the_alliance
Cadet
well, what i meant to say was that non-believers never asked us to "worry" about them.
i dont think that's true for all. as a catholic, it doesnt really matter to me if people accept God. if they want to, great, if they dont, they're gonna end up in Purgatory like the rest of us, so it's all ok. in the end, God is loving and merciful, so it's really up to Him to decide.not that i was specifically responding to that post - but regardess of whether they ask for us to worry about them or not (which in itself is unlikely), believers of any religion are going to worry about non-believers of their religion. for example a friend of mine in high school had different beliefs to me. she was worried (or more strongly put, thought) that i would go to hell because i didnt believe in going to hell. i worry about non-believers of my religion as well. its just a human tendency to worry or be concerned about people when they dont share your thoughts, especially if you consider them true and strong.
Let's remember the real reason for the season!
Hi Essa, nice to meet you. Yes, I know that Christmas isn't the actual date of Christ's birth, and that a lot of Christmas is based on mass consumerism and hype. But I'm pretty sure that Christmas is based on Christ's birth. I would have to look up the history of Christmas, because I can't say much more about it. I believe that we celebrate it on the 25th simply because no one know exactly when Jesus was born. So we picked a day and we celebrate it on that day. I believe thats how it went down, but I could be totally off. I think I'm gonna go look up the history of Christmas and get back to you on that one. Whatever the reason for Christmas, it doesn't hurt to remember Jesus anytime of the year! Lol.
yeah i realise all that, its just a shame that people say they are celebrating the birth of Jesus when really the majority of people arent Christian, they are just getting in for the hype. I mean, in a newspaper over here, they asked a poll of who would be going to a church service at christmas -65% said no and those that did say yes indicated that Christmas was the only time they went to chuch. How bout going all year round?? i think its a bit hypocritical for people to only go to church at christmas time and still claim to be christian and celebrate jesus' birth.
Anyways i hope everyone has a fantastic and safe holiday whatever they are doing and wherever they are.
The biblical narrative of Jesus' birth gives no date for the event, though it more likely occurred in spring than in winter. Saint Luke tells us that shepherds were "abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" — shepherds guarded their flocks day and night only at lambing time, in the spring; in winter, the animals were kept in corrals, unwatched.
It is important to note that for two centuries after Christ's birth, no one knew, and few people cared, exactly when he was born. Birthdays were unimportant; death days counted. Besides, Christ was divine and his natural birth was deliberately played down. In fact, the Church even announced at one point that it was sinful to contemplate observing Christ's birthday "as though He were a King Pharoah."
The idea of celebrating the Nativity on December 25 was first suggested early in the fourth century CE, a clever move on the part of Church fathers who wished to eclipse the December 25 festivities of a rival pagan religion, Mithraism, which threatened the existence of Christianity.
On December 25 (the date of the winter solstice) pagan Romans, still in the majority, celebrated Natalis Solis Invincti, "Birthday of the Invincible Sun God," Mithras. The Mithras cult originated in Persia and rooted itself in the Roman world in the first century BCE, but by the early 300s CE the rising religion of Christianity was posing a formidable challenge to the sun worshipers, especially after the Edict of Milan issued by the Roman emperor Constantine I in 313 CE allowed Christians to practice their faith in the Roman Empire.
In those tenuous early days of Christianity, however, Church fathers debated strategies for supplanting the Mithras cult with their own religion. Since it was well known that Roman patricians and plebians alike enjoyed festivals of a protracted nature, Christians recognized that they needed an alternative to the December celebration of Natalis Solis Invincti. They needed a celebration in which all participants — Mithraists, Christians, and those in between — could take part with pride. Accordingly, the Church officially recognized Christ's birth, and to offer head-on competition to the sun worshipers' popular feast, the Church located the Nativity on December 25. The mode of observance would be characteristically prayerful: a Mass. In fact, Christs' Mass. As one theologian wrote around 320 CE:
We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.
Although centuries later, social scientists would write of the psychological power of group celebrations — the unification of ranks, the solidification of collective identity, the reinforcement of common objectives — the principle had long been intuitively obvious. Christianity took permanent hold in the Western world in 337 CE when Constantine I was baptized on his deathbed, uniting for the first time the Crown and the Church.
God commanded people to remember Jesus' birth, not his death. (Just a thought)
Jamison, if people really wanted to attend a church service on Sunday (or Saturday for some religions, like Seventh Day Adventists), they would make the effort, and say to whoever, like work, "i cant work on sundays". however having said that, i know from personal experience that some sundays that is unavoidable like shift work, which my dad does. However he makes every effort to get to the sundays he can, and to other mtgs we have such as a bible class on wednesday and sunday nights. you mentioned spending all day in church, that is not really the case. my memorial mtg takes 1 hour maybe 1.5 hours tops, it starts at 11 usually, (some of our churches start earlier depending on where they are around the world), so you have basically the whole day.
Sydsbiggestfan, i know what you mean. God really doesnt ask that much of us, so it reminds us of the important things.
I believe, and this may be because I'm not religious, that there are much more important things out there then having perfect attendence at church. If someone is a Christian and lives their life as a good Christian should I think that God (if there is one) would let them gain admittance into heaven regardless of their church attendence. I think one's actions would speak louder, because let's be honest there are many people who have near perfect church attendence but do not live their lives as one should.