The Birthday That Changed the History of the World with Bill Federer

I Don't Have Enough FAITH to Be an ATHEIST

Dr. Frank Turek

Religion & Spirituality, Education, Christianity

4.8 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2024

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why is December 25th celebrated as the birth of Jesus? Was it a date chosen to overshadow pagan festivals like Saturnalia or Sol Invictus, or does it have deeper Christian roots? While the Bible doesn’t provide a specific birthdate for Christ, it may offer more clues than you think!Just in time for the holiday season, historian and author Bill Federer returns to unpack the fascinating origins of the Christmas story and its rich Christian heritage. One of our most popular topics, this episode dives deeper into the history, theology, and traditions surrounding the incarnation of Christ—a moment that forever changed the course of human history. Join Frank and Bill as they explore questions like:* How do the Dead Sea Scrolls provide evidence for Jesus' actual birthday?* Why do some Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6th?* When did Christians start celebrating Dec. 25th as the birthday of Jesus?* What is one of the most overlooked pro-life passages in the Bible?* What's the story of King Herod and was he really capable of being a baby killer?* Why was there strife between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and how did Rome get involved in Jewish politics?* How many wise men brought gifts to Jesus and when did they visit Him?* Why are the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus so vague?* What's the origin of the "12 days of Christmas"?* How does the history of the entire world center on the birth of Christ?This episode will be both enlightening and entertaining as it also lays out the message of the Gospel, so be sure to share it with a friend!Resources mentioned during the episode:VIDEO PODCAST: Is There Any CHRISTIAN Truth to Our CHRISTMAS Traditions? CEevents.org (https://crossexamined.lpages.co/season-for-reason)BILL'S WEBSITE: https://americanminute.com/ (https://americanminute.com/)BILL'S BOOK: 'There Really is a Santa Claus (https://a.co/d/6Z4MCpx)'

Transcript

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0:00.0	So last Sunday, friends, I was coming back from the Middle East, our trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
0:12.0	When I happened, I had Wi-Fi on the plane, when I happened to go to one of my favorite churches online,
0:18.6	and that is Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, the great Jack Hibbs out there.
0:22.3	And I clicked on the sermon live, and it was the equally great Bill Federer.
0:26.8	And I said, you know what?
0:28.2	We got to have Bill on again to talk about Christmas traditions.
0:32.4	In fact, people have said the best podcast we've ever done over the past 15 or so years is the podcast we did on the
0:40.1	Christmas traditions that Bill Federer enlightens us with. We've done it a couple of times on this
0:45.9	program. We're going to cover some of that today, but some other new material. And at the end of the
0:51.0	program, I'm going to show you how you can get a video of Bill going through the Christmas traditions, the origin of Christmas traditions, you know, St. Nicholas, Santa Claus, gift giving, stockings, X-Mess, Nativity scene, North Pole, reindeer, all that.
1:09.1	We'll cover some of that today but uh i want to show you
1:13.0	a way that you can watch him give it with a bunch of visuals we'll do it at the end of the
1:17.5	program but bill uh i clicked on uh the youtube channel for calvert chapolchino hills and you were on
1:24.4	i just caught the last 10 minutes of your sermon. What were you talking about?
1:29.0	Right. Well, I gave two different messages. The first one I went through December 25th and how we
1:35.7	arrived at that date for the birth of Christ. It's fascinating. And then the second one I go through
1:41.1	the St. Nicholas story and how he was a real person there in Asia
1:46.9	Minor. Today it's Turkey. And how his traditions morphed into what we have today. And that's
1:54.5	quite fascinating too. And it sort of shows you what to keep and what to throw out. But it is
1:59.0	fascinating. Well, those you have listened to this podcast for quite a while, probably no Bill.
2:03.4	For those you that haven't heard it before, Bill Federer is an historian, and he's written several books.
2:08.9	In fact, one of them we're going to talk about today.
	...

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