It Is What It Is--Epiphany

The two feasts had different emphases because of the different religious and cultural contexts in which they arose, but essentially their meaning was the same: Eventually, however, the emphasis on January 6 shifted--particularly in the west and in some parts of the east --to reflect manifestations of Christ beside that which occurred at his birth namely, those that occurred at the coming of the magi, at his baptism, and at the wedding feast of Cana.

This year the baptism of the Lord is also celebrated the first Sunday after Epiphany Jan. To the first of the four principal meanings, Magi are understood to be members of the Persian priestly caste. No doubt this view contains some not easily definable element of truth: The other meanings listed by Gerhard Delling are as follows: For the Magi in Mt 2, it is the first of the four meanings that applies, at least in a broad sense. The Infancy Narratives ]. They apparently had material of a prophetic nature some have suggested that they got it from an eastern Jewish community, such as the one in Babylon that allowed them to identify the birth of the new "king of the Jews" astronomically.

De Bello Judaico iii, — [ Jesus of Nazareth: Probably, because they assumed the newborn king would be a son of Herod--the current "king of the Jews. This, of course, played into Herod's paranoia for his throne and led to the slaughter of the innocents.

Christmas Traditions and Customs

It is hard to know. Some question whether the star was a natural phenomenon at all, pointing out that it seems to lead the magi to Jerusalem, disappear, and then reappear and hover over the house in Bethlehem. But this isn't what Matthew says. He does not say that the star led them to Jerusalem. They merely report that they had seen the new king's star "in the east" Mt.

When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was [Mt. This does not necessarily mean that the star appeared to move in the sky in a way that stars don't ordinarily.

Departing from Jerusalem at night, they may have noted on the short 6 mile trip to Bethlehem that the star was in front of them in the sky--a coincidence arranged by divine providence. Then, when they got to the house, they noticed it was directly over the house--again, a coincidence arranged by divine providence but not necessarily an unusual motion for a star. Thus the question of whether it could have been a natural phenomenon remains.

• Knitting Pattern - KP232 - Sleepingbag - 0-3mths, 3-6mths.
• American Dream.
• 9 Things You Need to Know About Epiphany.
• Navigation menu.
• Preambles to the Air Contaminants Standard (1989 and 1993) (Abridged) (OSHA Preambles Series).
• ZOE (Pensamientos) (Spanish Edition).

Nevertheless, the question whether or not this was an astronomically identifiable and classifiable celestial apparition was not going to go away. It would be wrong to dismiss it a priori on account of the theological character of the story.

Various proposals have been made, including for rare astronomical phenomena like the conjunction of certain planets in certain constellations, or supernovas. All forms of divination are to be rejected: God may have arranged for certain signs to attend the birth of his Son, but this is the opposite of what astrology involves. The Fathers have emphasized a further aspect. Gregory Nazianzen says that at the very moment when the Magi adored Jesus, astrology came to an end, as the stars from then on traced the orbit determined by Christ cf.

The planets bear the names of deities. According to the concept prevailing at the time, they somehow ruled over the world, and man had to try to appease these powers.

Pope Francis will celebrate the Feast Day with a Holy Mass in St Peter's Basilica

Biblical monotheism soon brought about a clear demythologization: On entering the Gentile world, the Christian faith had to grapple once again with the question of the astral divinities. Hence in the letters he wrote from prison to the Ephesians and the Colossians, Paul emphasizes that the risen Christ has conquered all the powers and forces in the heavens, and that he reigns over the entire universe.

If you like the information I've presented here, you should join my Secret Information Club. If you're not familiar with it, the Secret Information Club is a free service that I operate by email. Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant pastor or seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith.

Eventually, he entered the Catholic Church.

Another famous epiphany myth is associated with Isaac Newton's apple story, [4] and yet another with Nikola Tesla's discovery of a workable alternating current induction motor. Though such epiphanies might have occurred, they were almost certainly the result of long and intensive periods of study those individuals had undertaken, rather than an out-of-the-blue flash of inspiration about an issue they had not thought about previously.

Another myth is that epiphany is simply another word for usually spiritual vision. Actually, realism and psychology make epiphany a different mode as distinguished from vision, even though both vision and epiphany are often triggered by sometimes seemingly irrelevant incidents or objects. Western churches generally celebrate the Visit of the Magi as the revelation of the Incarnation of the infant Christ, and commemorate the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. Traditionally, Eastern churches, following the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar, have celebrated Epiphany or Theophany in conjunction with Christ's baptism by John the Baptist and celebrated it on January 19; however, other Eastern churches have adopted the Western Calendar and celebrate it on January 6.

In more general terms, the phrase "religious epiphany" is used when a person realizes their faith, or when they are convinced that an event or happening was really caused by a deity or being of their faith.

In Hinduism, for example, epiphany might refer to Arjuna 's realization that Krishna incarnation of God serving as his charioteer in the " Bhagavad Gita " is indeed representing the Universe. The Hindu term for epiphany would be bodhodaya , from Sanskrit bodha 'wisdom' and udaya 'rising'. Or in Buddhism, the term might refer to the Buddha obtaining enlightenment under the bodhi tree, finally realizing the nature of the universe, and thus attaining Nirvana. The Zen term kensho also describes this moment, referring to the feeling attendant on realizing the answer to a koan.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the feeling. For other uses, see Epiphany. Epiphany holiday , theophany , and hierophany. Preliminary investigations into the psychology of epiphanies as discontinuous change experiences. Retrieved 19 September Journal of Humanistic Psychology. The Myths of Innovation. Retrieved 15 October Encyclopedia of psychology and religion.

Retrieved 16 October University of Washington Press, The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight". Current Directions in Psychological Science.