|
 Photo by Scott Grant
|
December 28, 2007
| The traditions of Christmas |
By Bill Highlander
Editor
Christians around the world recognize Christmas as the birthday of Jesus Christ. They attend religious commemorations of the birth of Christ every year with church rites, carols, and prayer to show respect for their religion. Nativity scenes are prevalent in art, displays and recreations.
The exact date of Jesus’ birth is unknown and has been debated for centuries, although Dec. 25 has become the traditional date for celebrations. That day was mentioned in a reference book for Christians written in 221 AD and celebrations of the Nativity occurred in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, usually around the winter solstice.
Festivities around the winter solstice pre-dated Christianity. Read more...
|
|
 |
| The Festival of Lights
By Bill Highlander
Editor
Jews celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, usually in December for eight days and nights to remember a miracle in their history. The story goes that more than 2000 years ago, Jews in Judea (now Israel) could not practice their religion because the ruling king, the Greek-Syrian Antiochus IV, insisted on a Greek culture.
A rebel army known as the Macabees fought for three years to regain the right to worship as Jews and took back the temple on Mount Moriah. In preparing to rededicate the temple, they found only enough consecrated oil to burn in the temple lamp for one Read
more...
| |
 |
Click
here to read the rest of this week's headlines
in the Evergreen Times ...
|
|
