CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION: TRUTH OR MYTH? INTRODUCTION CHRISTMAS originated from the word Christ-Mass which is a Roman Catholic tradition, a special mass performed in celebration of Christs birth. Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Christian Church. It was not celebrated, commemorated, or observed, neither by the apostles nor in the apostolic church -- not for at least the first 300 years of church history, after Catholicism took over the first church of Rome which was originally established by Apostle Paul. It was in the year 350 A.D. that Pope Julius-I declared that Christ’s birth should be celebrated on “December 25”. History reveals that the Church at Jerusalem commenced the celebration of Christmas only during 440 A.D., following the leadings of Roman Catholicism. ANCIENT HISTORY Ancient history reveals that in past ancient pagan civilizations, it is no coincidence that December 25th was also the birthday of their pagan gods. All of BABYLONIAN and ROMAN FESTIVALS were characterized by 5-7 day celebration periods of unrestrained or orgiastic revelry and licentiousness held between the 17th and the 23rd of December. December is the time of year when days began to lengthen and ancient man was blessed with a regeneration of nature and held an annual celebration for it. Specifically, December 25th was the Victory Festival of the “SUN-God in the pagan Babylonian world. In the ancient Roman Empire, the same celebration can be traced back to the Roman Festival called “ Saturnalia ”, which honored Saturn, the harvest god, and Mithras, the god of light. They held the circus during this time of the year. Both festivals were celebrated during or shortly after the winter solstice, between the 17th and 23rd of December. WHAT THE END-TIME MESSENGER SAYS ABOUT CHRISTMAS To those who believe in this End- Time Message, we all recognize that God sent us a vindicated prophet for this age in order to restore our hearts back to the FAITH of the Pentecostal Fathers and to the true teaching of the Bible. And at the same time, he was sent by God to reveal to us ALL the MYSTERIES thats been hidden in the Word according to the prophetic commission he was given as stated in Malachi 4:5-6 and Revelation 10:7. It is therefore from this viewpoint that I want to address this controversial issue on “Christmas. The following is an outline of key quotations from the sermons of Rev. William Marrion Branham as pertaining to the celebration of Christmas. You must read between the lines. 1. CHRIST POINTED US TO HIS DEATH, NOT TO HIS BIRTH “Christmas is not mentioned in the entire book of the Bible. Never one time did Jesus refer them to His birth, but to His death.” -William Branham, SIRS.WE.WOULD.SEE.JESUS JEFF.IN
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 19:36:21 +0000
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