EVEN A BROKEN CLOCK
IS RIGHT...
Ah, 'tis the season..
when the Broken Clock of COGdom actually gives us the
correct time.
Yes, Viriginia, Christmas is indeed a holiday arising from
ancient pagan (non-Christian) practices, Saturnalia and a whole sleigh-full of
other traditions and symbols, and has very little if anything to do with Jesus
being born in the Middle East 2000 years ago.
So all of the anti-Christmas articles up on RCG, UCG, PCG
and all of the other WCG shrapnel groups are basically right as far as that
goes!
But not to worry, Christmas will soon be over, and
theological mishmash will again be the order of the day! :-)
And who cares, it's still a fun holiday for all, and yes
even for absolute atheists :-)
Merry Christmas, Merry Xmas, Happy Holidays, and everything
else!
A Banned Reader
6 comments:
Yes, Christmas is of pagan origin. But isn't it true that when God told Abraham to circumcise himself, that also was a common practice among pagans? Aren't there many things given to the Israelites that were pagan in origin but with new meaning attached to them?
Sssshhhh. Don't tell anybody, 5:45. Blinders come in every color, and a wide variety of shapes and sizes!
BB
Anon 5:45 AM,
You asked: "... But isn't it true that when God told Abraham to circumcise himself, that also was a common practice among pagans?..."
Well, was it? Can you, or anyone for that matter, cite a reference source proving the popularity of circumcision among pagans back in Abraham's day, because it certainly doesn't appear to be all that popular today.
John
Circumcision dates back to prehistoric times and together with the trepanning of the skull forms one of the oldest operations performed by man. Originally a ritual procedure, it was undertaken for medical reasons only later. It is performed by many peoples all over the world. Jewish circumcision originated, according to the biblical account, with Abraham who, at divine behest. Jewish Virtual Library
Obviously we're talking about a deeply personal "sign" here. It's not as if the people who did it were making some sort of fashion statement, like wearing a nose ring or getting a tattoo.
BB
I think what Anon 9:57 was asking was could you cite a source proving the popularity of circumcisions among people Abraham would have had contact with. The biblical writers imply that only Hebrews did so due to divine instruction. We now have at least one depiction of a circumcision from Egypt, and its often suggested the Sumerians did so early in their history, but I don't believe there are any texts as fixated on it as the biblical texts.
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