What is the origin of America’s annual Thanksgiving Day? Pilgrims Pilgrim William Brewster holds a Bible as the Pilgrims pray for a safe journey as they leave for America from Delft Haven, Holland, on July 22, 1620. The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620. Their destination? The New World. Although filled with uncertainty and peril, it offered both civil and religious liberty. For over two months, the 102 passengers braved the harsh elements of a vast storm-tossed sea. Finally, with firm purpose and a reliance on Divine Providence, the cry of “Land!” was heard. Arriving in Massachusetts in late November, the Pilgrims sought a suitable landing place. On December 11, just before disembarking at Plymouth Rock, they signed the “Mayflower Compact”—America’s first document of civil government and the first to introduce self-government. Pumpkins. Photo copyrighted. After a prayer service, the Pilgrims began building hasty shelters. However, unprepared for the starvation and sickness of a harsh New England winter, nearly half died before spring. Yet, persevering in prayer, and assisted by helpful Indians, they reaped a bountiful harvest the following summer. The grateful Pilgrims then declared a three-day feast, starting on December 13, 1621, to thank God and to celebrate with their Indian friends. While this was not the first Thanksgiving in America (thanksgiving services were held in Virginia as early as 1607), it was America’s first Thanksgiving Festival. Artists depiction of the first Thanksgiving. Courtesy of Films for Christ. Pilgrim Edward Winslow described the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving in these words: “Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling [bird hunting] so that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as… served the company almost a week… Many of the Indians [came] amongst us and… their greatest King, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought… And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet BY THE GOODNESS OF GOD WE ARE… FAR FROM WANT.” George Washington, first President of the United States. Photo courtesy of Films for Christ. In 1789, following a proclamation issued by President George Washington, America celebrated its first Day of Thanksgiving to God under its new constitution. That same year, the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which President Washington was a member, announced that the first Thursday in November would become its regular day for giving thanks, “unless another day be appointed by the civil authorities.” Yet, despite these early national proclamations, official Thanksgiving observances usually occurred only at the State level. Much of the credit for the adoption of a later ANNUAL national Thanksgiving Day may be attributed to Mrs. Sarah Joseph Hale, the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book. For thirty years, she promoted the idea of a national Thanksgiving Day, contacting President after President until President Abraham Lincoln responded in 1863 by setting aside the last Thursday of November as a national Day of Thanksgiving. Over the next seventy-five years, Presidents followed Lincoln’s precedent, annually declaring a national Thanksgiving Day. Then, in 1941, Congress permanently established the fourth Thursday of each November as a national holiday. Abraham Lincoln statute, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of Wallbuilders. Lincoln’s original 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation came—spiritually speaking—at a pivotal point in his life. During the first week of July of that year, the Battle of Gettysburg occurred, resulting in the loss of some 60,000 American lives. Four months later in November, Lincoln delivered his famous “Gettsysburg Address.” It was while Lincoln was walking among the thousands of graves there at Gettysburg that he committed his life to Christ. As he explained to a friend: When I left Springfield [to assume the Presidency], I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving each year, we hope they will retain the original gratefulness to God displayed by the Pilgrims and many other founding fathers, and remember that it is to those early and courageous Pilgrims that they owe not only the traditional Thanksgiving holiday but also the concepts of self-government, the “hard-work” ethic, self-reliant communities, and devout religious faith. Films for Christ (aka Eden Communications) [HOME] christiananswers.net/eden/home.html WallBuilders | Presenting Americas forgotten history and ... wallbuilders/ ..............................................PS... Im not telling anyone to celebrate anything let the Spirit lead you!!!!................................................................................................. They say that the pilgrims did not like the King James Bible. Not every pilgrim felt that way about the King James Bible theres even a King James Bible at the pilgrims house on display . The Geneva Bible was one in a line, preceded by the Great Bible and followed by the Bishops’ Bible, marking the ascent to the King James Version. After the King James was finalized, revision was of a retrograde nature. The Geneva, like those English Bibles preceding it and immediately following it (except the Jesuit Douay Rheims Bible), followed the traditional text underlying the King James Version. Historically, the church has always used the traditional Greek text that underlies the King James Version, not the Jesuit text now underlying the NIV and NASB. The Geneva Bible, written in about 1560, was used by those people who were exiles from the persecution of Bloody Mary, queen of England. The Geneva New Testament was written by William Whittingham. It had a number of good points. Each verse was separate. This was new for English Bibles and would encourage memorization. It also had many anti-Catholic footnotes. Some of the areas in which it needed improvement include Psalms 12:7 where it followed the Septuagint and its denial of the preservation of scripture. In several places the Geneva Bible uses the term “master”nstead of “Lord.” In Hebrews 4:11, it had the term “disobedience”; it really should be “unbelief.” The KJV corrected all of these places that could have been misinterpreted as men waxed “worse and worse.” There are also some amusing words in the Geneva Bible. It was called the Breeches Bible because in Genesis 3, it said that Adam and Eve wore breeches. The “abusers of themselves” (1 Cor. 6:9) were called “buggerers.” The King James was an improvement of the Geneva Bible, but the Geneva was definitely within the line of traditional text Bibles. The new book, In Awe of Thy Word, gives a thorough analysis of the Geneva Bible and all early English Bibles, beginning with the Gothic scriptures which sprung from Acts 2 (“every nation”). With the death of Queen Elizabeth I, Prince James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. The Protestant clergy approached the new King in 1604 and announced their desire for a new translation to replace the Bishops Bible first printed in 1568. They knew that the Geneva Version had won the hearts of the people because of its excellent scholarship, accuracy, and exhaustive commentary. However, they did not want the controversial marginal notes (proclaiming the Pope an Anti-Christ, etc.) Essentially, the leaders of the church desired a Bible for the people, with scriptural references only for word clarification or cross-references.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 18:06:59 +0000
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