happy birthday Jesus Christ

[hoey222]

and goldy, fabfore1, Full Monty and Superdan :D
http://testas.us/pics/apexjc.gif

[kimchicowboy]

hahaha. i almost visited the homepage.

[nickel]

Happy Birthday!

[BigJon]

Happy BDay big guy! And all those who have their birthday today too...

[Kim]

Happy birthday all, and thanks for everything JC.

[bachviet]

Happy Bday! :cheers:

[StonedWheat]

Happy (belated) bday!

I know a girl that goes to a church/cult that tells their congregation not to celebrate christmas as Jesus' bday because it's not his real birthday, so christmas is cancelled in their household. Some people...

[InfiniteNothing]

I thought Jesus was born around spring time?

[guiseppewv]

Happy Birthday!!!!!

[attgig]

happy belated....

and yeah, the whole shephards out in the field implies Jesus being born in spring time.

[InfiniteNothing]

Birthday: The day of ones birth. :shrug:

[attgig]

yeah...just saw something on history channel claiming his bday to be april 17th....... but who knows? :shrug:

my parents were born on the lunar calendar, and weren't quite sure when their birthday was when they came here...so they just designated a day to mark their birthday..... later, this thing called the internet had a converter for lunar to solar calendar to back when they were born.... I figured out that they picked the wrong dates.....but did we change it? no....

so, who cares what specific day it was....25th is the day the powers that be designated he was born...so, I'll celebrate it on the 25th of dec.

[StonedWheat]

yeah...just saw something on history channel claiming his bday to be april 17th....... but who knows? :shrug:

my parents were born on the lunar calendar, and weren't quite sure when their birthday was when they came here...so they just designated a day to mark their birthday..... later, this thing called the internet had a converter for lunar to solar calendar to back when they were born.... I figured out that they picked the wrong dates.....but did we change it? no....

so, who cares what specific day it was....25th is the day the powers that be designated he was born...so, I'll celebrate it on the 25th of dec.

That's what i'm sayin. Everyone only has one birthday, but people just choose to celebrate it every year on the date of birth. The main point of Christmas is *supposed* to be an annual reminder of Jesus' birth, life, and death.

[bachviet]

That's what i'm sayin. Everyone only has one birthday, but people just choose to celebrate it every year on the date of birth. The main point of Christmas is *supposed* to be an annual reminder of Jesus' birth, life, and death.
Jesus's death is celebrated on Easter Sunday.

[oblongmelon]

yeah...just saw something on history channel claiming his bday to be april 17th....... but who knows? :shrug:

my parents were born on the lunar calendar, and weren't quite sure when their birthday was when they came here...so they just designated a day to mark their birthday..... later, this thing called the internet had a converter for lunar to solar calendar to back when they were born.... I figured out that they picked the wrong dates.....but did we change it? no....

so, who cares what specific day it was....25th is the day the powers that be designated he was born...so, I'll celebrate it on the 25th of dec.
I saw the same show.

[BrewMaster]

Jesus's death is celebrated on Easter Sunday.
yeah, but there are a lot less presents given at Easter so some folks would rather roll it all into one. :hihi:

[InfiniteNothing]

Maybe this is just semantic but birthday is the day you were born, not necessarily the day you celebrate your birth.

It's one thing to not know when someone's birthday is and arbitrarily pick a day to celebrate. It's another to have clues but to ignore them chosing a day to interfere with another holiday.

[nickel]

Jesus's death is celebrated on Easter Sunday.
isn't his death "celebrated" on Good Friday and Easter is when he rose from the dead?

[oblongmelon]

isn't his death "celebrated" on Good Friday and Easter is when he rose from the dead?
yes.
And very symbolic at that..rising from the dead just as Springtime when Easter is celebrated-is the season of new life.

[BrewMaster]

i've never thought about it like this, but i wonder if there is any significance to Jesus being born in the springtime (April 17th as proposed above?) and also dying and rising in the spring.

[bachviet]

isn't his death "celebrated" on Good Friday and Easter is when he rose from the dead?
That's correct... :)

[nickel]

That's correct... :)
horray :D 8 yrs in Catholic school was not a waste :P

[attgig]

Maybe this is just semantic but birthday is the day you were born, not necessarily the day you celebrate your birth.

It's one thing to not know when someone's birthday is and arbitrarily pick a day to celebrate. It's another to have clues but to ignore them chosing a day to interfere with another holiday.

eh?

if you got something against the church...just say you got something against the church....don't try to justify why they suck....


*sigh*

[InfiniteNothing]

No, nothing against the Church. I just feel like people don't realize it's not his birthday. That and the "CHRISTmas is the only reason for the season" billboards seem false.

[caribiner23]

I'm with InfiniteNothing on the term "birthday."

That being said, the Catholic Church's position is clearly stated in the following, which is read at the beginning of Midnight Mass each year:



In the twenty-fourth day of the month of December;

In the year five-thousand one-hundred and ninety-nine from the creation of the world, when in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;

In the year two-thousand nine-hundred and fifty-seven from the flood;

In the year two-thousand and fifty-one from the birth of Abraham;

In the year one-thousand five-hundred and ten from the going forth of the people of Israel out of Egypt under Moses;

In the year one-thousand and thirty-two from the anointing of David as king;

In the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel;

In the one-hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;

In the year seven-hundred and fifty-two from the foundation of the city of Rome;

In the forty-second year of the reign of the Emperor Octavian Augustus; In the sixth age of the world, while the whole earth was at peace— JESUS CHRIST eternal God and the Son of the eternal Father, willing to consecrate the world by His gracious coming, having been conceived of the Holy Ghost, and the nine months of His conception being now accomplished, (all kneel) was born in Bethlehem of Judah of the Virgin Mary, made man. The birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the flesh.
This is pretty precise information. I always wondered how they determined the December 24th date, especially when evidence (such as what was shown on the History Channel) points towards another time of year.

This website (http://www.unitypublishing.com/prophecy/martyrology.htm) explains how Easter's date was fixed with the introduction Gregorian calendar, along with how the Catholic Church arrived at the dates spoken of in the reading above:


The most recent accounting of the age of the world according to Catholic tradition is over 400 old at this point, though it's present form is still almost exactly what it was 1000 years ago. As it is presented below, it reflects the latest change to the Calendar made by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 AD.
The site offers an interesting perspective on where it all began.

Anyway, sorry for the diversion-- Happy Birthday to the Big Guy. :)

[Cantacuzene]

December 25th was also the holiest day in Mithraism which was a mystery religion competeing with Christianity. They were trying to steal some thunder from Mithraism.

[nimj2323ck]

December 25th was also the holiest day in Mithraism which was a mystery religion competeing with Christianity. They were trying to steal some thunder from Mithraism.
I remember hearing something about that once. Wasn't December 25th the birth of Mithras or the high god of that religion? And then Christianity took that date to gain more complete power over religion at that time? Or am I completely wrong here?

[Cantacuzene]

I remember hearing something about that once. Wasn't December 25th the birth of Mithras or the high god of that religion? And then Christianity took that date to gain more complete power over religion at that time? Or am I completely wrong here?

Thats about right. Almost every Christian holiday corresponds to a pagan one, since that was the only way to stamp out paganism. If you are going to take away a holiday from someone you have to replace it with a new one or people will be pissed.

[nimj2323ck]

Okay, I just remembered that that was in the Da Vinci Code. At least it was somewhat based on facts.

[BigJon]

Yeesh...I don't know if I want to join this so late...

Religion is so hard to speak on because it is all so old, that no one really knows how accurate the accounts are. There is no really really really true way to prove anything right OR wrong....it sucks....

Then...that's why faith was created..."don't worry about proving it...just have faith..."

hmmm....:hmm:

[InfiniteNothing]

Yeesh...I don't know if I want to join this so late...

Religion is so hard to speak on because it is all so old, that no one really knows how accurate the accounts are. There is no really really really true way to prove anything right OR wrong....it sucks....

Then...that's why faith was created..."don't worry about proving it...just have faith..."

hmmm....:hmm:

Kinda off subject but is it possible to prove the world existed before you were born? Before you read this sentence?