Much of the symbolism associated with New Year’s celebrations today has very definite pagan origins.
In the earliest days of the Church (the first and second centuries after Christ) there were no such celebrations as Christmas and New Year’s Day.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “According to the hypothesis … accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian [Roman] Calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the sun began to return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the invincible sun)” (1967, Vol. 3, p. 656).
Those customs carried over in the observance of Christmas (with its many traditions and practices steeped in paganism), and the “birth” of the “new year” of the sun. This is why the Roman calendar in use today designates Jan. 1 as the beginning of the new year as opposed to God’s designation of the spring month of Abib or Nisan on the Hebrew calendar as the beginning of the year (Exodus 12:1-2).
Much of the symbolism associated with New Year’s celebrations today has very definite pagan origins. Kissing at the moment of transition to the next year is rooted in pagan sexual practice and superstition. And evergreen wreaths associated with Christmas were originally part of the pagan Calend celebration of Jan. 1.
Because we live in this secular society and most of the world operates according to the commonly used Roman calendar, it’s common to think of a new calendar year as beginning Jan. 1. Yet involvement in the celebration of that is not appropriate. Read the Rest
Stand News said in a statement that its website and social media are no longer being updated and will be taken down. It said all employees have been dismissed.
The article uses "Rapture," But keep in mind, the Bible Plainly says when we die we are dead until Christ Return's at the last trumpet (1 Corinthian 15)
When a person dies, he is dead, that is, totally without life. A Christian has body, soul, and holy spirit, so we will look at what happens to each of these components if he dies. The body cannot live without the animating life force of the soul, so when the soul is gone, the body is dead. We have all seen lifeless bodies—the body is there but the soul, the life force, is gone.
Just as the body is not alive without the soul, so the soul cannot live on its own without a body. The soul is not a ghost that lives on after the body dies. Rather, it is the animating force that makes the body alive. God created the soul, the life force, for both animals and man, and it is passed down from one generation to the next. There was no “soul ghost” that God put into us when the sperm of our father and egg of our mother came together.
Every living part of a human or animal has “soul,” that is, life. Every cell of our body has soul in it, which is what makes it alive. A dead cell is a cell without soul—the soul is gone. As with every cell, the egg from my mother and the sperm from my father that became “me” each had their own cell-body and soul, and that soul was passed down to “me” when the sperm fertilized the egg. If the egg were “dead,” the lifeless egg-body would be there, but it could not be fertilized, and if the sperm were dead, it could not fertilize the egg.
When a human cell dies, the life in that cell does not go to be with God, it is just gone. Similarly, the soul that makes the egg and sperm alive does not live on in the presence of God if the sperm or egg dies. Men have millions of living sperm, sperm with soul, that die, and women have hundreds of thousands of living eggs, eggs with soul, which are never fertilized, and die. The soul in all those sperms and eggs does not “go” anywhere if the sperm or egg dies, and certainly not to be with God, rejoicing in His presence. As with the life in any cell, it just dies and is gone. On the other hand, if the sperm fertilizes an egg, then the life in them is passed on and becomes the life of the new baby.
The Bible says that God created the same life force, called “soul,” for both animals and man. Read The Rest
Daniel, a prophet of God, lived over 2,500 years ago. He was a Jewish captive, living in Babylon, and during the time of King Nebuchadnezzar, he was given the meaning of a dream, by God, laying out before him the last four great empires that would rule the earth. One night during the second year of the king's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had some disturbing dreams that neither he nor his “wise-men” could decipher the meaning. He was told about the man named Daniel, and of his God, the God of the universe, who had the ability to interpret anyone's dreams.
Upon meeting the king, Daniel said: {NLT version Daniel 2:29} “While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen.
30. And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.
31 “In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight.
32 The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,
33 its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay.
34 As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits.
35 The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.
36 “That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means.
37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.
38 He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.
39 “But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world.
40 Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes.
41 The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron.
42 But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay.
43 This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix
44 “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.
45 That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”
This is one of the most important warnings in all human history, hardly understood by anyone! Before getting into world history, you must ask yourself two basic questions. #1 Is the God of the Bible real, and #2, do you believe that God can predict the future? These two questions are really the most important questions you will ever ask yourself; your very life depends on the knowledge that God Almighty has revealed what is going to happen in the world. The statue made in four parts represents the last four empires that would rule the earth. God says so right here: “During the reigns of those kings (the last and 4th empire), the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. We know, from these few scriptures that the fourth great kingdom after Daniel would be the one that Jesus Himself destroys, and then sets up His own millennial kingdom.
It can be called breathtaking, because it's exactly that on all levels.
Every breath you take is packing an astonishing secret for your life not only at the present moment, but also for your glorious future, according to the best-selling author of a brand-new, inspiring book probing countless mysteries, including many from the Bible.
"We may not realize it, but every single breath we take should be filling us with amazement and hope because it's not merely a physical action, it's actually broadcasting a secret and impressive message from the Bible that few people ever consider," says Joe Kovacs, author of "REACHING GOD SPEED: Unlocking the Secret Broadcast Revealing the Mystery of Everything."
"To unlock the mystery, we have to use the divine keys that are provided in the Bible itself."
"Here are some of the simple keys that will help unlock not only the hidden message in every breath we take, but in countless other areas of life we experience on a daily basis," says Kovacs.
"The first is Romans 1:20, which explains God's invisible attributes, eternal power and divine nature 'have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made.' So we know just by examining anything in our created world, we can understand more about God and His Master Plan.
"Another is Isaiah 46:10, which tells us that God declares 'the end from the beginning.' What this indicates is that God is telling us the end of the story, the conclusion of all things, right from the start. So as we study not only the Bible, but everything we deal with in life, we can see an obvious pattern of the final outcome of events being revealed from the beginning.
"Yet another key is Matthew 13:34: 'Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable.' Millions already know that Jesus employed the parable teaching method, using stories and symbols to hide His message from the general populace of the world, but to reveal it to His true disciples with eyes to see and ears to hear. But what is often missed is that Jesus 'did not tell them anything without a parable.' In other words, everything is a parable. Not only is there a human, physical meaning to everything, there is an additional meaning on the spirit level of God speed."
Once these dots are connected, the author says, it becomes fairly simple to decode virtually anything, including the hidden message inside our human breathing.
"We already know inhaling fresh air into our lungs is what keeps us alive from moment to moment," says Kovacs. "If our breathing completely stops, we physically die rather quickly. So breathing is a natural form of life support. Why is this? Because breath itself comes from God (it's actually a representation of God), and He's loaning it to us on a temporary basis in our current bodies made of dust."
"To understand this, let's go back to the beginning to be reminded of our ancient past: 'And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being' (Genesis 2:7 NKJV).
"The Book of Job also notes: 'The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life' (Job 33:4 CSB).
"Thus, breath represents the Spirit, the very presence of God, providing us life not only in the present, but the future as well. It's easy to understand how breath sustains us now in our physical bodies. But if we read Genesis 2:7 again, keeping in mind how God declares the end from the beginning, we're actually being told the conclusion of our story."
This breathtaking understanding is just one of hundreds of mysteries unlocked in "Reaching God Speed," which features a myriad of stunning revelations, as the book:
Easily explains how God embeds hidden messages forecasting the future in the physical, historical events recorded in Scripture
Solves with clarity three of the greatest mysteries in Scripture, unveiling the surprisingly simple meaning of "the beast," "the number of the beast" and "the mark of the beast"
Examines the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding, revealing why this famous event took place "on the third day," why water was poured into six large containers, and why its instant transformation into the most perfect wine has a sublime meaning that goes far beyond what anyone has ever discussed
Unwraps the secret messages concerning the human birth of God, including the spirit significance of Jesus in a manger, the real reason the shepherds "returned," and the never-trumpeted, majestic picture the entire story depicts for your own glorious future
Unmasks the miracle of the blind man healed by washing mud off his eyes. Clue: There's something intriguing about the mud that becomes obvious when we connect the dots in Scripture
Those wishing to interview Joe Kovacs can email him here.
Reveals the incredible reason the Bible constantly mentions "three days" in both the Old and New Testaments. It goes far beyond the time Jesus spent in the heart of the earth.
Those keys, says Kovacs, are verses broadcasting concepts that, once linked together, allow people to make the jump from the human speed of understanding to what he calls "God speed," another way of referring to the spirit level of divine wisdom.
The 55-ton boulder was originally part of a bluff 500ft above the Fountain City house, but became dislodged on April 24, 1995. Amazingly, the owners escaped unscathed. An eyewitness told local newspapers that he heard a 'train-like roar' before the boulder hit the house. One TripAdvisor reviewer recently wrote: 'The rock is truly something to see in person.'
“The Puritan Governor interrupting the Christmas Sports,” by Howard Pyle c. 1883
The Puritans followed the Bible, and hence the area which gave us Thanksgiving, banned Christmas and Easter!
A short, easily-overlooked paragraph from an early law book of the Massachusetts Bay Colony reads as follows:
“For preventing disorders arising in several places within this jurisdiction, by reason of some still observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other countries, to the great dishonor of God and offence of others, it is therefore ordered by this Court and the authority thereof, that whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way, upon such accountants as aforesaid, every person so offending shall pay of every such offence five shillings, as a fine to the county.”
Yes, you read that right. In 1659 the Puritan government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony actually banned Christmas. So how did one of the largest Christian holidays come to be persecuted in the earliest days of New England?
Christmas in 17th century England actually wasn’t so different from the holiday we celebrate today. It was one of the largest religious observances, full of traditions, feast days, revelry and cultural significance. But the Puritans, a pious religious minority (who, after all, fled the persecution of the Anglican majority), felt that such celebrations were unnecessary and, more importantly, distracted from religious discipline. They also felt that due to the holiday’s loose pagan origins, celebrating it would constitute idolatry. A common sentiment among the leaders of the time was that such feast days detracted from their core beliefs: “They for whom all days are holy can have no holiday.”
This meant that Christmas wasn’t the only holiday on the chopping block. Easter and Whitsunday, other important historical celebrations, were also forbidden. Bans like these would continue through the 18th and 19th centuries (the US House of Representatives even convened on Christmas in 1802). As Puritanism started to fall out of favor, however, Christmas was almost universally accepted throughout the US by 1840, and was eventually declared a National Holiday in 1870.
Christmas in the post-War United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Religion Today is contributed biweekly by the University of Wyoming's Religious Studies Program to examine and to promote discussion of religious issues.
Who Was Against Christmas?
By Paul V.M. Flesher
Picture the following scenario. Crowds of Americans rioting in the streets. Two opposing groups shout loudly, vying to have their messages heard and heeded. The groups meet. Confrontation ensues. Fistfights break out. Church windows are smashed. What are these rioters fighting about? Christmas. One group favors celebrating Christmas, the other opposes all Christmas observances. This isn't an imaginary event, it is history. It happened in Boston on Christmas day in 1706.
In America's increasing love-affair with Christmas (both the Christian and commercial versions), we have forgotten that there was a time when much of European and American Christianity thought that Christmas should not be celebrated. In the riot described previously, the anti-Christmas group consisted largely of Congregationalists (Puritan descendants), Baptists, and Presbyterians, while the pro-Christmas group comprised mostly Anglicans (Episcopalians). The notion that Christians of any stripe should not want to celebrate Christmas is so foreign to our present concept of the holiday, that we need to review some history to understand it.
Prior to the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, Roman Catholicism celebrated the "Christ Mass." It was one of many special masses and feasts of the Catholic Church celebrating key events in Jesus' life or the birthdays of saints. The three main Protestant movements that ultimately came to America had three different reactions to this situation.
First, although the Anglican Church developed a Protestant theology, it kept much of Catholic liturgy, including festivals celebrating aspects of Christ's life and the feast days of many saints. It gave special emphasis to the celebration of Christmas.
Second, after Martin Luther nailed his "95 Theses" to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517, special liturgical observances began to be frowned upon. The Lutherans thought that the celebrations of saints' days were too much and so cancelled them. But they still emphasized observing events in Jesus' life, and so continued with joyous Christmas festivities.
Third, the Calvinists in Switzerland banned all Christian holy days not mentioned in Scripture. That approach meant that the Sabbath was acceptable, but nothing else. Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and other celebrations were to be treated as normal days with nothing special about them.
The Calvinist position came to be quite influential in Great Britain, even though it never altered the position of the Anglican Church. John Knox brought Calvinism to Scotland as Presbyterianism where Christmas was banned in 1583, while the Puritans brought Calvinism into England, where it became influential in circles both within and outside of the Anglican Church. During the Civil War in 1647, Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan followers outlawed Christmas observance. It was brought back in 1660 at the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II.
From England, both sides brought their Christmas beliefs to America. The Puritans (later becoming the Congregationalists) were joined by Presbyterians, Quakers, Methodists (despite their founders' pro-Christmas predilections), and Baptists on the anti-Christmas side, while the Anglicans dominated the pro-Christmas side, and were later joined by the Lutherans and the Dutch Reformed.
In Boston, the Puritans outlawed Christmas in 1659. Although the ban was lifted in 1681 when the British government took control of the colony, an armed guard had to protect the governor on his way to church on Christmas of 1686. When the colony reverted to local control in 1689, Christmas again fell out of favor.
The objection to Christmas by Americans was two-fold. First, for Calvinist theology, it reflected the pagan character of Catholic worship. Christmas was not a biblical holiday and had not even become a Christian festival before the late 300s; it was a creation of the church, not of Christ. Second, the holiday was accompanied by extensive reveling. Celebrations were not primarily worshipful, but involved feasting, game playing, heavy drinking, shooting, and gambling. For the over-indulgers, it brought out the worst of their excesses. Since the holiday celebrated the Savior's birth, such immoral behavior was seen as sacrilegious.
During the 18th century, Christmas observance began to be more accepted. Church-goers turned their attention to purifying the holiday of its excesses, rather than rejecting it altogether. By the 1750s, even New England hymn books contained Christmas carols. By the early 1800s, Christmas was observed with an emphasis on family and children.
In 1836, Alabama became the first state to make Christmas a legal holiday. Other states followed suit; even Massachusetts legalized Christmas in 1856, almost 200 years after its ban. But the last state, Oklahoma, did not join in until 1907. So next Christmas, 2007, will be the centenary of Christmas being the first religious holiday whose celebration across the United States is sanctioned by law.
Flesher is director of UW's Religious Studies Program. Past columns and more information about the program can be found on the Web at www.uwyo.edu/relstds. To comment on this column, visit http://religion-today.blogspot.com.
Excerpts from Fox News John Gibson's Book "The War on Christmas...."
As a matter of American history, however, some of the strongest complaints about the public celebration of Christmas have been lodged from within the Christian tradition—by devout Christians who had little use for the holiday. For a surprising number of American believers, the chief concern wasn't putting Christ back into Christmas. It was taking Christmas out of Christianity.
Liberal plots notwithstanding, the Americans who succeeded in banning the holiday were the Puritans of 17th-century Massachusetts. Between 1659 and 1681, Christmas celebrations were outlawed in the colony, and the law declared that anyone caught "observing, by abstinence from labor, feasting or any other way any such days as Christmas day, shall pay for every such offense five shillings." Finding no biblical authority for celebrating Jesus' birth on Dec. 25, the theocrats who ran Massachusetts regarded the holiday as a mere human invention, a remnant of a heathen past. They also disapproved of the rowdy celebrations that went along with it. "How few there are comparatively that spend those holidays … after an holy manner," the Rev. Increase Mather lamented in 1687. "But they are consumed in Compotations, in Interludes, in playing at Cards, in Revellings, in excess of Wine, in Mad Mirth."
After the English Restoration government reclaimed control of Massachusetts from the Puritans in the 1680s, one of the first acts of the newly appointed royal governor of the colony was to sponsor and attend Christmas religious services. Perhaps fearing a militant Puritan backlash, for the 1686 services he was flanked by redcoats. The Puritan disdain for the holiday endured: As late as 1869, public-school kids in Boston could be expelled for skipping class on Christmas Day.
The Puritans are the most cited example of anti-Christmas spirit, but not the only one. Quakers, too, took a pass, reasoning that, in the words of 17th-century Quaker apologist Robert Barclay, "All days are alike holy in the sight of God." The Quakers never translated their dismissal of Christmas into legislation in their stronghold in Colonial Pennsylvania. But local meetings, as the Quakers call their assemblies, urged their members to disdain Christmas and to be "zealous in their testimony against the holding up of such days." As late as 1810, the Philadelphia Democratic Press reported that few Pennsylvanians celebrated the holiday.
Observance of Christmas, or the lack thereof, was one way to differentiate among the Christian sects of Colonial and 19th-century America. Anglicans, Moravians, Dutch Reformed, and Lutherans, to name just a few, did; Quakers, Puritans, Separatists, Baptists, and some Presbyterians did not. An 1855 New York Times report on Christmas services in the city noted that Baptist and Methodist churches were closed because they "do not accept the day as a holy one," while Episcopal and Catholic churches were open and "decked with evergreens." New England Congregationalist preacher Henry Ward Beecher remembered decorative greenery as an exotic touch that one could see only in Episcopal churches, "a Romish institution kept up by the Romish church."
Naturally, some celebrants of the holiday complained about the abstainers. In 1867, Reformed Church minister Henry Harbaugh protested that Presbyterians in his Pennsylvania neighborhood "spend the day working as on any other day. Their children grow up knowing nothing of brightly lit Christmas trees, nor Christmas presents. God have mercy on these Presbyterians, these pagans." You can hear the echo of that sentiment today, in the criticism of the megachurches that have announced that they will be closed on Christmas, because their leaders think congregations and church staff would rather remain home with their families. "Our culture does not need any encouragement to be more self-centered or narcissistic, or to stay at home on Sunday," Bible scholar Ben Witherington III wrote on Beliefnet last week. "Shame on you, megachurches."
Gibson briefly refers to the Puritan ban on the holiday but otherwise avoids any mention of division within the Christian tradition over how to celebrate it. His "war on Christmas" is purely a clash between secularists and believers. It's worth remembering, however, that in past American battles over Christmas, the combatants on both sides were Christian soldiers.
This is where The Yule log and Santa Claus comes from! Look it up!
The statue on display at the Roman Colosseum is similar to this depiction of the pagan deity Moloch from the National Cinema Museum in Turin, Italy. | Wikimedia Commons/Jean-Pierre Dalbéra
ANALYSIS
Call it an odd juxtaposition, or a paean to the bloody pagan practices of two warring cities, ancient Rome and its ancient Mediterranean rival, Carthage. From now through March 2020, as part of an exhibit celebrating the city of Carthage, a giant statue of Molech, the god of the ancient Canaanites and Carthaginians, will greet visitors at the entrance to the Roman Colosseum.
Molech is the pagan god who required his devotees to toss their children into his fiery belly as an act of worship. The location of the display is particularly worth noting since the Roman Colosseum is where many early Christians were slaughtered at the hands of lunatic dictators fearful of a faith they could not stop.
Previously, the Catholic Church had made the Colosseum a sacred site to honor these first Christians martyred for their faith, even placing Stations of the Cross there for the faithful to contemplate their sacrifice. Now it's guarded by the pagan god Molech, whose demand for child sacrifice has been compared to the modern epidemic of abortion, and the faithful are greeted with a statue honoring a pagan deity whose murderous spirit still seeks to kill children.
10 Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
Yes, those words are in every Bible printed, even your copy! Be honest with yourself when you read the following Plain Truth Article about Christmas!
Christmas is celebrated on December 25 and is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25–Christmas Day–has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.
How Did Christmas Start?
The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.
In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.
Saturnalia
In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated on December 25th. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a month, slaves would become masters. Peasants were in command of the city. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could join in the fun.
Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred day of the year.
So when Christianity became the official religion in a sense, in Rome, they were able to fix this date. ... There's a little discrepancy about it but there's no question that the fact that it was celebrated in Rome as an important day with gift giving, candle lighting, and singing and decorating houses really cemented Christmas as December 25."
Another custom we can thank the pagans for? Christmas trees. Historian Kenneth Davis explained that the evergreen trees signaled the "return of life" and "light" as the winter solstice meant the days were starting to get longer.
"They started to hang an apple on it, so little red balls on green trees — get the picture here? ... So all of these things celebrate the idea that life and light are coming back into the world, which is essentially what Christmas means to Christians around the world."
Mistletoe, though, that was started by the Druids, who believed it was an all-powerful healing item from the sacred oak tree.
The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.
Christmas hasn't always been a popular holiday: In the Middle Ages, it was overshadowed by the Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the three Wise Men. It gained prominence after 800 A.D., when Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on Christmas Day. In 17th century England, the Puritan government banned Christmas outright for 18 years, claiming it was a wasteful, sinful festival which went against true Christian values. Christmas mass was a punishable offence, as were hanging holly, dancing and feasting.
In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.
"If you met someone in the forest you gave them the sign of peace under the mistletoe so people started to hang mistletoe above their doorways as a symbol of peace. This was such a powerful symbol of paganism that English churches actually banned the use of it," Davis said.
Davis also pointed out that the very first instance of a "war on Christmas" actually dates back to the Puritans in the mid-17th century.
"They knew all of these things, the date, the traditions, were pagan ideas. The Puritans banned Christmas for 20 years in America before the celebration became just too popular."
In fact, most of America never celebrated Christmas at first, not just the Puritans. It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s piqued American interest in the holiday?
The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving’s mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status. Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs,” including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving’s book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended—in fact, many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.
Also around this time, English author Charles Dickens created the classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story’s message-the importance of charity and good will towards all humankind-struck a powerful chord in the United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the benefits of celebrating the holiday.
The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas provided families with a day when they could lavish attention-and gifts-on their children without appearing to “spoil” them.
Although it outlasted the Puritans, Christmas remained frowned-upon for decades in some parts of America, and didn't become a legally recognized federal holiday until 1870. By that time, the Victorians had revolutionized the yuletide season, steering it away from bawdy revelling towards gift-giving, with many of the recognizable symbols and rituals we know today.
As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards and gift-giving.
Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.
Is Christmas Really the Day Jesus Was Born?
In the early years of Christianity, the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. The Bible offers few clues: Celebrations of Jesus’ Nativity are not mentioned in the Gospels or Acts; the date is not given, not even the time of year. Why did the early Catholic Church adopt the pagan holiday of Christmas? Tertullian railed against the entire season as a time of wholly heathen practices. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), but The Plain Truth believes that Christ was born during the seventh month. Either the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, or during the Feast itself.
Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century.
Santa or Satan- Is it just in the spelling?
The popular-culture perception of Santa Claus typically involves images of elves, reindeer and the North Pole. However, the white-bearded figure associated with Christianity’s major holiday has pagan roots.
For those unfamiliar with the origins of Santa Claus, here are five influences associated with the folk figure:
Santa Claus is primarily linked to St. Nicholas, the Greek bishop of Myra, a Roman town in Turkey. St. Nicholas lived during the third and fourth centuries; Between 1200 and 1500, gift-giving celebrations took place on St. Nicholas’ Day, Dec. 6. After the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic saint lost prominence, but the tradition continued. This time, the gift giving was attributed to baby Jesus. Since the infant could carry only so many presents, he was given a helper who encouraged good behavior from children -- and threatened them with kidnappings or whippings otherwise.
St. Nicholas is commonly linked to Odin, the ruler of Asgard, one of the major gods in Germanic mythology who was depicted as a white-bearded man with magical powers. However, Odin’s ties to Santa Claus may be more pronounced. The winter solstice, also known as Yule, was a time when Odin led a hunting party, known as the Wild Hunt, in the sky with an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir. The 13th century Poetic Edda said the mythical horse could leap great distances -- a trait reindeer possess. Children would leave their boots by the chimney filled with carrots and hay to feed Sleipnir. Legend has it that whenever Odin flew by he would leave gifts by their boots, as About.com noted.
After Christianity took hold, this practice was later adopted in relation to St. Nicholas. Children would leave their shoes on the windowsill or bedroom door on the evening of Dec. 5 for the saint to reward them with nuts, fruits and sweets, as CatholicCulture.org pointed out.
Santa Claus Has the Habits of a Pedophile
In America, people are constantly on guard against the sexual violation of children. Yet, when it comes to Santa Claus, we soften our defense. When we listen to the song Santa Claus is Coming to Town, several red flags are set off. Consider the following lyrics: “he sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake”. The question is: from where is Santa watching?! From outside our children’s bedroom window in a ski mask? Or did he place a small camera inside a teddy bear – and he is watching from a white van around the block?
The entire profile of Santa Claus would merit a criminal investigation if it belonged to anyone else. After all, he is a grown man who devotes all of his vigor to other people’s children. Does that sound normal to you?! Go ahead: try going to a playground and handing out “gifts” to random youth. It will take all but 2.5 seconds before their parents intervene and suspect you of being a pervert. So why is that we teach our children that a strange man slides down the chimney in the middle of the night to distribute presents?! In a roundabout way, we are normalizing the foreign surveillance of children in the name of ‘discipline’.
Some complain about the war on Christmas—an attempt to remove the holiday from its Christian roots. But in reality, Christmas it is a celebration that has snowballed from our earliest cultures, gathering new meanings and rituals as it's travelled across the world and through time. That might alarm some, but it shouldn't—after all, not even the hard-grafting Puritans could stop the irresistible pull of the holiday. Christmas' popularity around the globe has given us a common language and a sense of shared identity. Even pre-Christian winter festivals celebrated coming together, the emergence of new life and the triumph of light over darkness.
Regardless of fond memories or whether "everyone does it," a true Christian will reject Christmas, not only because of the commercialism, the pagan influence, and the impossibility of Jesus being born mid-winter, but more fundamentally because Christ refuses to have any part with idolatry (2 Corinthians 6:15–16). Christ was never part of Christmas and He will not be "put back" in Christmas. In reality Christmas should be called X-MASS!
God commands us to "learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2, KJV), reveals that pagan celebrations are abominations to Him (Jeremiah 10:3–4; Ezekiel 8:13–14), and tells us not to change what was taught through Christ and the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Once this truth is understood, a true Christian will shudder at the idea of celebrating Christmas, realizing that these winter solstice celebrations are indeed Satan's celebrations.
To learn more, watch the powerful Tomorrow's World telecasts, "Christmas: The Missing Message" and "Insight into Christmas," or read the insightful article "Should Christians Keep Christmas?" (Note: The Plain Truth has no connections with this television broadcast, but do recommend many of their shows for those wanting to learn more about God's Word.)
While millions of people are very familiar with the Bible account of the birth of Jesus, many may not know the story is actually written on more than one level, broadcasting additional, secret messages beyond the historical event for those who "have an ear to hear," according to a best-selling author a brand-new book probing the hidden content of Scripture.
Christmas in the post-War United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Religion Today is contributed biweekly by the University of Wyoming's Religious Studies Program to examine and to promote discussion of religious issues. Who Was Against...
Jeremiah 10: 1-5 10 Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 F...
What are some Christmas traditions in the U.S.? There are so many Christmas traditions in the US! Where did they all come from? America is often called a “melting pot” and its Christmas traditions can be seen the same way! It is a count...
Nederlands: Sinterklaas tijdens het Het Feest van Sinterklaas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Christmas history in America : see also Santa Claus in America In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Chr...
We are all familiar with at least a portion of the mysterious mistletoe's story: namely, that a lot of kissing under the mistletoe has been going on for ages. Few, however, realize that mistletoe's botanical story earns it the classif...
In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.
The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.
After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America’s new constitution. Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.
We are all familiar with at least a portion of the mysterious mistletoe's story: namely, that a lot of kissing under the mistletoe has been going on for ages. Few, however, realize that mistletoe's botanical story earns it the classification of "parasite." Fewer still are privy to the convoluted history behind the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. And its literary history is a forgotten footnote for all but the most scholarly.
Here were kept up the old games of hoodman blind, shoe the wild mare, hot cockles, steal the white loaf, bob apple, and snap dragon; the Yule-clog and Christmas candle were regularly burnt, and the mistletoe with its white berries hung up, to the imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids.
So Washington Irving, in "Christmas Eve," relates the typical festivities surrounding the Twelve Days of Christmas, including kissing under the mistletoe (Washington Irving, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent). Irving continues his Christmas passage with a footnote:
"The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas, and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases."
We moderns have conveniently forgotten the part about plucking the berries (which, incidentally, are poisonous), and then desisting from kissing under the mistletoe when the berries run out!
While millions of people are very familiar with the Bible account of the birth of Jesus, many may not know the story is actually written on more than one level, broadcasting additional, secret messages beyond the historical event for those who "have an ear to hear," according to a best-selling author a brand-new book probing the hidden content of Scripture.
"Yes, the birth of Jesus is a real event that took place more than 2,000 years ago, but God is using the birth of His Son to 'declare the end from the beginning,' as He says in Isaiah 46:10. He's using it to teach us our glorious future."
"For instance," Kovacs says, "the Bible makes a very big deal out of Jesus initially being placed in a manger."
"A manger is simply a feeding box for animals. It's where the food is," Kovacs says. "Even in basic French class, one of the first verbs we all learn is 'manger,' which means 'to eat.'
"And why is this significant? Because when we connect the dots from other parts of Scripture, we realize that this child lying in a feeding box in Bethlehem (which means the 'house of bread' or 'house of food') is more than just a typical baby. He is our true food, the real bread from heaven, as is stated numerous times in the Gospel of John. We don't get eternal life unless we feed on and follow His teachings."
On the evening of Oct. 5, 1843, things were looking bleak for 31-year-old Charles Dickens. Even though he was the superstar author of the wildly popular “The Pickwick Papers” and “The Adventures of Oliver Twist” – and that evening’s keynote speaker at an important charitable event – inside the man was in turmoil.
As young celebrities often do, Dickens (the father of five) had overspent. After a string of successful books, the great writer suddenly seemed to lose his way. He produced a couple of duds – and then slipped into debt.
Debt was a particularly horrifying prospect for Dickens. As a boy he watched his father go to jail for unpaid bills, a searing experience of which he would write, “I never afterwards forgot, I shall never forget, I never can forget.”
By 1843, Dickens was mired in woes. “[H]is marriage was troubled, his career tottering, his finances ready to collapse,” writes Les Standiford. The fabled author was even asking himself if he should give up fiction writing.
What happened next seems a kind of Victorian-era Christmas miracle.
After making his speech, Dickens wandered disconsolately through the dark streets of Manchester. But as he walked, an idea for a story suddenly came to him. If he could quickly turn that story into a book – a Christmas story in time for the season – perhaps he could earn £1,000. Such a sum, he reckoned, might extricate him from debt.
So, as Standiford recounts in The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits, in just six weeks Dickens sat down and wrote a classic of Western literature.
Vaghinak Byurat was one of the brightest representatives among the very educated people of Constantinople at that time and was planning a business trip to America, where he had to take a large batch of books. It’s thought that he bought his tickets for the Titanic and that he was one of its passengers. And he survived.
Shahen Khachtryan knew Vaghinak, and interviewed him in person. He later wrote about the story of what happened on the ship. Byurat lived a long life and often talked about the sinking of the Titanic. The most interesting thing was that he never mentioned an iceberg. Instead Byurat would always talk about an explosion that led to the sinking of the ship.
He would probably have been blown off if other survivors hadn’t also stepped up and talked about explosions too.
A rare, potentially deadly parasitic disease that's endemic to Europe and Asia has been rising in Canada, underscoring the importance of strong border security.
Alveolar echinococcosis, a disease caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, was likely brought over to North America by dogs from Europe, according to Gizmodo. Domestic dogs and wild canines such as coyotes are the preferred carriers of this dangerous parasite, but humans could also become infected through their interactions with their pets, so dog owners should be on alert. Fortunately, scientists say it is rare for humans to contract alveolar echinococcosis.
When you picture an apple, you probably picture a Red Delicious. Yet the same process that led to this iconic apple’s vibrant color actually led to its downfall.
It wasn’t always a misnomer. At one point, Red Delicious apples were among the most highly coveted apple varieties in the United States — and they had a flavor to match.
In 2018, however, we saw the end of the Red Delicious apple’s long reign. Gala apples, with their mottled hues and mild sweetness, took the lead, marking the first time in more than 50 years that any apple’s sales surpassed those of the Red Delicious.
It’s a no-brainer: Given the wide array of apple cultivars to choose from nowadays — and with even more varieties emerging every year — who would opt for the tough skin and mealy flesh of a Red Delicious (or what Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso calls “a mouthful of roughage”)?
But did you know there’s an identifiable reason for the downfall of the most iconic apple in America?
Here’s how the king of apples was dethroned: slowly, steadily, and, as it turns out, intentionally.
British author Anna Pasternak told People for its Royals' special fall edition that Edward had 'a ferocious, obsessive love for Wallis and was never going to let her go'. The Duke's abdication, which occurred in December 1936, rocked the monarchy and the country to its core - but apparently the woman he did it all for was against him making such a decision. Edward wed Wallis (pictured left), who was thought unfit to be Queen, having been married twice, in Tours, France (pictured right), a year after he ceased to be King.
