According to Christianity Today the past year’s top ten religious stories were as follows: [Click the link if you want details about what these stories are about.] 1. Taliban takes Korean short-term mission team hostage, killing two. 2. Atheism tops the bestseller charts. 3. Presidential
This Christmas tide I offer you blogs from Christmas past. Just as TV goes into re-run mode with all of those Christmas specials that have become family traditions, so I will do with this blog, re-running Christmas posts that left an impression. I start with
[This entry, from 2005, got a lot of people riled up who did not get what I was doing.] I love everything about Christmas, including its commercialization. First of all, it is very appropriate for non-Christians and secularists to observe this holiday. “At the name
[An old WORLD column] Santa Claus had his origins in St. Nicholas, the fourth-century bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey. Known for his generosity and his love of children, Nicholas is said to have saved a poor family’s daughters from slavery by tossing into their
According to conventional wisdom, Christmas had its origin in a pagan winter solstice festival, which the church co-opted to promote the new religion.
In response to my column on the evidence that December 25 was not set aside as Christ’s birthday because of some pagan holiday, but for good reason, alert WORLD reader Rev. Gary Hinman sent me this article on yet another line of evidence. The calculations
[This entry from 2006, which continues the case that Christmas did NOT derive from a pagan holiday, reminds us that those of us from European, yea, Germanic stock, had pagan ancestors who were brought to faith by missionaries.] Thanks to reader SSchaper–also to commenter Puzzled–
Babies like Christmas music A study has found that Christmas music, more so than other kinds, has a calming effect on babies. Daycare workers have long noticed how babies do not cry as much when Christmas music is played in the background. Other styles they
[Another great Luther quote on Christmas, posted in 2005] The God in the Manger A major hat-tip to What You Do Do Quickly for this heart-touching Christmas meditation from Martin Luther: if you will have joy, bend yourself down to this place. There you will
HT to Paul McCain for quotes about how Luther relates vocation to Christmas: Here is another excellent and helpful lesson, namely, that after the shepherds have been enlightened and have come to a true knowledge of Christ, they do not run out into the desert-which
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In