Christmas Around the World Quiz

 

Quiz Question #1
The first instrument on which the carol "Silent Night" was played was:
·         A) A harp
·         B) A pipe organ
·         C) A guitar
·         D) A kazoo

Quiz Question #2
In Guatemala, Christmas Day is celebrated:
·         A) On January 6
·         B) On December 25
·         C) On October 31
·         D) Never

Quiz Question #3
Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in:
·         A) 1492
·         B) 1895
·         C) 1944
·         D) 1976

Quiz Question #4
Good King Wenceslas was king of which country?
·         A) Abyssinia
·         B) England
·         C) Bohemia
·         D) Gondor

Quiz Question #5
Medieval English Christmas pantomimes did NOT include which character?
·         A) St. Nicholas
·         B) The Bold Slasher
·         C) Father Christmas
·         D) The Turkish Knight

Quiz Question #6
The name of Scrooge's deceased business partner in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol was:
·         A) Bob Cratchit
·         B) Jerry Cornelius
·         C) Bill Sykes
·         D) Jacob Marley

Quiz Question #7
In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time. Their Dutch counterparts use:
·         A) Old hats
·         B) Beer mugs
·         C) Shoes
·         D) Stockings, just like everybody else!

Quiz Question #8
The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower, originally grew in which country?
·         A) Canada
·         B) China
·         C) Mexico
·         D) Spain

Quiz Question #9
Which name does NOT belong to one of Santa's reindeer?
·         A) Comet
·         B) Prancer
·         C) Blitzen
·         D) Klaxon

Quiz Question #10
In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by:
·         A) The Three Kings
·         B) Tom o'Bedlam
·         C) One of the Wise Men's camels
·         D) Father Christmas

Quiz Question #11
One notable medieval English Christmas celebration featured:
·         A) A giant, 165-pound pie
·         B) Snowball fights between rival courtiers
·         C) A swimming race across the English Channel
·         D) Huge crackers that sometimes exploded fatally

Quiz Question #12
In Australia, usual Boxing Day activities include:
·         A) Building snowmen
·         B) Tobogganing
·         C) Wombat hunting
·         D) Surfing

Quiz Question #13
In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small figurine of a goat. It is usually made of what material?
·         A) Candy
·         B) Straw
·         C) Uranium
·         D) Fir wood

Quiz Question #14
The real St. Nicholas lived:
·         A) At the North Pole
·         B) On the island of Malta
·         C) In Turkey
·         D) In Holland

Quiz Question #15
Which of the following was not one of the Three Kings?
·         A) Caspar
·         B) Balthazar
·         C) Teleost
·         D) Melchior

Quiz Question #16
In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of:
·         A) Fried fish, lettuce and spinach
·         B) Square meat pies
·         C) Broiled partridges with gooseberry sauce
·         D) Turkey and plum pudding

Quiz Question #17
In Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker, the nutcracker's main enemy is:
·         A) A girl called Clara
·         B) The King of the Mice
·         C) Dr. Almond
·         D) Drosselmeyer the magician

Quiz Question #18
The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as Boxing Day. It is also the holy day of which saint?
·         A) St. Eustace
·         B) St. Brigit
·         C) St. Nicholas
·         D) St. Stephen

Quiz Question #19
In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi sometimes play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. To get rid of them, you should:
·         A) Placate them with gifts of rice pudding
·         B) Burn either salt or an old shoe
·         C) Sing hymns in a loud voice
·         D) Throw your sandals at them

Quiz Question #20
When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on:
·         A) Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
·         B) A giant ptarmigan
·         C) A goat named Ukko
·         D) A flying carpet

Quiz Question #21
A boar's head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in the Middle Ages was killed by:
·         A) Choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy
·         B) King Wenceslas, who speared it from horseback
·         C) A falling fir tree
·         D) Remorse, after goring St. Nicholas

Quiz Question #22
When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied by:
·         A) His wife Lucy
·         B) His servant, Black Peter
·         C) Thirteen elves
·         D) St. Stephen

Quiz Question #23
At Christmas, it is customary to exchange kisses beneath a sprig of which plant?
·         A) Ivy
·         B) Yew
·         C) Holly
·         D) Mistletoe

Quiz Question #24
Believe it or not, one Indiana town is called:
·         A) Christmasville
·         B) Wenceslas
·         C) Noel
·         D) Santa Claus

Quiz Question #25
Who was the author of A Christmas Carol?
·         A) Mark Twain
·         B) Charles Dickens
·         C) Hans Christian Andersen
·         D) Thomas M. Sawyer

Quiz Question #26
Which popular Christmas song was actually written for Thanksgiving?
·         A) Away in a Manger
·         B) Frosty the Snowman
·         C) Jingle Bells
·         D) Joy to the World

Quiz Question #27
A favorite Christmas story is Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in...
·         A) Maryland
·         B) Boarding school
·         C) Wales
·         D) China

Quiz Question #28
In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that:
·         A) Made Christmas illegal
·         B) Recognized Christmas as an official holiday
·         C) Let prisoners spend Christmas Day at home
·         D) Gave Santa immunity to break-and-enter charges

Quiz Question #29
The world's largest Christmas cracker was made (and pulled) in which country?
·         A) Sweden
·         B) Australia
·         C) England
·         D) The United States

Quiz Question #30
The poem commonly known as The Night Before Christmas was originally titled:
·         A) Santa's Secret Visit
·         B) A Visit from St. Nicholas
·         C) The Night Before Christmas
·         D) The Midnight Guest

 
 

• Christmas Around the World Quiz Answers!
• 1) The first instrument on which the carol "Silent Night" was played was:
• C) A guitar
• The carol was first sung as part of a church service in Oberndorf, Austria. The unusual choice of guitar for the accompaniment rather than the traditional church organ has given rise to a number of picturesque stories (the organ bellows had been damaged by mice; the organ had been sabotaged; etc.), but in fact it was simply a matter of preference on the part of the author, Joseph Mohr.
• 2) In Guatemala, Christmas Day is celebrated:
• B) On December 25
• Guatemalan adults, however, do not exchange gifts until New Year's Day. Children get theirs (from the Christ Child) on Christmas morning.
• 3) Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in:
• B) 1895
• The idea for using electric Christmas lights came from an American, Ralph E. Morris. The new lights proved safer than the traditional candles.
• 4) Good King Wenceslas was king of which country?
• C) Bohemia
• The historical Wenceslas was actually only Duke of Bohemia, not a king. He lived in the tenth century.
• 5) Medieval English Christmas pantomimes did NOT include which character?
• A) St. Nicholas
• In Medieval England, Nicholas was just another saint - he had not yet metamorphosed into Santa Claus and had nothing to do with Christmas.
• 6) The name of Scrooge's deceased business partner in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol was:
• D) Jacob Marley
• Jacob Marley's spirit was the first of four to appear to Scrooge on Christmas Eve.
• 7) In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time. Their Dutch counterparts use:
• C) Shoes
• Dutch children set out shoes to receive gifts any time between mid-November and December 5, St. Nicholas' birthday.
• 8) The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower, originally grew in which country?
• C) Mexico
• In Mexico, the poinsettia is known as the 'Flower of the Holy Night'. It was first brought to America by Joel Poinsett in 1829.
• 9) Which name does NOT belong to one of Santa's reindeer?
• D) Klaxon
• A klaxon is actually an electric horn.
• 10) In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by:
• C) One of the Wise Men's camels
• The gift-giving camel is said to have been the smallest one in the Wise Men's caravan.
• 11) One notable medieval English Christmas celebration featured:
• A) A giant, 165-pound pie
• The giant pie was nine feet in diameter. Its ingredients included 2 bushels of flour, 20 pounds of butter, 4 geese, 2 rabbits, 4 wild ducks, 2 woodcocks, 6 snipes, 4 partridges, 2 neats' tongues, 2 curlews, 6 pigeons and 7 blackbirds.
• 12) In Australia, usual Boxing Day activities include:
• D) Surfing
• In Australia, as everywhere in the southern hemisphere, Christmas comes in the middle of summer.
• 13) In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small figurine of a goat. It is usually made of what material?
• B) Straw
• A variety of straw decorations are a usual feature of Scandinavian Christmas festivities.
• 14) The real St. Nicholas lived:
• C) In Turkey
• St. Nicholas was bishop of the Turkish town of Myra in the early 4th century. It was the Dutch who first made him into a Christmas gift-giver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his name eventually became the familiar Santa Claus.
• 15) Which of the following was not one of the Three Kings?
• C) Teleost
• A teleost is actually a bony fish.
• 16) In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of:
• A) Fried fish, lettuce and spinach
• The meal was eaten after the Christmas Eve service, in commemoration of the supper eaten by Mary on the evening before Christ's birth.
• 17) In Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker, the nutcracker's main enemy is:
• B) The King of the Mice
• The King of the Mice, usually represented with seven heads, leads his troops against the nutcracker's toy soldiers, but loses the battle when Clara, the heroine, stuns him with a hurled shoe.
• 18) The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as Boxing Day. It is also the holy day of which saint?
• D) St. Stephen
• And here, we used to say: St. Stephen, a 9th century Swedish missionary, is the patron saint of horses.
• Further research, and a kind note from Pastor Philip A. Gardner of Lancaster, Ohio, reveals that the Boxing Day St. Stephen has in fact nothing at all to do with Sweden or with horses. The Stephen for whom the day is named is the one in the Bible (Acts 6-8) who was the first Christian to be martyred for his faith.
• 19) In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi sometimes play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. To get rid of them, you should:
• B) Burn either salt or an old shoe
• Apparently the stench of the burning shoe (or salt) drives off the Kallikantzaroi. Other effective methods include hanging a pig's jawbone by the door and keeping a large fire so they can't sneak down the chimney.
• 20) When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on:
• C) A goat named Ukko
• Finnish folklore has it that Ukko is made of straw, but is strong enough to carry Santa Claus anyway.
• 21) A boar's head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in the Middle Ages was killed by:
• A) Choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy
• The story tells us that a university student saved himself from a charging boar by ramming a book of Aristotle's writings down its throat. He then cut off the boar's head and brought it back to his college.
• 22) When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied by:
• B) His servant, Black Peter
• Black Peter is responsible for actually dropping the presents down their recipients' chimneys, but he also punishes bad children by putting them in a bag and carrying them away to Spain.
• 23) At Christmas, it is customary to exchange kisses beneath a sprig of which plant?
• D) Mistletoe
• Mistletoe was associated with peace and friendship in ancient Scandinavia, which may account for the practice of kissing beneath it.
• 24) Believe it or not, one Indiana town is called:
• D) Santa Claus
• There is also a Santa Claus, Idaho.
• 25) Who was the author of A Christmas Carol?
• B) Charles Dickens
• After A Christmas Carol Dickens wrote several other Christmas stories, one each year, but none was as successful as the original.
• 26) Which popular Christmas song was actually written for Thanksgiving?
• C) Jingle Bells
• The song was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was originally called One Horse Open Sleigh.
• 27) A favorite Christmas story is Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in...
• C) Wales
• This charming and poetic story is based partly on Thomas' memories of his own childhood. Originally a radio script, A Child's Christmas in Wales is now sold as a book and has been made into a television special.
• 28) In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that:
• A) Made Christmas illegal
• Christmas festivities were banned by Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral. The ban was lifted only when the Puritans lost power in 1660.
• 29) The world's largest Christmas cracker was made (and pulled) in which country?
• B) Australia
• The cracker, 150 feet long and 10 feet in diameter, was made by Ray Price in 1991.
• 30) The poem commonly known as The Night Before Christmas was originally titled:
• B) A Visit From Saint Nicholas
• This poem was written by Clement Moore for his children and some guests, one of whom anonymously sent the poem to a New York newspaper for publication.

Sometimes God makes no sense to me at all. Here’s some help I received from the Bible at times when my faith faltered.

Please compare the following two Scripture readings. The first is from Mary’s magnificent Magnificat. The second is Jesus’ cousin, John, after he has been unjustly accused and arrested – an arrest which will end his life.

Luke 1
46Mary responded,
     “Oh, how I praise the Lord.
47     How I rejoice in God my Savior!
48   For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
       and now generation after generation
       will call me blessed.
49  For he, the Mighty One, is holy,
       and he has done great things for me.

Matthew 11
 2John the Baptist, who was now in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, 3“Are you really the Messiah we’ve been waiting for, or should we keep looking for someone else?”
4Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him about what you have heard and seen—5the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. 6And tell him: ‘God blesses those who are not offended by me.’”

Mary and John: are these two different faith-filled responses? Or did Mary make it and John fail?

In 2002 The World’s Funniest Joke was finally discovered and released upon an unsuspecting world. I have it here now; have you read it? Well it seems they took a year and invited people from around the world to judge jokes on an Internet site as well as contribute quips of their own. The LaughLab experiment conducted by psychologist Dr Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, attracted more than 40,000 jokes and almost two million ratings. Now, one of the reasons I was so interested in discovering this marvel of humor was the good Doctor’s identification of the joke which appealed most to people from all nations. I pastor a Church made up of people from all nations! I need this joke! The experiment revealed wide humor differences between nations. That might explain why my congregation never laughs at my jokes… 

The joke which received the highest global ratings was submitted by 31-year-old psychiatrist Gurpal Gosall, (I think his name is a bit of a joke) from Manchester, England. British humor! I know, I know, you’re dying to read the joke! So here it is!

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his cell phone, calls emergency services, and gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a long silence…and then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, I’m sure he’s dead. Now what?"…Thank you, Dr Wiseman.

When we approach the Bible, often we miss the humor, or the irony, or the terror or the shock. Basically, we park our imaginations at the door when reading the Bible. But can you picture reading Tolkien's Lord of the Rings without using your imagination? Just as we do damage to Tolkien when fail to enter his dream, so we diminish God’s impact when we fail to visualize the backdrop to every Biblical story. So join me now as we imagine the pain for Mary, the shame for her dad and the questioning of Jesus’ cousin, John.

Mary’s Good News:
She is pregnant by the Holy Spirit of God! How would you react? We just read part of her reactions in the Luke account.  Now use your imagination and visualize her father’s reaction when she shares this “Good News”! How devastated do you think dad was? This is not every father’s dream; it’s their nightmare.

My wife, Sheryl, was studying Luke 1, “The Magnificat”, during the last year she spent with her late husband, Allan. God spoke to her heart while reading this Scripture. God seemed to say she needed to turn Allan over to the Lord. That is what she did. The very next week Allan was diagnosed with cancer, a disease he succumbed to a few months later. Do you think this raised some doubts in Sheryl’s mind? Is God good, really? Do you give your loved ones to God only to lose them in some perverse test?

John the Baptist’s Good News:
Jesus’ cousin is locked up in prison, awaiting death. His reaction we know from Scripture; let me share it with you:
John the Baptist, who was now in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you really the Messiah we’ve been waiting for, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Matthew 11:2-3)

To say John was disappointed in Jesus is to park your imaginations at the door. John was beyond disappointed; he was deeply troubled. Everything he had believed in, hoped for, worked day and night to accomplish all hinged on his cousin making good on Jesus claim that He was, indeed, God’s Anointed and Chosen One! But Jesus wasn’t making any sense. John just couldn’t understand what was going on.  And it depressed him, discouraged him. Deep down I am certain he was furious. That’s consistent with what we see of John’s fiery nature. What was wrong with Jesus?! He wasn’t making any sense to John at all. So John sent Jesus this message: “Are you really the Messiah…or should we look for someone else?”

Sometimes the Good News in our lives turns disastrous. Circumstances beyond our control mess up our plans and shatter our dreams. Then along comes some well meaning but ill-informed Christian stating “Just believe and you will receive!  A Miracle is yours for the taking. If you can believe it, God will do it.” What happens to people who come to faith in Christ under such a Gospel message? What happens to your faith when life as it is turns out to be very different from life as it was supposed to be? James Dobson’s book shares the title of my observation. In it he says (p110),

…a person who really believes that all trouble will be swept away for the followers of Christ is left with no logical explanation when God fails to come through (as expected)….that person stumbles toward one of several conclusions, all of which are potentially damaging to faith: (Possible Conclusions when God fails to “come through”)

1. God is dead, irrelevant, bored, or uninvolved in the affairs of people.
2. God is angry at me for some sin I have committed.
3. God is whimsical, untrustworthy, unfair or sinister.
4. God ignored me because I didn’t pray enough or display enough faith.

Dobson goes on to observe, “All four of these alternatives serve to isolate that individual from God at precisely the moment when his or her spiritual need is the greatest”.

So then, what do we do when God’s ways do not make any sense to us?  Let me share with you seven principles you can follow to help you make some sense out of this mess.
1). God’s ways will not always make sense.
Isaiah 55:8-9
“My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

2). God is intimately involved even when appearing absent.
Psalm 37:1-2, 8-9, 39-40
Don’t worry about the wicked.
Don’t envy those who do wrong.
     For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like springtime flowers, they soon wither…
Stop your anger!
Turn from your rage!
Do not envy others--
it only leads to harm.
     For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the LORD will possess the land…
The LORD saves the godly;
he is their fortress in times of trouble.
     The LORD helps them,
rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them,
and they find shelter in him.

3). Face problems head-on by sharing your doubts with others who care.
Matthew 11:2-3
John the Baptist, who was now in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, 3“Are you really the Messiah we’ve been waiting for, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

4). Rely on God’s Word, not your feelings.
Matthew 11:4-5;
Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him about what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.

Isaiah 35:5-6; 61:1
And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will shout and sing! Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the desert…The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has appointed me to bring good news to the poor…

5). God’s timing is always on time.
John 11:1, 4, 7, 14
A man named Lazarus was sick… But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death… Finally after two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again…Lazarus is dead…”

Please remember: you may want a “healing of the sick” miracle when God wants a “raising of the Dead” miracle.

6). God loves you...period!
With parental love:
Fatherly love: Psalm 103:13
“The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.”
Motherly love: Isaiah 66:13
“I will comfort you there as a child is comforted by its mother.”

7). Your Arms are too short to box with God
Job 40:1-5; 42:5-6
Then the LORD said to Job, “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” Then Job replied to the LORD, “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will put my hand over my mouth in silence. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.”… “I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

Make this your prayer
And when, dear God, we grow weary of trying to make sense of that which seems to make no sense and of trying to find answers to what seems unanswerable and when we are left with little else than our doubt and our sadness, help us somehow to remember that earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

Response:
 Prophylactics, taken from the Greek word meaning to prevent before hand, raises the issue of the purpose of sexual union. Some churches take the position that God gave sex primarily to populate the world. If so, God did a horrible job with this particular design since most women can only get pregnant a few days a month.  I don’t know how much people understood in Biblical times about the best time of the month to conceive. But now days, we have pretty good idea. Therefore, if sexual intercourse is only for pregnancy (as some teach), knock it off when you know it is unlikely to work, eh?

Fortunately for you, “R”, the Union Church doesn’t take this position regarding sex. In fact, we take no position. We don’t even take a position regarding those churches which DO take a position. How position-less is that?! Why have we decided this?? Because the Bible takes no position. Obviously, modern medicine’s prophylactics were unknown during Biblical days. So the real question for a devoted follower of Jesus Christ becomes this: how are we to know if God would approve? Let’s go back to the original intention for sex. What is the Biblical understanding of intercourse?

In the Bible, there exists a principle of “firsts”. When you want to understand about creation, go back to the first creation. When you want to understand God’s view of Capital Punishment, examine how God handled the first murder. In this case, if you want to better understand God’s view on marriage, turn back to the first marriage. Whenever Jesus was asked questions about the nature of marriage, He always returned to Adam and Eve (i.e. Matthew 19:4 & Mark 10:6). What do we learn about this institution from the “first couple” of the Bible?

Marriage was designed by God to be the most intimate experience here on earth between two who are very different, male and female. God did not design sex to be experienced by two of the same (for example female with female). Why? Because in the sexual act, we have a picture of the relationship God wants to have with people: intimate and connected. God (Who is uniquely different from a human – we call this unique difference HOLINESS) wants to “enter into us” in an intimate relationship. The Bible has a long tradition of using the Bride/Groom/Marriage analogy to describe God’s desired relationship with us (see 2 Samuel 17:3; Isaiah 61:10, 62:4-5; Jeremiah 2:2; John 3:29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7, 21:2, 9).

Okay, where do prophylactics enter into all this debate? Are there any principles from Biblical literature we need to consider before determining the usage of such preventative devices? I do not share the Roman Catholic’s view that sex is designed by God for procreation. Therefore, I personally have no problem using birth control to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

However, there is one more issue to consider: when does “life” begin? Most Biblical Christians agree with Scripture that life begins at conception. If that is the case, and if you choose to use a prophylactic which ends pregnancy even soon after conception, are you supporting an early stage of abortion? Something to consider, eh?

Response:
Anger is to the human spirit what cancer is to our bodies. Anger consumes us. But is it wrong to get angry? Of course not! The Bible days God gets angry (and also claims God never does wrong. By extension, then, getting anger cannot be wrong in and of itself). Numbers 14:18 says that while it takes allot to get God angry, it happens! The Bible even encourages us to get angry. Ephesians 4:26-28 (The Message) says, Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. 27Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life. In other words, don’t feel like a failure if you get angry over a wrong or an injustice. I often remind people sexual abuse of children, starvation and systems of government that leave people in perpetual poverty should get you angry. If it doesn’t, there is something wrong with you!

The question isn’t about getting angry. Anger is a human emotion created by God for us to experience. But anger is something we were designed to get over. You see, the real issue here is what I do with anger once I have it. The above Ephesians scripture says to deal with it on the same day you get it. Anger allowed to fester will consume your joy, your effectiveness and your witness for Jesus, no matter how justified you feel.

Here is how to get rid of your anger. Colossians 2:6 says, And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. How did you accept Jesus as Savior? By FAITH. How does this scripture say, therefore, we continue to live in Him? By FAITH. Everything we do as Christians, initiates with faith (Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that without faith it is impossible to please God).

So how do we forgive? By FAITH.  Too often, we think we have to feel forgiveness before we can offer forgiveness. Not so! We forgive by faith, not feelings. Our faith is the engine that drives the car of our life. Feelings come along like a trailer. Your life must be propelled by faith (the engine); feelings (the trailer) cannot get you very far.

My brother, Gary, once told me that God gave us our dad so that we would be able to deal with anyone else who came along. In our dad, we had already met the most difficult man in the world! He betrayed our mother through adultery and then abandoned her to die from cancer. He abused his children emotionally. He stole from companies we co-owned with him. He wrongfully sued us twice, costing us huge amounts of time, resources, and most importantly, increasing the tensions between us and him. Throughout all of this, I learned the key to keeping my love and relationship alive and healthy with dad. How?

Here is what I did and here is what I recommend you do:
1.      Tell God all about it. If there is someone in your life you cannot or you refuse to forgive, start by getting down before God. Confess God’s greatness and your need. Then tell God EXACTLY how you feel about this person you can’t or don’t want to forgive. Explain what happened between you two and how it’s made you feel. God knows the details already; sharing, however, is both therapeutic for you and restorative for your relationship with Jesus, whom you love.

2.      BY FAITH, take the positive action of asking God to Forgive this person. You won’t feel any different probably. But that’s OK. Your feelings will eventually catch up to your positive action.  

3.      Act IN FAITH, doing the actions which demonstrate you have forgiven this person. When I asked God to forgive my dad, shortly after I graduated from College, no angels appeared singing “Joy to the people in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me”. No feelings of relief flooded over me. Nothing changed that I could see. Nothing changed that I could see. Yet everything changed between my dad and me. Immediately, I stopped avoiding my dad. I started finding creative ways to serve him and meet his needs. I did what by faith I believed. Eventually, I did feel different. I was able to hug and kiss dad on the cheek. What changed? Not my dad! He went to his death promoting havoc and chaos. So what changed? I changed. God changed me! Eventually my feelings of anger were replaced with feelings of love towards my dad. I did not do this (no way I could have “worked up” these feelings of forgiveness and affection). God changed me when I asked Jesus to forgive my dad.

Why go to all the trouble of forgiving a man like my dad or a person like the one you are angry at? Why forgive when it feels so good to seethe in anger? Here’s why: your lack of forgiveness rarely hurts them and never hurts them nearly as much as it hurts you. Your anger pollutes not only your relationship with the one you’re mad at. It also negatively impacts all others in your life. The ones you love feel the tension of your hatred. That is why you need to be a dispenser of forgiveness, not a retainer of anger. Anger destroys like cancer. But loving forgiveness covers over a multitude of sins.

The following is a simple portrait of Christ that the Center for Transforming Mission uses in their training.  They call it "Jesus from below."  It is the Jesus that emerges when we read the Bible with and for those who have been labeled the least.  It is a decidedly different image from the one that emerges when we read the Bible from the position of power, which often yields a Jesus that justifies us. My appreciation to Kris Rocke, CTM’s Executive Director, for sharing this with me via email.
 
The portrait deserves more explanation, but hopefully you will be able to see its biblical roots.  The inset facts represent those who might find comfort in this messiah.  May it be so this Christmas. 

ASIAN-BORN                                                                               
The Middle East is Asiatic

Nearly 60% the world is Asian born
MIXED RACE HERITAGE
See Matthew's genealogy

Multi-racial is fastest growing demo in the U.S.
SCANDALOUS GRANDMAS OF CHRISTMAS                 
Grandma Tamar (prostitute)                                
Grandma Rahab (prostitute)                 
Grandma Ruth   (Incest survivor)
Grandma Bathsheba (Murderous Affair)

4 million women, children victims of sexual slavery and trafficked as sex slaves in world worth $20 billion annually.
SHAMEFUL BIRTH                 
Not everybody bought the virgin Birth story.

79% of births to teenagers in U.S. are outside marriage resulting in bastard children.
TEENAGE MOTHER
Mary was probably 13 

One million teenage girls become pregnant every year in the U.S.
POOR
Temple offering of the poor

1.7 Million U.S. children are in families that live on less than $6645 a year for family of 5.
POLITICAL REFUGEE                 
Flees persecution to Egypt

50 million people in the world have been forced to flee their homes in the last 10 years.
IMMIGRANT
Returns to Israel  

8.7 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
DRUNKARD & GLUTTON                 
Friend of sinners

8 million suffer from alcoholism and 15 million from drug dependency
MENTALLY ILL
Jesus' family thought he was "out of his mind"

45 million suffer serious mental illness
URBAN
Went through cities of Galilee

By 2020 over 60% of the world's population will be urban, young and poor.
HOMELESS
No place to "lay his head"  

3 million homeless men, women and children, last year in US
OUTLAW
Broke Sabbath Laws

25% of Young Adult African American Males are Incarcerated or on parole.
DESPISED & REJECTED
Seen as cursed by God

The leading motivations for hate crimes in U.S. are "race" 53% religion 16% and sexual orientation 15%.
INNOCENT VICTIM
Blameless

Every 11 minutes a child is reported abused or neglected in the U.S. - nearly 3 million.                  
FORSAKEN BY FATHER
"My God, My God..."

Of 72 million young people in US, almost 25% live w/o their father.  50% for African-American
MURDERED
Crucified

Black males (14-24) make up 1% of the U.S. population but 30% of all homicides.
RESURRECTED AS WOUNDED HEALER
Shows Thomas his eternal wounds

150 million suffer from a chronic medical condition.  5 Million suffer chronic pain. 15% of vets suffer severe depression/PTSD.

Worldviews
Everyone has a worldview. We may not be conscious of it, but we all have certain presuppositions and biases that affect the way we view all of life and reality. One person has defined a Worldview like this: “A worldview is like a set of lenses which taint our vision or alter the way we perceive the world around us.”

Our worldview is formed by:
1)      Education,
2)      Family value system
3)      Dominant/subdominant cultural norms we adopt
4)      Through osmosis accidentally learned from surrounding cultural influences:
For many people their worldview is simply something they have absorbed by osmosis from their surrounding cultural influences. They have never thought strategically about what they believe and wouldn't be able to give a rational defense of their beliefs to others.
5)      Literature read
6)      Media absorbed
7)      Etc.

Worldview Content
Leo Apostel Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Brussels:
A worldview can be defined as a coherent set of bodies of knowledge concerning all aspects of our world. It is to allow us to construct a global image of the world and understand as many elements of our experience as possible. A worldview is a map that we use to orient and explain, from which we evaluate and act, and put forward prognoses and visions of the future. Hence: (i) orient; (ii) explain; (iii) evaluate; (iv) act and; (v) predict are the basic aspects of a worldview. In a more structured way Apostel put forward these basic aspects as follows:

1. A model of the world (What is the nature of the world? How is it structured?)
2. An explanation model (Why is the world the way it is and not different? Why are we the way we are and not different?)
3. An evaluation model (Why do we feel in our world the way we feel?)
4. An action model (How can we and do we have to act and create in this world? How can we influence and transform?)
5. A rational futurology (What kind of future is ahead of us? And what are the criteria that allow us to choose for the future?)
6. A model of model construction (How do we have to construct a model of the world such that we can answer the above questions?)
7. Fragments of worldviews as starting points (What are the partial answers that can be given to the above questions?)

Five Worldviews
It sometimes seems as if there are more philosophical and religious views than any normal person could ever learn about. Indeed, there are more than six thousand distinct religions in the world today. However, some people are surprised to find that the world’s religions and philosophies tend to break down into a few major categories. These five worldviews include all the dominant outlooks in the world today. The following information is adapted from a book by Dennis McCallum.

  Each Worldview is named and explained by a brief explanation of its what each believes regarding REALITY, PEOPLE, TRUTH AND VALUES. 

NATURALISM (Atheism,Agnosticism, Existentialism)
REALITY:    The material universe is all that exists. Reality is "one-dimensional." There is no such thing as a soul or a spirit. Everything can be explained on the basis of natural law.
PEOPLE:    People are the chance product of a biological process of evolution. People are entirely material. The human species will one day pass out of existence.
TRUTH:   Truth is usually understood as scientific proof. Only that which can be observed with the five senses is accepted as real or true.
VALUES:   No objective values or morals exist. Morals are individual preferences or socially useful behaviors. Even social morals are subject to evolution and change.

PANTHEISM (Hinduism; Taoism, Buddhism, much New Age Consciousness
REALITY:   Only the spiritual dimension exists. All else is illusion, maya. Spiritual reality, Brahman, is eternal, impersonal, unknowable. It is possible to say that everything is part of God, or that God is in everything and everyone.
PEOPLE:   People are one with ultimate reality. Thus humanity is spiritual, eternal, and impersonal. People’s belief that they are individuals is illusion.
TRUTH:   Truth is an experience of unity with "the oneness" of the universe. Truth is beyond all rational description. Rational thought as it is understood in the West cannot show us reality.
VALUES:   Because ultimate reality is impersonal, many pantheistic thinkers believe that there is no real distinction between good and evil. Instead, "unenlightened" behavior is that which fails to understand essential unity.

THEISM (Christianity, Islam, Judaism)
REALITY:   An infinite, personal God exists. He created a finite, material world. Reality is both material and spiritual. The universe as we know it had a beginning and will have an end.
PEOPLE:   Humankind is the unique creation of God. People were created "in the image of God," which means that we are personal, eternal, spiritual, and biological.
TRUTH:   Truth about God is known through revelation. Truth about the material world is gained via revelation and the five senses in conjunction with rational thought.
VALUES:   Moral values are the objective expression of an absolute moral being.

SPIRITISM AND POLYTHEISM(Thousands of Religions)
REALITY:   The world is populated by spirit beings who govern what goes on. Gods/demons are the real reason behind "natural" events. Material things are real, but they have spirits associated with them and, therefore, can be interpreted spiritually.
PEOPLE:   People are a creation of the gods like the rest of the creatures on earth. Often, tribes or races have a special relationship with some gods who protect them and can punish them.
TRUTH:   Truth about the natural world is discovered through the shaman figure who has visions telling him what the gods and demons are doing and how they feel.
VALUES:   Moral values take the form of taboos, which are things that irritate or anger various spirits. These taboos are different from the idea of "good and evil" because it is just as important to avoid irritating evil spirits as it is good ones.

POSTMODERNISM
REALITY:   Reality must be interpreted through our language and cultural "paradigm." Therefore, reality is "socially constructed."
PEOPLE:   Humans are nodes in a cultural reality – they are a product of their social setting. The idea that people are autonomous and free is a myth.
TRUTH:   Truths are mental constructs meaningful to individuals within a particular cultural paradigm. They do not apply to other paradigms. Truth is relative to one’s culture.
VALUES:   Values are part of our social paradigms as well. Tolerance, freedom of expression, inclusion, and refusal to claim to have the answers are the only universal values.

Christian Worldview
A Christian consistent and cohesive Biblical worldview includes the following beliefs:
1)      God exists (Heb. 11:6) and that created everything.
2)      God is the standard by which we measure everything else.
3)      The Bible is God's divinely inspired Word(2 Tim. 3:16).  
4)      The fullness of God came to earth and lived in the human body of Jesus Christ (Col. 1:19).
5)      People chose to rebel against God in the Garden of Eden and because of that act of rebellion, sin and death entered the world (Rom. 5:12-14). 
6)      Truth is absolute, not relativistic, and can only be understood by submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the one who said "I am the way, the Truth and the life, no one can come to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

While Christianity is believed by faith, it is most definitely a reasonable and rational faith. It answers the questions of the mind and the heart. We all live by faith. Some people have faith in themselves. Some have faith in the government or in a hope for world peace. Some have faith in their money, their education or their employment. All of those things are temporal and can change. They can all let us down. Our health can fail, we can lose our job, we can end a meaningful relationship with someone we care about. Life changes, but God can be depended on through it all. He will never leave nor forsake those who belong to Him. (Heb. 13:5b)

Our desire for you is Christ will live in your hearts by faith, and that you will come to know and understand with us the height and the depth and the width and the length of the Love of Christ. It surpasses all human knowledge. We pray that you can be filled with the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:18-19)

During Advent, many Protestant Believers get predictably upset over the Roman Catholic’s views of Mary. Protestants try to balance this over zealousness out by downplaying the importance of Mary. So what should we say regarding Mary?

Is she “The Mother of God”? Last time I checked, Jesus was her son and Jesus IS God…

Is she to be “Blessed”? This year in an outstanding Christmas production, one excellent singer refused to participate because one of the songs to be sung was “Ave Maria”. But if you read a translation from the Latin, you will find 100% of these words come from Scripture, Mary’s Magnificat, as it is called. So Protestant’s now cannot sing Scripture just because others take it out of context?

The following thoughts are not unique to me. They come from one of the finest living Protestant scholars in the New Testament. Dr. Kenneth Bailey. Dr. Bailey observes:

Mary’s Magnificent song we call The Magnificat

• God is a God of Miracles (vs. 46-48)

46And Mary said:
   "My soul glorifies the Lord
    47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 48for he has been mindful
      of the humble state of his servant.
   From now on all generations will call me blessed,

• God alone is worshipped (vs. 49-55)

49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
      holy is his name.
 50His mercy extends to those who fear him,
      from generation to generation.
 51He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; (Lifts Up)
      he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. (Puts Down)
 52He has brought down rulers from their thrones (Puts Down)
      but has lifted up the humble. (Lifts Up)
 53He has filled the hungry with good things (Lifts Up)
      but has sent the rich away empty. (Puts Down)
 54He has helped his servant Israel, (Lifts Up)
      remembering to be merciful
 55to Abraham and his descendants forever,
      even as he said to our fathers."

(Put Down about Gentiles: absent. Therefore, beginning of Gospel)
 56Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

See Exodus 15 (Song of Moses) From which Mary borrows these ideas:
Vs 46-49: personal
Vs 50-55: community

How Mary Models Discipleship for Us Today
Luke 11:27-28
  27As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed (Markaria) is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you."
    28He replied, "Blessed (Markaria) rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
In other words, Do not honor my mother for her famous son, honor her for her faith, courage and inner qualities expressed in a life of obedient faith. He is not saying do not bless her, but bless her for who she is! FOLLOW Mary’s example of a life lived in faith!

Faith: obedience
We see in the Magnificat that Mary is a type of the exaltation of all Believers. The Lord exalted me and the Lord will exalt all Believers. Mary is honored for her own faith, not because of her famous son.

Surrendering to His Lordship!
John 2:4-5
  4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."
    5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
Jesus is very formal and uses an idiom still used in the Middle East when addressing her request: Jesus is saying to Mary, you surrender your will to me. She does so, setting an example for all believers of making Jesus Lord.

Great example of Courage.
John 19:25
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother
Greatest agony imagined.

A woman of prayer
Acts 1:14
They agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his brothers.

Talk of the Great heroes of faith in the New Testament, and you must realize that Mary comes first. She is the first Theologian of the New Testament.

Response - and I apologize this was so long in coming:
Good Christians support multiple views of Creation. Some of these views create more problems than necessary for both the Christian and the scientist, both of whom strive to be true to facts.

Creation Introduction
The three creation accounts of the Bible (Genesis 1, Genesis 2, and Psalm 104) emphasize most strongly the who of creation. To a significant degree they explain the how of creation. And to a much lesser degree they discuss the when of creation. – Hugh Ross, Creation and Time

Two Major Christian Divisions:
Young-earthers: They interpret the two Genesis accounts of creation literally and attempt to blend the two stories; the "day" mentioned in Genesis 1 is thus a standard 24 hour day, and creation was completed in 6 normal days. In their view, most sedimentary rocks are the products of the Noahic flood. Most believe that the earth is less than 10,000 years old; some hold to 4004 BCE as being the year of creation.

Old Earthers: They believe in the "indefinite-age theory." They do not assign a specific length to a Genesis "day", but believe that God created the earth and its life forms in the sequence specified in Genesis, over billions of years. Each "day" refers to an era of hundreds of millions of years duration. They accept various indicators that the earth has been in existence for billions of years. However, they reject biological evolution.

Here are several additional explanations:
1.      God individually created each species, in an order of His choice.
2.      God guided evolution. (It has been argued that He does this continuously; or intermittently; or in detail; or only by providing Purpose.)
3.      God infused humanity with souls, but did not have to disturb his Creation in order that we be brought about.
4.      God set Creation into motion, and it has run its (intended) course.
5.      The Universe simply runs its course, and that Purpose is for humans to make. This is best represented in an atheistic evolutionary view.

Six Day/24 Hour Creation View
Based on the Bible, it took 7 days to complete the entire creation event, not millions/ billions of years.  Based on the Bible, He created all living creature on day 5 and 6, it does not state that He created a single cell ameba and it evolved into man over millions of years.  This is not the same as evolution.  The fact that some are now willing to say that perhaps there's some divine force out there that got the whole thing rolling in no way reconciles these two events.  The sad fact is it's not the evolutionists making that statement as much as the theologians saying "if you agree God was involved, I'll agree he used evolution to make it happen."

Day/Period View
The Hebrew uses two different words meaning “day”. One word means a literal 24 hour period. That is the only thing this word can mean. The other word (yom) means an undetermined period of time, maybe 24 hours or 24 years or 24 million years ( “A day with the Lord is the same as a million years…). In Genesis, yom is specifically used.

Intelligent Design Theory
Intelligent Design Theory (IDT)—also called Design or the Design Argument—is the view that nature shows tangible signs of having been designed by a preexisting intelligence. IDT holds that design is empirically detectable in nature, and particularly in living systems. It has been around, in one form or another, since the time of ancient Greece.

Gap View
They believe that after God created "the heaven and the earth" as described in Genesis 1:1, there was a very long time interval - sufficient to accommodate many geological ages. The earth apparently existed for billions of years without light from the sun, moon and stars. Some believe that their light was obstructed by an overcast situation which God removed on the fourth day. They maintain that the conventional translation of Genesis 1:2 ("And the earth was without form and void..") is in error. A better translation is that "the earth became waste and void", perhaps because of some unspecified cataclysmic judgment of God before the first humans were created. Verse 3 and following then describes how God reclaimed creation. Jeremiah 4:23-26; Isaiah 45:18; and Ezekiel 28:12-15 may have echoes of this interval. This belief can be traced back into Jewish second century CE writings.

Theistic Evolution
 (Also called process creation, and multiple creation.) This is similar to naturalistic evolution. The universe is over 10 billion years old; the earth is over 4 billion years old. Species developed in increasing complexity as observed by science. Followers of this belief system state that new species evolve by natural processes. God is seen as performing a supervisory function, intervening as needed, nudging evolution to make certain that it progresses in the right direction.

Conclusion
So which view is correct? Give me a break! I’m old, but I still am not THAT old!   I was NOT there at the time of creation. So I do not know for certain. I have no problems with those who hold 6 Day24/Hour or Day/Period views. Let me ask, does God need a 24 hour day to create? Couldn’t God have zapped everything into existence in a nanosecond? How powerful is God? Obviously, the God of the Bible did not need time. But God in some sense used time to create. For me, the Day/Period view of creation fits the Biblical text the best.

You do not have to sacrifice your brains on the altar of faith. That is NOT historical nor Biblical Christianity.

Response:
I was asked this question recently at a forum recently here in Guatemala City. I think given the extreme interest in Islam today, informed intelligent people really benefit from know the facts giving rise to all three major branches of Islam.

Introduction to Islam
One in every five inhabitants on earth belongs to the religion of Islam. It is the fastest growing religion in the world by percentages. Shia and Sunni Islam share the same basic Islamic tenants. First, they are strictly monotheistic with no wiggle room regarding the Christian understanding that our one God is a Tri-unity (that is, there is one God Who is best described as existing in Three Persons). Islam, along with Judaism, rejects the Christian idea of a plurality of persons in the one Godhead. Therefore, Jesus is understood in Islam to be a man and a prophet, the supreme Prophet (even ahead of Mohammed). However, to Muslims, Jesus is not God.

Next, Shia and Sunni Muslims accept ongoing Revelation which began in the Old Testament, continued through the New Testament revelations and ended with the Quran. While all Islam argues that the earlier revelations have been corrupted to a certain degree, they claim absolute accuracy of the Quran.

Submission to Allah is key in Islamic belief (Allah is the Arabic word for “God”). The word Muslim means “one who submits to God” and is the active participle of the same verb of which Islām is the infinitive.

Another important principle in Islam is the gathered community. The Islamic community is never to discriminate based on race, economic status, or even nationality.

Purity is one area of vast importance to all branches of Islam. That is why Muslims abstain from pork,  alcoholic drinks, illicit drugs, etc. This concept has been twisted to support Radical Islam’s views of “removing” the impure from the world, cleansing the world on Allah’s behalf, so-to-speak.

The Five Pillars of Islam
Muslims practice five formal aspects of worship. These “Five Pillars” describe the faith for a Muslim and help structure a Muslim’s daily life. These five pillars are:

1. Declaring your faith
2. Prayer five times a day
3. Almsgiving to the needy
4. Fasting during Ramadan
5. Making the Pilgrimage to Mecca

Differences between the branches of Islam
Now as to the differences between them…
Sunni and Shia divided shortly after the death of the founder and prophet, Mohammed. Their differences have more to do with political realities than with belief systems. When Mohammed died, the problem arose over who would take over the fledgling faith. Who would rule the Islamic State?

Sunni’s felt strongly that the most capable leader should hold this position. Abu Bakr, thus became Caliph, meaning the civil and religious leader of the Islamic state. The word Sunni refers to one who follows the Prophet’s traditions. Shia’s felt that the leadership should remain within the Prophets own family. For them, the Imam, or leader, must have direct lineage to Mohammed, himself. Other differences include acceptance by Sunni’s of extra writings (the Hadith) and Shia Islam’s belief that the Imam is sinless, a belief rejected by Sunni’s.

Sunni’s make up approximately 85% of all Muslims while Shia’s make up the remaining. But unlike Judaism and especially Christianity, you will rarely hear any Muslim identify as belonging to one branch or the other. Both groups consider each other to be Muslims.

Let me close by detailing what I see as the difference between traditional Islam (both Shia and Sunni) and Radical Islam. Traditional Islam is very predestinational oriented. What I mean is they have a firm belief in the absolute control of Allah. In Christian theology we refer to this as the Sovereignty of God.

Let me give an example: when I first visited Upper Egypt and landed at the Aswan airport, I noticed we nearly missed the wreckage of a plane that had crashed there many months before. When I commented that the wreckage might put a damper on tourism, I was gently rebuffed by my Islamic tour guide who said, “If Allah wants that plane wreckage removed, Allah will remove it”.  During my seven years living Egypt, I was to hear the same phrase used in a number of contexts, from explaining why bombed out Egyptian and Israeli tanks in the Sinai desert to learning to cross busy intersections without looking both ways first (“If Allah wants me to be hit by a car…”).

Radical Islam has no such belief in the Sovereignty of God, as best I can determine. In fact, Radical Islam intends for Allah’s purity to rule, whether or not Allah has intervened. Followers of Radical Islam will see to it themselves that the “infidels” are removed and the world made pure. Traditional Islam believes Allah will rule and overrule. Radical Islam helps Allah rule.

What should a Christian’s response be to Islam? First off, we need to get more educated about Islamic beliefs, history, etc. We need to STOP bunching all Muslims together as though Traditional followers and Radical followers were one and the same. Most importantly, we need to stop taking the road of fear regarding Islamic people and begin to embrace them with the love of Jesus. Start by recognizing all the beliefs Christians and Muslims share in common: One God (and we’d better learn to do a better job of explaining the Trinity), Jesus as a higher prophet even than Mohammed, the virgin birth, Christ’s coming again, and the Bible. We share more beliefs with Islam than we do any other major faith, including modern day Judaism.

Islam also presents us a major challenge. They want us to clean up our culture, one that has had 2000 years of Christian influence. They want us to again become “People of the Book”, Islam’s original name for Christians. What will you do to prove you accept their challenge?

Response:
Masturbation, that popular pastime, the one never mentioned in polite public chat…and especially never at church, masturbation is the question of the day!  What does the Scripture teach about masturbation?

Directly, it teaches nothing, nada, goose egg (Stop me! I ‘m running out of clichés!) But this has not stopped religious people from making far ranging statements (which I assume must reflect their own personal struggles with the issue).

The Quran never mentions masturbation. Yet all Muslims understand it as horrendous sin. Buddhism, often thought of as the world’s most tolerant religion, denies a Monk the pleasure of masturbation. It stops the spiritual progression needed to reach the next level of spirituality. Another way a Buddhist looks at this is to always reach UP, don’t reach DOWN J.

Judaism and Christianity, who look to the Bible for guidance, struggle to find enlightenment on this topic. For example, in an obscure and never preached passage in (Genesis 38:8-10) a man by the name of Mr. Onan, practices what can only be referred to as an early form of  “safe sex” when he pulls out of the woman just before orgasming. He “spills his semen on the ground”, thus preventing an unwanted pregnancy.  Orthodox Judaism takes this biblical reference and somehow construes it to apply to masturbation (that’s how desperate these people are to address this “sin”. Tracey Rich, who writes an excellent online reference work for the non-scholar, called  Judaism 101, says the following: Although Onan's act was not truly masturbation, Jewish law takes a very broad view of the acts prohibited by this passage, and forbids any act of ha-sh'cha'tat zerah (destruction of the seed), that is, ejaculation outside of the vagina. In fact, the prohibition is so strict that one passage in the Talmud states, "in the case of a man, the hand that reaches below the navel should be chopped off." (Niddah 13a)

Fortunately for women, there is no “seed” spilled when they perform masturbation. So Scripture forbidding masturbation based on “seed-spilling” isn’t applicable. Unfortunately for the religious zealot, this makes forbidding it an even more difficult assignment.

I have to ask myself, why, when there are detailed passages explaining yeast infections and sex, mold and sex, gay sex, straight sex, animal sex, etc. ad nausea….WHY did God forget to “mention” masturbation? Maybe it hadn’t been discovered yet?  Maybe in the evolution of the human body, the arm had not grown to just the right length for genital persuasion?

Hmmm. I think a more logical reading of the Bible leads one to conclude that masturbation is a far bigger problem for the religious conservatives (among whom I number myself) than it is for God! Don’t you think God could have been as clear in his instructions against masturbating (were it as horrendous as some would lead us to believe) had God wanted to? Yet, with hundreds of verses detailing sexual purity, there is none to be found directly mentioning masturbation. What are we to conclude from this?

One possible conclusion, the one all the men are rooting for, is that God couldn’t care less what you do in the privacy of your own home with the privacy of your own hand.  In other words, masturbation is never sin, according to this view.

Here’s the problem I have with that view. You already know I don’t think masturbation is a “capitol crime”, worthy of offing one’s hand. But is it a problem?” I believe masturbation, becomes a problem when it controls you, you no longer control it. Any habit over which you have no control will diminish the quality of your life.

I will always remember one of my Young Life adult leaders warning his teenagers that when he got married, he thought he would automatically stop his habit of masturbating. He was shocked that he still needed to masturbate as much after he married as he did before. Why? It was a habit, something he had lost control over. 

Masturbation has little to do with sex. If anything, the habit of masturbation will teach you that sex is primarily about satisfying your needs, not satisfying your mate. But that is a view of sex which will lead you to an unhappy marriage and a very unsatisfying sex life. 

The bible teaches that God is to control all aspects of our lives: Do not let sin control the way you live;do not give in to sinful desires. – Romans 6:12.

Masturbation can be done without thinking of anyone one in particular. In fact, if a male does not masturbate, Gods will help the process along through “wet dreams”. And during the dream, you have no control of what happens. At least in self imposed masturbation, the person can control his thoughts to avoid focusing on a person they know or have seen.

When does masturbation become a habit? Like most things in the Bible, I would recommend the biblical mandate to do it in moderation. If you are masturbating several times a week, you are in addicted.

If you need help breaking this habit and gaining control over your thought life during masturbation, you need to be part of a discipleship group (same sex only) who will help you, encouraging you while also holding you accountable. You can check out the helpful moderate views of James Dobson and other Christian leaders, as well. Their writings can help relieve you of the guilt and help restore the control you need over your own hand.