[Ottofire]

Have a blessed day, remembering that this is merely the celebration of the gift which was given on the Cross.

May God bless his called out ones!

(And thanks for a great article Dan!)

[bobjam]

I heard one pastor say that Herod may have been the only mortal in the Nativity who fully understood what was going on. Mary and Joseph certainly knew Jesus would be special, but not even they may have known at the time just how special He would be.

[count-your-change]

I fail to see how any faith was exhibited by Herod. He earlier had demonstrated his murderous nature by having prominent Pharisees killed who had dared oppose him.

Herod also murdered members of his own family when he thought they plotting against him.
So hearing that the astrologers were searching for the king of the Jews he dispatched them to find this king so Herod could destroy him.

Herod’s mind set sounds more like paranoia than faith.

[Taichi]

Herod was a bloody tyrant who feared everything and everyone. In his life time he built temples to Roman gods he introduced Greek thinking into the Jewish way of life and he enforced his rule with terror.

Not born a natural Jew his Jewish faith was one of convenience, a way of saying "Hey Rome made me King, but really I'm one of you." Of course the problem comes from the fact he never believed it. A man of faith would not have placed the Roman eagle on the Temple and then executed by burning alive the men responsible for taking it down. A man of faith would not have executed by drowning his oldest son's because they were preparing to take over from a sick and dying man. All Herod would have seen in the words of the Maggi were threats to his paranoid reign. May you and everyone experience the Grace of God and the Peace of Jesus this season and forever.

[BibChr]

Thanks, Otto; sad to see that reading-comprehension level hasn’t gone up much at FR, though.

There should be a Christmas Day post as well.

Dan

[editor-surveyor]

?????

Later

[safisoft]

So it is for many today, including many "evangelicals." They know some true things, they accept some true things, and to a degree they even act on some true things. But that core sin remains, lives, and thrives: pride, the motivator that transformed the anointed cherub into Satan, the Devil. Saving faith must be a knowing fact, an accepting faith — and a repenting faith, a submissive faith, a pride-crucifying faith.

What tripe. Comparing Herod to "many evangelicals" is ludicrous. Whether inside or outside that circle, that is absolute nonsense. Herod was a wicked and vile man. Ignorance, although inexusible, is not the same as the wickedness of men like Herod, or Hitler. Playing the game of simlitudes is dangerous, and in this case, it is also in bad taste.

[Originalist]

Herod may (appears to) have believed in the Messiah, up to and including his belief creating “works” based on that belief. But he was missing the most important element of “saving faith”.

Herod's faith was without repentance. The Greek word translated “faith” or “belief” throughout the Gospels included an attitude of working repentance, not just the shallow belief we ascribe to in these days...