Commercialism Only Adds to Joy of the Holidays

St. Augustine said "Man is restless until he finds his rest in Thee".

Thank you for further convicting my faith in Christ.

Today is simply and beautifully Christmas, the celebration of Christ Jesus. Whether He was born on the 4th of July or in the middle of winter, today is the day Christians celebrate God's coming to earth as a man.

I need no gifts, not that I don't desire gifts, that is human nature, but God has instilled in me the greatest gift and that is the saving grace of His son Jesus.

Non-Christians cannot grasp who Christ is and the falsehood of their lives. Acceptance in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit alone, can give you that understanding and conviction.

Ultimate Joy on this earth is only found through Christ. You will never know it until you know Him.

Jana of ID 11:24AM December 25, 2009

1. Demanding proof of a negative is a formal logical fallacy. Things which do not exist do not leave traces in reality. There are no effects to study of things which do not exist. Therefore, "proof of a negative" is a nonsensical statement; it literally has no meaning. The logical onus of proof is on those who claim the existence of something.

2. Tombs being found in the area is irrelevant. Nothing is established by it. Nazareth did not exist in 0-30 ACE. They are studying the history of a town named Nazareth later in history.

3. You make a lot of appeals to authority in there, another formal logical fallacy. The opinion of so-and-so is irrelevant without evidence, and they have presented none. There are plenty of scholars who do not believe Jesus was a historical person, if you want to play it that way.

4. There are plenty of contemporary references to Pearl Harbor. People who study Pearl Harbor use contemporary references or works ultimately based on contemporary references to make claims or interpretations about it.

5. Although you have a good point about Wikipedia, there was a citation on Dr. Strange's quote. As for the other quotes about the timeline, no Christian scholar has filed a dispute on them, which means that the case for Christ's Nazareth is still empty.

6. The Gospels were not contemporary. The first Gospel was Mark, and it was written no earlier than 70 ACE because it mentions the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Rational thinking of GA 11:12AM December 24, 2009

You are the one who made the claim that Nazareth didn't exist, Jesus didn't exist, and a few others. However, you do not provide any evidence.

You do not comment about the 1st century tombs located the correct distance away from where a Jewish town would have been. Ian Wilson also concedes such a place did in fact exist around the time of Jesus, but it would have been relatively small and unimportant. This explains why many sources would not have recorded it. Jack Finegan wrote a book on the subject and agrees that Nazareth did exist. Also, Wikipedia is not a trusted source which is why even high school teachers discourage students from using it in research papers. What it does say, however, does not disprove Nazareth's existence. If anything, it was simply unimportant to be included in Josephus' works.

So what if Tacitus and Josephus wrote a few decades after the fact? People do it all the time with Pearl Harbor and the assassination of JFK and we are not questioning their reliability because they were written decades after the events took place. But they both wrote during the first century, so they were not too far away from the events happening in the gospels. Here you are just postulating ideas without evidence to support them. Sir William Ramsey has found Luke to be one of earth's greatest historians. In fact, good historians and scholars accept that the gospels have historical legitamcy to them even if they disagree with the theological implications.

I find it funny you want science in an area science has no jurisdiction. Science only deals with events that can be repeated and observed. History doesn't work that way.

Patrick of KY 4:44PM December 23, 2009

No, the way reason works is that since you are making a claim, you need to provide evidence for it. You have no evidence.

From Wikipedia, concerning your Dr. Strange: "James Strange, an American archaeologist, notes: “Nazareth is not mentioned in ancient Jewish sources earlier than the third century AD. This likely reflects its lack of prominence both in Galilee and in Judaea.”[26] Strange - supposing the existence of a settlement - originally guessed Nazareth’s population at the time of Christ to be "roughly 1,600 to 2,000 people", but later, in a subsequent publication, at “a maximum of about 480.”[27] Some have argued that the absence of textual references to Nazareth in the Old Testament and the Talmud, as well as the works of Josephus, suggest that a town called 'Nazareth' did not exist in Jesus' day.[28]"

Since bearing false witness is a sin, do you feel any sense of guilt? What is really funny is that even being unscientific, he cannot support your claim. Also:

"The form Nazara is also found in the earliest non-scriptural reference to the town, a citation by Sextus Julius Africanus dated about 200 CE."

"The first non-Christian reference to Nazareth is an inscription on a marble fragment from a synagogue found in Caesarea Maritima...The inscription dates as early as c. 300 CE."

I say again: Where is your evidence that there was a town or village CALLED Nazareth from 0-30 ACE?

Also, Josephus and Tacitus wrote several decades after his supposed death. They are not contemporaries. Their accounts are therefore hearsay. There is no evidence that Jesus existed.

Rational thinking of GA 1:29PM December 23, 2009