I frequently frequent a local breakfast joint wherein I have made the acquaintance of a dear seasoned citizen.
An Aside: have these politically correct terms gotten odder and odder? I mean “seasoned citizen”?!?!
It sounds like an item on a cannibal’s menu:
“Yeah, I’ll some well-done seasoned citizen with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”
This dear lady has taken quite a liking to my children and come December 2009 AD offered me some money. She stated that since she is a Jehovah’s Witness she could not buy them Christmas presents because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas but that she would give me money so that I could buy them some presents from her.
I love that dear Jehovah’s Witness and love all Jehovah’s Witnesses. My point here is that this is the very epitome of “religion.” The concept is that her religion does not allow her to purchase Christmas gifts and so she does not do so directly but circuitously. Can you imagine the gods of Jehovah’s Witnesses (they are polytheists) saying, “Oh boy; she got me! I must have missed that loophole!”
We Jews have a long history of this. Consider the Shabbat Goy; this is a Gentile (Goy) who would be tasked to do that which is unlawful for Jews to do during the Sabbath.
You see; “religion” is about rules, regulations, rituals, etc. Yet, the Bible teaches “relation” and not “religion.” I wrote an essay entitled The Most Anti-Religion Book Ever Published which elucidates that the Bible is the most anti-religion book. In fact, the only favorable mention of “religion” in the New Testament is,
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world (James 1:27).
It is only with the premise of a personal relationship with God that rules, regulations, rituals, etc. take on their intended meaning; not robotically jumping through hierarchical hoops—theological brownie points—but in order to deepen our relationship with God.
I asked her why Jehovah’s Witnesses did not celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, this particular Jehovah’s Witness did not really have an answer. It basically amounted to the fact that Jesus was not born on December 25th. Well, I do not know anyone who believes that He was; on December 25th we are not celebrating Jesus’ birthdate but it is the date on which we celebrate His birth.
When she mentioned that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity because the Trinity consists of three gods I knew that she has been had. Mind you, this was a lifelong Roman Catholic who converted to Jehovah’s Witness late in life and should know better; I will assert that she does know better but must accept this particular false notion on the authority of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Why is it that only Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Trinity consists of three gods? Trinitarians certainly do not (see God’s Nature and Trinitarian Doctrine).
For me the bottom line is just what I explained to her, particularly since she affirmed that Jehovah’s Witnesses follow the Bible (they actually follow the Bible only as filtered though the Watchtower). I follow the Bible in celebrating Jesus’ birth as a Christ centered Christmas because:
God celebrated Jesus’ birth and sent the declaration via the angels.
The angels celebrated Jesus’ birth and sent the declaration via the shepherds.
The shepherds celebrated Jesus’ birth by visiting Jesus at the manger.
Mary and Joseph obviously celebrated Jesus’ birth and did so with the shepherds.
Later on the wise men celebrated Jesus’ birth by visiting Him.
Also later, Simeon and Anna the prophetess celebrated Jesus’ birth when He was circumcised at the Temple.
And on it goes.
Thus, since God, the angels, the shepherds, Mary, Joseph, the wise men, Simeon and Anna celebrated Jesus’ birth; I will do likewise.
Moreover, I follow the Bible giving gifts during Christmas because:
God gave us Jesus as a gift, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life,” (John 3:16) “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
The wise men gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Much later on St. Nick (270-346 AD) gave gifts due to his Christian sense of charity and came to be associated with Santa Claus.
And on it goes.
I understand that there are various issues related to the date, the trees, the snowmen, Santa, the reindeer, the commercialization, etc. but overall we can celebrate a perfectly biblical Christmas by focusing on celebrating Jesus’ birth.
So, in 2010 AD know that you can have yourself a very merry biblical CHRISTmas (find further elucidation of Christmas at this link).
Comments
Very well put. To many people, even Christians, get stuck on the peripheral issues of Christmas day, and don't focus on the main thing; God the Father's gift of His Son.
All the details about Jehovah's witnesses are wrong in this story. I have been one of Jehovah's witnesses for 40 years. Example: We are polytheists. The trinity teaching actually PRE-DATES christianity. The Catholic Encyclopaedia actually admits that! "birth days" were not celebrated by early christians. Only 2 of such were mentioned in the Scriptures. They were of 2 PAGAN kings. Jesus spisifically asked christians to celebrate his DEATH (not resurrection). Please ask JW's about the TRUTH about us. Otherwise I must assume your motives in your story are sisister.
Pam, thank you so much for your comment.
You claim that I am wrong about Jehovah's Witnesses being polytheists but did not correct my claim.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that there is one God Almighty—Jehovah—and “a god” (John 1:1 in the JWs NWT) that He created—Jesus—thus, two gods.
I discern that you are paraphrasing the JW “Should You Believe in the Trinity?” Two friends actually went to the library and looked up every quotation/citation in that pamphlet and found that they were selectively quoting that which was convenient to the JW point. There is no comparable concept of a “trinity” in any theology. You are thinking about triads, three gods, etc. Since Trinitarians deny believing in more than one God JWs should stop insisting that they do.
You will note that I made no reference to even celebrating “birth days” but to the biblical practice of celebrating Jesus’ birth. If God, angels, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, wise men, Simeon and Anna can celebrate Jesus’ birth, so will I.
Good stuff, Mariano. It is good indeed to celebrate God's goodness towards us through the Son of God becoming clothed in human flesh to pay for our sins. Sadly, JW's have no forgiveness of sins because there is no way that a creature (their Jesus) could pay for all our sins. So they have nothing to celebrate! It's very sad, really.
Firtly may I say how glad I am to see you writing for this website.
You said “religion” is about rules, regulations, rituals, etc
How true. Religion is often the man-made part and unfortunatley with the JW's (and others) they are told that there is only salvation within their religion and that the hierarchy is the true 'channel' of God. So man ends up taking the place of God.
It is no surprise that Jesus' main antagonists were the highly religious.
I will say though that thankfully God can use a crooked stick to draw a straight line and I do admire the sincerity and conviction of JW's.
The logic is your defense is skewed.
If JW's are polytheists, then EVERYONE that believes in the Bible as the word of God are polytheists, because Jesus said "There are many gods." Imagine. Jesus a polytheist using your logic.
Christmas' origins are that of a pagan celebration, initiated in Rome (Google 'Saturnalia'). Curiously, this is also a celebration Jesus would have known since Jerusalem was a Roman province. There is no indication in the Bible that Jesus celebrated Saturnalia.
Re: the trinity. NOT a scriptural teaching. Jesus told us who to worship. If you acknowledge that Jesus is God's son (stated several times in the scriptures), then wouldn't you agree that if Jesus said "... true worshippers will worship the Father..." (John 4:23), he's telling us to worship someone OTHER THAN himself (Matt. 6:9,10)? JW's say trinitarians believe in more than one God because they FORCE the deity of Christ.
Believe Jesus' OWN words and not the skewed thinking of man.
Thanks Phil,
Jesus never said “There are many gods.”
Paul said, “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:5-6).
There is only one God as the others are only “so-called gods.”
Jesus is worshipped in Matthew 2:2, 2:11, 9:18, 14:33, 20:20, 28:9, 28:17-18, Mark 5:6, Luke 24:51-52, John 9:38, Hebrews 1:6, Revelation 5:6-8
Please search for my “Trinity : God’s Nature and Trinitarian Doctrine” as it begins a series proving the Trinity from the Bible.
I just ran across this article. 1 Corinthians 8:5 says: "For even though there are those who are called “gods,” whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many “gods” and many “lords,”" In the King James Version, it says: "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)".
It's correct to say that "there are many gods and many lords." That's not a misinterpretation.
She's a little old lady. She, even though religiously incorrect, wanted to show kindness to your children. As I'm now older, I know that older people are declining. What I was offended about and criticized older ones when I was younger, time and age have taught me that merely because people are older does not mean that they are wiser or in "top shape," especially mentally. To you, it was a bad "witness." Why didn't you tell her in person what you wrote in your article to tell the "whole world?" Shame on you that you would take one little old lady and use her as a glaring example of someone living by the "rules" without understanding. 1 Corinthians 8:10-12 clearly shows that what Jehovah God is looking for is a sincere heart that truly wants to do and he accepts 100% of that ... he's not looking for what a person does not have. Your little "seasoned" lady did what she could. Only God knows what we are made of ... inside and out. You see only what is on the outside .. as we all do.
Mariano,
I am a Jehova witness. And I find that you are mistaken in your Blog. Lets first address this: "You claim that I am wrong about Jehovah's Witnesses being polytheists but did not correct my claim. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that there is one God Almighty—Jehovah—and “a god” (John 1:1 in the JWs NWT) that He created—Jesus—thus, two gods." This is what we call in insurance world, twisting. As you well said we believe ther is one God. but we do not believe Jesus is another God. He is of divine nature because he is the first and most powerfull of all of his creations. Also the use of the title god, does not in itself signify polytheism. Jehova told Moses that he would be God to his brother, Aaron. What that meant was that Moses would tell Aaron what to say and Aaron, being more eloquent, would transmit it to the king. That implied authority, subject to jehova's own. Likewise jesus is a "god" in the sence that he has authority, as King, over the kingdom. God himself said that...
he would exsalt jesus to a higher position so that every knee would bend before him. This is in recognition of the monumental task he performed flawlessly. however. At the end of the Milenial Kingdom The Bible adds that Jesus would submit to his father so that God can be all things to everyone. Clearly delineating that althought a "god", due to his authority he is not a god in the classical sence of the word since we do not pray to Jesus, as Aaron did not pray to his brother, Moses.
...On the birthday thing.
Jehova Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays. We do not do so because this is a pagan custom with pagan origins. The two times it is shown in the Bible a faithfull servant of God dies. that in itself should be enough. Now your argument that "God celebrated Jesus’ birth and sent the declaration via the angels. The angels celebrated Jesus’ birth and sent the declaration via the shepherds. The shepherds celebrated Jesus’ birth by visiting Jesus at the manger. Mary and Joseph obviously celebrated Jesus’ birth and did so with the shepherds. Later on the wise men celebrated Jesus’ birth by visiting Him. Also later, Simeon and Anna the prophetess celebrated Jesus’ birth when He was circumcised at the Temple. And on it goes." Is very brittle. Here's why. It was jewish custome to celebrate the birth of someone as it is also a joyous occasion. celebrating someone's birth and celebrating birthdays are not the same thing. Likewise Jehova Witnesses celebrate the birth...
...f a family member. We have baby showers, sometimes, as in my case more than one. We also make birth announcements. Biblical Jews, unlike modern jews, did not celebrate birthdays "Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make festivals at the birth of our children, and thereby afford occasion of drinking to excess" (Josephus. Translated by W. Whiston. Against Apion, Book II, Chapter 26. Extracted from Josephus Complete Works, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (MI), 14th printing, 1977, p. 632)[copied from another weblog]. Not specifically beause of a prohibition in the Mosaic law, but because of the deep astrological connections between birthday celabrations and astrology. Further, Encyclopedia Judaica says "The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual."
it is unlikely that Jesus would have celebrated his own birthday because such tradition is rooted in the mystical. Someone wrote a good blog entry on this and instead of copying the whole thing I will...
...just post the link www.askmehelpdesk.com/judaism/do-jews-celebrate-birthdays-180210.html
For this reasons jehova witnesess do not celebrate birthdays. not because, as you say the watchtower commands it, but because our study of the bible and it's relation with things makes us realize that we shouldn't. If you trully want to know what Jehova Witnesses believe, then visit OUR web page. Read the article on birthdays. Most old persons can't make a defense of their faith because their faculties are diminished. which is why is so hard for them to learn complex concepts such as computers, foreign languages, math, etc.
Since God, the angels, the shepherds, Mary, Joseph, the wise men, Simeon and Anna celebrated Jesus’ birth; I will do likewise.
I hate every single one of you
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!