The Real Christmas story

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Abing

Guest
#21
Christmas. The day the rest of the world celebrates Jesus with us Christians. I like it. Easter is still my favourite day of the year though.
 

tik

Banned
Oct 26, 2015
48
0
0
#22
Look

If you were a pagan you would be praying to a tree or dance around the fire

When a pagan becomes a Christian he prays to true God

so False gods are replaced with True God

The same idea is with 25[SUP]th[/SUP] of December

Pagan festival that used to occur on 25[SUP]th[/SUP] of December (before Christ birthday) got replaced by Christian celebration to demonstrate that Christ triumphed over paganism and the rest of demonism
 

tik

Banned
Oct 26, 2015
48
0
0
#23
If there were no Catholicism there would be no Christmas. People are so misinformed about Catholicism. It is just amazing really
 
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NovaFlareSeraphQ

Guest
#26
Re: The Real Christmas story (the REAL Christmas story)

If you don't mind, I'd just like to shed some gentle light on the matter.

The Bible never states what specific date Jesus was born. The closest scripture, Luke 2:8-11, doesn't even reveal the date. It says: "8 There were also in the same region shepherds living out of doors and keeping watch in the night over their flocks. 9 Suddenly Jehovah’s angel stood before them, and Jehovah’s glory gleamed around them, and they became very fearful. 10 But the angel said to them: “Do not be afraid, for look! I am declaring to you good news of a great joy that all the people will have. 11 For today there was born to you in David’s city a savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Although, facts point to Jesus’ birth at approximately the beginning of October when shepherds with their flocks would still spend the night in the fields. The countryside around Bethlehem experiences the coldest weather during the months of December and January. Hence, to keep them warm at night, flocks are herded into protective shelters.

The only event Jesus specifically instructed his followers to commemorate was his death, not his birth, and this was to be done as a simple communion meal. (Luke:22, 19-20 reads: "19 Also, he took a loaf, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying: “This means my body, which is to be given in your behalf. Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”20 Also, he did the same with the cup after they had the evening meal, saying: “This cup means the new covenant by virtue of my blood,which is to be poured out in your behalf.") Note, too, that the Gospels of Mark and John are silent about Jesus’ birth. There is no historical evidence that the early Christians celebrated the birth of the Christ. But they did memorialize his death. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 reads: "23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night on which he was going to be betrayed took a loaf,24 and after giving thanks, he broke it and said: “This means my body, which is in your behalf. Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”25 He did the same with the cup also, after they had the evening meal, saying: “This cup means the new covenant by virtue of my blood. Keep doing this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”26 For whenever you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he comes.") It was not until more than 300 years after Jesus’ birth that Christendom officially began to observe Christmas on December 25. Interestingly, in the mid-17th century, an act of parliament banned Christmas celebrations in England. In the United States, the Massachusetts General Court did the same. Why? The book The Battle for Christmas, says: “There is no biblical or historical reason to place the birth of Jesus on December 25.” It adds that to the Puritans, “Christmas was nothing but a pagan festival covered with a Christian veneer.”
Let us delve into the unsavory origin of the celebration itself. The roots of Christmas can be traced back to pagan Rome with its mixture of festivals for honoring the agricultural god Saturn and the sun god Sol Invictus, or Mithra. Anthropologists Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling, coauthors of the book Pagan Christmas, write: “Like many pre-Christian customs and beliefs, the old feast commemorating the yearly return of the sun was rededicated to the birth of Christ.” As such, this is due to the attempts of the Catholic Church to spread its tendrils of control by any means, which the history books clearly indicate.

Speaking of books, I suggest you read The Two Babylons.

Here is something you can gorge on for free: What Are the Facts About Christmas? | Q & A

Many Christians do not celebrate Christmas for the reasons I have described. We should be good to all people at all times, spending time with our families out of love whenever possible, instead of being forced to waste money on a specific date because of the pressure other people have implanted into our minds, as they themselves have been misled to partake of something less than sweet, despite the many candy sticks.

Regardless, have a lovely day, and may you be rested on the matter.
 
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tik

Banned
Oct 26, 2015
48
0
0
#27
Re: The Real Christmas story (the REAL Christmas story)

What i'd suggest to you NovaFlareSeraphQ is first of all to understand that Jesus is Jehovah and Holy Trinity is the truth. Unless you understand it you better not spend your time on discusing topics like Christmas
 
Dec 1, 2014
1,430
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#28
GOD will never ask anyone "DID you know that there would be NO Christmas if there was NO Catholicism?" Why are you touting your denomination when JESUS CHRIST, the Reason for the Season, is the ONE in whom you and all CHRISTIANS are to brag about...not your stained glass cathedral.
 

valiant

Senior Member
Mar 22, 2015
8,025
126
63
#29
Santa Clause is not a lie

There was a real person Saint Nicholas, He was a Catholic. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving.

When he died pagans made god out of him and called him Santa Clause.

As you and others know very little about Catholicism and appear to be quite hostile towards Catholicism you are obviously unaware of it
Actually St Nicolas was Eastern Orthodox not Catholic. So you seem to know little about Catholicism as well :)

Santa Claus was merely the transliteration of St Nicolas. He had nothing to do with a pagan god.
 

onlinebuddy

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2012
1,115
24
38
#30

Pagan origin or not, IMO it's OK to celebrate Christmas as long as we keep the focus on Jesus and on the loved ones he gave us. Most denominations do celebrate Christmas. After all the birth of Jesus the greatest thing that has happened in history. If we celebrate our own birthdays, why not celebrate the Lord's birthday and worship Him? And the date is not an issue....

However, let us not get involved in pagan traditions and worldly revelry on the pretext of celebrating Christ's birthday. I say this because Christmas time becomes sin time.

Cribs, carols, candy sticks, holly and Santa should not become a form of idolatory.
Christmas ball, parties and drinking do not serve the purpose of our Lord.

Let us greet friends and family and make them feel special.
Let us worship the Lord with gladness, because since creation, the birth of the Messiah has been the most awaited event, and Christmas marks that event!
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.[Luke 2:10]
 
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NovaFlareSeraphQ

Guest
#31
Re: The Real Christmas story (the REAL Christmas story)

What i'd suggest to you NovaFlareSeraphQ is first of all to understand that Jesus is Jehovah and Holy Trinity is the truth. Unless you understand it you better not spend your time on discusing topics like Christmas
I have the right to spread accurate knowledge, just as you do. It is my duty to find out what the Bible really teaches, and to spread only that. My studies do not show that Jesus is Jehovah, for Jesus was the one who prayed to Jehovah before his death.
 
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VioletReigns

Guest
#32
I'm not in bondage to anything. Christmas is a fun holiday and a great time to celebrate with family & friends (and pets!).




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tik

Banned
Oct 26, 2015
48
0
0
#34
Re: The Real Christmas story (the REAL Christmas story)

My studies do not show that Jesus is Jehovah, for Jesus was the one who prayed to Jehovah before his death.
First of all Jesus could not possibly be praying to Jehovah because the word "Jehovah" is a Hebrew word but the original New Testament manuscripts were written in Greek. The word "Jehovah" only appears in the Old Testament. It does not appear in any Greek copies of the New Testament that we have. The word Jehovah was inserted into the New Testament by members of your movement in 18th century

Jesus is JEHOVAH but you so misunderstand it. Why do you misunderstand it? Because you are a CULT deceived by false teacher Charles Russell and I pray that your eyes will be opened one day

You are basically confused about what the name JEHOVAH (or YAHOVAH) mean. Do you know how the name JEHOVAH came about? In ancient Jewish scriptures there were essentially two names for GOD, one is YHWH and another one is ADONAI. Nobody could really pronounce the name YHWH so at some point they made a decision to combine these two names YHWH and ADONAI by taking vowels from the word ADONAI and mixing it with YHWH. As you can see the word ADONAI has got four vowels A, O, A, I. So people basically took vowels “A”, “O” and another “A” and mixed it with YHWH and that’s how you get JEHOVAH or YAHOVAH

So even the name JEHOVAH incorporates plurality since YAHOVAH =YHWH +ADONAI.

Now, the name ADONAI, translated "Lord", occurs approximately 300 times in the Old Testament. No other name applied to GOD is more definite and more easily understood than this. Many Christian scholars believe that this name ADONAI represents Old Testament evidence for the Trinity, as also found in the name "ELOHIM"

Jesus is believed to be ADONAI because Jesus is referred to as LORD throughout the New Testament and the word LORD is equivalent to the word ADONAI of the Old Testament

So what you’ve got to pay attention to is that the name JEHOVAH implies plurality since YAHOVAH = YHWH +ADONAI =1+1=2

Moreover the literal translation of the word “YAHOVAH” means something like “I AM WHO I AM” as in this verse

Exodus 3: 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.'

Remarkably Jesus is using the same title for himself, as in this verse

John 8:56 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM

So in John 8:56 Jesus is saying that he is YAHOVAH. In fact if you read the entire passage you’ll see that Jews picked up the stones and wanted to stone him. Why would they want to stone someone? It’s a bit drastic isn’t it? Because for Jews the most horrible blasphemy is when someone identifies himself as YAHOVAH.

In fact the whole reason why Jesus was crucified is because he was making himself equal to God

You declare the Jehovah’s kingdom but you do not understand that it is Jesus kingdom because you are in a horrible CULT

So let me give you another typical example of horrible misunderstanding, confusion and denying of the glaringly obvious fact that Jesus is referred to as God

Let’s go through this verse

John 20:28: “Thomas answered and said to him: ‘My Lord and my God!’”

After his resurrection Jesus appears to doubting Thomas who calls him, “God.” This is a difficult verse for the JW because it is so clear. The JW will respond that either Thomas said, “My Lord” to Jesus, then looked heavenward and said, “My God!” or Thomas was saying it out of exclamation, much like someone today might say “Oh, my God!” when astonished. However, there are four reasons why the Watchtower response is inadequate:

The text says, “Thomas answered and said to him: ‘My Lord and my God!’” Thomas was addressing Jesus.

In Psalm 35:23 (Septuagint), the same Greek grammatical structure is used as in John 20:28. The Psalmist David says, “Awake, O Lord, and attend to my judgment, even to my cause, my God and my Lord.”

Here is the comparison. I’ll give Greek first with English translation beneath it:

Psalm 35:23: ho theos mou kai ho kurios mou.
My God and my Lord.

compare it with John

John 20:28: ho kurios mou kai ho theos mou.
My Lord and my God.

David was addressing one person. His God and his Lord were one and the same. Since the Greek grammatical structure in John 20:28 is the same, Thomas is most likely referring to Jesus as God.

Jesus never rebuked Thomas for calling him “God.”

It is unlikely that Thomas, a pious Jew who was accustomed to carefully guarding his lips, would take the Lord’s name in vain, especially when he saw the risen Jesus.

Bottom Line: Thomas addresses Jesus as his God. Attempts by the Watchtower to explain this by claiming Thomas was looking heavenward when he said “my God” or that he just uttered the statement as an expression of surprise fails to carefully observe Thomas’ statement “to him,” the similar Greek grammatical structure in Psalm 35:23, that Jesus never rebuked Thomas for calling him God, and the fact that the pious Jew, Thomas, would be unlikely to take the Lord’s name in vain

Please take a look at this verse below

Ezek 34:7-16 …Thus says the JEHOVAH GOD: "Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them." 'For thus says the Lord God: "Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep…

Notice that the prophecy above, written hundreds of years before Jesus, is about Lord God YHWH coming to earth one day as a shepherd to seek his sheep. This Sheppard is YHWH. HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE IT?????? JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THE VERSE ABOVE!!!!

Jesus identifies himself with that shepherd in numerous verses throughout New Testament. Take this verse for example

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

Or this verse for example

Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant

So YHWH is Sheppard searching for his sheep and Jesus is Sheppard searching for his sheep. HOW CAN IT BE ABOUT DIFFERENT BEINGS???????

Clearly Jesus is JWHW.

You are in a horrible cult which is just 100 years old. You’ve been horribly lied to. You distribute horrible Magazines which is a lie. Satan is behind all of this. Satan is behind Jehovah's Witnesses organisation. You are deceived by Satan
 

tik

Banned
Oct 26, 2015
48
0
0
#35
Actually St Nicolas was Eastern Orthodox not Catholic. So you seem to know little about Catholicism as well :)
There is not much difference between Catholics and Orthodox since Orthodox split from Catholics in about 1000AD

He had nothing to do with a pagan god.
St Nicolas was known for giving gifts. He was a Christian (Catholic or Orthodox). When he died non-Christians (who were pagans) made god out of him because that's what pagans do - they create gods and worship them.
 

PhnxPr2416

Senior Member
Feb 11, 2015
223
2
18
#37
Not sure if this relates to Christmas, but I came across this before, a long time ago, and it felt like it fit. Still, you're free to make your own thoughts on this. Just thought I'd put this here..... :\

Jeremiah 10:1-10

Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. 2 This is what the Lordsays:
“Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold;

they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good.”


6 No one is like you, Lord;
you are great,
and your name is mighty in power.
7 Who should not fear you,
King of the nations?
This is your due.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you.


8 They are all senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple—
all made by skilled workers.

10 But the Lord is the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.

 

santuzza

Senior Member
Feb 12, 2013
1,609
38
48
#38
So what was the pagan holiday celebrated on Dec 25? Just curious. I know the pagans celebrated the winter solstice which is on Dec 21. I had always assumed Christmas was put at the 25th to combat the winter solstice celebrations. As Christ is the Light of the World, it makes sense, in a way, to put it near the solstice, the darkest day of the year.

Regarding the taking of pagan things and making them Christian, I'm all for it. We see it in our hymnal all the time. So many of those hymn tunes were originally secular -- the most obvious of which is "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee," Beethoven's Ode to Joy (a secular tune with secular text) from the Ninth Symphony.
 
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NovaFlareSeraphQ

Guest
#39
Re: The Real Christmas story (the REAL Christmas story)

I don't see how spreading the wonderful prospect of a new world, having everlasting life on a paradise earth, giving out helpful articles to help people combat drug abuse/alcohol/smoking, promoting good personality traits, promoting peace and love, imitating God and his Son, or giving out scientific knowledge to educate the masses equates to being deceived by Satan - but that's just me. You don't see me shouting that the Catholic Church is controlled by Satan because they have manipulated politics and suppressed scientific knowledge through the centuries in order to get people to go on witch hunts. Well, I did just say that, but you understand what I'm trying to say.

I understand you do not know much about this particular organization, but please be patient.

The following publications explain how Jesus is separate from YHWH (1) and who the Jehovah's Witnesses really are, in quite plain terms (2).

Jehovah’s Witnesses—Official Website: jw.org[search_id]=4debfcb5-2507-445a-8abc-a6dfd0afec5d&insight[search_result_index]=0

Jehovah’s Witnesses—Official Website: jw.org[search_id]=7a2e000a-d783-441d-bec2-fa40942c3079&insight[search_result_index]=1

I care for people, and I want to give them the correct viewpoint on the Bible. That is all. I will say no more.

P.S. Have a lovely day.
 
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NovaFlareSeraphQ

Guest
#40
My last post was in response to Tik, by the way. Sorry.