Transcript Slide 1

Many conservative evangelical Christians
at this time of year want to
“Put Christ back in Christmas”
and insist that
“Jesus is the Reason
for the Season.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t have much of a
case.”
It is a Pagan Festival
Thus says most of the secular propaganda
Christmas is the continuation
of a pagan ritual!!
Christians took over the Decemer 25th Roman holiday of
Natalis Solis Invicti,
festival of the birth of the invincible sun,
as well as
Saturnalia.
Christians took over German mid-winter festival celebrations
which used evergreen trees and holly as symbols of eternal life.
Where is Christ in all of this?
How is Jesus the reason for the season of mid-winter
festivals that pre-date Christianity?
Natalis Solis Invicti,
Deus Sol Invictus ("the undefeated sun god") was a religious title
applied to at least three distinct divinities during the later Roman
Empire; El Gabal, Mithras, and Sol.
The Sol Invictus festival ran from December 22 through December 25.
MERRY SATURNALIA
the festival of the shortest day of the year
which took place on 17 December
Luk 1:3 it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things
accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent
Theophilus;
Luk 1:4 that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things
Zachariah the Priest
The end of
Zechariah's temple service
+ 7 days
_
Annunciation of Mary
took place after 150 days
John's Birth
took place after 280 days
Jesus' birth took place after 430 days
Luke 1:8 Once when Zechariah's division was on duty
and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was
chosen by lot, according to the custom of the
priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn
incense.
10 And when the time for the burning of incense came,
all the assembled worshipers were praying
outside.11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
Lev 16:15
Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil
According to the Bible Calendar,
the tenth day of the seventh month (Tishri) is the Day of Atonement.
The Jews call it Yom Kippur.
We know this date for certain. It comes once a year only
Yom Kippur will occur on the following days of the Gregorian calendar:
Jewish Year 5766 : sunset October 12, 2005 - nightfall October 13, 2005
Jewish Year 5767 : sunset October 1, 2006 - nightfall October 2, 2006
Jewish Year 5768 : sunset September 21, 2007 - nightfall September 22, 2007
Jewish Year 5769 : sunset October 8, 2008 - nightfall October 9, 2008
Jewish Year 5770 : sunset September 27, 2009 - nightfall September 28, 2009
22nd
15th
10th
Luke 1:23 When his time of service was
completed, he returned home.
+ 7 days?
After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant
and for five months remained in seclusion.
Luke 1:26-33
On the sixth month (of Civil Calendar – Elizabeth’s pregnancy)
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, To a
virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant
of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and
said, "Greetings, .... You will be with child and give birth to a son,
and you are to give him the name Jesus.
Annunciation
Of Mary
6
7
8
5
4
9
Birth of
John the Baptist
3
Tammuz 3
2
June third week
Zachariah goes Home
1
On the sixth month
would then well be
"on the sixth month i.e. Adar "
which is also the
"sixth month of pregnancy of
Elizabeth."
From 23rd Tishri adding 280 days
of gestation period we arrive at
(7+30+29+30+29+30+29+30+29+30+3)
Tammmuz 3
June 20
Birth of
John the Baptist
.
+ 7 days
_
Tammmuz 3
Birth of John the Baptist
Adding 6 more months we arrive at
Teveth 3
which is around
December end or early January every year
+ 7 days
_
Annunciation
Of Mary
1
2
Birth of Jesus
3
9
4
Birth of
John the Baptist
Tammuz 3
5
8
6
7
June third week
5 months
Elizabeth
Conceives
280 days of Gestation Period
Mary conceives
20 March 6 BC
DAY OF ATONEMENT
Birth of Jesus
25 December, 6
BC
7
days
10 Tishri
Second half of
September
+ 7 days?
In BC 6 using Gregorian Calendar it falls exactly on Dec 25th
The Julian Calendar
The system of
numbering years
A.D.
( "Anno Domini")
was instituted in
about the year
527 A.D.
by the Roman abbot
Dionysius Exiguus,
Correction to calendar
Gregorian Dec 25
The celebration of the Nativity on 6 January is the oldest practice, followed
by the Early Church, and for Eastern Christians today that is still Christmas
day.
This timing was based on a reference by the early
Greek scholar,
Clement of Alexandria (150 - 215 AD).
In his Stromateis (I, xxi, 45), he wrote
about the even earlier Greek teacher,
Basilides,
(100-140 AD):
“And there are those who have determined not only
the year of our Lord's birth, but also the day...
And the followers of Basilides hold the day of his baptism as a festival…
And they say that it was… the fifteenth day of the month Tubi; and some
that it was the eleventh of the same month.”
Sextus Julius Africanus (160-240)
in Chronographiai (AD 221),
an early reference book for Christians.
It is both nine months
after the Festival of
Annunciation (March
25) as well as the date
that the Romans
marked as the winter
solstice, which they
called bruma.
Tertullian 160 -250 AD
The Creation
The Fall
The incarnation
All were on Dec 25
"Only sinners,
not saints,
celebrate their
birthdays
350
360
Calendar of Filocalus, an illuminated manuscript
compiled in Rome in 354. Celebration of Christmas
360 indicates that Christmas was well-established in
Rome by that time
370
Constantinople in 379
380
Antioch about 380
390
John Chrysostom about 400.
400
Alexandria about 430.
Kaavu?
“Bringing an evergreen tree into the house is another pagan
tradition relating to the worship of evergreen plants as
symbols of fertility, life and reproduction. The pagans
decorated their trees with fruit, and placed other foods
underneath it as offerings to the tree.”
In spite of the many attempts on the part of some historians to trace the
origin of the Christmas tree to mythology, the custom and the symbolism
are completely Christian. The Christmas tree resulted from a
combination of the medieval Paradise tree and the Christmas candle.
One of the most popular of the medieval German mystery plays was
the Paradise play, representing the creation of man, the sin of Adam
and Eve and their expulsion from Paradise.
This play became a favorite for Advent because it usually ended with
the consoling promise of a Savior.
As a matter of fact, the closing scenes led directly to the story of
Bethlehem.
an allegorical drama popular in Europe especially during the 15th and
16th centuries, in which the characters personify moral qualities (such
as charity or vice) or abstractions (as death or youth) and in which
moral lessons are taught.
The mystery plays, usually representing biblical subjects, developed
from plays presented in Latin by churchmen on church premises and
depicted such subjects as the Creation, Adam and Eve, the murder
of Abel, and the Last Judgment.
In this play, the Garden of Eden was represented by a large tree
symbolizing the
"Tree of Discernment of Good and Evil."
The Paradise tree was usually surrounded by lighted candles and the
play enacted within the circle of lights
Nicholas – Bishop of Turkey 300 AD
Born in Patara in Turkey
(Lysa, Asia Minor)
Bishop of Myra
St.Nicholas Day December 19
Show your thankfulness to the Lord by sharing your bounty with
someone less fortunate! Donate gifts, toys, canned and nonperishable items to your local shelters. When you give something
make sure it is something you like and would enjoy if you were
receiving it.
Leviticus 23
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Speak to the Israelites and
say to them: 'These are my appointed festivals, the
appointed festivals of the LORD, which you are to proclaim
as sacred assemblies.
Deu 14:25 then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your
hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses,
Deu 14:26 and spend the money for whatever you desire, oxen, or sheep,
or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves;
and you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice,
you and your household.
Lev 10:9 "Drink no wine nor strong drink, you nor your sons with
you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die; it shall be a
statute for ever throughout your generations.
and
the widow,
who are within your towns,
shall come and eat and be filled;
that
the LORD your God may bless you in all the
work of your hands that you do.
Deu 14:28 "At the end of every three years
you shall bring forth all the tithe of your
produce in the same year, and lay it up within
your towns;
Deu 14:29 and the Levite,
(those who serve you in your spiritual
matters)
because he has no portion or inheritance
with you.
and the sojourner
(Those who have just come into your area),
the fatherless,
rituals intended either to bolster a natural process necessary to
survival or to reaffirm the society's commitment to a particular set
of values and beliefs and means of communication.
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or
with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a
Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the
reality, however, is found in Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17