December 25 was Not the birthday of Jesus (Yahushua Ha Mashiach)
Christmas is not in the Bible . Nowhere does it say December 25 was the birthday of Jesus and most of the stuff we associate with the festive season has almost nothing to do with Christianity .
Celebrating Christams is Strickly Forbidden in the Bible by Walter Veith
You think Christmas is a holiday of goodness and to celebrate jesus? you are absolutly wrong. christmas is strickly forbidden in the bible. christmas is a pagan holiday
Did you know Santa is an anagram of Satan ?
Did you know SANTA is an anagram of SATAN ?
Christmas is not in the Bible . Nowhere does it say December 25 was the birthday of Jesus and most of the stuff we associate with the festive season has almost nothing to do with Christianity .
Why Christmas is PAGANISM (Christmas Exposed)
Apparently, the season of good cheer did not start out as exclusively a Christian festival. According to Pagans, the early Christian church hijacked December 25 to celebrate the birth of Jesus because they saw that everyone was already having a good time and decided to take advantage of it.
Historical debate has been raging for a long time over the exact date of the birth of Jesus Christ, with estimates ranging from sometime in September to much later in February.
But the most important date in the festive season for Pagans is the winter solstice which always takes place around December 21. Called Yule, it is one of the traditional Celtic fire festivals and marks the return of the light after the longest night of the year.
The Pagan Federation, an umbrella group for Pagan organisations, describes Paganism as a spiritual nature-venerating belief system rooted in the ancient nature religions of the world. The term of Pagan covers Wiccans, better known as witches, followers of the Northern Tradition who base their beliefs on Norse and old northern European beliefs, and also Druidism. Christians and the more secular Christmas revellers may be relieved to learn that Pagans in Britain do not tend to cavort around holly bushes stark naked, or “skyclad”, to celebrate their version of Christmas.
High Priestess
” We celebrate the rebirth of the sun, not the son,” said Kate West, High Priestess of a Wiccan coven in Cheshire.
On the night before the solstice she meets with the members of her coven, which number anywhere between 12 and 20, at a local beauty spot, to “enact the battle of the oak and the holly king.”
The holly and the oak tree represent the two opposites of winter and summer respectively. Two male members of the coven wear crowns of either oak or holly and perform a ceremonial fight.
“Then we drum and chant to bring up the sun” said Ms West, whose coven, called the Hearth of Hecate, wears black robes for the occasion “because they don’t show the dirt as much as white ones.”
Ms West said that the winter solstice was not the most important Pagan ceremony for Wiccans, that distinction goes to their new year at Hallowe’en. She said that many Pagans do celebrate Christmas, but mainly for the children and “you are unlikely to see a nativity scene in a witches house”.
Ms West, who is also an author on the subject of witchcraft, estimates that there are roughly 20,000 Pagans in Britain today and says it was a rapidly growing religion: “It’s is the thinking person’s religion … with nobody to intercede between you and your god and no one to tell you what to think” she said.
“It’s certainly too cold at this time of year to run about with no clothes on,” said Dhyan Sargam, a witch from Berkshire. He and his circle of about 20 warmly-dressed Pagans celebrate the festival of “light and healing” by holding a torchlit procession around a maze near Winchester. They picked this area in particular because it is close to Twyford Down, the site of a contentious road bypass which some activists argued was environmentally damaging. When they get to the middle of the maze, they say a few healing prayers and go home and have a big party.
“For us we decided to have fireworks to mark the return of light. We took advice from the police because obviously people don’t expect fireworks at this time of year … we’ve done this now for years,” he said.
“I’m not a Pagan because I’m anti-Christian, I’m a Pagan because I believe in a variety of Pagan deities.” he said.
But, in common with many Christians, Mr Sargam said: “The commercialisation is not something we like … to make this time of year an overtly commercial affair is inappropriate.”…BBC News
The Personal Message Of Christmas
By Charles Spurgeon
“We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas. First, because we do not believe in any mass at all, but abhor it whether it be sung in Latin or in English. Secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and consequently, it’s observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Saviour’s birth, although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred. It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the Church celebrated the birth of our Lord; and it was not till long after the western Church had set the example, that the eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known, probably the fact is that the “holy” days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. We venture to assert that if there be any day in the year of which we may be pretty sure that it was NOT the day on which our Saviour was born, it is the 25th of December. Regarding not the day, let us give God thanks for the gift of His dear Son.
How absurd to think we could do it in the spirit of the world, with a Jack Frost clown, a deceptive worldly Santa Claus, and a mixed program of sacred truth with fun, deception and fiction. If it be possible to honor Christ in the giving of gifts, I cannot see how while the gift, giver, and recipient are all in the spirit of the world. The Catholics and high Church Episcopalians may have their Christmas one day in 365, but we have a Christ gift the entire year.” (Dec. 24, 1871)
“Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under pagan superstition that Christmas is a pagan festival, is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is celebrated, prove its origin.”
“Those who follow the custom of observing Christmas, follow not the Bible but pagan ceremonies.”
This must be the day of the gods.
It is all about the consumers spending their money and the big profits that retailers will make from shoppers buying all there junk. Christmas is thought by most to be a wonderful time, bringing the focus on giving, family togetherness, beautiful music and decorations, feasting and singing Christmas carols and all of this is supposedly centered for the worship of Christ. Surely the Bible instructs us to do all this, right? And His birth on December 25th, then why are other deities celebrated on the same day, December 25th, from Nimrod, Baal, Moloch, Dagon, Hercules, Atlas, Mithras, Krishna, Zeus, Osiris, Tammuz, Horus, Apollo, Ammon Ra, Zanolxes, damuzele, Bacchus to Jupiter, the list goes on. The pagans celebrated this day all over the world. This must be the day of the gods.
December 25th was Chosen as it was the Birthday of a Pagan Sun God
What some may find particularly reprehensible about Christmas is that not only are the trappings of it pagan, but the actual date selected was the birthday of the sun god Mithras. This is known by pretty much all scholars. Here is one from a Catholic scholar:
Mithraism A pagan religion consisting mainly of the cult of the ancient Indo-Iranian Sun-god Mithra. It entered Europe from Asia Minor after Alexander’s conquest, spread rapidly over the whole Roman Empire at the beginning of our era, reached its zenith during the third century, and vanished under the repressive regulations of Theodosius at the end of the fourth century…Helios Mithras is one god…Sunday was kept holy in honour of Mithra, and the sixteenth of each month was sacred to him as mediator. The 25 December was observed as his birthday, the natalis invicti, the rebirth of the winter-sun, unconquered by the rigours of the season (Arendzen. J.P. Transcribed by John Looby. Mithraism. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X. Published 1911. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).
Is it Santa or Satan for Christmas?
Holiday: Santa Claus is coming to town – Is it Santa or Satan for Christmas?
It is also to be noticed that our Christmas, December 25th, was the birthday of Mithra, and was only taken over in the Fourth Century as the date, actually unknown, of the birth of Jesus. (King ML. The papers of Martin Luther King, Jr, Volume 4. Clayborne Carson, Ralph Luker, Penny A. Russell editors/compliers. University of California Press, 1992)
There have been scholars who believe that Constantine was involved as tradition claims a certain church in Rome as the first site of a December 25th “Christmas” celebration as the following 2007 news account indicates:
The church where the tradition of celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25 may have begun was built near a pagan shrine as part of an effort to spread Christianity, a leading Italian scholar says revealed an underground grotto that they believe ancient Romans revered as the place where a wolf nursed Rome’s legendary founder, Romulus, and his twin brother, Remus. A few feet from the grotto, or “Lupercale,” the Emperor Constantine built the Basilica of St. Anastasia, where some believe Christmas was first celebrated on Dec. 25…
Satan Claus
It opted to mark Christmas, then celebrated at varying dates, on Dec. 25 to coincide with the Roman festival celebrating the birth of the sun god, Andrea Carandini, a professor of archaeology at Rome’s La Sapienza University, told reporters Friday.
The Basilica of St. Anastasia was built as soon as a year after the Nicaean Council. It probably was where Christmas was first marked on Dec. 25, part of broader efforts to link pagan practices to Christian celebrations in the early days of the new religion, Mr. Carandini said. (Scholars link 1st yule church to pagan shrine. Washington Times – Dec 23, 2007 ROME
December 25th was a date to celebrate paganism.
So since the Bible says not to observe pagan religious celebrations and not to adopt any of their methods to serve the God of the Bible, and since December 25th is clearly recognized as the day to celebrate the birth of the pagan sun god Mithras, the celebration of Christmas by those who claim to live by the Bible is sin.
Christmas Takes Away from the True Gospel
Some argue that none of this matters. They believe that their own understanding is superior to the scriptures cited here. The Bible, of course, teaches otherwise:
Celebrating Birthdays
Also See The Origins of Birthday Celebrations
Romans 14:5-6
King James Version (KJV)
5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Did Early Christians Celebrate Birthdays?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Should Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Do Birthdays Have Pagan Origins?
Although many who profess Christ celebrate birthdays, did you know that birthdays were simply not celebrated by those in the early church? Interestingly, there is no hint in the Bible or early writings that Jesus, the apostles, or any true Christians ever celebrated birthdays.
This article will begin with an introduction on the origin of birthdays, discuss some ancient and modern Judaic views of birthdays, discuss the Bible and early Gentile views of birthdays, and discuss how birthdays became to be celebrated amongst those that profess Christianity.
Early Origins of Birthdays
So what is the origin of birthdays? Where did the idea of birthdays celebrations come from?
“Originally the idea [of birthday greetings and wishes for happiness] was rooted in magic. The working of spells for good and evil is the chief usage of witchcraft. One is especially susceptible to such spells on his birthday, as one’s personal spirits are about at that time. Dreams dreamed on the birthday eve should be remembered, for they are predictions of the future brought by the guardian spirits which hover over one’s bed on the birthday eve. Birthday greetings have power for good or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day. Good wishes bring good fortune, but the reverse is also true, so one should avoid enemies on one’s birthday and be surrounded only by well-wishers. ‘Happy birthday’ and ‘Many happy returns of the day’ are the traditional greetings” (The Lore of Birthdays, Linton, p. 20)…
The giving of birthday gifts is a custom associated with the offering of sacrifices to pagan gods on their birthdays. Certainly the custom was linked with the same superstitions that formed the background for birthday greetings. “The exchange of presents… is associated with the importance of ingratiating good and evil fairies… on their or our birthdays” (ibid.).
The traditional birthday cake and candles also have their origin in ancient pagan idol worship. The ancients believed that the fire of candles had magical properties. They offered prayers and made wishes to be carried to the gods on the flames of the candles. Thus we still have the widely practiced birthday custom of making a wish, then blowing out the candles. The Greeks celebrated the birthday of their moon goddess, Artemis, with cakes adorned with lighted candles…
“The Egyptians… discovered to which of the gods each month and day is sacred; and found out from the day of a man’s birth, what he will meet with in the course of his life, and how he will end his days, and what sort of man he will be” (Herodotus, Persian Wars, Book II, ch. 82)
Since it was believed that the positions of the stars at the time of birth influenced a child’s future, astrological horoscopes came into being, purporting to foretell the future, based on the time of birth. “Birthdays are intimately linked with the stars, since without the calendar, no one could tell when to celebrate his birthday. They are also indebted to the stars in another way, for in early days the chief importance of birthday records was to enable the astrologers to chart horoscopes” (The Lore of Birthdays, p. 53). Rawlinson’s translation of Herodotus includes the following footnote: “Horoscopes were of very early use in Egypt… and Cicero speaks of the Egyptians and Chaldees predicting… a man’s destiny at his birth”…
Jesus NEVER observed his birthday
When we examine the principles of God’s law closely, as they relate to birthday celebrations, we can understand why neither Christ, nor His Apostles, nor their true followers, observed their birthdays. As noted earlier, the practice has its origin in idolatry and the worship of the sun, moon and stars…Some may view birthday customs as purely secular, lacking any religious significance. Yet we need to be aware of the broader perspective of their origins, and the religious significance they have had—and still have—for vast multitudes of people. (Reynolds, Rod. Should Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Living Church News, May-June 2002. pp.16-18).
Furthermore, the book The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952) by Ralph and Adelin Linton, on pages 8, 18-20 had this to say:
The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born. The Romans also subscribed to this idea. . . . This notion was carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel, the fairy godmother and the patron saint. . . . The custom of lighted candles on the cakes started with the Greeks. . . . Honey cakes round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on the temple altars of [Artemis]. . . . Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic for granting wishes. . . . Lighted tapers and sacrificial fires have had a special mystic significance ever since man first set up altars to his gods. The birthday candles are thus an honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring good fortune…
Thus it appears that birthdays had their origin in mythology and magic, with horoscopes also probably playing a role.
Jews, Christians – Old Testament Birthdays
But what were early Jewish practices?
The first century Jewish historian Josephus noted that Jewish families did not celebrate birthdays:
Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make festivals at the birth of our children, and thereby afford occasion of drinking to excess (Josephus. Translated by W. Whiston. Against Apion, Book II, Chapter 26. Extracted from Josephus Complete Works, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (MI), 14th printing, 1977, p. 632).
Now although there is no specific command against the celebration of birthdays in the Bible, the Jewish custom in those days was apparently based on the negative occurrences in the Bible surrounding birthdays, as well as the astrological implications of the celebration of birthdays (pagan practices, like astrology, were specifically prohibited in the law).
Since nearly all of the first Christians were Jewish, this may partially explain why the celebration of Jesus’ birth would not be consistent with that early custom.
Notice two reports that would seem to support that:
“There is no tradition in Judaism of celebrating birthdays as holidays, otherwise we would expect holidays for the birthdays of Moses and Abraham, among others, but there is no such thing. The Bible does not even record their birthdays, just as the New Testament does not record the date of Yeshua’s birth.”
The interesting thing about birthday celebrations is that, for much of our history, they were not a very “Jewish” custom.
…as a rule, Jews did not celebrate their birthdays. Indeed, while the dates of passing (yahrtzeit) of the great figures of Jewish history are recorded and commemorated, their dates of birth are mostly unknown. (Your Jewish Birthday. Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center.
What Happened on Your Birthday?
In their essay titled “Birthdays, Jewishly,” Lisa Farber Miller and Sandra Widener point out that the Encyclopedia Judaica is very blunt on this topic:
“The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.”
Notice what the Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies reported:
The Encyclopedia Judaica could not be more blunt: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” In fact, it says, the only birthday party mentioned in the Bible is for Pharaoh! (Genesis 40:20).
The tradition also holds that your birth alone is not as significant as the way you live your life. After all, King Solomon is thought to have said, “The day of death is better than the day of one’s birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). As a midrash explains, ‘When a person is born, it is not known what he will be like when grown and what his deeds will be – whether righteous or wicked, good, or evil.
Here are some passages in the Old Testament that the Jews tended to looked at in order to come to their conclusion about birthdays:
Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker (Genesis 40:20-22).
There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame (Isaiah 47:13-14).
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said:
“May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’ May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it. May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it (Job 3:1-5).
Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away–indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”…If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression (Job 1:13-15; 8:4).
Although, I have heard some say that the “day” referred to in Job 1:13 was a birthday celebration, the passage in Job is not explicit and Job himself indicates he was more concerned with what his sons might have said, than done, in their other celebrations (Job 1:4-5). However, it should be noted that there are no positive statements in the Old Testament related to birthdays.
The prophet Jeremiah wrote:
Cursed be the day in which I was born!
14 Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me! 15 Let the man be cursed Who brought news to my father, saying, “A male child has been born to you!” Making him very glad. 16 And let that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew, and did not relent; Let him hear the cry in the morning And the shouting at noon, 17 Because he did not kill me from the womb, That my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always enlarged with me. 18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow, That my days should be consumed with shame? (Jeremiah 20:14-18)
The Hebrew calendar itself makes the celebration of birthdays somewhat difficult when one attempts to superimpose it on our modern (essentially Roman-derived) calendars. And the reason for this is that it is about 11 days shorter than the annual orbit around the sun, and hence it adds a thirteenth month seven times in every nineteen year cycle. Thus, one’s “birthday” on a modern calendar will vary 11 or so days from year to year–and the positions of the constellations in the sky would always to some degree be different. Therefore, from an astrological perspective, one’s alleged “sign” would often be different. If God wanted birthdays celebrated, He probably would have given the children of Israel the type of calendar which would have made it possible to for the “birthday” to fall on the same solar calendar day each year–instead that basically cannot happen but a relatively few times in a life.
It may also be that one of the reasons for circumcising males at eight days (see Genesis 17:12), as opposed to the day of birth (which is what tends to often happen in modern societies who circumcise), would be to change the emphasis from the date of birth to other events as important.
Of course, it should be noted that since the ages of many people in the Hebrew Bible are recorded, some type of acknowledgement of when people were born apparently did take place.
Acknowledgement of years to some degree had to take place as the Old Testament categorizes various people at various times based upon age (e.g. Leviticus 27:3-7; Numbers 4:2-3). But there is no recorded example of the Hebrews actually celebrating their dates of birth.
If you search the scriptures you will notice that many people are mentioned being born, but that the precise date (either with a lunar or solar calendar reference) is not given. If God wanted birthdays to be celebrated, than perhaps He would have given specific birth dates in the Bible–but He did not.
Modern Judaism and Birthdays
While many modern rabbis still do not endorse the celebration of birthdays, some do. However, it appears that some believe that there is stronger support in both their traditions and writings to not celebrate them.
Notice the following from a Jewish writer:
In Jewish theology, much importance is attached to the day upon which one dies, one’s yahrtzeit, but little is mentioned about one’s birthday. Some Torah authorities, such as the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoelish Teitelbaum (1887-1979)[1] are opposed to any sort of celebration of one’s birthday, while other authorities, such as the Lubavitcher Rebbe[2], Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994)[3] and the Rebbe from Piaczezna, Rabbi Kalonymos Kalman Shapiro[4], permit and encourage such celebration on one’s birthday as means of inspiring self-reflection and introspection[5]. Rabbi Matis Blum explains[6] that the rationale of those who oppose birthday celebrations is based on a statement of King Solomon, who said, “A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death [is better] than the day of birth.[7]” He also explains this opposition is seemingly supported by the Talmud which determined[8] that it is better than man not have been born than man having been born. A third reason for opposing birthday parities is simply the fact that the Torah only mentioned such a party in conjunction with the Pharaoh celebrating his own birthday. This implies that only such morally degenerated people as the sovereign of Egypt would celebrate a birthday, but not Torah True Jews…
Cursing one’s birthday is an expression of one’s dissatisfaction in one’s situation. The Midrash says[41] that two people cursed the day on which they born. Job cursed the day he was born[42] as a reaction to all the suffering to which he was subjected. Jeremiah also cursed the day of his birth[43] as a means of conveying the message of his bitterness in having to foretell the destruction of the Holy Temple, and worse, his knowing that prophecy was destined to be fulfilled. (Happy Birthday! Reb Chaim HaQoton, April 17, 2007 – verified 7/12/07).
Thus, many Jewish leaders have acknowledged that the celebration of birthdays was not something that was historically endorsed (though many Jews do celebrate them in modern times).
Did the Magi Give Presents on the Day of Jesus’ Birth?
But some have felt, basically by seeing certain alleged manger scenes, that the Magi/wise men came from the East and gave Jesus presents on the day of His birth.
Well, there are a few issues with this.
First, the wise men definitely were not with Jesus on the day of His birth. The Bible is clear that He had already been born:
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him. (Matthew 2:1-2)
Furthermore, notice that they came to worship Him, not celebrate His birthday. It was customary in those times (and still is today) to provide gifts when meeting royalty. Thus, the wise men meeting Jesus and providing presents should not be construed as a birthday celebration.
There is a variety of speculation about who the wise men were, but one that makes the most sense is that they were among the part of Israel. The Apostle James wrote to the “tribes which are scattered abroad” (James 1:1). The first century Jewish historian Josephus stated that some of the tribes of Israel were “beyond Euphrates” (Josephus. Wars of the Jews, Chapter 2. Extracted from Josephus Complete Works. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (MI), 14th printing), which is East of Jerusalem.
Another reason to believe that the wise men were of Israeli origin is that they may have had access to at least part of the Hebrew Bible and likely responded because of verses such as the following:
17… A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel (Numbers 24:17).
And since the wise men may have been of Israelite origin, they like the Jews, may not have had a tradition of celebrating birthdays.
Gentiles and Birthdays – New Testament
But the focus of this article is early Christianity–which while it certainly includes the fact that Jews, including Christian ones, did not celebrate birthdays in the first and second centuries A.D. What were the practices of the non-Jewish (Gentiles) converts to Christianity?
But before getting to later Gentile practices, first perhaps we should look at the teachings of the New Testament itself.
It is interesting to note that while the New Testament is clear about the specific time of certain holy days such as Passover (Matthew 26:17-20) and Pentecost (Acts 2:1), it never mentions the date, nor even the precise month, of Jesus’ birth (see Matthew 1 and Luke 1;2:1-20). Nor does it ever specifically endorse the celebration of birthdays. Not does it ever give the date (with either a solar or lunar calendar reference) for any one being born.
The presiding evangelist of the Living Church of God specifically taught:
“We don’t celebrate our birthdays” (Meredith RC. Building Faith and Courage. Sermon, Charlotte-NC, 6/21/08). Furthermore, there is no recorded instance of any of the apostles or other early Christians celebrating the birth of Christ
There is, however, one birthday celebration mentioned in the New Testament, and it was not a good one. Actually, it was so bad, that the one Jesus had called the greatest “among those born of women” (Matthew 11:11) was killed because of it:
But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother (Matthew 14:6-11).
(The same account is also described in Mark 6:21-28).
Originally, even as more and more Gentiles began to profess Christ (so much so that they outnumbered those of Jewish heritage that did), the early Gentile leaders also did not endorse the celebration of birthdays. No early church writer endorsed the observance of birthdays by Christians, nor are they ever listed in the early observances of the Christian church.
Therefore, the celebration of birthdays, was clearly not part of:
… the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
No early religious/church writing from the second century that I have seen (and I have read most that are available) seems to endorse (or even suggest) the celebration of birthdays by any who professed Christ.
Although he was not part of the Church of God, the writings of the early third century Catholic theologian Origen of Alexandria show that, even that late, Orthodox Catholics were against the celebration of birthdays. The Catholic Encyclopedia states:
Origen, glancing perhaps at the discreditable imperial Natalitia, asserts (in Lev. Hom. viii in Migne, P.G., XII, 495) that in the Scriptures sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthday (Martindale C. Christmas, 1908).
Here is some of what Origen wrote:
…of all the holy people in the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world below (Origen, in Levit., Hom. VIII, in Migne P.G., XII, 495) (Thurston H. Natal Day. Transcribed by Thomas M. Barrett. Dedicated to Margaret Johanna Albertina Behling Barrett. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X. Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).
The writings of the late third century Catholic theologian Arnobius show that, even that late, Catholics objected to the celebration of birthdays as he wrote:
…you worship with couches, altars, temples, and other service, and by celebrating their games and birthdays, those whom it was fitting that you should assail with keenest hatred. (Arnobius. Against the Heathen (Book I), Chapter 64. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1886. Online Edition Copyright © 2005 by K. Knight).
Thus birthday celebrations, even of gods and leaders, were condemned as far as the late third century by even Roman Catholic leaders.
How Birthdays Ended Up Being Observed
It does not seem that the celebration of birthdays became common among those that professed Christ until the fourth century. During that century, infant baptism started to become customary and the celebration of Christmas became standard practices for the majority that professed Christ. Also, the fact that Roman emperors tended to celebrate their birthdays was undoubtedly another factor as it was in the fourth century that Roman emperors began to accept some form of Christianity.
Wikipedia notes:
History of celebration of birthdays in the West It is thought that the large-scale celebration of birthdays in Europe began with the cult of Mithras, which originated in Persia but was spread by soldiers throughout the Roman Empire. Before this, such celebrations were not common; and, hence, practices from other contexts such as the Saturnalia were adapted for birthdays. Because many Roman soldiers took to Mithraism, it had a wide distribution and influence throughout the empire until it was supplanted by Christianity (Wikipedia. Birthdays. July 12, 2007 version).
Christmas is also relevant because December 25th was the day of celebration of the birthday of the sun-god Mithra. Perhaps it should also be mentioned that one of the key features of Mithraism was Sunday observance. The reason that this seems to be relevant is that the Roman Emperor Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to make a profession of Christ, was also the first Emperor to make Sunday laws–which he began to do on March 7, 321. Also, a few years later, the Council of Nicea that Constantine convened in 325 A.D. declared Sunday to be the “Christian day” of worship
According to the fourth century historian Epiphanius, some who observed Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, claimed that Emperor Constantine mandated a Sunday observance of it in the Council of Nicea in 325 in order to somehow honor his birthday:
“You changed the Passover to Constantine’s birthday” (Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section VI, Verse 9,4. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp. 410-411).
The World Book Encyclopedia notes,
Christmas…In 354 A.D., Bishop Liberius of Rome ordered the people to celebrate on December 25. He probably chose this date because the people of Rome already observed it as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the birthday of the sun (Sechrist E.H. Christmas. World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 3. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, Chicago, 1966, pp. 408-417).
Hence, it would seem to follow that since those who professed Christ as late as the third century did not celebrate birthdays, that it was not after a Roman Emperor implemented Sunday, that perhaps he and others were amenable to adopting other practices of Mithraism–one of which was birthday celebrations. This is apparently how birthdays became to be celebrated amongst those that professed Christianity. A celebration for the date of Jesus’ birth in Rome probably began near this time, but was mandated no later than 354 A.D.
Thus it appears that the “birthday of the sun” festivities were a major factor in the date chosen for followers of Greco-Roman Christianity to celebrate. And once those that professed Christ began to widely celebrate that “birthday”, other birthday celebrations became more common.
The Satanic Bible and Birthdays
Back in 1969 Anton Lavey wrote The Satanic Bible.
On page 96 on the 1976 version, it mentions birthdays:
THE highest of all holidays in the Satanic religion is the date of one’s own birth. This is in direct contradiction to the holy of holy days of other religions, which deify a particular god who has been created in an anthropomorphic form of their own image, thereby showing that the ego is not really buried.
The Satanist feels: “Why not really be honest and if you are going to create a god in your image, why not create that god as yourself.” Every man is a god if he chooses to recognize himself as one. So, the Satanist celebrates his own birthday as the most important holiday of the year. After all, aren’t you happier about the fact that you were born than you are about the birth of someone you have never even met? Or for that matter, aside from religious holidays, why pay higher tribute to the birthday of a president or to a date in history than we do to the day we were brought into this greatest of all worlds?
Despite the fact that some of us may not have been wanted, or at least were not particularly planned, we’re glad, even if no one else is, that we’re here! You should give yourself a pat on the back, buy yourself whatever you want, treat yourself like the king (or god) that you are, and generally celebrate your birthday with as much pomp and ceremony as possible.
After one’s own birthday, the two major Satanic holidays are Walpurgisnacht and Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve).
(Lavey A, Gilmore P. The Satanic Bible. Avon, September 1, 1976, p. 96–note it is on page 53 of an online version I found also).
It is interesting that birthdays are considered the most important holiday to these Satan worshipers (the founding of their “church” (Walpurgisnacht) and Halloween are the other ones of importance to them). This comes as no surprise.
Comments from the Living Church News
The May-June edition of the Living Church News had an article titled Birthdays and God’s Church by Rod McNair, that states:
Should Christians celebrate birthdays? What does the Church teach on this topic? What does your Bible say? It is a fact of life that everyone grows older, and on one day a year we are considered a year older than the day before. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging the passage of time, as another year of life goes by. We know, for example, that Moses certainly knew his birthdate…
Moses simply acknowledged his age. By contrast, many in the world today have grown used to the idea that their day of birth is an occasion on which friends, family members and coworkers are expected to lavish them with attention, gifts and revelry. What can we learn from Scripture about observing birthdays? Jesus Christ did not mark the anniversary of His birth, nor did He make reference to it in any such fashion. Nor did any of the Apostles so much as even mention Christ’s birth date or their own…
Does the book of Job indicate that Job’s sons observed their birthdays? Some point to this verse to support that idea: “And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day” (Job 1:4). Is “his appointed day” a vague reference to a birthday? Scripture does not say. However, we should also note that, if this is a “birthday” example, it is not entirely positive regarding the idea of birthday celebrations— we see that Job offered sacrifi ces afterward, on the assumption that his sons may have “sinned and cursed God in their hearts” while feasting (v. 5)…
But even some casual observers have noticed that the early Church taught against participation in such birthday celebrations as are so common in our world today. As writer Norm Schneider points out: “During the Christian era, the early followers of Christ didn’t believe in celebrating birthdays, preferring—as was the case in earlier eras—of honoring one’s death. Their belief was that only in death was there true deliverance worthy of honoring one’s ‘death day’ [a reference to Ecclesiastes 7:1, where Solomon asserts that the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth]. They also believed that Egyptian and Greek birthday celebrations were pagan festivals and should not be duplicated” (“The Strange Origins of Our Modern Birthday Customs,” August 13, 2008).
Schneider goes on to observe that by “the fourth century, Christians—having generally agreed on the date of Christ’s birth—began celebrating the event, ergo Christmas.” Indeed, the observance of Christmas and the celebration of birthdays went hand in hand as the vast majority of professing Christians fell into apostasy. Today, billions of people who call themselves “Christians” are keeping Christmas to have, in effect, a sort of “birthday party for Christ.” However, when we read what Scripture tells us about the young Jesus Christ, we find no precedent for such celebration. What do we find? When they saw the young Jesus, the wise men from the East “fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11). This was a momentous event, but it was not a birthday party—these were prominent men coming to visit the King. The custom of bringing a gift when coming before a king is still in practice today…
Accordingly, God does not want His people to become involved in worldly practices that lead to the destruction of character. Worldly birthday festivities, under the guise of a “party spirit,” are often focused on greed—the desire for gifts and attention—as well as on vanity, selfishness and a wrong spirit of competition. Such attitudes are inappropriate for Christians as part of any celebration, not just birthday celebrations! God makes it plain that Christians are not to take part in “lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries” (1 Peter 4:3). We know from Scripture that covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5)…
A balanced perspective on this issue can be found in an example cited by our Presiding Evangelist, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith…Dr. Meredith mentioned in his July 21, 2008 sermon, titled “Building Faith and Courage,” that he had just turned 78 years of age, but without a birthday party. On the other hand, as noted above, he has acknowledged that it can indeed be appropriate for families to acknowledge a child’s growth and development on a birth date, just as it can be worthwhile to honor an elderly person at a milestone in his or her life—in a Christian spirit of true love and respect, without getting caught up in the spirit of carnal celebrations that often go far beyond what is appropriate.
The most faithful in the Church of God believe that acknowledgement of aging is appropriate, but birthday parties are not.
Concluding Comments
Although birthdays were to some degree acknowledged, the celebration of birthdays was not something that original Christians did and should not be done by true Christians today. Nor did Jews anciently celebrate birthdays. Nor does the Bible ever give the precise date with either a lunar or solar calendar of any persons’ birth.
Birthdays apparently originated in magic and mythology. They were traditionally also celebrated by followers of Mithra.
In the fourth century, after a sun-worshipping emperor made a profession towards Christ and passed the first Sunday law, he and/or apparently his followers probably did not consider that there were problems with celebratory aspects of Mithraism/Saturnalia as long as Christ and believers, and not Mithra, were the focus of celebrations.
But should we be following the example of the Romans who mixed practices of Mithraism into their religion or of those who first accepted Christ? Recall that Christians are advised to:
…contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
Jesus’ birth was not celebrated by early Christians. Actually, practices now associated with it were condemned as idolatry by the end of the second century. More can be found in the article What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days? More on what happened to the early Christian church can be found in the article The History of Early Christianity.
Thiel B, Ph.D. Did Early Christians Celebrate Birthdays?
By COGwriter
Job 1:4 KJV /
His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
Genesis 40:20-22 KJV
On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.
Matthew 14:6 KJV
But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod,
Ecclesiastes 7:1 KJV
A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 KJV
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
Ecclesiastes 7:8 KJV
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Mark 6:21 KJV
But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
Matthew 14:6-12 KJV
But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, …
Jeremiah 10:3 KJV
For the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
Jeremiah 10:1-3 ESV / 8 helpful votes
Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
1 Peter 2:21 KJV
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
Romans 8:7 KJV
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
Leviticus 18:3 KJV
You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes.
John 4:24 KJV
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Genesis 40:20 KJV
On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.
1 Peter 4:13 KJV
But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
Romans 14:5 KJV
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
1 Kings 18:21 KJV
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
Jeremiah 10:2 ESV / KJV
Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them,
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 KJV
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lordyour God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, …
ALL THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT 