WAS JESUS BORN ON DECEMBER 25 ??? ----------------------------- The mixing of non-Christian and supposed Christian religion extends to other holidays, such as Christmas. God directed Christians to commemorate Jesus death, not his birth. (1 Corinthians 11:24-26) And the Bible shows that Jesus was not born in December, which is a cold rainy season in Israel. (Luke 2:8-11) You can check almost any encyclopedia and see that December 25 was chosen because it was already a Roman holiday. Sir James Frazer observes: ` Taken altogether, the coincidences of [Christmas and Easter] with the heathen festivals are too close and too numerous to be accidental... . [Clerics] perceived that if Christianity was to conquer the world it could do so only by relaxing the too rigid principles of its Founder, by widening a little the narrow gate which leads to salvation. - The Golden Bough. After he learns the facts, what person who sincerely loves Jehovah would continue to accept beliefs and practices based on a compromise with pagan worship??? To some persons these teachings or practices may seem like little things. But the Bible clearly says: `A little leaven ferments the whole lump. - Galatians 5:9. (The book of WB&TS, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York: Brooklyn NY, pp.171-172). Christmas is a prominent religious holiday today. But history shows that it was not a celebration observed by the very early Christians. Jesus told his followers to observe a memorial of his death, not of his birth. (1 Corinthians 11:24-26) The fact is, December 25 is not the date of Jesus birth. It could not have been, since the Bible shows that at the time of his birth shepherds were still in the fields at night. They would not have been there in the cold, rainy season of winter. (Luke 2:8-12) Actually December 25 was chosen as the date to celebrate Jesus birth because, as The World Book Encyclopedia explains: `The people of Rome already observed it as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the birthday of the sun. ... Yet does it really matter that Christmas and Easter are not Christian celebrations but actually had their beginnings with worshipers of false gods??? The apostle Paul warned against mixing the true and the false, saying that even `a little leaven ferments the whole lump. (Galatians 5:9) He told some early Christians that it was wrong for them to observe days that had been kept under the law of Moses but that had been canceled by God for Christians. (Galatians 4:10, 11) How much more important it is for true Christians today to keep away from holidays that God never said should be observed and that came from false religion! (WB&TS, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York: Brooklyn NY, Second edition, pp.213-214). When the World Had Its Holidays When Jehovahs Witnesses cast aside religious teachings that had pagan roots, they also quit sharing in many customs that were similarly tainted. But for a time, certain holidays were not given the careful scrutiny that they needed. One of these was Christmas. This holiday was celebrated yearly even by members of the Watch Tower Societys headquarters staff at the Bethel Home in Brooklyn, New York. For many years they had been aware that December 25 was not the correct date, but they reasoned that the date had long been popularly associated with the birth of the Savior and that doing good for others was proper on any day. However, after further investigation of the subject, the members of the Societys headquarters staff, as well as the staffs at the Societys branch offices in England and in Switzerland, decided to stop sharing in Christmas festivities, so no Christmas celebration was held there after 1926 [sic] R. H. Barber, a member of the headquarters staff who made a thorough investigation of the origin of Christmas customs and the fruitage that these were yielding, presented the results in a radio broadcast. That information was also published in The Golden Age of December 12, 1928. It was a thorough expose of the God-dishonoring roots of Christmas. Since then, the pagan roots of Christmas customs have become general public knowledge, but few people make changes in their way of life as a result. When shown that celebrating the birth of Jesus had actually become of greater interest to people than the ransom provided by his death; that the revelry of the holiday and the spirit in which many gifts were given did not honor God; that the magi whose gift-giving was being imitated were actually demon-inspired astrologers; that parents set an example for their children in lying by what they told them about Santa Claus; that `St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) was admittedly another name for the DEVIL himself; and that such festivals were, as acknowledged by Cardinal Newman in his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, `the very instruments and appendages of demon-worship the church had adopted -when made aware of these things,
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 14:25:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015