Ship of Fools: Christmas

Thread: Christmas Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Evensong (# 14696) on :

So Christmas is almost upon us.

In the general sense, it means remembrance of Jesus' birthday.

In the more particular sense (at least for early creedal Christians) it remembers the incarnation: God became man.

What does that mean?

One article I read recently says it means this:

quote:
It is in the Gospel that Christians find inspiration for their daily lives and their involvement in worldly affairs - be it in the Houses of Parliament or the stock exchange. Christians should not shun the world; they should engage with it.

What does God become man mean to you?

How does the fact that God became a human being make any difference to your life?

Posted by EtymologicalEvangelical (# 15091) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Evensong
What does God become man mean to you?

It means that Christianity is the true humanism.

Posted by Anglican_Brat (# 12349) on :

It means that revelation is not simply about receiving a message from on high, revelation is about the divine Word, the same Word that is the source and the architect of the universe, the one who upholds all being, is wed to our human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.

Fully divine, he brings us into the divine life. Fully human, he demonstrates true humanity.

Christmas celebrates this miracle, the incarnate God who enters into the reality of contingent, human existence. The one who all creation worships, has become a baby, gurgling, laughing and crying in the arms of his blessed Mother. In this incarnation, all that is ordinary, all that is human is revealed as icons for the divine.

Posted by Mudfrog (# 8116) on :

It means that he was born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law.

He became a man so he could die, thereby expressing the saving love of God that he also demonstrated beautifully in his words and actions.

Posted by Freddy (# 365) on :

quote:
Originally posted by EtymologicalEvangelical:

quote:
Originally posted by Evensong
What does God become man mean to you?
It means that Christianity is the true humanism.

It means that God became visible, so that He could be seen, understood, loved and obeyed.

Posted by Mechtilde (# 12563) on :

It means that everything about being human, including our "bodiliness," has been entered into and sanctified by God. It confers the ultimate dignity upon us: we aren't so far below God that we might as well be cockroaches. God designed and intended us to be in intimate communion with him/herself, & was so committed to that happening that Incarnation (& all that followed) was worthwhile.

Posted by W Hyatt (# 14250) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
What does God become man mean to you?

That the creator of the universe is with us and serves us in the gentlest way possible.

quote:
How does the fact that God became a human being make any difference to your life?

It inspires me to try to be with the people around me and serve them in the gentlest way I can.

Posted by ExclamationMark (# 14715) on :

Not merely an association but an identification

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

It means that the Christ is in you. I try to honour that, but of course, often forget it.

Posted by Ruudy (# 3939) on :

God became man, that we may become divine.

Posted by Tortuf (# 3784) on :

It means that God loves us and cares about us.

Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :

It means that the great gulf between God and Humanity, contrasted in Genesis by the image of God walking with man in the Garden, is bridged. God is incporporated into humanity, and at the other end of the incarnation, Humanity is incorporated into God. There can no longer be a gulf between the two, because of the one who is both.

Posted by Mudfrog (# 8116) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ruudy:
God became man, that we may become divine.

Can you expand on that? What does it actually mean that we will 'become divine'? In what way, with what attributes?

I know what it means that God is divine - but will we become divine in the sense that we will be of the same essence as God? If not, then what divine attributes will we have, and if we will not actually be the same as God, then how does the word 'divine' apply?

In John 1 v 1 where it says that the Word was God it doesn't actually say that; in my limited understanding it used the word 'God' more as an adjective tan a noun - I've seen it translated as 'what God was, the Word was'.

If we 'become' divine, will we become 'what God is' and therefore be exalted to the Godhead?

It all seems very strange to me.

Posted by Mudfrog (# 8116) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
It means that the great gulf between God and Humanity, contrasted in Genesis by the image of God walking with man in the Garden, is bridged. God is incporporated into humanity, and at the other end of the incarnation, Humanity is incorporated into God. There can no longer be a gulf between the two, because of the one who is both.

But before the fall, Adam wasn't incorporated into God; he was a separate being with no divine attributes. How does salvation/atonement incorporate humanity into God when that wasn't the original state?

I agree that the atonement is literally meant to restore the close fellowship between man and God but I can't see how it was ever supposed to incorporate humanity into God. It sounds like assimilation to me.

My reading of both Eden and Babel suggest that God was rather against the idea of men becoming 'like us' (God).

Posted by Corvo (# 15220) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
[QB] So Christmas is almost upon us.

In the general sense, it means remembrance of Jesus' birthday.

In the more particular sense (at least for early creedal Christians) it remembers the incarnation: God became man.

What does that mean?

That we should make more of March 25th?

Posted by Hairy Biker (# 12086) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:

In the more particular sense (at least for early creedal Christians) it remembers the incarnation: God became man.

It means there's more to this faith than PSA

Posted by Hairy Biker (# 12086) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Corvo:

quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
[QB] So Christmas is almost upon us.

In the general sense, it means remembrance of Jesus' birthday.

In the more particular sense (at least for early creedal Christians) it remembers the incarnation: God became man.

What does that mean?

That we should make more of March 25th?

Why is it the 25th? (apart from tradition of course.) 40 weeks would take us to the 20th, but most pregnancies seem to last more like 42, so we should celebrate the Annunciation on the 6th March.

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

Considering that Mary was travelling, I think it's at least as likely that she didn't make it even to term. I suspect that westerners who don't do too much work while carrying make to term much more often. I had pretty easy pregnancies both times, but I'm a small woman and I barely made it to term with my first child. I suspect I would have made it those few days longer with my son so that he was officially full-term, if I had not been exceedingly active and busy at the time.

[ 31. December 2012, 14:33: Message edited by: Gwai ]

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