Before the class
Christmas
Eve: it refers to the evening or entire day proceeding Christmas Day, a
widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
Christmas
Day: it is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ,
observed most commonly on December 25.
Boxing
Day: it is a holiday
traditionally celebrated the weekday Saturday following Christmas Day, when
servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as "Christmas box ", from their masters,
employers or customers.
Class
Bible: The Bible is a collection of texts sacred in Judaism and
Christianity. It is an example of a collection of scriptures written as
different times by different authors in different locations. Jews and
Christians consider the Bible to be a product of divine inspiration or an
authoritative record of the relationship between Gods and humans.
Hebrew
Bible: It is the founding document of the people of Israel, describing its
origins, history, and visions of a just society.
Old
Testament: it is the first section of the Christian
Bible, based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible,
a collection of religious writings by ancient Israelites. It is the counterpart to the New Testament, the second portion of
the Christian Bible. The Old Testament canon varies between Christmas
Churches. The Old Testament consists of many distinct books written, complied,
and edited by various authors over a period of centuries. It is not entirely
clear at what point the parameters of the Hebrew Bible was established already
by about the 3rd century BC or even later.
The book of the Old
Testament can be broadly divided into several sections.
1.
The first five books or
Pentateuch[Torah]
2.
The history books telling the
history of the Israelites, from their conquest of Canon to their defeat and
exile in Babylon.
3.
The poetic and Wisdom books
dealing, in various forms, with questions of good and evil in the world
4.
The books of the biblical prophets,
waring of the consequences of turning away from the God
New
Testament: It is the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first
being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The main character in the New
Testament is Jesus Christ. The New Testament
was written by Greek language including four Gospels. [Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John]
Class Discussion
The original
sin
It is also called ancestral sin, is the Christian doctrine of humanity’s
state of sin resulting from the fall of man, namely the
sin of consuming from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, stemming
from Adam’s rebellion in Eden. This condition has been characterized in many
ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a
tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred to as a sin nature
to something as drastic as total depravity
or automatic guilt of all humans through collective
guilt.
Sacrifice of Isaac
It is the title of two paintings from 1598—1603 depicting the sacrifice of
Isaac. The paintings could be painted by the Italian master Caravaggio but there
is also strong evidence that they may have been work of Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, a
talented early member of the Caravaggio following who is known to have been in
Spain about 1617—1619.
Story: Abraham and
Sarah
The Lord came to talk to Abram, and Abram asked, "Who will have
all my things when I die ". God promised Abram and his wife Sarai that
one day they would be parents, even though they were old and had no children.
God wasn’t sure that Abram understood. So that night he took him outside, and
said,
"Do you see all the stars that are in the sky?" When Abram
looked up, the whole sky was full of stars, so many in fact that he would never
be able to count them. The God said, "That is how many children
you will have." Quite a few years later when Abram was ninety-nine years old (older than
even your grandparents) the Lord decided to change Abram's name to Abraham,
which means "father of many." He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah. God
told them again that they would be parents and that they would have a boy. This
time Abraham laughed so hard he fell on his face! It was hard to believe that
he and Sarah would have a child in their old age. One day three visitors came
to Abraham's house. He hurried to meet them. "May I get you something to
eat and drink?" Abraham asked. "Please come in and join us, and have
a rest on the couch."The visitors agreed, so Abraham brought them some
fresh bread, milk, and hamburgers. While the visitors were eating, they asked
Abraham, "Where is your wife Sarah?" Abraham thought this was a
little strange, but he replied, "She's in the other room". Then one
of the men spoke and said, "I will come back to see you at this time next
year, and Sarah will have a son." Now Sarah was listening behind the
living room door. She started to laugh, but covered her mouth and laughed to
herself because she didn't want to be heard. Then she said to herself,
"How can I have a child, I'm almost one hundred years old?" Abraham
and Sarah Bible children's story. Later when the visitors had left, Abraham and
Sarah realized that the man who had told them this was indeed God. A year later
Sarah did have a son. She and Abraham named him Isaac, which means "he
laughs." They were very excited, and remembered to thank God for Isaac.
Book: A Christmas
Carol in Prose
It is also called Ebenezer Scrooge.
It is a novel by Charles Dickens,
first published in London by Chapman and Hall on 19 December 1843. The novella
met with instant success and critical acclaim. A Christmas Carol tells the
story of a bitter old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation into
a gentler, kindler man after visitations by the ghost of his former business
partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to come.
The book was written at a time when the British were examining and exploring
Christmas traditions from the past as well as new customs such as Christmas
cards and Christmas trees. Carol singing took a new lease on life during this
time. Dicken’s sources for the tale appear to be many and varied, but are,
prinicipally, the humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for
the poor, and various Christmas stories and fairy tales.
Vocabulary
gen: birth
genesis: the begging of something
Song: Have yourself
a merry little Christmas
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.
Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.
Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.
Additional
Supplement
David Copperfield
The full title is the Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation
of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery is the eighth novel by
Charles Dickens. It was first published as a serial in 1849—1850, and as a book
in 1850. Many elements of the novel follow events in Dicken’s own life, and it
is probably the most autobiographical of his novels.
Sistine Chapel
It is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the
Pope, in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magena. The fame of the
Sistine Chapel lies mainly in the frescoes
that decorate the interior, and most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and
the Last Judgement.
Frescoes :is
a technique of mural painting executed upon
freshly—laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment
to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting
becomes an integral part of the wall.
Film
Meet me in St. Louis
It is a musical film
from Metro—Goldwyn Mayer which tells the story of an American family living in
St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair in
1904.
