Christianity/Christmas. FAO of anyone with knowledge regarding either.

the bible is so inferior to tolkien lore.

 

tolkien doesn't have a bear ripping 42 kids to pieces! with pretty pictures!

 

Sauron could kill 20 elves in one swing

 

could but doesn't

AND NO PICTURES!

 

he did when he had his ring and it did show it! (fellowship of the ring prologue!)

and there are LOADS of pics over the net of this stuff. wtf!

 

i assumed you were talking about the book :X

 

there are illustrated versions of the book !

 

Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior

and some say a fourth called Arteban


and i think the shepherds are just called 'You boy! bring that sheep here.'

 

I thought it was Caspar?

 

Any use?

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What were the names of the three wise men?

It would appear that one can call the wise men who visited Jesus by any name one would wish, but the tradition has it they were named Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior.

Here is the Bible Commentary article on the wise men: Wise men, Gr. magoi, which designated men of the various educated classes. Our word "magicians" comes from this root. But these "wise men" were not magicians in the modern sense of sleight-of-hand performers. They were of noble birth, educated, wealthy, and influential. They were the philosophers, the counselors of the realm, learned in all the wisdom of the ancient East. The "wise men" who came seeking the Christ-child were not idolaters; they were upright men of integrity (Desire of Ages, pages 59,61).

They studied the Hebrew Scriptures and there found a clearer transcript of truth. In particular, the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament claimed their attention, and among these they found the words of Balaam: "There shall come a Star out of Jacob," (Numbers 24:17). They probably also knew and understood the time prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 9:25,26), and came to the conclusion that the Messiah's coming was near. (See Desire of Ages, pages 61 & 62.)

On the night of Christ's birth, a mysterious light appeared in the sky which became a luminous star that persisted in the western heavens (see Desire of Ages, page 60). Impressed with its import, the wise men turned once more to the sacred scrolls. As they sought to understand the meaning of the sacred writings, they were instructed in dreams to go in search of the Messiah. Like Abraham, they knew not at first where they were to go, but followed as the guiding star led them on their way.

The tradition that there were but three wise men arose from the fact that there were three gifts (Matthew 2:11), but is without support in Scripture. An interesting, but worthless, legend gives their names as Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior. The unfounded idea that they were kings was deduced from Isaiah 60:3 (cf. Revelation 21:24).
Nichol, Francis D., The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, (Washington, D.C., Review and Herald Publishing Association), 1978.

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How did the tradition of gift giving start? The origin of giving gifts during Christmas is generally attributed to the Three Wise Men who were said to have followed a bright star from the East to Bethlehem where the baby Jesus was born. They are said to have brought three gifts for baby Jesus. Today, the day the ?three? wise men arrived bearing gifts is celebrated on January 6. In Germany, or the Three Kings Day or the Heilige Drei Knige, as it is called, is the final celebration of Christmas, i.e. the Twelve Days of Christmas from December 25 to January 6. The abbreviation of the names of the three wise men, CMB (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar) is put on the door the night before January 6 to protect the house.

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(Found another)

* The names of the three wise men are Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior.

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(And Another - prolly the most useful )

Q: What are the names of the three wise men in the Bible?

A: The Bible doesn't mention three; it speaks of wise men (magi) from the east. The number three is often assumed because of the three gifts.

However, there may have been two or a whole bunch. Different branches of the Christian Church have assigned different names: Among the Latins, from the seventh century, we find slight variants of the names, Gaspar (Caspar), Melchior, and Balthasar. The Syrians have Larvandad, Hormisdas, Gushnasaph, etc.; the Armenians, Kagba, Badadilma, etc. Other names have been used, as well, in different Christian bodies.

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So there you have it - they never mention it in the Bible!

 

You missed out the fact that the lazy sods were two years too late.

 

Aye i only found that out this Christmas. and here was i thinking they were on time but noooooooooo.

Was watching one of the cheesy videos about the Birth and stuff. I got to thinking, what bird would let 3 mucky mingin shepards come see her like straight after she has had a kid. She would be like "nooo i need to get me makeup on, and do my hair"