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Christmas and Easter Myths and Answers

Semper-Fi

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Celebrating the birth .. of our Lord are not traditions of men.

The dates, possibly. But even those are not totally traditional.

birthdays

The Encyclopedia Judaica could not be more blunt:
"The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional
Jewish ritual."

BIRTHDAY - JewishEncyclopedia.com

In fact, it says, the only birthday party mentioned
in the Bible is for Pharaoh! (Genesis 40:20).

Jesus Christ did not mark the anniversary of His birth,
nor did He make reference to it in any such fashion.

"The day of death is better than the day of one's birth
(Ecclesiastes 7:1).

Christmas

It is nowhere recorded in the Bible. In fact, it wasn’t until
long after Christ and the apostles died that this holiday became
an accepted Christian celebration.

The truth is, the early Christians did not observe birthdays—not
even Christ’s birth. The Catholic theologian Origen (a.d. 185-232)
acknowledged that “in the Scriptures, sinners alone, not saints,
celebrate their birthday” (Catholic Encyclopedia).

The Encyclopedia Americana, 1944 edition, verifies these origins:
“It was, according [to many authorities], not celebrated in the
first centuries of the Christian church, as the Christian usage in
general was to celebrate [the death] of remarkable persons rather
than their birth. … A feast was established in memory of this event
[Christ’s birth] in the fourth century.

The celebration of Jesus birthday, or any birthdays,
and Christmas, was a added tradition by man, not the bible.

Sol Invictus - Wikipedia
 
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Semper-Fi

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Celebrating .. the death of our Lord are not traditions of men.

Jesus death

"this do in remembrance of me" this is the start of the 14th
[The Lords passover]

1Co 11:23 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:

1Co 11:24 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.

1Co 11:25 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.

referring back to this...

Luk 22:15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired
to eat this [passover with you] before I suffer: For I say
unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be
fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Luk 22:17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said,
Take this, and divide it among yourselves:

Luk 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit
of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Luk 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it,
and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given
for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Luk 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This
cup is [the new testament] in my blood, which is shed for you.

Do what in remembrance of me? They were taking the Passover.
Jesus changed the symbles of the passover only, did not do away.
This was a once a year observence.

The Passover service also consists of the foot washing...

Joh 13:12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments,
and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
Joh 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet;
ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

Joh 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done
to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than
his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. and then Paul says this...

1Co 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump,
as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep [the feast], not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness;
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

And he said that to a Gentile church,
to keep the feast of unleavened bread.

Acts 12:3 (KJV)
And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take
Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)

Acts 20:6 (KJV)
And we sailed away from Philippi after (the days of unleavened bread),
and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.

Nowhere is a Sunday morning Ishtar sunrise service taught in scripture
but the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread are taught.

First Passover was when God covered Adams nakedness[type of sin]
with skins from an animal, shed blood.

the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread was a memorial,
ordained forever, before one word of the old covenant was spoken.

Replacing Gods Holydays and calendar, with a man made calendar,
with man made holidays not condoned in the bible. Man made not God.
 
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Root of Jesse

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So what? Who says we must follow Jewish customs? Again, so what? None of these are biblical. I wonder if you realize that everyone in the Bible, except for Christ and his Mother, were sinners?
The fact is we honor the beginning of the human life of Christ, and it's end. There is a phrase at the end of the Gospel of John which tells us that not everything about Christ was ever written down. In fact, we know nothing of his first 12 years. How do you know he didn't celebrate his birthday? They certainly counted the years, otherwise wouldn't know he was 12 when he got lost in the temple in Jerusalem.
So bah, humbug on you. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the events in Christ's life.
That said, the way people celebrate Christ's birthday and death today are something else. The consumerism and partying at Christmas, and the egg hunts and bunnies at Easter are not my idea of celebration.
Personally, I honor the Lord's birth by attending midnight Mass on His birthday. And there is some evidence that Dec 25 could have been the day of His birth. But even if not, it commemorates the day He was recognized as Lord (by the Wise men from the East). They came to worship the King of the Jews, publicly. I also attend midnight Mass on the day of His resurrection.
That's not to say we don't have family time and share gifts and food, but first we worship the King.
 
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Root of Jesse

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Jesus death

"this do in remembrance of me" this is the start of the 14th
[The Lords passover]
Yet there is confusion, because we know he was crucified on Friday, therefore His Last Supper was Thursday night. It may have been the 14th in the calendar of the Jews, the lunar calendar, but not in the solar calendar. Very familiar. We commemorate and re-present this at every Mass... Yup, have you ever seen how this is done on Holy Thursday? Ah, I was waiting for you to mention Ishtar. But we celebrate the anamnesis at every Mass. It's the Day of the Lord, by the way. And all calendars are man-made, so is the accounting of time. But mankind is God's creation, so indirectly, they, also, are God-made.
 
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Root of Jesse

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prodromos

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I celebrate the Incarnation of the God-man Jesus Christ and His resurrection. Not His birthday.
Yes, I consider the Annunciation to be a far more important event than the birth of Christ, because that was the moment God became man. March 25th is where its at
 
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GreekOrthodox

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Yes, I consider the Annunciation to be a far more important event than the birth of Christ, because that was the moment God became man. March 25th is where its at

Oooo good call! Plus fish in the middle of the Lenten fast
 
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The Liturgist

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You do realize that in most languages such as Greek or Russian, words related to Easter are not used, but rather the holiday is called Pascha or something similar, and this is true even in Dutch, a Germanic language, where the feast of the Resurrection is called Passen. Pascha and Passen come from the Pasch, the Passover. Christians celebrate Passover as the Feast of the Resurrection! In fact, the way the date for Pascha is chosen is based on a formula called the Paschalion, which is included in the canons of the Council of Nicea; just as Passover follows the Vernal Equinox in the Jewish calendar, Pascha is the first Sunday after the Vernal Equinox.
 
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Daniel Marsh

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If you are eating and drinking wine, you will not do them in excess on purpose.
 
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Daniel Marsh

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What happened to the at a boy icons?

When Heresy was Orthodox: Quartodecimanism as a Brief Case Study
Eusebius - The Quartodeciman Controversy
The Orthodox Faith - Volume III - Church History - Second Century - The Quartodeciman Controversy
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Easter Controversy

Romans 14
4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

When I was in the Airforce, there were days I could not get to church due to conflict related to duty. So, those of us who could not worship on the traditional day met in the chapel to worship on any day available to each of us. The worship was unto the Lord which made it right thing to do.
 
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Daniel Marsh

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Super doper Winner since I no longer have access to the icons. I guess the problem is google browser.
 
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Daniel Marsh

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Daniel Marsh

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Nobody is saying you have to celebrate by eating too much or drinking too much. We can still celebrate with a meal and a glass of wine, right?
 
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Daniel Marsh

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You are too far into science to see what God is saying through the Bibles. There really is no point to discuss this any further. I am not going to try to change your view and you certainly will not change mine.
"
In fact, numerous biblical passages state or affirm the geocentric cosmology that prevailed in much of the ancient world until Greek and Roman times, and, of course, which was not fully modernized until Copernicus and Galileo [Aune2003; Berlin2011]:
  1. The Earth itself is flat and immovable, encompassed by a circle (like a coin), and set on a foundation of pillars.
  2. Above the Earth stands a "firmament" (later thought to be a system of crystalline spheres), a few hundred (or at most a few thousand) feet above the Earth, on which the stars, planets, sun and moon revolve.
  3. Heaven or the realm of God is a set of chambers just above the firmament.
  4. Above the firmament and the heavenly chambers lies the upper seas or the "waters above the firmament"; below the Earth and the underworld lie the lower seas or the Great Deep.

According to Kaufmann Kohler and Emil G. Hirsch, in a Jewish Encyclopedia article [Kohler2018],

The Hebrews regarded the Earth as a plain or a hill figured like a hemisphere, swimming on water. Over this is arched the solid vault of heaven. To this vault are fastened the lights, the stars. So slight is this elevation that birds may rise to it and fly along its expanse.
This is illustrated as follows [Chamberlin1909]:




Here are just a few of the many biblical passages that reflect this ancient cosmology (King James Version):

  1. Gen. 1:7: "And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so."
  2. Gen. 11:4: "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven;"
  3. Gen. 7:11: "...the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened."
  4. Jos. 10:13: "So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day."
  5. 1 Sam. 2:8: "...for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them."
  6. 1 Chron. 16:30: "the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved."
  7. Job 9:6: "...the pillars thereof [of the earth] tremble."
  8. Job 28:24: "For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;"
  9. Psa. 28:19: "The Lord sitteth upon the flood [cosmic sea]; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever."
  10. Psa. 93:1: "...the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved."
  11. Psa. 104:5: "Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever."
  12. Eccl. 1:5: "The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose."
  13. Isa. 40:22: "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:"
Analysis
Needless to say, almost all readers today view these verses only as literary devices emphasizing the glory of God, not as literal scientific fact. "
What was the ancient biblical cosmology?
 
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Daniel Marsh

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The bible tells us to keep " The Lords Passover,
and the Days of unleavened bread. The bible also
warns about keeping traditions of men, which Easter
and Christmas are. Should we not follow Christ?

Again C&E are done unto the Lord which makes it great.


sacrifice their time for others. Here are 6 wonderful benefits of being friendly:
1. You can make a positive impact with your friendly attitude
Sometimes it feels as the world is full of discourteous or rude people. As a result of this misconception, we refrain ourselves from being friends with even those who can no way be included in the list of negative people. By taking an initial move towards a potential friendly behavior with others, you can make a difference in this world.

2. Being friendly helps you to add meaning to your life
Being friendly isn’t just about approaching others with few good words; it’s also about caring for them. You treat others in a humble way because you care about them and their happiness. You help other people on the grounds that you see yourself in them.

Polite words don’t need to be restricted to individuals we know. Rather, it’s the general willingness to treat every individual the way we might want to be dealt with. By helping other people you will be contributing towards improving this world and it will add meaning and significance to your life.

3. Friendly people are never alone
According to me, one of the most primary focal points of being friendly to others is the fact that you’ll never feel alone because you’ll always be surrounded by a lot of friends and companions. Everyone would like to have a kind, caring, humble individual as his or her close companion. Don’t let some rude and mean individuals get you down. Simply act naturally, be polite to the ones around you and you’ll see that the right people will value it.

4. Friendly people will always get help
Friendly people are always appreciated for who they are, for the way they behave. They are never left alone and surely get assistance in time of need. Everyone will recognize and appreciate your friendly nature and since you have always tried to make them feel great, they will always arrive for you, willing to help you whenever you might need them.

5. Friendly behavior also makes you feel good about yourself
The positive effects of friendliness can be felt by you yourself. Making others feel comfortable, respected and appreciated for who they are is the true essence of friendliness. Be unique, be friendly and you’ll recognize how great you’ll feel about yourself!

6. It helps to boost your willpower
In our life there will always be some folks who test our limits and our behavior. It is difficult to treat them with friendly nature in such circumstances. But to permit somebody to make us react rudely towards their rude behavior just exacerbates things. If we respond with a friendly behavior, it will give us strength and self-control as well as it will ease the situation.

Having a friendly attitude will always benefit you in every phase of your life. Let’s make this world a better place with our friendly and nice behavior!

6 Reasons Why Being Friendly Is Beneficial - Bon Vita
 
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Daniel Marsh

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The poster I replied to said
"anything done unto the Lord glorifies him."

The verses he posted did not say this, as I pointed out.
You can not do anything you want, and expect God to be happy.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
 
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Daniel Marsh

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I celebrate Pascha and Christogena. You dont celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and God?

“if Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen—nothing else matters.” - Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan

Any celebration of our Lord and Savior is permitted.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Common sense tells us both that doing purposeful sinful things does not apply.

I saw in a post that someone lacks common sense because they tried to twist this verse by including getting drunk and overeating to avoid the truth of Scriptures and traditions.

 
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Daniel Marsh

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If people serve in the Military or in a Medical Profession or a Fire Fighter or a Police Person or any other Profession where they can not worship on the normal days. Are you going to forbid them from worshiping on another day?
 
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