Definitions of "Legend"

a) an extremely famous person
b) a traditional story popularly regarded as historical but perhaps not fully unauthenticated.

There is no definitive evidence that Jesus even lived but for the sake of this book, and his believers, let's assume he did.

It's a proven fact that a good deal of religion is based on embellishments and legend. It's just too difficult to verify that which was written so many centuries or millenniums ago. Stories from the past are often folded into their religious beliefs. For instance the legend of the great flood originated with the ancient Sumerians (3250 - 1720 B. C.) It was part of their important Epic of Gilgamesh, written around 2000 B. C. in which a few people survived in a watertight ark. They finally landed on a mountain and gave thanks to their gods for sparing their lives. The universal flood story was passed on for centuries in that Near Eastern region where the Sumerians and later the Hebrews lived.

A more objective analysis of Christian history also explained why Jesus' birthday is celebrated on December 25th. Through the third century A.D. another "imported" religion was more popular in Rome than Christianity. It was Mithraism, Christianity's "sister religion," (see appendix 3, "Major World Religions.") The birthday of Mithraism's main God, the sun God Mithra, was for years before the birth of Christ, celebrated on the 25th of December. During that week, Rome also held great festivals honoring the arrival of the winter solstice. This celebration was known as "Saturnalia." Saturn, at the time, was the Roman God of agriculture. When the days started getting longer instead of shorter (which occurs at the winter solstice, ) legend has it that ancient farmers were so relieved, they celebrated heartily. Often, slaves in Rome were temporarily released to have a good time. Presents were exchanged and there was a lot of drinking.

Early Christians documenting Jesus' life and/or the life they heard he had, probably didn't know when Jesus' birthday was. They may have felt "when something works, don't fix it" and began also celebrating Jesus' birthday on the 25th of December.

There exists no scientifically verifiable information as to what Jesus said during his lifetime. Thus, it's thought the first accounts of Jesus' life and teachings were oral. Since Greek was the area's "official" written language, the first written language of the New Testament, once compiled was Greek. Because Jesus was born a Hebrew and lived in the land of the Hebrews, the languages he and his followers spoke would have been Hebrew and/or its related language, Aramaic. Thus, Jesus had a Hebrew/Aramaic name at birth. That name is Yehoshua, or Yeshu for short. One rendering of Yehoshua is Joshua. The Greek translation of Yehoshua (Joshua) is Jesus. It's doubtful Jesus was ever called "Jesus" while alive. This is primarily because his followers were Hebrew and spoke Aramaic and Hebrew, not Greek. Years later, when Greek writers were writing and compiling the New Testament, they translated his Hebrew name of Yehoshua into the Greek name Jesus. It's probable that Jesus was also never called "Christ" while alive. Since he was Hebrew, and lived primarily in Hebrew lands, he most likely was called "Hammasiah" (Hebrew) or "Mesima" (Aramaic) by his followers. "Ho Christos" is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word mashiakh. It means "an anointed one." Over the years, "Ho Christos" was shortened to "Christ." The word "Bible" is the English translation of the Latin word for "books," "biblia." Thus, the term "Bible" wasn't a popular word until well after the 14th century when the Latin Bible was translated into English.

Aaron can be reached at the book's discussion board -http: //aaron-caldwell.boards.net

About the Author: Books by Aaron Caldwell include: 1. The Ultimate Collection of Famous Virgin Births: A Reference Book 2. The Location of Hell is Here on Earth: Arguments For and Reasons Why 3. 100+ Famous Figures with Virgin Births and/or December 25th Birthdays Prior to Jesus Christ: A Reference List 4. The Ultimate Collection of Resurrections and Rebirths 5. The Contemporary Agnostic Believer 6. Resurrections 7. The Absolutely Essential Guide To Agnosticism 8. The Location of Hell is Here on Earth: Arguments For and Reasons Why Special Edition - 3 Books in One. Aaron can be reached at the book's discussion board - http: //aaron-caldwell.boards.net