Daily Bible Verses

Two young Christian women who faced execution or at least life imprisonment in Iran for converting from Islam to Christianity were to be released in November 2009, after international pressure and prayers.

Archeologists say they have traced the origins of the first Christmas to be celebrated on 25 December, 300 years before the birth of Christ. The original event marked the consecration of the ancient world's largest sun god statue, the 34m tall, 200 ton Colossus of Rhodes.

It has long been known that 25 December was not the real date of Christ's birth and that the decision to turn it into Jesus's birthday was made by Constantine, the Roman Emperor, in the early 4th century AD. But experts believe the origins of that decision go back to 283 BC, when, in Rhodes, the winter solstice occurred at about sunrise on 25 December.

The event was preserved by academics on Rhodes or in Alexandria, and seems to have been passed to Caesar by the Hellenistic Egyptian scientists, who advised him on his calendrical reforms.

The date was chosen because the emperor seems to have believed that the Roman sun god and Christ were virtually one and the same, and the sun's birthday had been decreed as 25 December some 50 years earlier by one of Constantine's predecessors, the Emperor Aurelian. He, in turn, seems to have chosen 25 December because, ever since Julius Caesar's calendar reforms of 46 BC, that date had been fixed as the official winter solstice, even though the real date for the solstice in Caesar's time was 23 December.

Dr Alaric Watson, one of the British historians involved in the research he said: "Constantine's choice of 25 December as the day on which to celebrate the birth of his divine patron, Christ, must be viewed in terms of the tradition on which Aurelian had drawn and which may well have originated in the celebration of the winter solstice at Rhodes some six centuries earlier.

"Constantine clearly saw his divine patron, initially Sol Invictus but later Christ, in much the same way as Aurelian had done. The imagery of Christ, like that of the ruler cults of the Hellenistic and Roman worlds, owed much to solar theology."

Jesus's real date of birth is not known, although various different pre-4th century traditions and computations put it either in the January to March period or in November.

All I can add is that Christmas is not the festival appointed by God... Think over it and and read Leviticus chapter 23. what were the festivals that God had appointed and given saying " these are my feasts that you shall proclaim (Lev. Ch23:2) Why we celebrate what is not ordered. Think over it. God Bless You all and give you wisdom according to Thy will. Amen

Iran has acquitted "on all charges" two young women who were detained fourteen months ago "for their Christian faith and activities" and abandoning Islam, Iranian church officials confirmed Sunday, May 23.

However Maryam Rostampour, 28, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 31, have left Iran after being warned by judicial authorities "that any future Christian activity in Iran will be seriously dealt with," added well-informed Elam Ministries, a group of Iranian church leaders that supports the nation's "growing church."

The name of the country where the women arrived Saturday, May 22, was not immediately released -- apparently for security reasons -- but Elam Ministries has its headquarters in Britain.

In a short statement obtained by Worthy News and its news partner BosNewsLife, Rostampour and Amirizadeh said they were thanking Christians who prayed for them. "We are most grateful to everyone who prayed for us," Amirizadeh said. "I have no doubt that God heard the prayers of His people," Rostampour added. "I believe our arrest, imprisonment and subsequent release were in the timing and plan of God, and it was all for His glory. But the prayers of people encouraged and sustained us throughout this ordeal."

Both women, who are of a Muslim background but converted to Christianity, faced long prison terms and possible the death sentence. Apostasy along with murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, and drug trafficking are all punishable by death in Iran, and it has executed people on these charges in the past.

"They faced repeated interrogations, weeks in solitary confinement, and unhealthy prison conditions. Both became seriously sick during their imprisonment and did not receive the treatment they needed which greatly increased their suffering. Senior judges and officials also intimidated them," Elam Ministries told Worthy News and BosNewsLife news agency.

However the Christians said in a statement they wanted to "remain faithful to Jesus Christ and did not want to deny Him."

After their conditional release in November 2009 following 259 days in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, they have had "a very trying six months" waiting for their case to be heard in an Islamic court where they could have been sentenced to prison again.