Christmas Day and December 25th

 Why is Christmas Day on the 25th December? 

The following article comes from whychristmas.com ...

No one knows the actual birthdate of Jesus of Nazareth! No date is given in the Bible. So why do we celebrate it on the 25th December? The early Christians certainly had many arguments as to when it should be celebrated! The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336 A.D., during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman ruler). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the 25th December.

However, there are many different traditions and theories as to why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.

A very early Christian tradition states that the day when Mary was told that she would have a very special baby (Jesus) was on March 25th. Nine months after the 25th March is the 25th December! March 25th was also the day some early Christians thought the world had been made, and also the day that Jesus died on when he was an adult. The date of March 25th was chosen because people had calculated that was the day on which Jesus died as an adult (the 14th of Nisan in the Jewish calendar) and they thought that Jesus was born and had died on the same day of the year.

Some people also think that December 25th might have also been chosen because the Winter Solstice and the ancient pagan Roman midwinter festivals called 'Saturnalia' and 'Dies Natalis Solis Invicti' took place in December around this date - so it was a time when people already celebrated things.

The Winter Solstice is the day where there is the shortest time between the sun rising and the sun setting. It happens on December 21st or 22nd. To pagans this meant that the winter was over and spring was coming and they had a festival to celebrate it and worshipped the sun for winning over the darkness of winter. In Scandinavia, and some other parts of northern Europe, the Winter Solstice is known as Yule and is where we get Yule Logs from. In Eastern Europe the mid-winter festival is called Koleda.

The Roman Festival of Saturnalia took place between December 17th and 23rd and honoured the Roman god Saturn. Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means 'birthday of the unconquered sun' and was held on December 25th (when the Romans thought the Winter Solstice took place) and was the 'birthday' of the Pagan Sun god Mithra. In the pagan religion of Mithraism, the holy day was Sunday and is where get that word from!

The Roman emperor Aurelian created 'Sol Invictus' in 274. But there are records of early Christians connecting 14th Nisan to 25th March and so the 25th December go back to around 200!

The Jewish festival of Lights, Hanukkah starts on the 25th of Kislev (the month in the Jewish calendar that occurs at about the same time as December). Hanukkah celebrates when the Jewish people were able to re-dedicate and worship in their Temple, in Jerusalem, again following many years of not being allowed to practice their religion.

Jesus was a Jew, so this could be another reason that helped the early Church choose December the 25th for the date of Christmas!

Christmas had also been celebrated by the early Church on January 6th, when they also celebrated the Epiphany (which means the revelation that Jesus was God's son) and the Baptism of Jesus. Now Epiphany mainly celebrates the visit of the Wise Men to the baby Jesus, but back then it celebrated both things! Jesus's Baptism was originally seen as more important than his birth, as this was when he started his ministry. But soon people wanted a separate day to celebrate his birth.

Most of the world uses the 'Gregorian Calendar' implemented by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Before that the 'Roman' or Julian Calendar was used (named after Julius Caesar). The Gregorian calendar is more accurate than the Roman calendar which had too many days in a year! When the switch was made 10 days were lost, so that the day that followed the 4th October 1582 was 15th October 1582. In the UK the change of calendars was made in 1752. The day after 2nd September 1752 was 14th September 1752.

Many Orthodox and Coptic Churches still use the Julian Calendar and so celebrate Christmas on the 7th January (which is when December 25th would have been on the Julian calendar). And the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates it on the 6th January! In some part of the UK, January 6th is still called 'Old Christmas' as this would have been the day that Christmas would have celebrated on, if the calendar hadn't been changed. Some people didn't want to use the new calendar as they thought it 'cheated' them out of 11 days!

Christians believe that Jesus is the light of the world, so the early Christians thought that this was the right time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. They also took over some of the customs from the Winter Solstice and gave them Christian meanings, like Holly, Mistletoe and even Christmas Carols!

St Augustine of Canterbury was the person who probably started the widespread celebration of Christmas in large parts of England by introducing Christianity to the regions run by the Anglo-Saxons in the 6th century (other Celtic parts of Britain were already Christian but there aren't many documents about if or how they celebrated the birth of Jesus). St Augustine of Canterbury was sent by Pope Gregory the Great in Rome and that church used the Roman Calendar, so western countries celebrate Christmas on the 25th December. Then people from Britain and Western Europe took Christmas on the 25th December all over the world!

So when was Jesus Born?

There's a strong and practical reason why Jesus might not have been born in the winter, but in the spring or the autumn! It can get very cold in the winter and it's unlikely that the shepherds would have been keeping sheep out on the hills (as those hills can get quite a lot of snow sometimes!).

During the spring (in March or April) there's a Jewish festival called 'Passover'. This festival remembers when the Jews had escaped from slavery in Egypt about 1500 years before Jesus was born. Lots of lambs would have been needed during the Passover Festival, to be sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews from all over the Roman Empire traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, so it would have been a good time for the Romans to take a census. Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the census (Bethlehem is about six miles from Jerusalem).

In the autumn (in September or October) there's the Jewish festival of 'Sukkot' or 'The Feast of Tabernacles'. It's the festival that's mentioned the most times in the Bible! It is when Jewish people remember that they depended on God for all they had after they had escaped from Egypt and spent 40 years in the desert. It also celebrates the end of the harvest. During the festival, Jews live outside in temporary shelters (the word 'tabernacle' come from a Latin word meaning 'booth' or 'hut').

Many people who have studied the Bible, think that Sukkot would be a likely time for the birth of Jesus as it might fit with the description of there being 'no room in the inn'. It also would have been a good time to take the Roman Census as many Jews went to Jerusalem for the festival and they would have brought their own tents/shelters with them! (It wouldn't have been practical for Joseph and Mary to carry their own shelter as Mary was pregnant.)

The possibilities for the Star of Bethlehem seems to point either spring or autumn.

The possible dating of Jesus birth can also be taken from when Zechariah (who was married to Mary's cousin Elizabeth) was on duty in the Jewish Temple as a Priest and had an amazing experience. There is an excellent article on the dating of Christmas based on the dates of Zechariah's experience, on the blog of theologian, Ian Paul. With those dates, you get Jesus being born in September - which also fits with Sukkot!

The year that Jesus was born isn't known. The calendar system we have now was created in the 6th Century by a monk called Dionysius Exiguus. He was actually trying to create a better system for working out when Easter should be celebrated, based on a new calendar with the birth of Jesus being in the year 1. However, he made a mistake in his math and so got the possible year of Jesus' birth wrong!

Most scholars now think that Jesus was born between 2 BCE/BC and 7 BCE/BC, possibly in 4 BCE/BC. Before Dionysius's new calendars, years were normally dated from the reigns of Roman Emperors. The new calendar became more widely used from the 8th Century when the 'Venerable Bede of Northumbria' used it in his 'new' history book! There is no year '0'. Bede started dating things before the year 1 and used 1 BCE/BC as the first year before 1. At that time in Europe, the number 0 didn't exist in math - it only arrived in Europe in the 11th to 13th centuries!

So whenever you celebrate Christmas, remember that you're celebrating a real event that happened about 2000 years ago, that God sent his Son into the world as a Christmas present for everyone!

As well as Christmas and the solstice, there are some other festivals that are held in late December. Hanukkah is celebrated by Jews; and the festival of Kwanzaa is celebrated by some Africans and African Americans - takes place from December 26th to January 1st.

History: The Hanukkah Story

The following article was obtained through ReformJudaism.org

Unlike many Jewish holidays, Hanukkah (also known as the Festival of Lights) is not mentioned in the Bible. The historical events upon which the celebration is based are recorded in Maccabees I and II, two books contained within a later collection of writings known as the Apocrypha. Although Hanukkah is considered a “minor” Jewish festival, today it ranks—along with Passover and Purim—as one of the most beloved Jewish family holidays.

In the year 168 B.C.E., the Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes sent his soldiers to Jerusalem. The Syrians desecrated the Temple, the holiest place for Jews at that time. Antiochus also abolished Judaism, outlawing the observance of Shabbat and the Festivals, as well as circumcision. Altars and idols were set up for the worship of Greek gods and he offered Jews two options: conversion or death.

On the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev in 168 B.C.E., the Temple was renamed for the Greek god Zeus. A resistance movement— led by a priestly family known as the Hasmoneans, or Maccabees—developed against the cruelty of Antiochus. The head of the family was Mattathias, an elderly man. His son, Judah, became the chief strategist and military leader of the resistance. Though outnumbered, Judah Maccabee and his fighters miraculously won two major battles, routing the Syrians decisively.

Although historians debate the causes and outcomes of the war in which Judah Maccabee and his followers defeated the Syrian armies of Antiochus, there is no doubt that Hanukkah evokes stirring images of Jewish valor against overwhelming odds. Other themes rooted in the observance of the holiday include the refusal to submit to the religious demands of an empire practicing idolatry, the struggle against total assimilation into Hellenistic culture and loss of Jewish identity, and the fight for Jewish political autonomy and self-determination.

Hanukkah, which means “dedication,” is the festival that commemorates the purification and rededication of the Temple following the defilement caused by the Greeks during their occupation of that holy place. Today, the holiday reminds Jews to rededicate themselves to stand against forces that would destroy Judaism and to keep alive the flame of Jewish religion, culture, and peoplehood so that it may be passed on to the next generation.

Originally, the eight-day holiday was intended to parallel the eight-day festival of Sukkot. The Books of the Maccabees made no mention of the legend concerning a small jar of oil that unexpectedly lasted for eight days. Only centuries after the Maccabees’ defeat of the Syrians did the story of the jar of oil—which has come to be a part of Hanukkah—appear in the Talmud.

According to the legend, when the Maccabees entered the Temple and began to reclaim it from the Greeks, they immediately relit the ner tamid (eternal light), which burned constantly in the Temple and has a parallel in our synagogues to this day. In the Temple, they found a single jar of oil, which was sufficient for only one day. The messenger who was sent to secure additional oil took eight days to complete his mission, and miraculously, the single jar of oil continued to burn until his return. The rabbis of the Talmud attributed the eight days of Hanukkah to the miracle of this single jar of oil.  

Although the practice of lighting the menorah was common throughout much of the 19th century, North American Jews tended to neglect most of the other traditions and practices associated with the holiday. By the 1920s, however, Jews increasingly added gift-giving to their Hanukkah celebrations, prompting Christians to refer to Hanukkah as the "Jewish Christmas."

Like many aspects of Jewish religious practice, the transformation of Hanukkah was linked to the growth of North American Jewry within its unique environment. The elevation of Hanukkah to a major holiday was the result of Jews acculturating themselves to a North America that was overwhelmingly Christian in population and symbols.

Although Hanukkah had become an important holiday among North American Jews by the 1920s, it would be incorrect to regard it as an imitation of Christmas with an emphasis on the exchange of presents. Rather, North American Jews use this holiday as a celebration of family, reinforcing Jewish identity in a place whose population may be overwhelmingly Christian but in which Jews feel at home. Hanukkah, therefore, is a means for North American Jews to feel a kinship with their neighbors, while simultaneously asserting their Jewish distinctiveness.

The Nonreligious (Agnostic/Atheist/Secular)

 "Despite voluminous study of religion, there has been very little direct research focusing on secular or nonreligious people and social forms. The idea of a social science of secularity or nonreligion is quite new. But what, actually, is the subject, and what should be the proper focus, content, and scope of such a field of study? Alternative approaches to the study of unbelief, irreligion, atheism, nonreligion, and secularity have been proposed in recent years. The strengths and weaknesses of each, particularly the study of nonreligion and secularity, are considered. The value of simultaneously pursuing multiple conceptions and approaches to the subject as this new field of study coalesces is proposed." (excerpt from The Study of Secularity and the Nonreligious by Phil Zuckerman, Luke W. Galen and Frank L. Pasquale)

There term "non-religious" is not being associated or affiliated with any type of religion. 

When talking of mankind, non-religious [or: irreligious] would mean someone who does not belong to any religious domination. Unlike the atheist, the non-religious person can be a:

• Theist - the belief in one God as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of revelation.

• Deist - belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it. 

• Pantheist - the doctrine that God is the transcendent reality of which the material universe and human beings are only manifestations: it involves a denial of God's personality and expresses a tendency to identify God and nature.

They need not be strictly secular, agnostic or atheist in this sense. However, most people associate the non-religious with such ideologies. According to a study, "as the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated continue to grow, they also describe themselves in increasingly secular terms," such as, "atheists," "agnostics," or "nothing in particular." Secular means "of or relating to the physical world and not the spiritual world" or just "not religious."

Agnostic is a position. That of not knowing if a god or gods exists. You can be agnostic theist, agnostic atheist, agnostic pantheist, agnostic deist, etc. Given the current lack of proofs for existence of, or against existence of god or gods, it is by far the most logical positions. Agnostics are those who haven't yet made a decision regarding God's existence; they are non-religious, but neither are they atheists. It means that non religious people might believe in God in future or they might remain as they are. Whereas Atheists have a conclusion that there is no God, an agnostic neither believes nor disbelieves in a god or religious doctrine. To complicate matters, atheists and agnostics are often confused with theists and deists. A theist is the opposite of an atheist. 

Atheist means someone who does not believe in any god, or someone who believes god does not exist. Both definitions work. First is logical; Second without proof is not. Its other counterparts are theists, deists, pantheists, etc. 

Here are seven of the most atheist countries in the world: 

• China 
• Japan 
• Czech Republic 
• France 
• Norway 
• Australia 
• Iceland 

As far back as 1772, Baron d'Holbach said that "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God." Similarly, George H. Smith (1979) suggested that: "The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a god." According to sociologists Ariela Keysar and Juhem Navarro-Rivera's review of numerous global studies on atheism, there are 450 to 500 million positive atheists and agnostics worldwide (7% of the world's population), with China having the most atheists in the world (200 million convinced atheists).

Secular religion. ... Among systems that have been characterized as secular religions are capitalism, communism, anarchism, fascism, nationalism, Auguste Comte's Religion of Humanity and the Cult of Reason and Cult of the Supreme Being that developed after the French Revolution. Secularization refers to the declining influence of religion and religious values within a given culture. Secular humanism means, loosely, a belief in human self-sufficiency.

Secular things are not religious. Anything not affiliated with a church or faith can be called secular. Non-religious people can be called atheists or agnostics, but to describe things, activities, or attitudes that have nothing to do with religion, you can use the word secular.

Secularism in India means equal treatment of all religions by the state. With the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution of India enacted in 1976, the Preamble to the Constitution asserted that India is a secular nation. However, neither India's constitution nor its laws define the relationship between religion and state.

At the time the United States was founded, essentially all European nations had a state religion, and a monarch who ruled “by the grace of God,” or some similar formulation. When the United States chose not to enshrine a state religion, they became the original secular western nation. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and many others would eventually follow this path of secularization, but they were following a trail originally blazed by the United States. 

A 2002 survey by Adherents.com estimates the proportion of the world's people who are "secular, non-religious, agnostics and atheists" at about 14%. According to Pew Research Center's 2012 global study of 230 countries and territories, 16% of the world's population is not affiliated with a religion, while 84% are affiliated.

What are the most widely practiced religions of the world?

Big believers

By Dr Stephen Juan 6 Oct 2006  

What are the most widely practiced religions of the world?

Asked by Charlene Dupree of Toronto

There are some 4,300 religions of the world. This is according to Adherents, an independent, non-religiously affiliated organisation that monitors the number and size of the world's religions.

Side-stepping the issue of what constitutes a religion, Adherents divides religions into churches, denominations, congregations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, and movements. All are of varying size and influence.

Nearly 75 per cent of the world's population practices one of the five most influential religions of the world: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.

Christianity and Islam are the two religions most widely spread across the world. These two religions together cover the religious affiliation of more than half of the world's population. If all non-religious people formed a single religion, it would be the world's third largest.

One of the most widely-held myths among those in English-speaking countries is that Islamic believers are Arabs. In fact, most Islamic people do not live in the Arabic nations of the Middle East.

2006: The world's 20 largest religions and their number of believers -

1. Christianity  (2.1 billion)
2. Islam  (1.3 billion)
3. Nonreligious (Secular/Agnostic/Atheist)  (1.1 billion)
4. Hinduism  (900 million)
5. Chinese traditional religion  (394 million)
6. Buddhism  (376 million)
7. Primal-indigenous  (300 million)
8. African traditional and Diasporic  (100 million)
9. Sikhism  (23 million)
10. Juche  (19 million)
11. Spiritism  (15 million)
12. Judaism  (14 million)
13. Bahai  (7 million)
14. Jainism  (4.2 million)
15. Shinto  (4 million)
16. Cao Dai  (4 million)
17. Zoroastrianism  (2.6 million)
18. Tenrikyo  (2 million)
19. Neo-Paganism  (1 million)
20. Unitarian-Universalism  (800,000)

Are there more human religions or more human languages in the world?

Languages. There are some 4,300 religions of the world compared with 6,800 living languages spoken somewhere in the world.

Stephen Juan, Ph.D. is an anthropologist at the University of Sydney.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2018: The world's 10 largest religions and their number of believers          

 1 - Christianity (2.5 billion)                  

 2 - Islam (1.8 billion)                          

 3 - Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist (1.2 billion)                    

 4 - Hinduism (1.1 billion)  

 5 - Buddhism (521 million)
 6 - Chinese traditional religion (394 million)
 7 - Sikhism (30 million)
 8 - Judaism (14.4 million)
 9 - Bahá'í  (7.0 million)
10 -  Jainism (4.2 million)                   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Religions and Their Symbols 

Christianity	Islam
Non-Religious/Secular	Hinduism
Buddhism	Chinese Traditional
Sikhism	Judaism
Baha’i	Jainism

The Search for Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark (1846), a painting by the 
American folk painter Edward Hicks.

The story of Noah's Ark appears in the Genesis flood narrative (Genesis chapters 6–9) as the vessel in which God spares Noah, his family, and a remnant of all the world's animals from a world-engulfing flood. The Genesis flood myth is similar to numerous other flood legends from a variety of cultures, such as the Sumerian flood myth of Utnapishtim from the Epic of Gilgamesh, which many historians believe is the most likely source of the Genesis flood story. The earliest known written flood narrative comes from a Sumerian source found in the Deluge Tablet in which the hero is named Ziusudra. The story in Genesis is repeated, with variations, in the Quran, where the ark appears as Safina Nūḥ (Arabic: "Noah's boat"). 

Searches for Noah's Ark have been made from at least the time of the ancient historian, Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 275–339 CE), and believers in the myth continue to search for it in modern times. Many searches have been mounted for the ark, but no confirmations or physical proof of the ark have ever been found. According to Genesis 8:4, the Ark came to rest "on the mountains of Ararat." Early commentators such as Titus Flavius Josephus and authorities quoted by him, Berossus, Hieronymus the Egyptian, Mnaseas, and Nicolaus of Damascus, record the tradition that these "mountains of Ararat" are to be found in the region then known as Armenia, roughly corresponding to Eastern Anatolia (modern-day Turkey).

Syrian tradition of the early centuries BC had a tradition of the ark landing at Mount Judi, where according to Josephus the remains of the ark were still shown in the 1st century BC. The location of the "Place of Descent" described by Josephus was some 100 km to the southeast of the peak now known as Mount Ararat, in what is today Iraqi Kurdistan.

According to Jewish Rabbinic tradition, the Ark was looted in antiquity, the remains being used for idol worship, as related in the Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin by Sennacherib circa 705 – 681 BC, and as related in the Midrash anthology Yalkut Shimoni by Haman circa 486–465 BC.

Other traditions: The flood myth motif is found among many cultures as seen in the Mesopotamian flood stories, Deucalion and Pyrrha in Greek mythology, Manu in Hinduism, the Gun-Yu in Chinese mythology, Bergelmir in Norse mythology, in the lore of the K'iche' and Maya peoples in Mesoamerica, the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa tribe of Native Americans in North America, the Muisca, and Cañari Confederation, in South America, and the Aboriginal tribes in southern Australia. 

There are some scholars and historians who believe Eric H. Cline, a biblical archaeologist, summed it up the best when he said, 

"The earlier Mesopotamian stories are very similar where the gods are sending a flood to wipe out humans. There's one man they choose to survive. He builds a boat and brings on animals and lands on a mountain and lives happily ever after? I would argue that it's the same story."

During antiquity a few notable explorers took part in trying to locate Noah's Ark, such as Marco Polo, (1254–1324) whom wrote in his book, The Travels of Marco Polo:

"In the heart of the Armenian mountain range, the mountain's peak is shaped like a cube (or cup), on which Noah's ark is said to have rested, whence it is called the Mountain of Noah's Ark. It [the mountain] is so broad and long that it takes more than two days to go around it. On the summit the snow lies so deep all the year round that no one can ever climb it; this snow never entirely melts, but new snow is for ever falling on the old, so that the level rises."

In circa 1616, Sir Walter Raleigh made a laborious argument taking up several whole chapters of his History of the World, that the term "Mountains of Ararat" originally encompassed all the adjoining and taller ranges of Asia, and that Noah's Ark could only have landed in the Orient – especially since Armenia is not technically east of the plain of Shinar (or Mesopotamia), but more northwest.

In modern times the race continues to find the fabled boat of Noah: 

• In 1829, Dr. Friedrich Parrot, who had made an ascent of Greater Ararat, wrote in his Journey to Ararat that "all the Armenians are firmly persuaded that Noah's Ark remains to this very day on the top of Ararat, and that, in order to preserve it, no human being is allowed to approach it." 
• In 1876, James Bryce, historian, statesman, diplomat, explorer, and Professor of Civil Law at Oxford, climbed above the tree line and found a slab of hand-hewn timber, four feet long and five inches thick, which he identified as being from the Ark. 
• In 1883, the British Prophetic Messenger and others reported that Turkish commissioners investigating avalanches had seen the Ark.

Searches since the mid-20th century have been largely supported by evangelical churches along with local farmers and sustained by ongoing popular interest, faith-based magazines, lecture tours, videos and occasional television specials. The following is the official findings of various other explorers:  

• In 1949, Aaron J. Smith, dean of the People's Bible College in Greensboro, NC, led an unsuccessful expedition to locate the ark.
• Former astronaut James Irwin led two expeditions to Ararat in the 1980s, was kidnapped once, but found no tangible evidence of the Ark. "I've done all I possibly can," he said, "but the Ark continues to elude us."
• In the 1980s and 1990s, the Durupınar site was heavily promoted by Ron Wyatt. According to the local authorities a nearby mountain is called "Mount Cudi" (or Judi), making it one of about five Mount Judis in the land of Kurdistan. Geologists have identified the Durupınar site as a natural formation, but Wyatt's Ark Discovery Institute continues to champion its claims.

The search for Noah's Ark continues into the 21st century as well. There are many explorers, archaeologists, and biblical enthusiasts undertaking various measures to prove a claim to Noah's Ark.

• In 2004, Honolulu-based businessman Daniel McGivern announced he would finance a $900,000 expedition to the peak of Greater Ararat in July of that year to investigate the "Ararat anomaly". After much initial fanfare, he was refused permission by the Turkish authorities, as the summit is inside a restricted military zone. The expedition was subsequently labelled a "stunt" by National Geographic News, which pointed out that the expedition leader, a Turkish academic named Ahmet Ali Arslan, had previously been accused of faking evidence of the Ark for a CBS documentary.
• In June 2006, Bob Cornuke of the Bible Archeology Search and Exploration Institute (or BASE Institute) took a team of 14 American "business, law, and ministry leaders" to Iran to visit a site in the Alborz Mountains, purported to be a possible resting place of the Ark. The team claimed to have visited an "object" 13,000 feet above sea level, which had the appearance of blackened petrified wooden beams, and was "about the size of a small aircraft carrier" [400 ft long (120 m)], and supposedly consistent with the dimensions provided in Genesis of 300 cubits by 50 cubits. No one outside the expedition has offered independent confirmation, and apart from a few purported beams, no photographic images of this supposed Ark have been made available (though short video segments have been made available).
• In 2007, a joint Turkish-Hong Kong expedition including members of Noah's Ark Ministries International (NAMI) claimed to have found an unusual cave with fossilized wooden walls on Mount Ararat, well above the vegetation line. In 2010, NAMI released videos of their discovery of the wood structures. Members of NAMI reported carbon dating suggests the wood is approximately 4,800 years old. It is unlikely that there was any human settlement at the site at altitude of 4,000 meters. In April, 2010 it was reported that Turkey's culture minister ordered a probe into how NAMI brought its pieces of wood samples from Turkey to China. A Scottish explorer investigating the NAMI claim was reported missing, on 14 October 2010, from an expedition on Ararat. His last camp site and personal effects were subsequently located but the circumstances remain unresolved.
• In an interview with Christiane Amanpour for ABC News, Robert Ballard, one of the world's best-known underwater archaeologists, talked about his findings. His team is probing the depths of the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey in search of traces of an ancient civilization hidden underwater since the time of Noah. According to a controversial theory proposed by two Columbia University scientists, there really was one in the Black Sea region. They believe that the now-salty Black Sea was once an isolated freshwater lake surrounded by farmland, until it was flooded by an enormous wall of water from the rising Mediterranean Sea. The force of the water was two hundred times that of Niagara Falls, sweeping away everything in its path. Fascinated by the idea, Ballard and his team decided to investigate. Four hundred feet below the surface, they unearthed an ancient shoreline, proof to Ballard that a catastrophic event did happen in the Black Sea. By carbon dating shells found along the shoreline, Ballard said he believes they have established a timeline for that catastrophic event, which he estimates happened around 5,000 BC. Some experts believe this was around the time when Noah's flood could have occurred. Ballard does not think he will ever find Noah's Ark, but he does think he may find evidence of a people whose entire world was washed away about 7,000 years ago. He and his team said they plan to return to Turkey next summer.

Many attempts have been made to find Noah's Ark for thousands of years. Critics and non-believers are quick to give their opinion, such as Michael Shermer, who said, "There is no possible way that Noah could've retained all ten billion species on a single boat and then distributed them appropriately, where the marsupials are all in Australia, and so forth... This is just ridiculous. It is so ridiculous, I find it embarrassing for people who attempt to prove that it's true!"

Other critics claim there is no scientific evidence that Noah's Ark existed as it is described in the bible, nor is there evidence in the geologic record for the biblical global flood. Even a few historical scholars and theologians agree that catastrophic events of this kind are not unique to the Bible. Some contemporary examples include the 2004 Indonesian earthquake tsunami that wiped out villages on the coasts of 11 countries surrounding the Indian Ocean. There was also Hurricane Katrina, described as the worst hurricane in United States history. Scholars aren't sure if the biblical flood was larger or smaller than these modern day disasters, but they do think the experiences of people in ancient times were similar to our own. 

Some of the details of the Noah story seem mythical, so many biblical scholars believe the story of Noah and the Ark was inspired by the legendary flood stories of nearby Mesopotamia, in particular "The Epic of Gilgamesh." These ancient narratives were already being passed down from one generation to the next, centuries before Noah appeared in the Bible. The theory goes on to suggest that the story of this traumatic event, seared into the collective memory of the survivors, was passed down from generation to generation and eventually inspired the biblical account of Noah.

Whether or not Noah's Ark existed is still up for debate, but only one question truly remains ... Who's ? Right

Islamic Prophecies

The following article was aquired from Crystalinks.com -

The Final Signs of Qiyaamah (Islam)

• The ground will cave in: one in the east, one in the west, and one in Hejaz, Saudi Arabia.
• Fog or smoke will cover the skies for forty days.
• The nonbelievers will fall unconscious, while Muslims will be ill (develop colds).
• The skies will then clear up.
• A night three nights long will follow the fog. It will occur in the month of Zil-Hajj after Eidul-Adha, and cause much restlessness among the people.
• After the night of three nights, the following morning the sun will rise in the west.
• People's repentance will not be accepted after this incident.
• One day later, the Beast from the earth will miraculously emerge from Mount Safaa in Makkah, causing a split in the ground.
• The beast will be able to talk to people and mark the faces of people, making the believers' faces glitter, and the nonbelievers' faces darkened.
• A breeze from the south causes sores in the armpits of Muslims, which they will die of as a result.
• The Ka'aba will be destroyed by non-Muslim African group.
• Kufr will be rampant.
• Haj will be discontinued.
• The Qur'an will be lifted from the heart of the people, 30 years after the ruler Muquad's death.
• The fire will follow people to Syria, after which it will stop.
• Some years after the fire,
• Qiyaamah begins with the Soor (trumpet) being blown.
• The year is not known to any person.
• Qiyaamah will come upon the worst of creation.

Prophets are men specially elected by God to be his messengers. Prophethood is indivisible, and the Qur'an requires recognition of all prophets as such without discrimination. Yet they are not all equal, some of them being particularly outstanding in qualities of steadfastness and patience under trial.

Abraham, Noah, Moses, and Jesus were such great prophets. As vindication of the truth of their mission, God often vests them with miracles: Abraham was saved from fire, Noah from the deluge, and Moses from the Pharaoh. Not only was Jesus born from the Virgin Mary, but God also saved him from crucifixion at the hands of the Jews. The conviction that God's messengers are ultimately vindicated and saved is an integral part of the Qur'anic doctrine.

All prophets are human and never part of divinity: they are simply recipients of revelation from God. God never speaks directly to a human: he either sends an angel messenger to him or makes him hear a voice or inspires him. Muhammad is accepted as the last prophet in this series and its greatest member, for in him all the messages of earlier prophets were consummated.

He had no miracles except the Qur'an, the like of which no human can produce. (Soon after the Prophet's death, however, a plethora of miracles was attributed to him by Muslims.) The angel Gabriel brought the Qur'an down to the Prophet's "heart." Gabriel is represented by the Qur'an as a spirit, but the Prophet could sometimes see and hear him.

According to early traditions, the Prophet's revelations occurred in a state of trance when his normal consciousness was in abeyance. This state was accompanied by heavy sweating. The Qur'an itself makes it clear that the revelations brought with them a sense of extraordinary weight: "If we were to send this Qur'an down on a mountain, you would see it split asunder out of fear of God."

This phenomenon at the same time was accompanied by an unshakable conviction that the message was from God, and the Qur'an describes itself as the transcript of a heavenly "Mother Book" written on a "Preserved Tablet." The conviction was of such an intensity that the Qur'an categorically denies that it is from any earthly source, for in that case it would be liable to "manifold doubts and oscillations."

Eschatology

In Islamic doctrine, on the Last Day, when the world will come to an end, the dead will be resurrected and a judgment will be pronounced on every person in accordance with his deeds. Although the Qur'an in the main speaks of a personal judgment, there are several verses that speak of the resurrection of distinct communities that will be judged according to "their own book." In conformity with this, the Qur'an also speaks in several passages of the "death of communities," each one of which has a definite term of life.

The actual evaluation, however, will be for every individual, whatever the terms of reference of his performance. In order to prove that the resurrection will occur, the Qur'an uses a moral and a physical argument. Because not all requital is meted out in this life, a final judgment is necessary to bring it to completion.

Physically, God, who is all-powerful, has the ability to destroy and bring back to life all creatures, who are limited and are, therefore, subject to God's limitless power.

According to strict Qur'anic doctrine, there is no intercession, although God himself, in his mercy, may forgive certain sinners. Those condemned will burn in hellfire, and those who are saved will enjoy the abiding pleasures of paradise. Hell and heaven are both spiritual and physical.

Besides suffering in physical fire, the damned will also experience fire "in their hearts"; similarly, the blessed, besides physical enjoyment, will experience the greatest happiness of divine pleasure.

Quite early, however, Islamic tradition developed the notion of intercession, probably in answer to the Christian doctrine of redemption.

Related Articles:

Moslem Prophecies for Modern Times

Islam's Prophecies for the Future, and Signs of the Day of Judgment - Made Easy

Islamic Eschatology: What are the end-time prophecies of Islam?

Crop Circles and the End Times?

Crop Circles – a sign of the end-times?

Published 15th September 2016 | By truth

Crop circles may seem like a very unlikely subject of a blog on a website committed to the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ in these last days. However, this is a phenomenon we don’t feel we can ignore as they appear to be impossible to explain and we believe they may be connected to the signs of the end times. Not only do crop circles seemingly appear in a very short duration of time, they are incredibly intricate and complex. Many of them are stunning in appearance and are completed in perfect arrangement within hours which would appear to rule out any possibility of being man-made. Their appearance has increased in frequency in the UK and Wiltshire, in particular, seems to be a hot-spot with approximately 90% of the world’s crop circles appearing in this English county.

While there have been many attempts to counterfeit crop circles, it is easy to tell the difference between fakes and the real thing. Any internet search will reveal huge crop circles that we believe are impossible to explain naturally and we believe it is inconceivable that they are all man-made. Here are a few examples although many hundreds could have been used.

Have a look at the amazing crop circle that appeared a few weeks ago (photos: Ansty, Nr Salisbury, Wiltshire):

This breathtaking crop circle appeared in Wiltshire in 2012 (photos: Hackpen Hill, Wiltshire):

It’s 159 ft from the centre to the furthest part of the cube, excluding the outside ring. It has a distinct flow, with the triangular parts showing examples of multi-layering, where the crop appears to sit well above the ground as a result of swathes of stems laying beneath the surface. The majority of inner triangles are not accessible on the ground, sealed by a wall of standing crop, with no damage or evidence that anyone has walked through. There are narrow, straight pathways only a few inches wide that which criss-cross, parallel to the edges of the cube.

This crop circle is equally staggering (photos: Milk Hill, Wiltshire):

This crop circle, noticed on Milk Hill in Wiltshire (Southern England) on August 13, 2001 is being hailed as the most awesome ever made. It is composed of 409 individual circles in a spiral pattern. Appropriately, it was found in the heart of crop circle country in the United Kingdom.

The sheer size and complexity of this formation is amazing. It has been estimated that would-be hoaxers would have had to make one circle every 30 seconds during the night time hours in order to create this design! Furthermore, the field in which the design was created is not flat, but consists of small, undulating hills, making it virtually impossible for someone to lay out and create an accurate design without being noticed.

Summary

It is obvious to us that there is no natural explanation for these crop circles and given that there is no mention of them in Scripture we suspect that they are manifestations of demonic activity. The Bible warns of increased supernatural activity in the days leading up to Christ’s return and we suggest that this is just one of many indicators that we are in the end times. Scripture states that in the days immediately prior to Christ’s return, many will be lead astray by “signs and wonders”:

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24, emphasis added)

Whilst we do not claim that crop circles are clear evidence of these “signs and wonders”, we do believe they could be one part of the jigsaw that causes many to have a dangerous fascination with the occult and deceptive spiritual forces. We believe it is very important to be aware of this type of thing as the mainstream media often choose to ignore strange events that defy human explanation – Christians need to stay informed and keep on guard. Whilst UFO sightings and crop circles need not be top priorities for the Christian, it certainly does no harm to have an awareness and keep up-to-date with these wonders.

For more information about crop circles, please visit:
http://www.livescience.com/26540-crop-circles.html
http://cropcircleresearch.homestead.com/1945-crop-circles.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPT3AXaWnTQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuE7-VYExPg&t=200s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfZ5xDutu48

Bible Facts You May Not Know

1 - Written over many centuries by various authors

Most biblical scholars believe the Bible was written over a 1,600 year period - 1500 BC to 1 AD. There were at least 30 authors who contributed writings in the Old Testament and about 10 scribes in the New Testament. Most Christians believe these Bible writers were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Moses was the first person to write portions of Scripture while John, the disciple of Jesus, was the last. Other famous people who wrote the Bible include: David, Solomon, Daniel, Isaiah, Jonah, Peter, and Paul.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." ~ 2 Timothy 3:16

2 - The best-selling book of all time

A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975. Recent estimates in the 21st century put the numbers at over 5 billion. By the end of 1995, combined global sales of Today's English Version (Good News) New Testament and Bible (copyright for which is held by the Bible Societies) exceeded 17.75 million copies. No book has ever been read more, bought more, or cherished more than the Holy Bible. There has never been a better seller at any time in all of human history than the Bible, and it is still the most widely read and most often bought book of all time.

"Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face." ~ President Ronald Reagan

3 - Jesus did not author any books of the Bible

While Jesus is not considered as being one of the scribes of the New Testament, he is purported to have written an ancient letter to King Abgarus, who ruled from 9 AD to 46 AD in what is today's modern day Turkey. In response to a letter Jesus had received from the king asking the savior to heal him, Jesus replied that his ministry was not yet complete, but he would send one of his disciples to cure him after His ascension. According to Eusubeius, the 4th century historian, Thaddeus (also known as Jude) was the disciple that cured King Abgarus.

"Blessed is you who believes in me without seeing me." ~ John 20:29

4 - Various translations of the Bible

The entire Bible has been translated into 300+ languages around the world.  And another 2,100+  languages have translated at least one of the books of the Bible. The Bible has been adapted into many dialects from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The Latin Vulgate translation was dominant in Western Christianity through the Middle Ages. Since then, the Bible has been transliterated into many more languages. English Bible translations also have a rich and varied history of more than a millennium.

"The goal of Bible translation is be transparent to the original text - to see as clearly as possible what the biblical authors actually wrote." ~ Leland Ryken

5 - The Bible is the "Word of God"

While other holy books believe in a Higher Power, the Bible is the only book that claims to be the "Word of God". The Bible says more than 3,000 times: "Thus saith the Lord". Hebrews 4:12 says: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Yet this book, for the past 200 years, has been under increased attack.

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever." ~ Isaiah 40:8

6 - The Bible predicted the rise and fall of empires

In Daniel, Chapter 2 , the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome are represented by various symbols. In Daniel 2:32-33 the narrative describes an image of "fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay". Many biblical historians believe the following empires qualify as proof that the predictions came true:

Head of Gold represents Babylon (605 BC-539 BC)
Chest & Arms of Silver represent Persia (539 BC - 331 BC)
Belly & Thighs of Bronze represent Greece (331 BC - 168 BC)
Legs of Iron represents Rome (168 BC - 476 AD)
Feet of Iron & Clay represents Divided Rome (476 AD - present)

7 - The Bible is scientifically accurate

Over the centuries, the Bible has been scientifically tested for the biblical accuracy and has never failed. For example: for thousands of years mankind believed the earth was flat, but Isaiah 40:22 boldly proclaims, "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:". This flat earth theory was finally laid to rest in the late 1950s when the first man was launched into space. Another interesting example is human longevity. Back in the late 1970s a government-funded group of scientists concluded that humans can live to a maximum age of one hundred and twenty years. Around that age the process which causes body cells to reproduce stops, and the body then dies.

"And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." ~ Genesis 6:3

8 - The Bible is historically accurate

The Bible has been proven to be historically and archaeologically accurate, more than any other book in the world. The discovery of the Elba tablets in northern Syria in the 1970s is a good example. These tablets enlightened that there was a race of people known as the Hittites. Before this 20th century discovery, many scholars deemed the Hittites to be biblical legends. It’s not that the Bible verifies what archaeologists and paleontologists have unearthed. It’s actually the other way around. The findings of archaeologists and paleontologists continue to discover what has already been recorded in the Bible for thousands of years.

"Physics is the only profession in which prophecy is not only accurate but routine." ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson

9 - There is a bible called "The Wicked Bible"

"The Wicked Bible" is a Bible published in 1631 by Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, the royal printers in London, meant to be a reprint of the King James Bible. The name is derived from a mistake made by the compositors: in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14), the word "not" in the sentence "Thou shalt not commit adultery" was omitted, thus changing the sentence into "Thou shalt commit adultery". This blunder was spread in a number of copies. The majority of the Wicked Bible's copies were immediately cancelled and burned, and the number of extant copies remaining today, which are considered highly valuable by collectors, is thought to be relatively low. One copy is in the collection of rare books in the New York Public Library and is very rarely made accessible; another can be seen in the Dunham Bible Museum in Houston, Texas, USA.

10 - The Book of Isaiah and the Bible

Just like the Bible has a total of 66 books, the Book of Isaiah has 66 chapters. Interestingly, the first 39 chapters contain scriptures about the law, and the last 27 books contain texts about grace.  Some biblical theologians divide the books as the Book of Judgment (Chapters 1-39) and the Book of Comfort (Chapters 40-66).  This is exactly how the Gospel is shared: law to the proud but grace to the humble.  It is also interesting to note, the Book of Isaiah was the tome that Jesus most often quoted. He quoted Isaiah eight times.

“He [Jesus] said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” ~ Matthew 21:13  (cross-reference: Isaiah 56:7)

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Other Amazing Bible Facts by Karin Lehnardt @ https://www.factretriever.com/ :

• The Geneva Bible is the first Bible to use numbered verses. It is also the Bible Shakespeare used and the one that the Pilgrims brought to America in 1620.

• William Tyndale produced first printed edited of the New Testament in English. He was later burned at the stake for his efforts.

• Muslims believe that the Bible is revelation from God that has been corrupted by men. They believe that the Qu’ran is its correction.

• Robert Aitken’s Bible (The King James Version without the Apocrypha) was the first English Bible printed in America.

• The Bible doesn’t mention how many wise men visited Christ, only that they brought three types of gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

• The Gutenberg Bible was the was the first book to be printed using movable metal type.

• The world’s smallest bible can fit on the tip of a pen. Scientists etched the 1.2 million letters of the Old Testament on a tiny silicone disk, which they call the Nano Bible.”

• The world’s largest bible weighs 1,094 pounds. Built by Louis Waynai in 1930, the book is 43.5 inches tall and a laid open width of 98 inches.

• Nearly all of the villians in the Bible have red hair.