It
wasn’t until the late fourth century that the church fathers could agree on the
date of Christ’s birth – unlike the pagan Romans, Christians tended to give no
importance to anyone’s birthday. The big day in the Christian religious
calendar was Easter. Nevertheless, eventually the church settled on 25 December
as the date of Christ’s nativity. For the Christians, it was a holy day, not a
holiday, and they wanted the period to be sombre and distinguished from the
pagan Saturnalia traditions such as gambling, drinking, and of course, most of
all, worshipping a pagan god! Read the complete article at -- http://www.historyextra.com/feature/how-did-romans-celebrate-christmas
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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