Posted on 12/15/2014 9:22:24 AM PST by Laissez-faire capitalist
" ... and thus we would not have Christmas being torn up because of their actions in choosing a celebration of Christ’s birth that was too close to comfort to certain pagan holidays. "
You have no proof that this is true.
Actually, fallacious is the wrong word. It is an unprovable statement.
No, the true meaning of christmas, and it's purpose, is to alter the image that YHWH had already provided. Anti(christ) means 'alternate... vicarious'. It distracts from the truth, and it elevates paganism through syncronism.
regardless of whether you use historical precedent (the earliest Christians believed that it was March, April or May (and that the actual day was the 20th or the 21st
He was conceived during Hanukkah (when the Light entered the Temple), and born upon Sukkot (when he Tabernacled with us in a temporary dwelling).
That distraction... the altered image, is why Christendom is blinded to the fact that YHWH moves on the moedim - I would venture to say that you will not be able to find even one major action by YHWH that does not coincide with HIS Holy Days. Why else would one even consider that His ultimate move, the 'checkmate' action, would not do likewise? What else would these powerful days of commemoration be *FOR*?
And once one discovers that, it is SIMPLE to determine, regardless of unreliable Roman histories, or other ideas that men may advance, because as one becomes aware of the moedim, and practices them, one will understand that each one has tremendous purpose - a particular signature that is unmistakeable. And each one DEEPLY and intimately tells the story of Messiah.
If you wish to find true meaning by the bucket-load, turn from Greece and Rome, from pagan holidays, and find rest in that which YHWH has ordained.
It is interesting to note that the sun, on the winter solstice, reaches it's lowest point on the horizon, and remains in that state (at sunset) for three days (signifying death).
21+3=24. The day the sun is reborn is, and always has been the 25th. It is that day wherein it begins to rise... That direct observance is the point, regardless of whichever calendar. Likewise Ishtar's day (Easter), which has always been the first 'day of the sun' past the vernal equinox.
Hmmmm...you might be onto something here.
May have to be re-thunk with more days added, what with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the two day Green Monday, Trample the Wounded Hurdle the Dead Store Buster Days, etc.
Can't have too much oddly shaped, multicolored, made in China plastic crap, you know?
How Did Christmas Come to Be Celebrated on December 25?
A. Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.”
Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.
B. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season).
C. In the 4th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians.
D. The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday
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