Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 45, Number 300, Decatur, Adams County, 22 December 1947 — Page 27

DECEMBER 22, 1947

■ * K" w ' t, "'. < Mi l |||. ■ * K « ■ HTV 14k j US ... ■ 1 r< : >Br Z ' ' ::te^. A . z .„... ■ z -JV «■ E J? | ■ . a fcSI Creetimosr K Kind Best Wishes ■ for 1948 ■ • • . ._. . . ■ i■, ■ -.-■■■■ -— Lffli IMPLEMENT CO. Phone 180 | ■K 3rd St. Mr H ; i I Kur John Deere Dealer ■ ■ Vi;. ... ~... . :. x -; -:. i I M HI C_ « tafej \ ■ ■n « V .•« I SMITLEY’S FLOWER SHOP f ■ ■'. Monroe Street (At Cemetery) Phone 5142 * § H»»3i?}3 i a§iaa3i»3s&aa3iaa»3i»®iaasia3iaa3iaa2iaa3i3ia&a3i2’ I ffi ■ «s ■ ■■■.-W-tm S . i K ft £ May your Christmas | | filled with a radiance | ■ °f h a PP’ ness f° r y° u I 1 .w and your dear ones. § Ito | I ' S ■ * DR. H. FROHN APFEL ri i - « CHIROPRACTOR £ 1 i***»iSi>3lSiM3iai»SsSiJi2j»!»is ! as«» ) 3iaSi>i»i3«»i»2ia»l3®»3i3i»»3» ■KKHKHI 11 "WH NjSci; il®, 'sk r\ f“’T n ‘.w Sf % SS$*S wW I\ 1 I V^i-3 s—' K*V S.” » rSss riSLw I VI i Y A '<<- M m » Var. vk k J k * Egg& vVsRb WRUMk I s' k FBk | 111 A H U Ixvfe -vA It» fIU Vg Ito S' A V® Jl Mb * * RLOsM? —! p-~ J | | A\ ~ * ■M OMMI Zz ~" —J I

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By CLARK KINNAIRD AND it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed . . . In the year 747 by the Roman calendar, the world ruled by Augustus, that is, the world known to the Romans, extended from a vague, almost legendary, Cathay westward to a barbaric Britain. The popular conception of the world was a plane stretching from the Mediterranean to precipices beyond which all was darkness. Actually, beyond the boundaries of the world of the Romans, were many populous lands, one of them being that now called America. The latter had been populated by migrants from across the sea who may have been Asiatics, Phoenicians, Egyptians, northern Europeans, or all four. Most of the people of America at that time were nomadic tribesmen not unlike the nomads of Palestine. In the Roman year 747, jews who dwelt in their homeland between the Mediterranean and the Jordan waited humbly and hopefully for a Messiah. They had been promised one by the prophet, Isaiah: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful. Counsellor, the Mighty God.” They wanted a national deliverer from the tyranny which bowed them down. For the estimated 3,000,000 people of Judea, Samaria and Galilee, which then comprised Palestine, were unhappy and rebellious under their foreign rulers of 747 as Palestine is under its foreign rulers of 1947. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. There are many places in the map of Palestine the names of which begin with Beth, because it was the most general word for house or habitation. Bethlehem meant house of bread. It was one of the oldest towns in Palestine, it was the home of Ruth; the Book of Ruth is a page from the domestic history of Bethlehem. It was the home of David; it was there Samuel came to find the shepherd lad. and anoint him as king of Israel. And so if was, that, while they were there, the days were

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THE DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT, DECATUR, INDIANA

accomplished that she should be , delivered. And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped Him ' in swaddling clothes, and laid ’ Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. L r I In the days of Augustus, Romans celebrated the Saturnalia, or festival of Saturn, in the I seven days beginning December j 17. During it, no public business could be transacted, the law , courts were closed, and no male- , factor could be punished. It was a time of licentious disorder. Probably Saturnalian celebrators crowded the inn. i And there were in the same ■ country shepherds abiding in the ; field, keeping watch over their ’ flock by night. ; Sheep were one of the mdst ■ important possessions of the • ancient Hebrews. Judaea had ! manufactures, fisheries and commerce, but most of its people 1 earned their living from the soil ’ and their flocks. Immense numbers of sheep grazed in Pales- [ tine in Biblical times; there is a story of one group of shepherds ! whose flock consisted of 3,000,1 000 sheep and goats. Sheep and J lambs provided most of the ; meat, and wool most of the : clothes of the East. L And, 10, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about I them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 1 Fear not: for, behold, I bring ' you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day ’ in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will 1 toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen It,

they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. Because of what the shepherds made known, the world eventually began to calculate time from the birth of Jesus. But there was an error in transcribing 747 into Christian chronology, and the event about which Luke was to pen the greatest news story ever written, occurred in 5 B. C., or 1,952 years ago. Luke was the nickname of Lucanus, a man of Antioch in Syria. He was a physician and reputedly a painter of extraordinary skill, before he became a convert to Christianity and a companion of Paul. The story was inscribed in Rome in Greek, upon papyrus, as a letter to one Theophilus, another convert to Christianity who was, like Luke, a Gentile, and who appears to have been a Roman of high position and wealth. Nothing else is known of Theophilus except this: by inscribing this Gospel and the Acts of the Apostle to him, Luke made Theophilus’ name immortal. There is little more that we know of Luke, but we know this: he was a friend unto death. “I am all alone, save for Luke,” Paul wrote shortly before he was put to death in Rome. But such devotion was to be expected of a Christian. It is probable that Luke gained most of his knowledge of the Saviour, as he did his devoutness, from Paul, for there is no evidence Luke ever saw Him himself. He could have had help from the earlier gospels of Matthew, who had left his job as tax collector at Capernaum to be one of Jesus’ Disciples, and of Mark; and there were countless other narratives of Jesus current at the time he wrote. But it appears that Luke was inspired most by what Paul told him and by the material he gathered himself. It is certain he wrote with consummate, unmatched art. Paul himself was a great writer. The Epistle s—First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, Galatians, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon —are awesome evidence of this. His writings and his labors within a few years transformed Christianity from something known to a few into a world religion. But Paul placed his emphasis upon the acts and teachings of Jesus. So it remained for Luke, a man wonderfully inspired, to write the wondrous story of the First Christmas that excels all other Christmas stories ever told.

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iK® S Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep | Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep; | To whom God's angels did appear, g Which put the shepherds in great fear, $ "Prepare and go,” the angels raid, | "To Bethlehem, be not afraid; K For there you’ll find this happy morn, g A princely babe, sweet Jesus born.” -r‘""i. z L ' / ■■ ■ ■“ | | ’ *• I I v>* M i— ■ ~ 5 International shipments by air j express to and from foreign cities t in the first six months of this year | totaled 294,558, an increase of 33 ( percent over the first six months | of last year, according to Railway ( Express. « o K ,T/ade In a Good Town —Decatur

A Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year LANKENAU'S THE BOSTON STORE ryifSWM Bill ’ 4 * d * 1 mO ' V jl F » 11.

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Js> I ton uzL if > ■ F (Vj z V? 24 || > We're sextons this Yuletide . . . We’re climbing to the belfry and ringing those K | i»'''* l "** 1 joyous, silver-toned bells till everyone of * ° Ur r * en d f ears e s M err v Z*"\ Christmas and a Happy New Year! Ssc &/ a Leland Smith Ins. Agency G,enn v ’ Hin Le,and Smith E. W. (Walt) Johnson VL/ Idabelle M. Alton W. J. (Bill) Kuhnle Barbara H. August Harry (Peck) Essex ' S <<TOPPCCW< «<•€ '<’<'S<t< «C <«<«« «««*««««<€ <<< <**«««***«!»!*«!