Ancient Roman Festival Saturnalia and Its Influence on Modern Christmas

Christmas Was Originally a Pagan Holiday. “The Scriptures are wholly silent as to the date of Christ’s birth. The 25th of December, the winter solstice, was not fixed as Christmas until a long time after the New Testament period. But despite serious objections, historical and otherwise, that date triumphed.’ The Julian Calendar was used during…

Nazareth and Galilee – Bible History and Geography

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but Joseph and Mary had only gone to that town–the City of David–because David was Joseph’s ancestor. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were residents of Nazareth, which is a town in Galilee. In this post, I want to tell you some of the things that are said in the Bible about…

Bethlehem – A Little Town with a Big Story – Scriptures about Bethlehem

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From [a]everlasting.”  Micah 5:2 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Genesis 35:19 [‘In the Bible, Rachel was the wife of Jacob and…

Luke the Physician and Evangelist in the Bible

Luke the Evangelist Luke was not one of the 12 Disciples of Jesus, but he was active in the early church. It is believed that Luke was Greek but that he was born in Syria. Greek traders had settled along the coast in the Bible lands. . Image Credit: History Alive Textbook 1. Identity. “Luke…

Leaders of Ancient Rome – First Century

For the past several days, I have been engaged by the television series Domina, which I believe you can view via Amazon Prime. I was prepared not to like this series, but when television is well done and seems to bear some semblance of history, I find myself wanting to know more. It is less…