Christmas and Hanukah

[ConsequentAtheist]

Originally posted by okinrus
Josephus (a Jew and unlikely to be influenced by Paul) says "..."

okinrus, I really do not understand what you're trying to suggest with this Antiquities reference.

 

[okinrus]

It proves that Paul did not kill James but the Jewish high priests did? I have no clue what M*W is trying to say. Did Paul steal from the Jerusalem church? No, Paul came with money that he gave to the poor of Jerusalem. Paul fed poor members of the Jerusalem church?
Did Paul meet Jesus? Yes, in a vision given to him. Did Luke a friend of Paul's meet Jesus? No, he writes the gospel of what christians believed. Did Paul murder anyone? The bible does not give any account of Paul murdering anyone. Paul only approved what they had done to Stephen.

 

[Ozymandias]

Jesus' brother James was a Rabbi who presided over the Jews in Jerusalem.

Hah! This makes me laugh. Medicine*Woman, before you start trying to insult Christianity, you might want to pick up a Bible. And read it. When you have the wrong information, any insult [however weak] doesn't really become insulting.

I'm standing behind ConsequentAtheist here.

 

[Medicine*Woman]

Originally posted by Ozymandias
Hah! This makes me laugh. Medicine*Woman, before you start trying to insult Christianity, you might want to pick up a Bible. And read it. When you have the wrong information, any insult [however weak] doesn't really become insulting.

I'm standing behind ConsequentAtheist here.

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M*W: And I can only imagine what you're doing there behind CA. Well give it to him hard. I hope you both enjoy it!

 

[jcarl]

Originally posted by Fafnir665
Is it just a coincidence that Christmas and Hanukah fall at around the same time each year?

As far as I can tell it is a coincidence. Some of the later Early Church leaders had a rather unique way of "getting people to Christ" If they saw me worshipping a tree, then they would slap a cross on there and say,"Now you're worshipping Christ."

I believe(somebody correct me if I'm wrong) that Mithra's "birth" was somewhere around the December time slot. So this(or something similar) is the widely accepted explanation. Also someone pointed out that censi were taken during April. This coincides with the idea that many hold that the Gospel tellings refer to a time in the spring.

I also know that Christmas signifies the birth of Christ in 32BC (I think).

Not quite. 32 is the accepted time of Christ's death. His birth is thought to be around 5 B.C., since there is a year discrepancy.

Originally posted by MW
The writers of the NT purposefully wrote that Christmas fell around Hannakah to detract from Judaism.

Could you give me a reference as to where any of the Gospels state the season of Christ's birth?

Also, the Christian writers (Paul and company) wrote that the NT fulfillments coincided with the OT prophecies

So they made something up, and then died hideous deaths for it. (insert sarcasm) Makes perfect sense.