XPost: alt.bible, alt.religion.christian.biblestudy, alt.religion.christianity   
   XPost: alt.christnet.bible   
      
   >>In 1 Thes. we find the "prove all things".  Friend james said he did that   
   >>to confirm the jw vatican claim that the day set aside to celebrate   
   >>Christ's Resurrection had a pagan origin.   
   >>   
   >>He said in preinternet days he used his library to confirm the claim; so   
   >>the jw vatican can be accepted as a credable source.   
   >>   
   >>That almost certinly meant using the  3 or so common encyclopedias, chief   
   >>among them the encyclopedia britannica.  A question, what was the exact   
   >>historical source for the "pagan" idea friend james found?   
   >>   
   >>The "ever brighter light" of science God provides has also included an   
   >>increase in the widespread growth of access to historical info. What would   
   >>the current encyclopedia britannica provide friend james to judge the   
   >>credability of jw vatican claims?  Here is the answer on the "pagan source"   
   >>claim:   
   >>   
   >>"Given the determination with which Christians combated all forms of   
   >>paganism (the belief in multiple deities), this appears a rather dubious   
   >>presumption. There is now widespread consensus that the word derives from   
   >>the Christian designation of Easter week as in albis, a Latin phrase that   
   >>was understood as the plural of alba ("dawn") and became eostarum in Old   
   >>High German, the precursor of the modern German and English term. The Latin   
   >>and Greek Pascha ("Passover") provides the root for P ues, the French word   
   >>for Easter."   
   >>   
   >>So we can expect friend james will want all the folk at the "hall" to know   
   >>this, and so the jw vatican with this "brighter light" will abandon the   
   >>"pagan" claim.   
   Friend james tries to divert from the "prove all things" instruction of   
   Paul by returning to his library info of at least 28 years old.   
      
   >"Many Easter customs come from the Old World.... Rabbits and colored   
   >(Compton's 1995 Interactive Encyclopedia)   
   >   
   >Yes, Easter is HIGHLY paganized.   
      
      
   Smile, a good   
   try at diversion, if you can get away with it.  The result of "prove all   
   things" is fully intact, the origin of the day to observe Christ's   
   resurrection is not pagan, it is based on passover at the time ofHis   
   resurrection.  The date still is determined by passover as a result.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)