Um... sorta (sorta) random questions, but I really want to know!

[Xenos]

So, I dunno where this thread would fit in, but I guess right here will do. I have a question.. well make that two... THREE!!

1. Does God have a birthday?

2. As for Jesus, I guess it'd be Christmas as his birthday right?

3. When Jesus is perfect, it also means he can write the perfect essay, win against a debate, run a marathon in ... say 5 minutes, or create a song....... perfectly?

It's kind of weird to me to think about it that way, but when I thought a little further more when we Mormons say, "Jesus is perfect", this is what popped up in my head.

[yfisaqt]

1) I suppose you'll need to ask him. Be sure to post back if you get an answer. :)

2) Doctrine & Covenants 21:3 has unique wording that has been used to established the Lord's true birth day. The revelation came on April 6th, 1830. v3 says, the "church was organized and established in the year of your Lord." While nowhere says the Lord was born on April 6th, this is what some have argued is the Lord's real birthday based of this reference. Christmas is the celebration / recognition date.

3) While what you're supposing might be true, I think the reference is more towards a reference to his character. I am confident his level of responsibilities is above writing essays, debating, or running a marathon.

[Moksha]

1. Does God have a birthday?

April 1, 50,000,000,000 BCE

Seriously though, how can you set a date on the eternal?

2. As for Jesus, I guess it'd be Christmas as his birthday right?

At least that is when he has his friends party. The Eastern Othodox set a different date, if memory serves.

3. When Jesus is perfect, it also means he can write the perfect essay, win against a debate, run a marathon in ... say 5 minutes, or create a song....... perfectly?

It's kind of weird to me to think about it that way, but when I thought a little further more when we Mormons say, "Jesus is perfect", this is what popped up in my head.

The human body could not run a 5 minute marathon, but is that really a test of perfection? I think the saying is meant to be applied in a religious context.

[NateHowe]

1. Does God have a birthday?

Two answers: First, if you are asking for a start date for the existence of God, the answer is no. Similarly, as an eternal intelligence, you have no start date. You were born into this world with a physical body, but you existed eternally before that.

Second, if you are asking about the date when God the Father received a physical body, it would not be a date measured by the revolution of this planet, because He was not born here.

2. As for Jesus, I guess it'd be Christmas as his birthday right?

No, Joseph Smith received through revelation the date of Jesus' birth as April 6th.

3. When Jesus is perfect, it also means he can write the perfect essay, win against a debate, run a marathon in ... say 5 minutes, or create a song....... perfectly?

Hasn't he done these things already?

An essay: His revelations as recorded in Scripture constitute spiritual expository writing unparalleled in secular literature.

A debate: When the Pharisees were trying to disprove his divinity, he always had the ideal answer, even if they did not comprehend it.

A marathon: We know that Jesus can travel in the twinkling of an eye - much faster than the speed of light.

A song: The new song which He revealed in the Doctrine and Covenants is lyrically brilliant, and I am confident that those who are called upon to sing it will find the music to be equally stunning when that time comes.

[Guest ceeboo]

No, Joseph Smith received through revelation the date of Jesus' birth as April 6th.

Hi Nate,

To be clear with you I am not LDS.

I have never heard this before.

Is this a " teaching " of the LDS??

Do LDS celebrate April 6th ??

Did JS offer this info at a sermon??

Thanks for your time

God bless,

Carl

[mominzion]

There are many different birthday of our Lord offered out there. Some say he was born in Sep...others in April and some in June/July. All I know is that it has been revealed to Joseph Smith as April 6th. I don't believe you are going to find a birth certificate out there.....and calculations are just that....calculations. (that is how most people get their birthday of the Savior). If the Prophet has spoken it, I can take it to my Heavenly Father and get a confirmation of the truth of his statement. That is the beauty of personal revelation....a belief in the LDS religion.

As far as the birthday of God himself goes, I'm sure he had a physical birth somewhere, but it is not revealed to us where or when as far as I know. It was stated that he is eternal. Well, this is how I understand it...we have two births....we are born as a spirit to our Heavenly Father/Mother. We learn and grow in the pre-existence until the time for our "mortal" birth comes. At this point we are born to earthly parents to rear and guide us through this life (mortality). When we die, if we are proven worthy, we will have the same opportunities as God himself. So OUR spirit children will probably not know our day of birth either. So yes, he has a birthday, but we don't know when, and it isn't important for our salvation. We need to be careful not to get caught up in technical things like this, as these are the traps that Satan gets us stuck in that result in us falling away from the church. If you are not a member, it is normal to question certain things, but even LDS people do not have ALL the answers to technical questions such as the time of God's birth. If you are LDS and questioning these sort of things....pay strict attention to what you are asking and why? Is it important for your salvation? We proclaim to have the fullness of the gospel, not all the technical answers.....that is not the same. I hope I made a little sence. I ramble a lot.... :)

Regarding the Savior's perfection.....Well look at it this way...can God himself do all things? He is all powerful, right? Well The savior, being part God (his literal father) and part human (Mary's genetic half), then he held God like qualities and character. BUT.....(this is a big "but") we are taught that even God has to be obedient to the Laws (eternal/physical/spiritual....etc). Is it possible for the Savior to run a marathon (in the flesh before he was resurrected)....no, his body had to obey the laws of things like gravity, speed, endurance...etc. Could he write a perfect poem? Now that is a matter of opinion as far as I'm concerned. I know he was a master story teller.....just read his parables...wonderful. Let's just put it this way, he still had a physical body that was suseptable to injury, disease, pain, hurt feelings, anger...etc....etc.....etc. He learned to master those things that he could, but he still was limited to certain physical laws. Only God knows all those laws...this is why he can work "miracles". Miracles are not magic..they are blessings given to us in ways ONLY God understands.

I know this all was rattling, but I felt you needed to hear it from a different angle. Hope this helped.

[Guest ceeboo]

Hi Morminzion,

Thanks for the reply:)

I am aware of the different dates and I also ( I think you agree ) do not feel it is a huge deal. I was just curious because ( April 6th JS ) I have never heard that by any of my dear LDS friends. I also wondered ( just curious again, nothing more ) if LDS celebrate that day or do they celebrate Dec 25th??

Thanks again for the response,

God bless,

Carl

[mominzion]

I'm sorry if I offended you...I wasn't sure when i was typing it...and that wasn't my intension.

Um, about the celebrating of April 6. I've been a member all my life and I've never seen it celebrated. We celebrate his birth with all those who celebrate on Dec 25. We might have a special broadcast centered on the divinity of Christ or something on Apr 6, but nothing in the monumental way we do Dec 25 with gifts, tree, traditions...etc. We are pretty normal in that aspect. Heehee. I hope that answered your question. It is just one of those things that...it's just a date. We better get some christmas shopping done, eh? We are starting to run out of time! lol:D

[bytor2112]

Hi Morminzion,

Thanks for the reply:)

I am aware of the different dates and I also ( I think you agree ) do not feel it is a huge deal. I was just curious because ( April 6th JS ) I have never heard that by any of my dear LDS friends. I also wondered ( just curious again, nothing more ) if LDS celebrate that day or do they celebrate Dec 25th??

Thanks again for the response,

God bless,

Carl

April 6th is also the date that the Church was established.......coincidence? I think not.....:cool:

[applepansy]

April General Conference is often close to or around April 6th.

[goofball]

I remember talking to someone who was of another faith and I cannot remember what faith he was but he said that he did not believe that the Savior was born in December. I laughed and asked why because we did not believe that either. He said shepherds would not have been in the fields with their flocks in the middle of winter. I told him I never thought of that but mainly because I am not a shepherd (although I heard Fletch was )

[Guest ceeboo]

April 6th is also the date that the Church was established.......coincidence? I think not.....:cool:

REALLY !!!!

VERY INTERESTING :)

God bless,

Carl

[HiJolly]

Well, I learned something new today. I had always been told it was a set, done deal: Christ was born on April 6. Now, I am glad to see there are varying interpretations on this.

Mormon Myths -- April 6

HiJolly

[Prodigal_Son]

Well, I learned something new today. I had always been told it was a set, done deal: Christ was born on April 6. Now, I am glad to see there are varying interpretations on this.

Mormon Myths -- April 6

HiJolly

I find it amusing that the author of that page, after conceding that multiple prophets referenced April 6th, that he still has a hard time accepting it. My goodness. If we can't take a prophet's word - or, rather, if we think WE know better than a prophet of God... well, we have issues...

Edit: I'm not trying to start anything. I don't mean to impune anyone for their opinions. I just find it interesting that people can get sooooo into issues that are completely irrelevant in regards to our salvation. I'm an April 6th advocate. But if I'm wrong... big deal. I'm pretty sure that won't demote me in the next life.

Edited September 29, 2008 by Prodigal_Son

[Brenton]

"While nowhere says the Lord was born on April 6th, this is what some have argued is the Lord's real birthday based of this reference. Christmas is the celebration / recognition date."

The nativity accounts in the New Testament gospels of Matthew and Luke do not mention a date or time of year for the birth of Jesus. In Western Christianity, it has been traditionally celebrated on December 25 as Christmas (in the liturgical season of Christmastide), a date that can be traced as early as 330 among Roman Christians. Before then, and still today in Eastern Christianity, Jesus' birth was generally celebrated on January 6/7 (late at night on January 6th) as part of the feast of Theophany,[28] also known as Epiphany, which commemorated not only Jesus' birth but also his baptism by John in the Jordan River and possibly additional events in Jesus' life. Some scholars have speculated that the date of the celebration was moved in an attempt to replace the Roman festival of Saturnalia.[29] Some scholars note that Luke's descriptions of shepherds' activities at the time of Jesus' birth suggest a spring or summer date.[30] The theory that December 25 was the birthdate of Jesus was popularized by Sextus Julius Africanus in Chronographiai (AD 221).

However, I always thought it was around April.

[Guest tomk]

So, I dunno where this thread would fit in, but I guess right here will do. I have a question.. well make that two... THREE!!

1. Does God have a birthday?

2. As for Jesus, I guess it'd be Christmas as his birthday right?

3. When Jesus is perfect, it also means he can write the perfect essay, win against a debate, run a marathon in ... say 5 minutes, or create a song....... perfectly?

It's kind of weird to me to think about it that way, but when I thought a little further more when we Mormons say, "Jesus is perfect", this is what popped up in my head.

1. Dunno.

2. April 6th (no...Christmas is not correct)

3. Those are "carnal man" inventions. His perfection resides in His harmony with how the universe is ordered. He and Father are ONE, in every way, except they are not one substance. That is the perfection Christ invites us to partake of through His merits and His grace.

[Moksha]

McConkie thought this exact date was an unknowable thing. HiJolley's link would suggest the DC passage was wrong and this April 6th stuff was just errant hyperbole.

[MarginOfError]

"While nowhere says the Lord was born on April 6th, this is what some have argued is the Lord's real birthday based of this reference. Christmas is the celebration / recognition date."

The nativity accounts in the New Testament gospels of Matthew and Luke do not mention a date or time of year for the birth of Jesus. In Western Christianity, it has been traditionally celebrated on December 25 as Christmas (in the liturgical season of Christmastide), a date that can be traced as early as 330 among Roman Christians. Before then, and still today in Eastern Christianity, Jesus' birth was generally celebrated on January 6/7 (late at night on January 6th) as part of the feast of Theophany,[28] also known as Epiphany, which commemorated not only Jesus' birth but also his baptism by John in the Jordan River and possibly additional events in Jesus' life. Some scholars have speculated that the date of the celebration was moved in an attempt to replace the Roman festival of Saturnalia.[29] Some scholars note that Luke's descriptions of shepherds' activities at the time of Jesus' birth suggest a spring or summer date.[30] The theory that December 25 was the birthdate of Jesus was popularized by Sextus Julius Africanus in Chronographiai (AD 221).

However, I always thought it was around April.

January 7th is Christmas on the Orthodox calendar, with the Orthodox New Year celebrated on January 14th. I forget when, but there was a big deal made about the calendar a long time ago and different branches of Christianity chose to accept different calendars.

In parts of the former Soviet Union it gets really fun because they'll celebrate the Catholic Christmas on December 25th, the Catholic New Year on December 31st - January 1st, then Orthodox Christmas on January 7th, and Orthodox New Year on January 13th-14th. It's like a straight month of alcoholic binging. Talk about a party.

[piper]

ok, did some looking on something I read once in the BOM. Had to look a bit but found it. With the disclaimer written that if there was no error in their calendar, Jesus Died 3 days after his 33rd birthday. Not knowing which year he died in, makes it somewhat problematic to identify the exact dates, but we know he died in the Spring.

course i've been wrong before, but that's how I read it.

Look at 3 Nephi 2:7-8 and then at 3 Ne 8:4-5. Just kind of interesting :)

[Maya]

I remember my late aunt ... a respected history teacher in a boyschool... seh could not understand WHY they say that Jesus was born on 24th of December... That is winter time adn NO shepards are out with their sheep in that time of year!!

I need to do the work for her.... shame on me not done that yet!

[Maya]

ok, did some looking on something I read once in the BOM. Had to look a bit but found it. With the disclaimer written that if there was no error in their calendar, Jesus Died 3 days after his 33rd birthday. Not knowing which year he died in, makes it somewhat problematic to identify the exact dates, but we know he died in the Spring.

course i've been wrong before, but that's how I read it.

Look at 3 Nephi 2:7-8 and then at 3 Ne 8:4-5. Just kind of interesting :)

then his deathdate has to be in teh year that 9thday was long Friday. Si if He was born on the 6th +3 =9. Somewhere closest to year 30... maybe 40??

[HiJolly]

McConkie thought this exact date was an unknowable thing. HiJolley's link would suggest the DC passage was wrong and this April 6th stuff was just errant hyperbole.

I don't think so. I think that instead of implying that the scripture was wrong, that it is implying that our assumptions as to what it means, is what is incorrect.

HiJolly

[BenRaines]

At what time of the year were taxes collected in ancient Israel? That would be a good indicator of when his birth was. Jews were gathered together at tax time to Bethlehem. They were not there for end of year party.

When were taxes due in ancient Israel?

Ben Raines

[HiJolly]

At what time of the year were taxes collected in ancient Israel? That would be a good indicator of when his birth was. Jews were gathered together at tax time to Bethlehem. They were not there for end of year party.

When were taxes due in ancient Israel?

Ben Raines

Uh-oh. Where's my "can of worms" smilie?

HiJolly

[piper]

When were taxes due in ancient Israel?

Ben Raines

Whenever the Roman Emperor decided they were due and he wanted a census of the people Payday for the Empire.