James and the “Gold Ring”
James chapter 2 begins with a warning against showing favoritism in the church. James starts with a hypothetical scenario where “a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes” (James 2:2). Today, it seems that nearly everyone in North America wears a gold ring. It is commonly used to signify that a person is engaged or married, but the modern use of gold rings goes far beyond that as well. So what was James getting at when he described a person who wears a gold ring? The word......
Did Christmas Begin as a Pagan Holiday?
You’ve probably heard the old saw that December 25, Christmas, began as a pagan holiday. The most commonly cited connections are that it began as the Greco-Roman festival of Saturnalia, or else that it began as the Roman feast of the sun (Sol, or Greek Helios) at the winter solstice. The truth is, neither of these is correct. Saturnalia was a Roman festival in honor of the god Saturn. It had origins in the Greek holiday of Kronia, which celebrated the god Kronos. However, Saturnalia was never held on December 25. The......
