Was Jesus really born on December 25th? / Does the Bible say when Jesus was born?

“Merry Christmas!” Centuries old, those cheery words are still being spoken each December by countless millions of people, some of whom do not even believe in Jesus Christ. As we write, the world is once again approaching “the Holiday Season,” when the name of Jesus Christ takes center stage for
a few weeks. For many people, “Christmas” is their favorite time of year.

Tradition teaches that Jesus was born on December 25, when it is very cold, and sometimes snowy, in Bethlehem. We believe the evidence supports the conclusion that Jesus was born in September. Tradition would have us believe that there were three wise men, and that they came to the manger. The truth is that there were quite a number of those who came from the East, and that they came to see Jesus when he was between 18 and 24 months old.

In this brief article, we cannot fully set forth the many pertinent biblical details, but we will give you the important facts, and we encourage you to pursue this via the avenues of study mentioned above. It is important to note that the actual chronology of events regarding the birth of Christ must be put together from what is recorded in Matthew and Luke (with some overlapping in time), as follows: Luke 1:5-25; 1:26-38; 1:39-56; 1:57-80; Matthew 1:18-24; 1:25a; Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 1:25b; Luke 2:21; 2:22-24; 2:25-35; 2:36-38; Matthew 2:1-12; 2:13-22; 2:23; Luke 2:39; 2:40; 2:41-50; 2:51 and 52.

Luke 1:5-25 is the record of the angel’s announcement to Zecharias that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son, whom they were to call John. Verse 5 contains a little phrase that is one important key to determining that Jesus was born in September, not December. It says that Zechariah “belonged to the priestly division [KJV: “course”] of Abijah.” A study will show that from the time of David, Jewish priests were organized into 24 “courses,” named after the heads of the priestly families. These courses of service in the Temple started on Nisan 1 (which corresponds to March or April on our calendar) and spanned the calendar year. Because the Hebrews used a lunar calendar and we use a solar calendar, Nisan 1 changes on our calendar each year. The course of Abijah was the eighth course, and, like each course, occurred twice during the year. In 4 B.C., the year prior to Christ’s birth, the first of those two courses took place during the last week of our month of May.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were quite elderly, and had no children, and the angel gave them the wonderful news that they would have a son, to be named John. Verses 23 and 24 tell us that when Zechariah finished his service in the Temple, he returned home (which would have been in early June). Upon his return, Elizabeth became pregnant. Verse 26 then says that in her sixth month of pregnancy (December), the angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her that she was about to become pregnant with the Son of God. Nine months later would have been September.

How else do we know that Jesus was not born in the Winter? Luke 2:8 speaks about the shepherds near Bethlehem who were in the fields, watching their flocks at night. Shepherds in that region did not keep their sheep out at night during the Winter because it was cold and sometimes even snowy, but they did keep them in the fields during the Fall, after the end-of-Summer harvest. At that time, the sheep could eat the stalks of grain left over after the harvest, and they would then fertilize the ground prior to the late Fall planting.

Also, Luke 2:1 says that when Mary was just about to give birth to Jesus, she and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to fulfill their obligation to be counted in a Roman census. They did not travel in the Winter because it would have been much too hard. Rather, people traveled in the Fall, between the heat of Summer and the cold of Winter. And at that time of year the grain, and also some fruit, were ripe, and travelers were allowed to eat some of the “gleanings” as they passed by (Lev. 23:22).

A study of the now computerized data by which we can very accurately determine astronomical events of that time gives us another piece of the puzzle to dating the birth of Christ in September of 3 B.C. In particular, the very noticeable celestial activity of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Regulus (the King star), and Venus (the Queen star), and their various combinations of conjunctions in Leo during the nine months leading up to Christ’s birth are vital signs to determine the September birth date of our Lord Jesus. And we believe that research shows that he was born on September 11 (Tishri 1 on the Jewish calendar), on which day the sun was in Virgo, as per the prophecy in Revelation 12:1 of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet” (Rev. 12:1). [1]

So then how did December 25 come to be the date that most all Christians recognize as the birth date of Christ? We quote from Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed:

“In 274 A.D., the Romans designated December 25 as the birthday of the unconquered sun, being the time when the sun begins noticeably to show an increase in light, resulting in longer daylight hours. By 336 A.D., the church in Rome was adapting this festival, spiritualizing its significance as a reference to Jesus Christ and calling it the ‘Feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness.’ Attempting to Christianize and incorporate the pagan traditions of antiquity, the church in Rome adopted this midwinter holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god as one of its own observances, somewhat changing its significance, but retaining many customs of the pagan festival. As the Roman church spread its influence religiously and militarily, this holiday of December 25 became the most popular date in Christendom to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. A special mass was established for Christ, hence, the name, ‘Christmass,’ abbreviated ‘Christmas.’”

What about the “three wise men”? First, the Bible never says there were three. It says that they brought three gifts: “gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” In that time, three men with such precious treasure traveling such a great distance, some of it through the land of their country’s enemies, would have been easy prey for enemy soldiers or the many robbers who prowled the roads. It is therefore almost certain that they would have traveled in a much larger group, with adequate protection.

Who were those men who took note of the many astronomical phenomena heralding the birth of Christ in Judea, and then traveled to find him, arriving when he was about 18 months old? Scripture calls them “Magi,” and they were scholarly men from Persia well versed in astronomy, history, and religion. It is most significant that their ancestors were those over whom King Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Daniel in what was then called Babylon (Dan. 2:28 and 5:11 says he was appointed “master of the magicians [Magi]”).

It is very significant that there were some religious sects in Persia, including Zoroastrianism, that looked forward to a coming Redeemer, a prophet to be sent by God to save mankind. And that is why they would have been most interested in learning from Daniel about Judaism’s hallmark prophecies of a coming Messiah, especially as these prophecies related to the celestial motions of the planets, something they studied diligently.

In any case, the striking celestial activity told them of the birth of that promised Redeemer, and they set out to find him. Matthew 2:11 tells us that they came to “the house,” not a manger, and saw “the child” (the Greek word paidion), not a “newborn baby” (the Greek word brephos). As the NIV Study Bible says regarding that verse: “Contrary to tradition, the Magi did not visit Jesus at the manger on the night of his birth as did the shepherds. They first came to Jerusalem, apparently thinking that in the capital city of Israel they should be able to find out where the king had been born. After King Herod told them he had been born in Bethlehem, they went there and found him as a ‘child’ in his ‘house.’”

That explains why Herod, who had consulted with the Magi as to the time when they saw the star (Matt. 2:7), determined to kill all the Israeli boys under two years old. He knew that Jesus was no longer an infant, and set two years as a safe limit to how old he would have been, which we believe was about 18 months.

The evidence shows that Jesus Christ was born in September, 3 B.C., and that the local shepherds were the only ones who came to see him at the manger. It is significant that in that culture, shepherds were generally considered extremely faithful and trustworthy men, and certainly those particular ones were, because they immediately acted on what the angel told them, and after they had found Jesus, they “spread the word” concerning what the angel had told them. You might want to take a moment, put yourself in their place, and let the magnitude of their experience sink into your heart.

We think it is sad that so many people on earth associate the birth of Jesus Christ with a fictitious being called “Santa Claus,” who has come to be known as the Giver of good gifts. As we rudely learn at an early age, there is no Santa Claus.

The Christmas season is a golden opportunity to do just what those shepherds of long ago did—spread the word about Jesus Christ. Now that’s something to rejoice about!

Friendship in Christianity with non christians

Christians often say that Islam prohibits Muslims from non-Muslims close friendships, the topic we dealt with it a lot and we explained and made clear that Muslims can live with non-Muslims in peace
But what about Christians close friendships for non-Christians what their holy book says?
From gotquestions.or ­g
Question: "Is it good to have close friendships with unbelievers?"
Answer: As Christians, we have to constantly face temptations and the attacks of the world around us. Everything we see, read, do, hear, put in our bodies, etc., affects us somehow. That's why, to maintain a close relationship with God, we have to put aside our old ways of doing things—the things we watch on TV, old bad habits (excessive drinking, smoking, etc.), the activities we participate in, and the people we spend our time with. People are divided into only two categories, those who belong to the world and its ruler, Satan, and those who belong to God (Acts 26:18). These two groups of people are described in terms of opposites all through the Bible; e.g., those in darkness/those in the light; those with eternal life/those with eternal death; those who have peace with God/those who are at war with Him; those who believe the truth/those who believe the lies; those on the narrow path to salvation/ ­those on the broad road to destruction, and many more. Clearly, the message of Scripture is that believers are completely different from nonbelievers, and it is from this perspective that we must discern what kind of friendships we can really have with unbelievers.
The book of Proverbs has a few wise verses on believers befriending non-believers: "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray" (12:26).We should stay away from foolish people (13:20, 14:7), from people who lose their temper easily (22:24), and from the rebellious (24:21). All these things represent those who have not been saved."Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14). First Corinthians 15:33 tells us that bad company corrupts good character. Unbelievers are slaves to sin (John 8:34), and Christians are slaves to God (1 Corinthians 7:22). If we become deeply involved (either by friendship or a romantic relationship) with non-Christians, ­ we are setting ourselves up for turmoil. It can (and does often) cause the Christian to stumble in his walk, fall back into a sinful life, and also turn others away from God (by misrepresenting ­ God and Christianity). Another detrimental effect of closeness with unbelievers is our tendency to water down the truths of Scripture so as to not offend them. There are difficult truths in the Word of God, truths such as judgment and hell. When we minimize or ignore these doctrines or try to “soft pedal” them, in essence we are calling God a liar for the sake of those already in the grasp of Satan. This is not evangelism.
Although these close relationships are not recommended, it does not mean we turn our noses up and ignore unbelievers, either. Second Timothy 2:24-26 tells us that as servants of the Lord, we are to be kind to and not quarrel with anyone. We should gently teach those who oppose the truth, and be patient with difficult people. Matthew 5:16 tells us, “Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly father.” We should serve unbelievers so that they may see God through us and turn to Him in praise. James 5:16 says that there is great power in the prayer of a righteous person, so bring your concerns for unbelievers before God, and He will listen.
Many people have been saved because of the prayers and service of Christians, so don't turn your back on unbelievers, but having any kind of intimate relationship with an unbeliever can quickly and easily turn into something that is a hindrance to your walk with Christ. We are called to evangelize the lost, not be intimate with them. There is nothing wrong with building quality friendships with unbelievers – but the primary focus of such a relationship should be to win themto Christ by sharing the Gospel with them and demonstrating God’s saving power in our own lives.
So as we can see, the Christian stance on this issueis very similar to Islam's.

Crush , Infatuation, Affair... The World of Broken Hearts

 I received a message from a school girl.  She claims she has a  CRUSH on her male teacher. The poor fellow thinks that she is in love and confesses that she does everything to please her male teacher. She dresses up neatly, she completes her journal.She always appreciates her teacher ... But later she came to know that her crush is already engaged with many girls. So  now she has a broken heart, frustrated, depressed , unable to focus on studies and always a sad and a gloomy mood accompanies her.This young girl is not the only girl to have crush on her senior.  She may not be from a highly liberated environment. It can be that she may come from a modest practicing Muslim family.

Most of the times, a crush is a one sided attraction followed by day dreaming and fantasy love story. giving a tickling tickling feeling when one hides her /his face in the pillow and takes a tour of the world of  rosy thoughts that may never turn to be true. ' Crush' means a 'temporary liking'. So when you're referring to crush on someone, mind well that it exactly  does in the end- it crushes you. If you have a crush, your heart will not tolerate your crush to even smile or talk to  any of your gender and in the end you will find  your heart, dreams, fantasies crushed by the truthful reality.

The dictionary meaning of infatuation is : "A foolish, unreasoning, or extravagant passion or attraction"

The dictionary meaning of crush is : "An intense but usually short-lived infatuation"

  Teens find romance and affairs everywhere around them. In schools they hear romantic stories about  teachers and students going around. In novels  they read about an average looking girl falling in love with a  good looking princely man and end up marrying him living happily after.  In movies and serials they see young and aged, rich and poor, rough and soft , every type of people having girl friends and boyfriends so they develop a desire to taste it. Affairs are circulated everywhere from  TV serials to gossip columns, Campus to corporate offices, Head lines to cover stories, slums and  palaces..Everybody seems to be into it so nobody wants to raise an eyebrow on that.

   But rarely people find stories of broken hearts. In TV serials they show it,  but they compensate the girl with another better looking  boy. There is not a single movie or TV serial or Chat show where a central character is made to realize that it was foolish to fall into it . Falling in and out of affair is very common now a days. There are no tablets and syrups to treat broken hearts. Nor can they be treated with surgery. In a failed affair it is the girl who undergoes a huge pain in heart.

In real life ,  in many cases the boys end up saying :

• I am sorry , I will marry a girl my Mom chooses for me
• I saw you talking to other boys so your character is not trustworthy
• We were just friends but you went too deep
• I cant  marry you till I get settled.

   The dictionary meaning of love is : "A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness" . The definition is correct, but it cannot be found  before wedding if it is a genuine. People can fake love through gifts, valentine cards, humour, rose day and birthday cards...and the poor girl may get carried away.Girls must realize that love cant be searched on your own. Allah says He has put love and affection in your spouse's heart.. and spouses are not those whom you pick up on facebook and  class rooms and neighbourhood but they are the one who are approved by your guardian.

  The world of broken hearts is more painful than the world of broken bones because there is no plastering on hearts. No X-ray can  can show the rift in the heart.. No cardiogram can  give an ECG report of the spiritual pain of a broken heart. NO actor can fake a painful role..because a broken heart has no tongue that will scream nor can blood gush out after an affair has been broken. It is felt within..So be careful before you leap into some one's heart..NO wonder why the Qur'an says : Do not go close to Zina ( Introduction to namahram, receiving compliments from co workers, neghbours and classmates, checking of profiles of Namahram....)

  Author: Nisaar Nadiadwala can be responded at  mnisaar@gmail.com

Alice in Wonderland and Muslimah in Cyber Land !

 Those who  have read Alice in wonderland, let me  remind you in brief that it is about a girl's day dream who sees unusual people and impractical things happening around her dream. That is precisely what is happening to many Muslimah i.e. Young Muslim Girls, wandering in cyber land from sites to sites, through cyber messengers,  profile shopping  for that dream man she has read in novels, seen in TV serials, coming out of pen of writers who fantasize imaginary men and women in a superior mode not available in real life.  .

   A young girl from Lahore ,  forgot to sign out from her face book and left for her college. Her mother got a chance to take a tour of her messages and pages. She was aghast to discover that her niqabi daughter's friend list and messages had   the presence of large number of  men!  Roaming in cyber lanes  is one the new dangerous hobbies of many young Muslim girls.  Many hard core Non Muslims pretending to be interested in Islam ask innocent  questions to these girls. Later they cut paste vulgar questions on  the personal life of the Prophet (pbuh) and demand answers from the girls. The desperate Muslim girl out to defend her religion goes into deep discussion which later develop into a friendly relation.

Some girls begin carefully, and prefer only daw'ah as their sole activity , then they get into the excitement of debates and don't realize when they started doing daw'ah to  non Mahrams and very soon they find themselves involved in convincing a non Muslim and the debate is stretched bypassing their da’wah concern and entering into forbidden zone resulting into a  trauma that shatters their emotion into pieces. Just like a child wading in shallow water and reaching the depth unknowingly.

 A concerned father once approached me and his trauma was that his daughter was in love with a Christian missionary and desperate to marry him. "It all happened on internet" He said sadly. "Can you stop my daughter from marrying him or can you convert that man to Islam?"

   Some Muslimah who are away from Islamic way of life are more open to threat. They are like secularists who have nothing to do with religion but enjoy company of people. These girls, study almost every profile minutely to find out 'Mr. Right' not knowing that her ' Mr Seeming to be Right' has already left many girls after cyber flirting.If  finding Mr. Right was as easy as  profile watching then there would have been no  Matrimonial services centers in various cities.

   Most of the girls who are on Face book and want to avoid boys form bothering them  have  to a lot of fly swatting on their walls. Boys visit and comments on their status and send rosy feelers with Islamic Greetings and congratulations and supplications to in order to break ice with the girls.

  You will find warm comments on the walls of many Muslim girls when they sticks their pictures on their wall for comments. There are guys who pretend to be knowing too much of Islam and have a list of selective girls  as their students giving personal lessons to them.  These are the variety of characters you will not find even in Alice in Wonderland where the little girl Alice  gets lost in the wood. But cyber wood is more dangerous than Holly wood, Bolly wood, Lolly wood (Lahore Film Industry) because no one knows what  you are doing in seclusion and who is filming whom...

    Cyber land is more Wonderful than Alice's Wonderland. Cyber land is more slippery than Alice's Wonderland. There are multiple affairs, deceptions, cheating, crush, infatuation and finally a Big earthquake size tremor when the affair breaks down. The only difference between Cyber land and Wonder land is that the former shows you a day dream and the later is a dream. One ends with waking up to reality and the other ends with waking up with more dreams... After all dreams are not like trophies..

Author : Nisaar Yusuf  be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

Baptist Contradicts Jesus?

In New Testament times, we find that the Jews were still expecting the fulfilment of the prophecy of 'ONE LIKE MOSES' (Duet), refer John 1:19-25. When Jesus claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews, the Jews began to enquire as to where was Elias? The Jews had a parallel prophecy that before the coming of the Messiah, Elias must come first in his second coming. Jesus confirms this Jewish belief:

"...ELIAS TRULY SHALL FIRST COME, AND RESTORE ALL THINGS. BUT I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT ELIAS IS COME ALREADY, AND THEY KNEW HIM NOT...THEN THE DISCIPLES UNDERSTOOD THAT HE SPAKE UNTO THEM OF JOHN THE BAPTIST." (Matthew 17:11-13).

According to the New Testament the Jews were not the ones to swallow the words of any would-be Messiah. In their investigations they underwent intense difficulties in order to find their true Messiah. And this the Gospel of John confirms: "AND THIS IS THE RECORD OF JOHN,"(the Baptist) "WHEN THE JEWS SENT PRIESTS AND LEVITES FROM JERUSALEM TO ASK HIM, WHO ART THOU? AND HE CONFESSED AND DENIED NOT; BUT CONFESSED, I AM NOT THE CHRIST." (This was only natural because there can't be two Messiahs at the same time. If Jesus was the Christ then John couldn't be the Christ!) "AND THEY ASKED HIM, WHAT THEN? ART THOU ELIAS? AND HE SAITH, I AM NOT." (Here John the Baptist contradicts Jesus! Jesus says that John is "Elias" and John denies that he is what Jesus ascribes him to be. One of the TWO (Jesus or John), God forbid!, is definitely not speaking the TRUTH! On the testimony of Jesus himself, John the Baptist was the greatest of the Israelite prophets: "VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, AMONG THEM THAT ARE BORN OF WOMEN THERE HAS NOT RISEN A GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST:... "(Matthew 11:11).

We leave this problem between Jesus and John for the you to solve, for their "sacred scriptures" abound in discrepancies which they have been glossing over as the "dark sayings of Jesus". We Muslims are really interested in the last questions posed to John the Baptist by the Jewish elite- "ART THOU THAT PROPHET? AND HE ANSWERED, NO." (John 1:21)

Three Questions!

Please note that three different and distinct questions were posed to John the Baptist and to which he gave three emphatic "NO'S" as answers. To recapitulate:- 1) ART THOU THE CHRIST? 2) ART THOU ELIAS? 3) ART THOU THAT PROPHET?

But the learned men of Christendom somehow only see two questions implied here. To make doubly clear that the Jews definitely had T-H-R-E-E separate prophecies in their minds when they were interrogating John the Baptist, let us read the remonstrance of the Jews in the verses following:

"AND THEY ASKED HIM, AND SAID UNTO HIM, WHY BAPTIZEST THOU THEN, IF THOU BE
a) NOT THAT CHRIST,
b) NOR ELIAS,
c) NEITHER THAT PROPHET?"
(John 1:25)

The Jews were waiting for the fulfillment of THREE distinct prophecies: One, the coming of CHRIST. Two the coming of ELIAS, and Three, the coming of THAT PROPHET.

Who was/is "That Prophet" ??

I left this question for the readers to find out.