KARL JASPERS FORUM

Short Note 48 (Reply to N45 and N46 by Raman)

( ON CHRISTMAS )
by Philip Benjamin
7 January 2003, posted 14 January 2003

I feel constrained to add reluctantly to the well expressed and meaningful THOUGHTS OF A HINDU ON CHRISTMAS DAY by V.V. Raman 25 December 2002, posted 7 January 2003. I do this not for clarification, but for the sake of consciousness studies, where the predictive potentials may have both conscious and unconscious components.

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Christmas, with all its pomp, ceremonies, carols and songs, is meaningless without what followed - the death and resurrection of the one *born crucified*. Imagine a Petrimas, or Washingmas after the birth of Apostle Peter or President Washington. That needs no further comments.

The Messiah’s last command before his arrest and conviction was not to celebrate His birthday, but His death: ** This do in remembrance of Me... the new testament in my blood.. ., till I return**. He never asked anybody to keep a feast on His birthday. The reason is very simply stated. **For this purpose (reason) the Son of God was manifested that He may destroy the works of Lucifer** The rebel Lucifer was given *power over death*, but he could not detain or retain the Messiah indefinitely. Thus, His death and resurrection, NOT the birth, become the most important events of human history. [Albeit, like it or not, and much to the consternation of many today who insist on C.E and B.C.E, human history was chronologically cleaved around His birth into A.D and B.C.]

The word Christmas means mass for the Christchild - Christ-Mass. Mass for the Roman Church is true sacrifice. The Mass refers to the *cutting off*, not the birth, of the Messiah predicted by Daniel, among many others.

Daniel (a slave who retired as president of Babylon under Babylonian and Medo-Persian Kings) predicted that from the decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (not the Temple) till the Messiah is cut off, there will be 483 Hebrew lunar years (69 sevens of years of 360 days each). Nehemiah 2:1 states that this decree was given in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, in the month Nissan. From secular history, Artaxerxes ruled from B.C. 465 (solar year of 365 days). So 20th year will be B.C. 445. Adding the prophetic 483 years brings this to A.D. 38. The solar -lunar and leap year corrections, plus the fact that A.D 1 and B.C 1 are the same, brings this to A.D. 33, the crucifixion or the cutting off of the Messiah. (The liberals have problems with this prophecy, and amillennial or nondispensational conservatives have difficulties with the dates).

V.V Raman further comments with noble intentions **It is not just an irony, but a travesty and self-injury that this ( i.e. terrorism) is often done by people who profess a religion whose very name stands for Peace**. This needs clarification, in my opinion.

Will history back up orthodox Islam as a religion of peace ? From its very inception in Mecca and Medina to the bloody conquest through terror of the unsuspecting Christian Byzantines in the 7th century, (Turkey, Greece, macedonia, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq etc,) and later Spain, S. France, Austria etc. in the West) and the brutal conquest of the Indian subcontinent in the 15th Century, ruthless liquidation or conversion of infidels was Koran’s mandate to those who submitted to Allah (Moslems).

Islam is submission, not I-Salaam, where salaam is peace. The word slam in English is of Arabic origin. You either slam it down by force or slam it in by tricks ! Please correct me, if Koran does not advocate both tricks and force to bring the world of infidels to Allah’s submission through Jihads of all kinds (tongue, tricks, self-discipline and sword). It is a far cry from 1 Cor. 1: 21 where the Apostle Paul declares **For, since in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to deliver them who believe**. Voluntary, free-will choice is the only criterion here. Secular or religious authority has no business in this matter. As far as I know, such is not the case with Islam. In fact, one may wonder if there is any difference between Islam and communism, except one has Allah's State and the other has the Secular State as its god.

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Philip Benjamin