Author Topic: Today is St. John the Baptist Day  (Read 3835 times)

Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,165
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
Today is St. John the Baptist Day
« on: June 24, 2017, 12:16:43 pm »
I believe that this day was chosen to celebrate the birth of John the Baptist because it was thought the Summer Solstice was this day, so the feast of a major saint would oppose pagan festivals celebrating the solstice.

This day is also more or less six months before Christmas, and it was believed that John was older than Jesus of Nazareth--probably some sort of cousin, I would guess, because their mothers, Mary and Elizabeth were related (The NRSV Bible uses "relative," the RSV uses "kinswoman," William Tyndale's 1534 translation calls Elizabeth Mary's "cousin," the KJV calls Elizabeth Mary's "cousin," the ESV uses "relative," and the NASB also uses "relative.")

(Yes, I have this many versions of the Bible in my library because issues of translation fascinate me. There are days when I wish I could read New Testament Greek so I could make my own translation and decide for myself what different passages really mean. There is much disagreement over the meaning of some passages, such as what St. Paul has to say about homosexuality. I really wish I could decide for myself, instead of being forced to rely on what other people think, but for that I would need to be able to read New Testament Greek.)
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,287
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Today is St. John the Baptist Day
« Reply #1 on: June 24, 2017, 02:46:08 pm »
Very interesting, Jeff! I really like reading about different ways to translate Bible passages too. It's very enlightening.
"chewing gum and duct tape"