Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Monday, December 27, 2021

Samuel Martin: The Nativity and the Weather

 



The Nativity and the Weather

by
Samuel Martin

Before my late father began a career as a pastor and then a religious scholar, he was trained as a weather forecaster.

He learned this discipline at first in university, but later in the United States Air Force.

As a scientist training in the observation of the weather, he always took this matter into consideration when it came to his research studies dealing with the Bible.

A number of books that he wrote which he has been recognized for from an academic point of view dealing with the birth of Jesus Christ come to my mind at this time of year.

What is interesting though as far as I can remember, the only point that he mentioned concerning the matter of the weather and its relevance concerning the time Jesus was born is the following quotation from his book "The Star of Bethlehem: The Star that Astonished the World."

"Luke said that Jesus was born at a time when his parents went to Bethlehem in response to Caesar's command for a census. Ramsay showed that considerable confidence can be placed in the belief that the general time of the year for the start of a census was from August to October. The September period for Jesus' birth we are suggesting fits this well.

A late Summer or early Autumn date for Jesus' birth has also been suggested because Luke said the shepherds were tending their flocks at night at his nativity (Luke 2:8). Many have believed this precludes a wintertime birth (either early Winter on December 25th or a late Winter in early March) because it would have been too cold for the flocks to be out in the open at that time.

But this evidence is very problematic. In exceptionally cold Winters this may have been the case, but in mild Winters sheep are often out of doors in Palestine all night. Since no one knows what kind of weather there was in Palestine the year of Jesus birth (either severe or mild), this factor can be of no chronological value." (Martin, pg. 183-4)

The thing is though, in one way we do know what kind of weather there would have been in the land of Israel during this time especially if we say that Jesus was born in late December. Baly shows us the basic seasonal pattern that has existed in the Holy Land for 1,000s of years. It is important because it shows the environment that people who lived in the land would have known about very well. Because of this, the idea that Joseph and Mary would have set out on a trip to Bethlehem in December makes no sense at all in a practical sense.

“The Palestinian year is divided into two major seasons, the dry summer from mid-June to mid-September and the rainy season in the cooler half of the year. The summer drought, during which no rain falls at all, is actually somewhat longer than the true ‘summer’ and extends into the transitional seasons which dive the summer from the winter at either end. Thus, even on the coast of Cis-Jordan (Israel), the drought is usually complete for five continuous months from the middle of May to the second fortnight in October. It is better to avoid using the word “winter” for the rainy season, for winter inevitably suggests to an English-speaking person a cold season, but in Palestine, the cold weather is normally confined to the three months after Christmas, that is to the second half of the rainy season. In modern Arabic, the word “summer” is so emphatically suggestive of the long dry period (cf. Ps. 32:4, ‘My strength was dried up as the heat of summer”) that winter means more than anything else that blessed period when the rain comes. The Arabic word shittah is in fact used impartially for both “winter” and “rain” and there seems to be something of the same thought in Song of Solomon 2:11, “ For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.” (Baly, The Geography of the Bible, pg. 43)

This description by Baly is 100% correct as anyone who lives here in the land knows. Anytime after October 15, the rainy season starts and in the beginning of that season, the rains start in a sporadic way, but get into December and there is a regular occurrence of rainstorms that come systematically and after January those storms will get more intense.

As Professor Ramsay mentions, the idea the Romans would undertake a census during the rainy season moving to the middle of winter makes zero sense at all.

September though would have been a very suitable time for such a journey to take place and be completed before the beginning of the olive harvest, which was a very important annual agricultural event in ancient times as it still is today.

During September, the days are long and warm and the nights are mild and not cold at all.

Knowing the weather and the seasons of the Bible lands in a practical sense helps us better understand the stories of the Bible especially those ones we hold so dear to our hearts and minds.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Dennis: My Annual Christmas Sermon...









Maybe It's Just a Coincidence...Yeah...That's It!
 
 
Dennis Diehl - EzineArticles Expert AuthorThose familiar with the Worldwide Church of God know that after many years of observing what most would call "Jewish Holidays" but with Christian significance, the Church has now switched to the more generically acceptable Christian holidays, such as Easter and Christmas. In the past, these Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice holidays were replaced by the recognition of Passover over Easter in the Spring and the Festival of Tabernacles in the Fall over Christmas. While no religious holy day springs from a vacuum, and the Jewish Holy Days, also sprang from the pagan agricultural holidays that preceded them, I wonder if the Worldwide Church of God, and all Christians would be intrigued and challenged to realize just exactly which "Son" was being born on Christmas and why?
 
And keeping the Passover doesn't get you off the hook either.  Passover  is the same motif of darkness/slavery and death being overcome by freedom and light as the Sun breaks free of it all and victory goes to the Most High.  The Lamb is slain because the Age of Aries began with Abraham finding the Lamb in the bush to fill in for his son Isaac, and ends with the Lamb of God dying to usher in the Church age of Pices, the fish.
 
 
 What is the symbol of Mithraism found in small temples all over Europe?  Mithras slaying the bull  4000-2000 BC as Taurus which used to be the Easter Constellation is replaced by Aries the Lamb 2000-0 BC, nicely coinciding with the beginning of the Old Testament Lamb motif.  It's the magic of the progress of the Equinoxes and the biggest secret the priests had to keep from the people and the real reason the OT is full of commands NOT to look at the heavens or let it tell you stories.  That's the job of the Priests!  Priestly "knowledge" was often science that had been figured out and kept tight to the chests of the ruling elite.
 
Plainly put, the story of Jesus' one year ministry as described in Mark, Matthew and Luke, is an astrological allegory of the journey the literal SUN takes through the twelve signs of the Zodiac in one year.  God is not called a "consuming fire," for nothing nor does Malachi note in vain that the "sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings," (i.e. rays)
 
 
 
 The journey of the SON/SUN starts at the birth of the SUN and SON in December, brought forth by a virgin of all things, and ends just before Christmas on December 22-24, the time the SUN appears to be "in the grave" prior to being born again on the 25th by moving ever so slightly north again and heading towards spring. Jesus also spent his three days in the grave as we recall.
 
First of all why would I say that the Virgin brings forth the SUN and the Virgin bringing forth the literal SON of God later in print was not the original story? Because the older phenomenon is the sky story noticed long before it was made literal for the masses.
 
On Christmas day, in particular 2000 years ago when during Jesus time, the Sign of Aries the Lamb was coming to an end,, due to the progression of the equinoxes and signified by the crucifixion of the Lamb in the Spring, the sky on Christmas morning showed an interesting sight. Just before sunrise, the SUN sits on the horizon about to be "born." At the zenith, the high point in the sky, at that moment, is the zodiacal constellation of Virgo, the Virgin who is MOST High, MOST Blessed, at that moment the SUN is born. Her open legs pointing to the sunrise to give birth.
 
 Truly, and anciently, "and the virgin shall bring for the SUN." The prophecy says that "they shall call his (THE SON) name, Immanuel, which means "God with us."   (Actually it means "God IS with us).
 
But the literal SON Jesus was never called Immanuel. However, the real SUN, as SUN of GOD is always Immanuel, always with us. The Bible even says of "God" that His power is from the rising of the sun until the going down there of." No one thinks this through. God's power is only good during the day is what this is saying. God's power ends at sundown according to this scripture. Evidently this SUN GOD has not power after sunset, which of course is the real SUN and not the literalized GOD or SON of GOD.
 
 Malachi tells us that the Messiah, but calling him the SUN, "shall arise with healing in his wings." The wings of the sun are the rays that appear to jet out due to the way humans see the sun when they try to look at it. One of the great symbols of Egypt is the sun disc with great bird wings coming out left and right. It's an old symbol of how the sun looks to humans. The crown of thorns on Jesus at his death are actually sun ray symbols much like the crown on the Statue of Liberty.
 
Let's move on a bit past the birth of the SUN/Son on Christmas morning. The Gospels say that Jesus was "about 30 years old" when he began his ministry. The SUN/SON was born in December in the sign of Capricorn back then which is the Goat, and may account for some of the Nativity scene animals that were later made literally true in the story. Each House of the Zodiac takes up approximately 30 degrees of the sky (30x12=360). So the SUN also is about 30 when it enters the next sign of the Zodiac in January, which just happens to be the same PERSON Jesus the SON visited when he began his ministry! This would be Aquarius, the Waterman for the SUN but John the Baptizer for Jesus the SON. Same story. One in the sky, one made literal on earth. Same Story! Both SUN and SON are baptized by the Waterman during this month and both increase, that is keep moving towards Spring for the SUN or into his ministry for the SON. Aquarius and John, the Watermen on the other hand, must decrease and while one sets, the other is decapitated on the horizon. It is no coincidence that when Aquarius appears to rise again six months later at dawn instead of sink at sunset, the head comes up first opposite Leo the Lion, sign of Herod who had him murdered literally. Aquarius, in the morning sunrise looks beheaded by Leo who is going down. Could this be why later in Jesus ministry Herod thinks that John the Baptist is coming back from the dead or had risen, because Aquarius is rising again after going down six months earlier? Is this a heavenly astro-theological tale made literally true?
 
 
 
Also, at sunrise and prior to Christmas day, the three stars in the belt of Orion the Hunter rose vertically and followed the sun across the sky all day, only to loose it in sunset.  Every winter morning this scene would progress with the three "Magi" rising higher and earlier each day chasing the SUN/SON. When the story was literalized, it lost it's common sense. In the literal story we find the Magi saying, "We have seen his star in the east ...." They then proceed to follow it West with it ending up turning south and hovering right over the place where Jesus was. It would be a dumb thing to see a star looking east, watch it go over head in time and then turn west to follow it to Jerusalem. You'd play this game ever night for awhile. First head east, then look up, then turn and head west. I doubt this was the plan of the Magi who could not have been that stupid. However, when not taken literally we have the three stars, neatly aligned in Orion,s Belt rising like hikers in the east and heading west following the SUN or SON that has to be in the West to find. Great astro-theology but a bit funky when made literally true. It might explain why Herod could not see the same Star and had to ask for the Magi to find Jesus for him. It was taking place in the sky, not the palace. A good Gnostic would say "of course, this is where the story comes from."
 
Well shortly after Aquarius and John slip off the scene and Jesus goes on his way, he goes immediately into the wilderness to be tempted not to be all he can be by Satan. This would be the SUN, rising from Winter and heading to Spring and then being the Most High at the Summer Solstice, but still weak as it is early in the game. Jesus might still be too young, too weak to continue, so Satan, i.e. Darkness tempts him to be not be Jesus the SON or SUN. The darkness of Winter does not want to go and wants to prevent the SUN/SON from en-lightening the world, or as we might say, Satan does not wish Jesus the SON to take away the sins (darkness) of the world. Darkness in the human psyche is the world of evil and fear...the world of Satan. Jesus as the SON, just like the SUN might just overcome the darkness of winter and Satan if he can't be dissuaded at this weak time of his cycle.
 
But alas, you can't stop the seasons, so Jesus and the SUN go to Spring and Easter, which is the time when the SUN has the same strength as the dark, when day and night are Equi-nox or Equal Nights. It's Easter because the SUN rises due east and gives SON worshipers a direction in which to pray on Easter morning. Satan is well on the way to being defeated with the SUN/SON being crucified literally in Aries the Lamb, (April-Easter) which Jesus was also called and the SUN in Aries the Lamb as sign of the Zodiac. For the SUN the crucifixion takes place where the Celestial Equator crosses the Ecliptic and the Sun sits right on the intersection of it at Easter, and for Jesus it happens, same time in Jerusalem, literally.
 
 
 
Interestingly enough, the Egyptian Obelisk centered in the courtyard of the Vatican and viewed from above is simply a huge sun-dial. Markings on the pavement seen as "decorations" in the stone point out ever Solstice, Equinox and astro-theological event in the sky that is the origin of the literalised Jesus story. The Vatican knows this. The laity generally do not.  On "Easter" morning, the sun rises exactly 90 East and exactly lines up with the Vatican and the Balconey the Pope is used to speaking from to bring his message on the risen Sun...errrr  Son.  Every symbol he wears and ever utensil he raises to the sky is a SUN symbol.
 
It is not coincidence that the Age of Aries the Lamb, which ended with the SUN moving into PICES due to the progression of the equinox every 2190 years or so, around the time of Jesus coincides with the death of the Lamb of God, the Son, Jesus. It is a symbol. "Behold, I am with you, even unto the end of the age," said Jesus. This was not the end of the world as some think, but the Lamb Jesus would be with them until the end of the astrological age of Aries and then Pices the Fish would begin. It is also no coincidence that the symbol for the SON/SUN's Church is the fish, nor that in the age of Pices Christians were to be "fishers of men." The fishing motif in the Gospels is all about the age of Aries ending around the time of Jesus and the Age of Pices, the Fishes, beginning. It is no coincidence that right after Jesus overcame Satan, he went to Galilee, which means "circuit" as in circuit of the SON, or SUN depending on which location you are seeing the story in, he meets TWO FISHERMEN, Peter and Andrew and makes them Disciples. Jesus making his circuit all around Galilee, which means "circuit," with his 12 disciples surround him, is no different than the SUN making it's circuit (Galilee) surrounded by it's 12 zodiacal disciples. The Sign of Pices is that of two fish. It is not coincidence that in the feeding of the multitudes, there were TWO Fish and five loaves symbolizing the five known planets of the time, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.
 
Just for fun.  In the Old Testament, the Cherubim with the face of a man (Aquarius-Winter) the face of a Bull (Taurus-Spring) , the face of a lion (Leo-Summer) and the face of an Eagle (Aguila) is merely another astrotheological beast concocted from the zodiacal signs of the four seasons.  If each of the four had six wings..well that makes 24 and I expect you know what that symbolizes.  The 24 Elders around the Throne of the Sun/Son in Revelation originate as well in the 24 hours of the day.
 
 
 
Well there is much more. When Jesus as SON stood on the mount of transfiguration in the summer of his one year ministry, his face shone like the SUN at noon. This is because this earthly event is the literal fact in the cosmos that in June, the summer Solstice finds the SUN at its highest, being the MOST HIGH for the year and brilliant light. Jesus, standing on that "high mountain" in summer, face shining like the sun was doing what the SUN was doing as well as MOST HIGH right over his head. This is not coincidence either. From June, it is all down hill for the SUN and for Jesus the SON. Cancer the crab, which moves backwards and is for July and August symbolizes that the SON and SUN were going backwards now to their fate. Jesus is betrayed in the Fall by Judas, that scorpion, just as the SUN is stung and betrayed by Scorpio in its dive to oblivion in December. The Archer then takes over as Sagittarius, just as the mob does and both SUN and SON are pierced. They die in late December appearing to be gone and as the SUN lies for three days in the southern hemisphere, considered the grave and appears to neither go further south, nor come back north, so Jesus lies three days as the SON of GOD in the grave. This is December 22-24, the Winter Solstice, But it's all good. One December 25th the SUN and SON are born and brought forth by the Virgin Mary or the Virgin Virgo overhead and the cycle starts again.
 
 
 
Pretty cool huh? Ever hear that in Church? You won't. Actually, it is still a bit disconcerting to me. What a cover-up!   But realize, the SUN that rises and sets everyday around the planet, while holding little attention of modern busy men and women today, was THE source of all religion on the planet. Because the greatest fear men have and have had in history is fear of the dark. Dark was evil and so became "The Evil" or "De-evil or Devil. Just as the SUN of GOD overcomes the darkness as it makes it's one year rise and fall from birth to death, so Jesus as the literalized SON of GOd, overcomes the Devil and delivers us from darkness too. The story that is literally true happens in the cosmos, over your head every minute of every day, month and year. The more suspect one, made literally true, is what you hear in Sunday school....Hey! SUN DAY School!!!!!!!

At any rate, Merry Osirmas, Mithras and Christmas.   It's all the same story. 




Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

I have always been fascinated by the Mormons.  Partly because when they made their trek west from Kirtland Ohio, their wagon trains came through the little town I grew up in as they made their way to Nauvoo on the banks of the Mississippi  River. I have been to Salt Lake City many times to hear them sing.

The  following video is excerpts from last years Christmas concert with Renee Fleming.  It is in their ten year old, 21,000 seat, conference hall. While their doctrines are just as crazy as Armstrongism's, they do make great music!

Keep the volume down till the ad at the beginning is over, then crank it up. Organ, orchestra, hand-bells galore!




Watch Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Faith & Spirituality  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com


Check out the HighDef picture of the conference hall.  Click on it a couple of times to get it to it's largest state:
LDS Conference Center interior panoramic

Conference Center