Tag: Christmas

Dating Christ’s Birth: November 18 or December 25?

~ Bob Hayton ~ 11 Comments

I just finished reading an essay by Paul Maier on the date of the birth of Jesus Christ. The essay is entitled “The Date of the Nativity and the Chronology of Jesus’ Life” and was a chapter in the book Chronos, Kairos, Christos:
Nativity and Chronological Studies Presented to Jack Finegan edited by E. Jerry Vardaman and Edwin M. Yamauchi (Eisenbrauns, 1989), now out of print. [HT: Justin Taylor]

Maier has written many popular level books bringing various Biblical stories to life. Click on the image above to see his book on the first Christmas which details many historical and archaeological details you may be unfamiliar with. Be sure to search inside the book, to explore it more fully. It promises to be a fascinating book.

Anyway, Maier writes as a scholar who also isn’t too keen on defending Luke’s Quirinius mention and some other historical details in the New Testament. Nevertheless, he reviews the data and concludes that November/December 5 B.C. is the most likely date for Christ’s birth. At the end of the essay he brings to bear the earliest and most specific reckoning of Christ’s birth in the church fathers. Clement of Alexandria pegs the month and day of Jesus’ birth to our November 18. Given some of the evidence Maier marshals, that date may well be preferred to December 25, which came about later. Still, one month and 7 days is not far from the mark!

The essay is an interesting read, but no matter what day you celebrate Christ’s birth on (the Orthodox still celebrate January 6th as his birth), be sure to spend some time celebrating and worshiping our Lord this Christmas.

The True Meaning of Christmas

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Reconsider the true meaning of Christmas. That’s the message of this short 10 min. video clip produced by St. Helen’s Bishopgate in London. The clip below is designed for those who aren’t Christians. It’d be a great clip to spread on your Facebook page and other places this Christmas. [HT: Justin Taylor]

That’s Christmas (Short Film) HD from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

The Real Saint Nick

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

We’re one week away from Christmas, and the Santa questions will start coming thick and heavy for Christian parents. For those of us who love Jesus, what are we to do with Santa?

Well, Mark Driscoll recently wrote an article for The Washington Post’s “On Faith” column about Santa, and he offers some practical advice.

‘Tis the season . . . for parents to decide if they will tell the truth about Santa.

When it comes to cultural issues like Santa, Christians have three options: (1) we can reject it, (2) we can receive it, or (3) we can redeem it.

Since Santa is so pervasive in our culture, it is nearly impossible to simply reject Santa as part of our annual cultural landscape. Still, as parents we don’t feel we can simply receive the entire story of Santa because there is a lot of myth built on top of a true story.

So, as the parents of five children, Grace and I have taken the third position to redeem Santa. We tell our kids that he was a real person who did live a long time ago. We also explain how people dress up as Santa and pretend to be him for fun, kind of like how young children like to dress up as pirates, princesses, superheroes, and a host of other people, real and imaginary. We explain how, in addition to the actual story of Santa, a lot of other stories have been added (e.g., flying reindeer, living in the North Pole, delivering presents to every child in one night) so that Santa is a combination of true and make-believe stories.

We do not, however, demonize Santa. Dressing up, having fun, and using the imagination God gave can be an act of holy worship and is something that, frankly, a lot of adults need to learn from children….

[Read the entire article]

Driscoll goes on to give the history of the true Santa Claus. Did you know that he was an actual bishop who at one time was imprisoned for his faith in Christ and may have even defended Christ’s Deity in the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325? I encourage you to read the entire article and consider giving your children a history lesson on the real Saint Nick this Christmas.

The following articles may assist in providing a biographical sketch of ol’ Kris Kringle.

[HT: Shaun Tabatt]

Christmas Book Giveaways, Promotions and More

~ Bob Hayton ~ 5 Comments

As we approach Christmas, there are lots of celebrations to plan and gifts to buy. We also want to carve out time to worship our Lord Jesus and remember the reason for the season. But as we near Christmas, I also want to remind folks that there are quite a number of Christian book giveaways and special sales going on this time of year.

Check out some of the giveaways mentioned below and you might be able to get a freebie in time for Christmas (or shortly thereafter).

Bible Geek Gone Wild’s 3rd Annual 12 Days of Christmas Book Giveaway

That title is a mouthful! Today is day #4, I’m sorry you missed out on days 1-3 but there are still 9 more giveaways planned at my friend Shaun Tabatt’s blog. Today’s giveaway is sponsored by Tyndale House, and includes a prize pack of the first 4 DVDs in the What’s in the Bible series by Phil Visher (creator of VeggieTales).

Pastoral Musings December Book Giveaways

Another blog friend of mine, Jason Skipper, is hosting four book giveaways this month. This week’s prize is an ESV Study Bible!

Christian Book Distributor (Christianbook.com) Book & DVD Giveaways

Christianbook.com has a long list of book and dvd giveaways. Some of the contests I entered include a Matthew Henry Study Bible, and a collection of all of Francis Chan’s books!

Zondervan Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament (ZECNT) Giveaway

Koinonia blog, is giving away another copy of a new ZECNT title. You could win a copy of Thomas Schreiner’s recent work on Galatians (which is fantastic).

Waterbrook Multnomah Collection of Christmas Books Giveaway

If you like Christmas books, this giveaway is for you. The winner gets 8 Christmas titles from Waterbrook Multnomah.

StudyBible.Info 1611 Commemorative Edition King James Bible Giveaway

A new study site, StudyBible.info is hosting a special giveaway of a Commemorative edition, 1611 King James Bible this week. Details on the giveaway here.

Logos Bible Software’s 12 Days of Christmas and Additional Sales

Logos is running their annual 12 Days of Christmas promotion, with a drastically reduced resource available each day now through Christmas. They have also added some 50% off deals and other great discounts in time for the Christmas season.

Desiring God’s Christmas Special

Desiring God also has some phenomenal discounts for Christmas. They have several bargain packs of books as affordable as 4 books for $10!

More Giveaways

VesselProject lists several other giveaways you can enter, most are of fiction titles. If you know of additional contests feel free to leave the details or links here in the comments too.

Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best in these contests!