The Answer follow at the end. Enjoy and have a very Merry Christmas.
1. As long as
Christmas has been celebrated, it has been on December 25th? True or False
2. Joseph was
from:
Bethlehem
Jerusalem
Nazareth
Egypt
Saskatchewan
None of the above
3. Who insisted
that Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem?
The Angel
Mary’s mother
Herod
Caesar Augustus
Alexander the Great
no one told them to go
4. How did Mary
and Joseph travel to Bethlehem?
camel
donkey
walked
Volkswagen
Joseph walked, Mary rode a donkey
Who knows?
5. Mary and Joseph
were married when Mary became pregnant?
True or False
6. Mary and Joseph
were married before Jesus was born? True
or False
7. Mary was a
virgin when she delivered Jesus? True or
False
8. What did the
innkeeper tell Mary and Joseph?
There is no room at the inn
I have a stable you can use
Come back after the Christmas rush
None of the above
9. Jesus was
delivered in a:
stable
manger
cave
barn
unknown
10. A manger is a:
stable for domestic animals
wooden hay storage bin
feeding trough
barn
11. According to
the Bible, which animals were present at Jesus’ birth?
cows, sheep, goats
cows, donkeys, sheep
miscellaneous barnyard animals
lions, tigers and bears
we don’t know
12. Who saw the
star in the east?
shepherds
Mary and Joseph
Magi (aka Wise Men)
both shepherds and Magi
none of the above
13. What “sign”
did the angels tell the shepherds to look for?
A star over Bethlehem
A baby that doesn’t cry
A baby in a stable
A baby lying in a manger
None of the above
14. What is a
“heavenly host”?
The angel at the gate of Heaven
The angel who invites people to Heaven
An angel choir
An angel army
None of the above
15. What did the
heavenly host of angels say?
Joy to the World
Alleluia
Unto us a child is born
Glory to God in the highest
16. Did the baby
Jesus cry?
He never cried
He cried just like other babies
He cried when the little drummer boy banged his drum
17. We Three Kings
of Orient Are…Who were they?
Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar
Astrologers, Seers, Fortune tellers
Scholars from Persia
Royal Astronomers
Kings
We’re not 100% sure
18. How many Magi
came to see Jesus?
Probably less than 10
three
We don’t know for sure, but there were probably dozens in
their entourage
19. Where did the
Magi find Jesus?
in the manger
in the stable
in an inn
in a house
20. Which Gospels
give details about Christ’s Birth so we can answer these questions and get the
TRUE facts?
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Matthew and Mark
Matthew and Luke
Matthew, Mark and Luke
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Answers:
1. False. For the church’s first three centuries, Christmas
wasn’t in December—or on the calendar at all.
If observed at all, the celebration of Christ’s birth was usually lumped
in with Epiphany (January 6), one of the church’s earliest established feasts.
Some church leaders even opposed the idea of a birth celebration. Origen
(c.185-c.254) preached that it would be wrong to honor Christ in the same way
Pharaoh and Herod were honored. Birthdays were for pagan gods.
Not all of Origen’s contemporaries agreed that Christ’s
birthday shouldn’t be celebrated, and some began to speculate on the date
(actual records were apparently long lost). Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215)
favored May 20 but noted that others had argued for April 18, April 19, and May
28. Hippolytus (c.170-c.236) championed January 2. November 17, November 20,
and March 25 all had backers as well. A Latin treatise written around 243
pegged March 21, because that was believed to be the date on which God created
the sun. Polycarp (c.69-c.155) had followed the same line of reasoning to
conclude that Christ’s birth and baptism most likely occurred on Wednesday,
because the sun was created on the fourth day.
The eventual choice of December 25, made perhaps as early
as 273, reflects a convergence of Origen’s concern about pagan gods and the
church’s identification of God’s son with the celestial sun. December 25
already hosted two other related festivals: natalis solis invicti (the Roman
“birth of the unconquered sun”), and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian “Sun
of Righteousness” whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers. The winter
solstice, another celebration of the sun, fell just a few days earlier. Seeing
that pagans were already exalting deities with some parallels to the true
deity, church leaders decided to commandeer the date and introduce a new
festival.
Western Christians first celebrated Christmas on December
25 in 336, after Emperor Constantine had declared Christianity the empire’s
favored religion. Eastern churches, however, held on to January 6 as the date
for Christ’s birth and his baptism.
2. Joseph was from
Bethlehem (Luke 2:4)
3. Caesar Augustus
decreed that a census be taken and all people return to their places of
birth. (Luke 2:1)
4. Who knows? The Bible does not say anything about a
donkey. Luke 2:4 simply tells us that
Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth to Galilee.
Many biblical scholars think that because of their economic status they
probably both walked but that is just speculation.
5. False, Joseph
and Mary were not married when she became pregnant. (Luke 2:5, Matthew 1:18-25).
6. True. Joseph and Mary were married before she gave
birth to Jesus. (Matthew 1:24)
7. True. Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to
Jesus. (Matthew 1:25) However, she did not remain a virgin after
Jesus’ birth. Scripture tells us that
Jesus had brothers and sisters after He was born. (Matthew 13:55) Read a great article on this topic here:
http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-siblings.html
8. None of the
above. The Bible does not say any words
spoken by the inn keeper. In fact, Luke
does not even mention an inn keeper, merely an inn and the fact that there was
no room. (Luke 2:7). To get really specific, there is also no
mention of a stable.
9. Unknown. Just like no words being recorded by the
innkeeper, there is no mention where Mary delivered Jesus. Matthew says Jesus was born in Bethlehem and
Luke 2:7 says Mary gave birth to Him and laid him in a manger.
10. A feeding
trough for animals. Perhaps it was this
fact alone that has brought about the popular assumption that Jesus was born in
a stable or barn because of a manger being close at hand to put the Baby
in. Using deductive reasoning, culture
has also determined that if there is a feeding trough, there must also be
animals nearby. Countless Nativity or crèche
scenes depict that as fact. It is merely
speculation and assumption. Scripture
doesn’t back up those theories in any way.
11. We don’t
know. There is no mention of animals of
any kind around Jesus after His birth.
Refer to my explanation #10.
12. The Magi. The star is only mentioned in conjunction
with the Magi. They told Herod they had
seen the star. (Matthew 2:2)
13. The sign the
angels told the shepherds to look for was a baby lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12)
14. A Heavenly
Host (Hebrew Sabaoth “armies”) refers to a large angel army (Luk.2:13;
Rev.19:19).
15. “Glory to God
in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor
rests.” (Luke 2:14)
16. Absolutely
the Baby Jesus cried! Baby Jesus was
fully human. He cried when He was
hungry, tired, wet, and in pain just like any other baby. (Hebrews 2:14)
17. We’re not 100%
sure. Matthew 2:1-12 reveals nothing of these visitors’
ancestry. Over the centuries, legend has
assigned them names: Gaspar, or Casper;
Melchior, and Balthasar. Balthsar has a
Persian sound. If indeed these men were
scholars from Persia, they would have been familiar with Daniel’s prophecy
about the Messiah or “Anointed One.” (Daniel 9:24-27). The designation “Magi” refers to a Persian religious
caste, but when this gospel was written, the term was loosely used for
astrologers, seers, and fortune tellers.
Matthew does not call them kings; that title was used later, in legends. They may have been royal astronomers,
advisers to kings. http://christianity.about.com/od/newtestamentpeople/a/Three-Kings.htm
18. We don’t know
for sure. The Bible does not tell us how
many Magi visited Jesus. The tradition
of “3″ probably developed because they presented 3 kinds of gifts. According to scholars the Magi’s journey
probably lasted up to two years with an entourage of dozens or more people.
19. Sorry to wreck
your Nativity scenes, but the Magi were not present the night Jesus was
born. Scriptural evidence shows Jesus
could have been as old as two by the time they arrived. If that is true then Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
would have been staying in a house.
(Matthew 2:11)
20. The Gospels of
Matthew and Luke give us all the details of Jesus’ Birth.
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