Happy Birthday?

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This is the time of the year when I have my rant on my Christmas pet peeve. This is the time of the year when Christians all over the world will celebrate the "birthday" of Jesus who is also called Christ. This is the time of the year when some Christians will faithfully sing happy birthday to Jesus.

I find this to be a little bit inappropriate, to understate my sentiment. To make my case this time, we shall take a look at Isaiah 9:6:
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In this verse, it is explicitly stated (if one reads carefully) that a child is born to us and a son is given. The child, who was to be called Jesus, was born in Bethlehem in the year when Claudius had his census, to a virgin girl by the name of Mary. But Jesus, whose real identity is the Messiah and the second person in the Holy Trinity, existed eternally. This is stated in many places, but in this OT scripture, it is stated that the son is given to us.

This is one reason why I find singing happy birthday to Jesus as a little bit weird. Jesus, as a man, was born but as the Divine Being was given. I personally find that singing the happy birthday song overemphasizes his humanity and seems to downplay his divinity. This in turn reflects how we think about God and Christianity.

This is a short rant. So thank you for reading.

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