Quote:
Originally Posted by TK Burk
But the bigger picture is that you make a pagan practice sacred the second you make it a central part of your remembrance of or celebration of Jesus.
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Bro...I never said any of these traditions are "must haves". Nor are they central to remembering or celebrating Jesus. In fact we remember and celebrate Jesus every day of the year. I view holidays largely as fun and festivities. I don't think a Christmas tree is an absolute necessity, nor do I see Easter Eggs or Easter Baskets as a necessity. Fun and festive? Yes. Necessary? No. Central? No.
See, here's where you're thinking is all wrong...you assume because my family has fun with these things, we make them central. Bro....we've had lean holidays where we didn't even put up a tree and had few gifts...and we were still blessed with the reality of Jesus. So please....get off your high horse and relax. I'm not pagan. I don't worship a tree. I don't worship a Bunny.
And you might find this interesting, but the original "St. Nicholas", Bishop of Myra, may have been a Oneness believer. If you look at the records he was recorded as having attended Nicea. The Bishop of Myra got into a physical confrontation with Arius when Arius denied that Jesus was God. He attended the rest of the meetings...but on the final list of attendees who affirmed the Trinity...his name is missing. So either the records are incomplete....or Nicholas believed that Jesus was God...but not in the sense the Trinitarians envisioned it. Since he confronted Arius, he wasn't an Arian. That leaves one school of theology popular at the time....Modalism.
Though a lot of legend surrounds the man, the study of Nicholas is an interesting study really.
Oh...and did you know that the idea that Christ's birth was on the 25th of December is rooted in an ancient Jewish tradition? I'll tell you more if you're interested.
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