So here they are...all of them good reading if you have time.
* FIRST UP, AN ASTRONOMY PIECE. Have you ever wondered about the famed Star of Bethlehem? Read Memoria Press' article on the issue surrounding the star and the Magi. TO UNDERSTAND THIS STORY, WE MUST VIEW IT IN THE CONTEXT OF ITS TIME. WHO WERE THESE MAGI? WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? MAGI IS THE PLURAL OF MAGUS, THE ROOT OF OUR WORD MAGIC, AND "COURT ASTROLOGERS" IS PROBABLY THE BEST TRANSLATION, ALTHOUGH "WISE MEN" IS ALSO A GOOD TERM, DESCRIPTIVE OF THE ESTEEM IN WHICH THEY WERE WIDELY HELD. THE GROUP OF MAGI IN QUESTION CAME "FROM THE EAST." THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN ZOROASTRIANS, MEDES, PERSIANS, ARABS, OR EVEN JEWS. THEY PROBABLY SERVED AS COURT ADVISORS, MAKING FORECASTS AND PREDICTIONS FOR THEIR ROYAL PATRONS BASED ON THEIR STUDY OF THE STARS, ABOUT WHICH THEY WERE QUITE KNOWLEDGEABLE. MAGI OFTEN WANDERED FROM COURT TO COURT, AND IT WAS NOT UNUSUAL FOR THEM TO COVER GREAT DISTANCES IN ORDER TO ATTEND THE BIRTH OR CROWNING OF A KING, PAYING THEIR RESPECTS AND OFFERING GIFTS. IT IS NOT SURPRISING, THEREFORE, THAT MATTHEW WOULD MENTION THEM AS VALIDATION OF JESUS' KINGSHIP, OR THAT HEROD WOULD REGARD THEIR ARRIVAL AS A VERY SERIOUS MATTER.
* HAS ANYONE EVER TRIED TO TELL YOU THAT CHRISTMAS IS SOME SORT OF PAGAN HOLIDAY? I actually have two articles on this subject. First, Is Christmas Pagan? from Classical Astronomy. I especially appreciated that the author quoted the passage which I think "must" be considered when navigating the alleged "Christmas wars" between neo-Puritans and their brothers and sisters in Christ:ONE PERSON REGARDS ONE DAY ABOVE ANOTHER, ANOTHER REGARDS EVERY DAY ALIKE. EACH PERSON MUST BE FULLY CONVINCED IN HIS OWN MIND. HE WHO OBSERVES THE DAY, OBSERVES IT FOR THE LORD, AND HE WHO EATS, DOES SO FOR THE LORD, FOR HE GIVES THANKS TO GOD; AND HE WHO EATS NOT, FOR THE LORD HE DOES NOT EAT, AND GIVES THANKS TO GOD. FOR NOT ONE OF US LIVES FOR HIMSELF, AND NOT ONE DIES FOR HIMSELF; FOR IF WE LIVE, WE LIVE FOR THE LORD, OR IF WE DIE, WE DIE FOR THE LORD; THEREFORE WHETHER WE LIVE OR DIE, WE ARE THE LORD'S. FOR TO THIS END CHRIST DIED AND LIVED AGAIN, THAT HE MIGHT BE LORD BOTH OF THE DEAD AND OF THE LIVING. --ROMANS 14:5-9SECOND, I BRING YOU CHRISTMAS, SATURNALIA, AND OTHER NONSENSE BY HISTORIAN DR. GLENN SUNSHINE {AN ACQUAINTANCE OF MY HUSBAND'S}. CORRELATION DOES NOT MEAN CAUSATION: JUST BECAUSE JESUS' BIRTH WAS CELEBRATED AT THE SAME DATE AS PAGAN FESTIVALS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THERE IS A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO, ESPECIALLY SINCE THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF SUCH A CONNECTION IN THE SOURCES. THE JEWISH BACKGROUND TO CHRISTIANITY AND THE CONNECTION WITH THE CRUCIFIXION IS A MUCH BETTER EXPLANATION FOR BOTH OF THE DATES WHEN CHRISTMAS WAS CELEBRATED THAN ANY SUPPOSED CONNECTION TO PAGANISM.
* IS "YOUR "CHURCH HOLDING SERVICES ON CHRISTMAS DAY? I haven't heard as much debate over this as I remember there being last time Christmas fell on a Sunday. Robin Phillips from The Alfred the Great Society has written extensively on the issue of whether Christmas is church holiday or a "family" holiday, how our answer as Americans is likely due to the influence of the Puritans, and so on. His two posts, Sacred Times and Seasons (Part 1) and Sacred Times and Seasons (Part 2) are "extensive" and thoughtful and thorough and though I do not agree 100% with every single point he makes, I thought he gave a "lot" to think about and chew on. Well worth the read if you have time! Here's a snippet to whet your appetite:By getting rid of the church year and all Christian holidays, the Puritans and their descendants left a vacuum that would ultimately has been filled by the non-religious ordering of time. Such non-religious ordering has helped to reinforce the idea that there exists a secular world that functions separately from spiritual categories. By rejecting the church year as one legitimate way to tell the story of redemption, the Puritans and their descendants inadvertently underscored the sense of religion being disembodied, detached from the space-time continuum. This would ultimately reinforce a duality in North American culture that emerged under the Puritan's canopy, including a false dichotomy between the sacred and the secular. Moreover, the vacuum created by the evacuation of the church year would eventually be filled with the type of civil religion described by Amy Sullivan. This can be felt strongest in those American holidays that celebrate civic regeneration, integrating Americans around the liturgies of their common political life.
