What Do you mean closing there doors? Close doors on Sunday! What in Gods wisdom are they thinking of? Well certainly not it being Sunday. No its Christmas day they are referring to. And though there reasons are not spiritual they make sense; surprisingly are supported by spirituals. In spite of this that is not why, at least in my opinion they may finally have got it right. Yep its that history thing again. That subject we pay so little attention to. The beautiful rendition of Christs birth by Luke the Physician and Christs historian: And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the entire world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David :) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:1-11 For today's Christian, the origin of Christmas is, and should be, the birth of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible; they should accept nothing neither more nor nothing less. However, most of what we witness and celebrate each December 25 regardless of which day it falls has absolutely nothing to do with that blessed day, which probably occurred in late summer or early fall about 2,000 years ago. In fact, most of the customs and traditions of Christmas actually pre-date the birth of Jesus, and many of them are downright deceptive in their meaning and origin: The date of December 25th believed to have been the ancient "birthday" of the son-god, Mithra, a pagan deity whose religious influence became widespread in the Roman Empire during the first few centuries A.D.; who was related to the Semitic sun-god, Shamash, and his worship spread throughout Asia to Europe where he was called Deus Sol Invictus Mithras. Rome being well-known for absorbing the pagan religions and rituals of its widespread empire, converted this pagan legacy to a celebration of the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice period. The winter holiday began the week prior to December 25th became known as Saturnalia. The festival was characterized by gift-giving, feasting, singing and downright debauchery, as the priests of Saturn carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession throughout the Roman temples. Variations of this pagan holiday flourished throughout the first few centuries after Jesus Christ; it is believed that in 336 AD that Emperor Constantine with his own conversion to Christianity officially converted this pagan tradition into the "Christian" holiday of Christmas. |
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