Hi Folks,

Ronda's submission about jesus and Santa provoked me into contributing a 
couple of paragraphs from my recent posting of an article on the Bartimaeus 
website.  Enjoy!

Begin quote:

Something that has always been of interest to me is the matter of how
we men are able to take words and phrases out of context in order to
prove our misconceptions, prejudice, and especially ignorance.  As an
illustration of this, I would like to briefly relate a recent experience
of mine.

Because I am blind, I use a voice synthesizer and screen reading
software when at the computer.  As I was working my way through the
Gospel of John, chapter 6 and verse 12, in the Greek New Testament, my
attention was suddenly arrested by what sounded like the words "Santa
Claus".  Did I really hear that?  Yes!  What's more, it was right in the
middle of the passage describing the feeding of the 5000.  Now just
imagine with me for a moment.  What could 5000 hungry people, with their
bellies now full, want more than a real Santa Claus?  The rest I'll
leave to your own imagination.  Silly isn't it?  However, the syllables
of the name are there in two Greek words "perisseu-santa klas-mata",
and they have nothing to do with my crazy imagination, but are to be
understood in the full illumination of "context! context! context!"

End quote.

A couple more observations:
1. Saint Nicolas wasn't the first Santa Claus after all.
2. Santa is based at the North Pole:  compare this with Satan's intent in 
Isaiah 14:13 to ascend into the sides of the north.

WELL!  enough of my crazy imagination.  Phil, the rest is up to you!

Grant
Visit the home page of BABINC at:
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