", but intend for it to be more of a, "Yeah, sure, why not".

It doesn't really matter (to me) if there was a historical Jesus (Iesu) of Nazareth because the implications of such are moot. It's impossible (read: not provable) beyond Biblical reference (read again: not provable) that such a guy did all the magic tricks that normal humans can't do, right?

That was a rhetorical question... :P

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

I voted "Yes", but intend for it to be more of a, "Yeah, sure, why not".

It doesn't really matter (to me) if there was a historical Jesus (Iesu) of Nazareth because the implications of such are moot. It's impossible (read: not provable) beyond Biblical reference (read again: not provable) that such a guy did all the magic tricks that normal humans can't do, right?

That was a rhetorical question... :P

Some would say that such a guy still does these "magic tricks" even to this day!

Sure! And they can keep on until they're blue in the face. That doesn't make it so, nor has anybody saying anything repetitively without proof made any other thing so.

So... it's moot. I do love Christmas time though. And I was born on the 25th.

Gonna be 30 next week. Yikes!

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

Sure! And they can keep on until they're blue in the face. That doesn't make it so, nor has anybody saying anything repetitively without proof made any other thing so.

So... it's moot. I do love Christmas time though. And I was born on the 25th.

Gonna be 30 next week. Yikes!

Happy birthday, and Merry Christmas too you then! All in one!