Okla-homey
12/25/2007, 08:40 AM
December 25, 6 B.C. : Jesus Christ is born.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/37926/2001181656380698052_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001181656380698052)
At the outset of today's special post, please know, there is absolutely no doubt Jesus Christ was born. As far as I'm concerned, there is no doubt He was the Incarnate Word, the perfect Lamb, the Messiah, King of Kings, Lord of All, and the Savior of all mankind. The scriptures are pretty conclusive on that. They are silent, however, on precisely what day He was born.
Now, with the important stuff out of the way, let's take a look on this bright Christmas morning at the historical facts and leading theories on precisely when He was born.
As we do that, please remember; whether He was born on December 25 (or not) doesn't detract one tiny bit from His role as our Redeemer or His divine majesty.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/37484/2001112751429614281_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001112751429614281)
Although most Christians celebrate December 25 as the birthday of Jesus Christ, few in the first two Christian centuries claimed any knowledge of the exact day or year in which he was born. The oldest existing record of a Christmas celebration is found in a Roman almanac that tells of a Christ's Nativity festival led by the church of Rome in 336 A.D.
The precise reason why Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25 remains obscure, but most researchers believe that Christmas originated as a Christian substitute for pagan celebrations of the winter solstice.
To early Christians (and to most Christians today), the most important holiday on the Christian calendar was Easter, which commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
However, as Christianity began to take hold in the Roman world, in the early fourth century, Church leaders had to contend with a popular Roman pagan holiday commemorating the "birthday of the unconquered sun" (natalis solis invicti)--the Roman name for the winter solstice.
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/39230/2001167220269543648_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001167220269543648)
Every winter, Romans honored the pagan god Saturn, the god of agriculture, with a festival called Saturnalia that began on December 17 and usually ended on or around December 25 with a winter-solstice celebration in honor of the beginning of the new solar cycle.
This festival was a time of merrymaking, and families and friends would exchange gifts. At the same time, Mithraism--worship of the ancient Persian god of light--was popular in the Roman army, and the cult held some of its most important rituals on the winter solstice.
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/35358/2001128304303189507_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001128304303189507)
After the Roman Emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity in 312 and sanctioned it, Church leaders made efforts to appropriate the winter-solstice holidays and thereby achieve a more seamless conversion to Christianity for the emperor's subjects.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/38965/2006094652817071344_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006094652817071344)
Constantine I (The Great)...he made Christianity the official religion of Rome.
In rationalizing the celebration of Jesus' birthday in late December, church leaders may have argued that since the world was allegedly created on the spring equinox (late March), so too would Jesus have been conceived by God on that date. His mother, the teenaged virgin known to us as Mary, pregnant with the son of God, would hence have given birth to Jesus nine months later on the winter solstice.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/38006/2001130937424991084_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001130937424991084)
From Rome, the Christ's Nativity celebration spread to other Christian churches to the west and east, and soon most Christians were celebrating Christ's birth on December 25.
To the Roman celebration was later added other winter-solstice rituals observed by various pagan groups, such as the lighting of the Yule log and decorations with evergreens by Germanic tribes.
The word Christmas entered the English language originally as Christes maesse, meaning "Christ's mass" or "festival of Christ" in Old English.
Finally, a word about Santa Claus
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/39359/2001177532169552183_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001177532169552183)
An early Christian convert, he is believed to have lived in Turkey and is known to the Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Church as Saint Nikolas. According to Turkish Christian legend, one of Nikolas' most tender acts of kindness was when he helped a poor man and his three beautiful daughters.
Sometime in the fourth century, Nikolas became aware a poor father was unable to provide a dowery for his eldest daughter when she came of age. In that day, nice girls could not be married unless the bride's family paid a sum to the family of the groom. This sum is known in English as the dowery. The tradition survives in limited form today because in most cases, the bride's family pays for the wedding and reception to follow.
Anyhoo, back to our tale. As the story goes, without a dowery, the only other alternative for a young woman was to remain unmarried. When her family, already poor, became unable to provide for her, she had to take up prostitution or starve.
Saint Nikolas would have none of this. Therefore, one night, he slipped up to the poor family's home and tossed a small bag of gold which was the equivalent of the girl's dowery through the window. On the next morning, it was found and the gift made her marriage possible.
He repeated his kind and anonymous act a couple years later when the second daughter came of age.
Finally, on the evening before the third daughter came of age, the girl's papa was too curious as to the identity of their benefactor. He stayed awake beneath the window through which two gifts of gold had been tossed in previous years.
Nikolas, who wanted to remain anonymous, decided he would remain anonymous, but he also didn't want the third girl to suffer. Thus, he decided to try something different. He snuck around back of the modest home and dropped the small sack of gold down the chimney.
Thus, Saint Nikolas' legendary kindness is remembered among eastern Christians to this day.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/37418/2001137324680304607_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001137324680304607)
A popular European medieval feast was that of this St. Nicholas of Myra. Among Europeans, his legendary kindness evetually morphed into stories he visited children with gifts and admonitions just before Christmas. This story evolved into the modern practice of leaving gifts for children said to be brought by "Santa Claus," a derivative of the Dutch name for St. Nicholas--Sinterklaas.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/36455/2001183006977422713_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001183006977422713)
So, wherever you are this morning, and regardless of your condition, be of good cheer! For unto us is born our Savior. He stands ready to take unto Himself all who are weary and heavy laden. He offers a most precious gift. It matters not what you have done, or whether you are rich or poor. He offers the supreme gift of eternal life vouchsafed by His Father the Creator. Merry Christmas!
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/37926/2001181656380698052_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001181656380698052)
At the outset of today's special post, please know, there is absolutely no doubt Jesus Christ was born. As far as I'm concerned, there is no doubt He was the Incarnate Word, the perfect Lamb, the Messiah, King of Kings, Lord of All, and the Savior of all mankind. The scriptures are pretty conclusive on that. They are silent, however, on precisely what day He was born.
Now, with the important stuff out of the way, let's take a look on this bright Christmas morning at the historical facts and leading theories on precisely when He was born.
As we do that, please remember; whether He was born on December 25 (or not) doesn't detract one tiny bit from His role as our Redeemer or His divine majesty.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/37484/2001112751429614281_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001112751429614281)
Although most Christians celebrate December 25 as the birthday of Jesus Christ, few in the first two Christian centuries claimed any knowledge of the exact day or year in which he was born. The oldest existing record of a Christmas celebration is found in a Roman almanac that tells of a Christ's Nativity festival led by the church of Rome in 336 A.D.
The precise reason why Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25 remains obscure, but most researchers believe that Christmas originated as a Christian substitute for pagan celebrations of the winter solstice.
To early Christians (and to most Christians today), the most important holiday on the Christian calendar was Easter, which commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
However, as Christianity began to take hold in the Roman world, in the early fourth century, Church leaders had to contend with a popular Roman pagan holiday commemorating the "birthday of the unconquered sun" (natalis solis invicti)--the Roman name for the winter solstice.
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/39230/2001167220269543648_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001167220269543648)
Every winter, Romans honored the pagan god Saturn, the god of agriculture, with a festival called Saturnalia that began on December 17 and usually ended on or around December 25 with a winter-solstice celebration in honor of the beginning of the new solar cycle.
This festival was a time of merrymaking, and families and friends would exchange gifts. At the same time, Mithraism--worship of the ancient Persian god of light--was popular in the Roman army, and the cult held some of its most important rituals on the winter solstice.
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/35358/2001128304303189507_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001128304303189507)
After the Roman Emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity in 312 and sanctioned it, Church leaders made efforts to appropriate the winter-solstice holidays and thereby achieve a more seamless conversion to Christianity for the emperor's subjects.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/38965/2006094652817071344_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006094652817071344)
Constantine I (The Great)...he made Christianity the official religion of Rome.
In rationalizing the celebration of Jesus' birthday in late December, church leaders may have argued that since the world was allegedly created on the spring equinox (late March), so too would Jesus have been conceived by God on that date. His mother, the teenaged virgin known to us as Mary, pregnant with the son of God, would hence have given birth to Jesus nine months later on the winter solstice.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/38006/2001130937424991084_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001130937424991084)
From Rome, the Christ's Nativity celebration spread to other Christian churches to the west and east, and soon most Christians were celebrating Christ's birth on December 25.
To the Roman celebration was later added other winter-solstice rituals observed by various pagan groups, such as the lighting of the Yule log and decorations with evergreens by Germanic tribes.
The word Christmas entered the English language originally as Christes maesse, meaning "Christ's mass" or "festival of Christ" in Old English.
Finally, a word about Santa Claus
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/39359/2001177532169552183_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001177532169552183)
An early Christian convert, he is believed to have lived in Turkey and is known to the Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Church as Saint Nikolas. According to Turkish Christian legend, one of Nikolas' most tender acts of kindness was when he helped a poor man and his three beautiful daughters.
Sometime in the fourth century, Nikolas became aware a poor father was unable to provide a dowery for his eldest daughter when she came of age. In that day, nice girls could not be married unless the bride's family paid a sum to the family of the groom. This sum is known in English as the dowery. The tradition survives in limited form today because in most cases, the bride's family pays for the wedding and reception to follow.
Anyhoo, back to our tale. As the story goes, without a dowery, the only other alternative for a young woman was to remain unmarried. When her family, already poor, became unable to provide for her, she had to take up prostitution or starve.
Saint Nikolas would have none of this. Therefore, one night, he slipped up to the poor family's home and tossed a small bag of gold which was the equivalent of the girl's dowery through the window. On the next morning, it was found and the gift made her marriage possible.
He repeated his kind and anonymous act a couple years later when the second daughter came of age.
Finally, on the evening before the third daughter came of age, the girl's papa was too curious as to the identity of their benefactor. He stayed awake beneath the window through which two gifts of gold had been tossed in previous years.
Nikolas, who wanted to remain anonymous, decided he would remain anonymous, but he also didn't want the third girl to suffer. Thus, he decided to try something different. He snuck around back of the modest home and dropped the small sack of gold down the chimney.
Thus, Saint Nikolas' legendary kindness is remembered among eastern Christians to this day.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/37418/2001137324680304607_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001137324680304607)
A popular European medieval feast was that of this St. Nicholas of Myra. Among Europeans, his legendary kindness evetually morphed into stories he visited children with gifts and admonitions just before Christmas. This story evolved into the modern practice of leaving gifts for children said to be brought by "Santa Claus," a derivative of the Dutch name for St. Nicholas--Sinterklaas.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/36455/2001183006977422713_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001183006977422713)
So, wherever you are this morning, and regardless of your condition, be of good cheer! For unto us is born our Savior. He stands ready to take unto Himself all who are weary and heavy laden. He offers a most precious gift. It matters not what you have done, or whether you are rich or poor. He offers the supreme gift of eternal life vouchsafed by His Father the Creator. Merry Christmas!