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Does Christmas have pagan origins?

...om a more Jewish heritage didn’t see any importance on marking the exact day and month that Jesus was born, as it was his death and resurrection which held a far greater importance and cause for celebration. Easter was really the first major festival of the Church in its early years over and above anything else that came to be recognised. The next real reference to Jesus’ birth being on the date we are more familiar with, comes from an important early theologian called Hippolytus of Rome, around the year 220 AD, in his Commentary on Daniel: For the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, eight days before the kalends of Janu...

The Deity of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew - Part 1

...Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus vol 3” Baker books 2003 17-32...

Does Jesus mean Hail Zeus?

...a common Jewish personal name during the Hellenizing period; it is the later form of Hebrew Yehoshua (see Joshua).—etymonline.com   If all of that sounds confusing, then see this image below which will hopefully visualise the transition of language a little better: Etymology of the name Jesus To put it simply, “The name Jesus is the Greek transliteration of either the name יהושע (Joshua) or its shortened form (ישוע) Jeshua … The name Jesus means Yah Will Save. The name Joshua is the Hebrew form of the Greek name Jesus, and most probably the name by which Jesus was known by His contemporaries.” If you want to read further into the et...

The Eighth Day

...nt of the Jewish practice of circumcision on the eighth day after birth (Genesis 17:12) which was a shadow of Christ rising from the dead to give us “the circumcision of the Spirit”. This symbolism and spiritual fulfillment carries on throughout various early authors too, and is also sometimes referred to as the “Lord’s Day”, which is a phrase you might recognise from Revelation 1:10 too. But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. Didache 14:1   As early as Acts, we can see the believers all began to gather and teach on a S...

How was Jesus a sacrifice?

...is from a Jewish perspective and what the sacrificial lamb initially meant. The main comparison that is drawn between Jesus and the old sacrifices, is that of the Passover lamb. The link between the two is really quite amazing and to be honest, I didn't realise just how much of this Jesus fulfilled in himself until I was writing this. First we need to go back to the very first Passover to see what it meant for Israel. The whole story can be found in Exodus 12, but the relevant parts to the lamb are about how it should look and be prepared, and the reason for the blood covering: Exodus 12:5-7, 13 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may...

Jesus, Mithras and Ancient Roman Cults: Separating Fact from Fiction

...Jesus, as Jewish man, engaging in a conversation with an unrelated Samaritan woman in public broke several cultural and religious barriers. And lastly, the women who were first to witness the resurrection report the account is important because the testimony of women wasn’t considered as reliable as that of a man. This actually lends to the authenticity of the Gospel accounts because if the Gospel writers were fabricating the story, they would have been more likely to choose male witnesses (possibly the more prominent disciples like Peter, James or John) to make the account more credible. The fact that women are the primary witnesses indicates more that the wr...