Bible Questions and Answers
Published 01/04/2018
When was Jesus Christ born? Is the exact date known and which is correct - December 25 or January 7 according to the Bible? A friend of mine has a theologian friend who says that Jesus Christ was actually born on December 25th.
“Why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th? December 25 was chosen because the 25th of the 12th month (Kislev) is the first day of Hanukkah in Israel. The earliest written record of Christians states that this correct date dates back to the 2nd century. And no compelling calls to change this date have ever made sense. In the Holy Land, shepherds remain far out in the fields even in February, and Bethlehem almost never experiences cold enough snowy weather. This is a desert, after all. Interestingly, in 5 BC. e. (probably the correct year of His birth) December 25th fell on the same day as Kislev 25 on the Hebrew calendar, if you count the dates back on the Western calendar.
The claim that the date of the birth of Jesus Christ is associated with the pagan festival of the Roman Saturnalia is absurd, since the early Christians were mainly Jews, not pagans. And the Jewish holiday is its more obvious predecessor. It also fits the timing.
From Joseph we know when the priest Zechariah (Abiah) was in service in September 7 BC. e., 6 months later, in March, Gabriel visited Mary. 9 months later it was the end of December - beginning of January. And Herod the Great died in 4 BC. So... Why argue with the ancient authorities when all documentary evidence from this period points to the authenticity of December 25, 5 BC. uh? Here's the whole article. https://www.struggler.org/birth3.htm
Answer:
Biography of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the central figure in the Christian faith. For Christians, this person is the King of the world, one of the hypostases of God, the Savior who appeared in the flesh and atoned for the sins of people.
Image of Jesus Christ
The Bible says that he was a perfect, sinless, immaculately conceived God-man, a miracle worker, a healer, the head of the Kingdom of God he created, the Church, the founder and main character of a religious cult, who died, was crucified on the cross, and then resurrected. At the end of time, he will return to judge the world, after which all the saved will live and rejoice on Earth forever.
His life path and purpose are set out in the Gospels. In Islam he is recognized as a prophet, one of the messengers of Allah, in Judaism he is referred to as the False Messiah (since in the holy book of the Torah, one of the signs of the coming of the true Messiah is the end of all wars, the disappearance of evil and crime).
The main temple of humanity
Tourism is well developed in the region. But, unlike other settlements, Bethlehem has retained the atmosphere of the past. Its architecture is striking in its simplicity and asceticism.
The city boasts many things, but its outstanding attraction is the Basilica of the Nativity, built on the cave where Jesus Christ was born. The place has colossal energy, so it is visited by believers of different directions. The strength of this structure can only be compared with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The first stones were laid by Constantine the Great back in 330. The initiator of the construction was the emperor’s mother Helen, who visited holy places. This is one of the oldest churches that has been operating for many centuries. She has not changed her original appearance.
It should be noted that this particular cave was shown to believers, although no one knew exactly where Jesus Christ was born. The city had more than one such natural depression. There are quite a few similar places on the road to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Elena made a choice based on the works of the Proto-Gospel of James.
Childhood and youth
Jesus Christ, who became the second person of the triune God, was born in the period from 12 (at the time of one of the passages of Halley's Comet, which allegedly served as a prototype of the Star of Bethlehem) to 4 BC. (then King Herod of Judea died) in the family of an ordinary artisan, carpenter Joseph the Betrothed and the ever-virgin Mary, who came from the House of King David and lived in Nazareth (Northern Palestine). There is no exact date of the birth of Christ in the Bible.
Virgin Mary and Joseph
He was born not as a result of the intimacy of the spouses, but thanks to a miraculous conception through the Holy Spirit. The good news about the greatest event in the life of mankind - the future birth of a son, which became the fulfillment of Old Testament predictions about the coming of the Savior, was announced to them by the Archangel Gabriel. In the last months of pregnancy, the wives went to Bethlehem, where they were supposed to appear as part of the ongoing census. Due to the large crowd of people who arrived for the census, they could not find a place to stay for the night and were forced to stay in a cave-stable, where the Lord was born next to domestic animals. The newborn baby was glorified by a whole host of angels. Wise men from the East - the Magi - came to worship him. They brought gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense and told their amazed relatives that at night they received news of the birth of the Messiah, and a shining star showed the way to him.
Birth of Jesus Christ
On the eighth day, the parents performed the rite of circumcision, giving their son the name Jesus, and on the 40th day, sacrifices were made for the first-born boy in the temple of Jerusalem, where the pious Righteous Simeon blessed him. The meeting of humanity in his person with the Messiah began to be celebrated as the Presentation of the Lord.
Hearing about the mysterious baby, the vicious and cruel ruler Herod I, fearing to lose his throne, ordered the extermination of all male children under 2 years old in the city, hoping that Jesus would be among them. But the holy family, warned by an angel, managed to take him to Egypt.
Virgin Mary with baby Jesus
As the apocrypha testifies, after the death of the king, Joseph and Mary and their son wandered around Galilee. And everywhere they followed the glory of the boy’s miracles: the healing of the suffering, the pacification of wild animals. As a person, he grew up working, helping his father in carpentry. When he was 12 years old, his family visited the Jerusalem Temple with him on Passover. In a conversation with scribes, the teenager surprised them with his deep knowledge of the laws of nature and morality.
Betrayal of Judas
Although this betrayal in itself is illogical: Jesus Christ as a preacher was known by sight both in Jerusalem and in other cities. He didn't hide from anyone. Anyone could point him out.
Thus, the prediction of betrayal made during the Last Supper was rather symbolic, instructive, reflecting the height of the teacher’s thoughts, his sacrifice and the depth of Judas’s spiritual fall.
Jesus Christ was sentenced to crucifixion. Judas repented of what he had done and returned 30 pieces of silver to the high priests. But this act did not save Christ from execution.
Judas, as is known from the sacred scriptures, could not stand the mental anguish and hanged himself. This is how the last secret prediction of Jesus Christ came true.
Kiss of Judas. Artist Giotto
Laughter (Hail, King of the Jews). Artist I. N. Kramskoy
The Law of God - the educational doctrine of Christianity - says that Jesus Christ predicted what awaits the whole world and all people in the future.
Alas, he taught that the end of the world would come, that the earthly life of the human race would end. But he will save the world. He will appear on earth for the second time, resurrect all people and judge them, and everyone will be rewarded according to their deserts.
The disciples, surprised and saddened by such a gloomy omen, asked him when the end of the world would happen, when the earthly life of people would end and when they should expect his second coming.
Alas, Jesus did not give an exact answer to these questions. He only warned that before his coming there would be difficult times on earth: There would be various disasters: famine, pestilence, earthquakes, frequent wars.
Lawlessness will increase: faith will weaken, many will not have love for each other. Many false prophets and teachers will appear who will deceive people and corrupt them with their harmful teachings.
Before the end of the world, Jesus said, terrifying signs will appear in the sky: the sun will darken, the stars will fall from the sky, then a new sign of Jesus Christ will shine in the sky, His cross...
But all these predictions are in many ways similar to the Apocalypse of John the Theologian.
They largely reflect the deliberate intimidation of believers, or rather, the fears of the disciples themselves: they were afraid that after the death of Christ they would be left alone, that people would abandon his teaching, that with the further development of the world, new prophets would appear, and new conditions of life, more comfortable, will lead to a decrease in the dominant role of religion in the lives of believers.
It will fade into the background, will cease to be messianic, and will be replaced by a philosophy of life affirmation. That's exactly what happened.
The appearance of Christ to the people. Artist A. A. Ivanov
Service
At the age of 30, Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized. During the ceremony, the Holy Spirit overshadowed him, testifying to the favor of the Heavenly Father. From this moment, which became the feast of the Epiphany, Christ was recognized as the Messiah.
Baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River
Then he went to the desert, where he spent 40 days in prayer, fasting and solitude and prepared to fulfill his destiny of atonement through self-sacrifice of human sins. There he fought with Satan, rejecting all his temptations.
Returning from the desert, Jesus began reading sermons, as well as transferring his knowledge to the 12 apostles. He spread the teaching about the Kingdom of God, interpreted Old Testament prophecies, and encouraged mercy, repentance, love, and acceptance of his personality.
To strengthen his faith, he also performed incredible acts - miracles. The first of them was the transformation of water into wine at the request of the mother at a wedding celebration. Subsequently, by the power of God, he healed the hopelessly sick, including the unfortunate leper, cured with one touch, raised from the dead, in particular, the daughter of Jairus in the presence of his parents and three beloved disciples (Peter, James and John), walked on water, stopped a storm on the Sea of Galilee, In an incomprehensible way, he fed 5 thousand people with five loaves of bread and ensured a miraculous catch of fish. All his miracles were imbued with care and deep compassion for people.
Jesus turns water into wine The Lord instructed the people, supplementing the 10 basic laws of Moses with his Beatitudes, the Golden Rule of Morality (about treating others as everyone would like to be treated), a call not to judge, not to resist evil, etc.
The son of God's popularity grew, although he tried to avoid human glory. However, his activities were accompanied by constant clashes with representatives of the Jewish ruling and religious elite. For example, he denounced the Pharisees for their pride, high opinion of their own righteousness, and contempt for sinners. In addition, many people, languishing under the yoke of Roman rule, wanted Jesus to improve their earthly life. He offered them the salvation of their souls, the renunciation of everything worldly, and they, sick with anger and misunderstanding, considered themselves deceived. They were incited in every possible way to revolt by the Jewish high priests, who called Christ a “false prophet” and intended to deal with him.
The situation in Bethlehem is currently turbulent.
During the First World War, Bethlehem was occupied by the British. In 1922 the city became part of British Palestine. In 1947, the State of Israel was founded. The so-called “Greater Jerusalem” was formed under the jurisdiction of the UN.
It included Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Further, the city of Jesus itself and East Jerusalem were first captured by Jordan, and then returned to Israeli control during the Six-Day War.
Separation wall and checkpoint between Jerusalem (Gilo) and Bethlehem. View from the Israeli side. In modern times, Bethlehem is the subject of a dispute between the state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Currently, the ownership of Bethlehem, as well as the West Bank of the Jordan River, is a matter of dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. As a result, a turbulent situation is maintained in the city. This caused an outflow of population.
So in 1940, the inhabitants of the city were mainly Christian Arabs, who made up 90% of its population.
After Christians began to emigrate en masse from Palestine and the Middle East to Western Europe and America in the second half of the twentieth century, no more than 20% of them remained in the city.
Personal life
According to recent scientific research, which was picked up by writer Dan Brown, Jesus Christ was married. The discovered papyrus fragment with text mentions his wife Mary. Most historians agree that it is about the girl Mary Magdalene, who came from Magdala, which was located on the shores of Lake Gennesaret.
Meeting of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ
If we consider the non-canonical Gospel of Philip, written in the 3rd century AD, its text indicates that Jesus and Mary were “koinonos”. This word can be translated from ancient Greek as “partner,” which means that in this case both a spiritual and physical connection could be implied. This apocryphal text also stated that Jesus “kissed the lips” of Magdalene.
Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene
After the execution on Golgotha, Mary stood with the Mother of God at the cross, and early in the morning she came to the tomb of Jesus to anoint his body with myrrh (fragrant oil). However, the angel reported that Christ had risen. She ran to tell the Apostle Peter about what had happened, thinking that someone had stolen the body, but when she returned, she saw the Savior of the world, who announced to her that he was ascending to the Father.
Human rights
We often hear about certain universal human values, which supposedly go back to a moral law common to all, and therefore are understandable to all people. But what are these values? And what is the role of Christianity in their affirmation?
...The idea of human rights - the cornerstone of the modern secular value system - in a certain sense grew out of Christianity. The idea that all people are endowed with equal rights by nature, which cannot be canceled by anything or anyone, did not come out of nowhere. It is largely based on the understanding of personality that was formed in Christianity. Why do people have rights at all? Because he is the image of God. From a Christian point of view, this is part of God’s plan for man: the individual is created, firstly, free, and secondly, with rights. Paradoxically, this is precisely why the fall of Adam and Eve became possible. If a person did not have rights, he would not be able to choose and would not choose the fruit from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the second important message - that all people are equal - comes from the fact that everyone is equal before God. And they are equal not in their talents - here everyone is different - but precisely equal in rights before the Creator (the rich and healthy have no more rights to God's love than the poor and sick). So the idea of equality of rights appeared precisely in Christian culture.
Death and Resurrection
Recent events that brought the Lord emotional and physical pain are considered to be his passions. Among them:
- the ceremonial entrance on Sunday into the holy city, when he rode into it on a donkey (symbol of peace), greeted by the townspeople who covered his path with palm branches. And on Wednesday, Judas invited representatives of the highest religious institution - the Sanhedrin - to betray him for 30 coins;
- on Thursday, the Easter meal with the apostles (Last Supper), where he taught them the greatest example of love and humility, washing their feet, predicted the betrayal of one of them and the fate of the world, and also established the rite of Holy Communion;
- prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he asked the Father to deliver him from upcoming suffering;
- arrest by the guards who burst into the garden with Judas. The traitor kissed him and thus betrayed his teacher to them. Late that night he was sentenced to death, found guilty of blasphemy;
- confirmation on Friday by the Roman governor Pilate of the unjust punishment. At first, he did not find the guilt of the righteous man worthy of execution, and in order to save the innocent, he offered to amnesty him for the sake of the holiday. But the people who gathered in the square chose the murderer Barabbas for pardon instead of the sinless God-man. Then Pilate ordered him to be beaten in the hope that the crowd, seeing him bloodied, would soften. But the desired did not happen, and he confirmed the verdict.
At about noon, the Savior was taken to Golgotha and crucified on the cross.
His dying suffering lasted about 6 hours. When he died, the earth shook and plunged into darkness. Crucifixion of Jesus Christ The Jewish elder Joseph from Arimathea, together with another adherent of the teachings of Christ, with the permission of Pilate, took the Lord from the cross and buried him in a tomb that belonged to him, cut into the rock. On the 3rd day after his death, the Son of God was resurrected. He appeared to Mary Magdalene and the apostles, talked with them, entrusting them with the dissemination of his ideas. On the 40th day, in front of the apostles, he ascended to heaven.
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Childbirth
A tense atmosphere reigned for three days. All this time, the expectant mother was balancing on the edge, between life and death. There was no confidence that the baby could survive. Geloma and Salome, grandmothers and midwives, fought for the boy’s life, which led to his salvation. So, on January 7, at four o’clock in the morning, the cries of a newborn child were finally heard from the house.
Despite the miracle of birth, the child was unusually weak and small, his weight did not reach two kilograms. The midwives who attended the birth, using the power of the herbs they collected, prepared an infusion with which they smeared the boy. The action continued by wrapping the child in sheep's clothing, so that only the small face of Jesus was visible.
Coming into this world, every human soul already knows how its life will go. Walking along the road of life, you need to remember about the choice; the direction of the path subsequently depends on it. That's why they say life is many roads. However, the soul of the savior saw the entire path ahead. The inevitability of consequences in the form of suffering and humiliation forced the soul to resist rebirth in this body. Hence the difficult birth, pain and weakness of the boy.
Star of God's Son
Two staircases lead into the room, one of which belongs to the Orthodox and Armenians, the second to Catholics. Pilgrims descend from the first, southern, and ascend along the northern.
The silver star deserves special attention from tourists. The symbol is built into the floor, gilded and decorated with expensive stones. There are 14 rays diverging from the star. The inscription inside testifies that this is exactly the place where Jesus Christ was born. A photo of the Star of Bethlehem can be seen in the material. All this is located in a niche above which 16 candles hang. Two more are located on the floor. Liturgies are held here.
This part is decorated especially magnificently and is very popular among parishioners. The star has become a symbol of purity and happiness.
