SWRB does not necessarily endorse anything outside or beyond the testimony against the pagan practice of birthday keeping in, or from, any of the information or sources quoted in this blog.
There is an affinity of such commemoration among the wicked as recorded in The Satanic Bible (Anton Szandor LaVey, (Air) Book of Lucifer – The Enlightenment, Avon Books, 1969, Ch XI, Religious Holidays, p. 96) regarding Birthdays:
"The highest of all holidays in the Satanic religion is the date of one’s own birthday. 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."
http://www.mashiyach.com/Misc/birthdays.htm
It is interesting that birthdays are considered the most important holiday to these Satan worshipers (the founding of their “church”, called Walpurgisnacht, and Halloween are the other ones of importance to them).
Of course, early Christians did not celebrate birthdays nor did the early Jews. Nor have real Christians ever celebrated Halloween.
Origen of Alexandria, writing over two centuries after the death of Jesus follows this same line when he recorded a diatribe against the memories of birthdays, indicating that at the time of his writing, a day to remember the birth of Jesus was not part of the church calendar. In his Homilies on Leviticus, speaking on the aspect of birth, Origen states:
. . . not one from all the saints is found to have celebrated a festive day or a great feast on the day of his birth. No one is found to have had joy on the day of the birth of his son or daughter. Only sinners rejoice over this kind of birthday. For indeed we find in the Old Testament Pharaoh, king of Egypt, celebrating the day of his birth with a festival, and in the New Testament, Herod. However both of them stained the festival of his birth by shedding human blood. . . . But the saints not only do not celebrate a festival on their birth days, but, filled with the Holy Spirit, they curse that day (, after the example of Job, Jeremiah and David).
(Barkley, Homilies on Leviticus: 1–16 / Origen, 1990, 156.)
Birthday celebrations are actually rooted in paganism.
The Encyclopedia Americana (1991 edition) states:
"The ancient world of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Persia celebrated the birthdays of gods, kings, and nobles."
Authors Ralph and Adelin Linton reveal the underlying reason for this. In their book The Lore of Birthdays, they write:
"Mesopotamia and Egypt, the cradles of civilization, were also the first lands in which men remembered and honoured their birthdays. The keeping of birthday records was important in ancient times principally because a birth date was essential for the casting of a horoscope."
So, there is a direct connection between the Pagan practice of birthday celebrations and astrology (horoscopes and fortune telling).
Not surprisingly then, the ancient Jews did not celebrate birthdays, regarding them as Pagan.
Also, The World Book Encyclopedia (volume 3, page 416) states:
"The early Christians did not celebrate His [Christ's] birth because they considered the celebration of anyone's birth to be a pagan custom."
Down to the fourth century Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom.
http://www.abcog.org/birthday.htm
To satiate this point, notice also the record of the first century historian Josephus: The Jews in Christ’s day knew God’s attitude toward birthday celebrations, “Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make festivals at the births of our children” (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion, Book II, section 26).
http://ow.ly/eVu75 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... (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.
... 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. Christmas. World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 3. 1966, pp. 408-417).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday
Long ago, the average person never paid any attention whatsoever to the anniversary of their birth. The initial pattern that developed concerned the celebrating of the birthday of their deity, once each year, at the winter solstice. This is the origin of Christmas, since the winter solstice was considered the "re-birth" or "birthday" of the solar deity (Natalis Sol Invictus, or the Nativity of Sol, the unconquerable). This alone marks the behavior as originating from the rebellion against YaHUaH, Who is the one and only Elohim of Heaven and Earth. Remember that YaHUaH commanded that we not learn the ways of the heathen (Dt. 12). Later, people began to celebrate the annual birth of their king at the same time as their deity, aligning their ruler with the same honors given to their deity. In their minds, their ruler became an anthropomorphic version of their deity. In the east, average people slowly began to celebrate their personal "birth day" once each year on what they believed to be "new year's day." Eventually, people developed the custom of observing their personal birth day on the annual day they were actually born.
http://www.fossilizedcustoms.com/birthday.html
Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts; 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; Arnobius (VII, 32 in P.L., V, 1264) can still ridicule the "birthdays" of the gods.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm
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."
... 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).
http://www.cogwriter.com/birthdays.htm
Christmas is coming! Quite so: but what is "Christmas?" Does not the very term itself denote it's source - "Christ-mass." Thus it is of Roman origin, brought over from paganism. But, says someone, Christmas is the time when we commemorate the Savior's birth. It is? And WHO authorized such commemoration? Certainly God did not. The Redeemer bade His disciples "remember" Him in His death, but there is not a word in scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, which tells us to celebrate His birth. Moreover, who knows when, in what month, He was born? The Bible is silent thereon. It is without reason that the only "birthday" commemorations mentioned in God's Word are Pharaoh's (Gen. 40:20) and Herod's (Matt. 14:6)? Is this recorded "for our learning?" If so, have we prayerfully taken it to heart?
-One God and One Only -Exists in three Persons -Equal and Eternal -Worthy of equal praise and worship -Distinct yet acting in unity -Constituting the one true God of the Bible
The early church struggled over this doctrine. They eventually reduced their belief in the Trinity to two short statements. They concluded that God is:
-One in Essence -Three in Person
The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but they are not three gods but only one God. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, the Spirit is not the Father, but each is God individually and yet they are together the one true God of the Bible.
Have you ever seen the word "Godhead?" Theologians sometimes use that term when they want to refer to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as three divine Persons in one God.
Jehovah's Witnesses Claim that Christians worship three gods...nonsense.
Jesus is God (Jehovah). The JW's deny Christ's deity, which makes them a cult that leads people to Hell. Anyone who does not believe that Jesus is God (Jehovah) shall die in their sins.
"I (Jesus - ed.) said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that *I am* he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24, KJV).
Compare with:
"And God said unto Moses, *I Am* That *I Am*: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, *I Am* hath sent me unto you." (Exodus 3:14, KJV).
Also see "Jehovah is Jesus" at https://carm.org/jehovah-jesus
"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, *I am*." (John 8:58, KJV). Much more on this point (i.e., proof the Jesus is Jehovah) is at http://ow.ly/UEH230hleBy
Jesus is God! By Dr. C. Matthew McMahon http://ow.ly/PHK830hlfAn This article demonstrates the undeniable Biblical witness that Jesus Christ is God (Jehovah) and that the Biblical record makes this known repeatedly.
Free MP3: Who Is Jesus Christ? - The Way, The Truth and the Life, by Pastor Greg Price (Free MP3 and Video) http://ow.ly/DQH330hleVa
Many more free resources refuting the JW cult are at http://ow.ly/s9Ho30hlfis and http://ow.ly/FM2W30hlgrt and http://ow.ly/SEeH30hlgxl
So true! Mankind just believes whatever without looking things up to see if they are being told the truth--knowing what God says, not what man tells us it says. The only people I've spoken to that has shown me from the Bible the answers to my questions has been Jehovah's Witnesses. And they're the only people who use God's name, and do their best to act like real Christians. Like Jesus taught us to be like. I've still got questions, but I want my answers to come from God's Word only. Thanks for your comment. I'm unable to quit thinking about doing more to be Christ like. '
I'm with you 100%. You're absolutely right! Neither Jesus--who'd birth date is unknown--nor the Apostles, early Christians, nor Hebrews (the Jews) celebrate Birthdays. I read that astrology, divination, magic, etc. are mixed in with this celebration. His Laws and Statues benefit us, not God. Christmas is another celebration that is of pagan origin, yet religious leaders stay quiet on these issues? Another one is most Christians won't use God's name either. YHWH is Yahweh, or in English: Jehovah. The Dead Sea Scrolls found Yahweh (YHWH) written throughout thousands of these scrolls. Jesus, and the first Christians used God's name. In Rev. the word, Hallelujah is used which means, 'Praise Jah'. (A shortened form of Yahweh) Around the 3rd century, Christian leaders began removing God's name from the Scriptures, so today, few people, other than, Jehovah's Witnesses, will even say His name. Know wonder so many have lost faith in a Creator. The Bible is so factual, Archaeologists use it to find ancient cities, etc. I want to be thankful for such a magnificent earth, heavens, various other creations, God made simply for humans to be content and happy. All He asked in return was our love and obedience, just as we want from our own children. Thanks for your comment.
Who/What will you trust? Multiple Choice: 1. God who said, “This is my beloved Son, hear him. 2. Jesus who said, “Do this in remembrance of me; speaking of his sacrifice. 3. Apostle Paul who said, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed Gal 1:8. 4. Hebrews 1:1, 2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, 5. Pope Julius, who felt that because the angels celebrated Christ’s birth, saying “Glory to God in the highest …” we should do likewise and have a birthday party for Jesus. If you celebrate “Christmas” then you believe Pope Julius of 363 BC. Julius was a Demetrius in disguise - Acts 19:24-28 When else is Christ given first place? Why “Christmas?” Typically Mary and departed saints are exalted above Christ. Where’s their parties? Did Pope Julius believe Christ died for us? No! This would be unmerited grace and ruin their silver smithing trade. Julius says mimic angels. So why not join in with the angels who rejoice when one sinner is saved? There would be endless celebration.
Christmas is hokus-pokus and destructive to the souls of lost men.
So glad to read other like-minded people's opinions! My daughter just received a B'day party invite and this made my mind up very easy on "What would Jesus do". Thanks! Selfish Celebrations of the Self? No thank-you.Too much of it in the world already...Facebook for example! Thanks for sharing!
It is so sad that with all this historic records and facts that people continue to ignore and be enslaved to the commercial greed that make them think they are obligated to celebrate unworthy holidays that promote lies
Its hard to sit through birthday parties. It's kind of ignorant in my mind. Is it even your real birthday? What calendar did the real Israel follow? The Book of Enoch and Jubilees doesn't seem to make sense. The 364 days is 5 days for every 4 years different from the 365/366 calendar. that means every 24 years this is a displacement of 30 days or a month.
I actually would find it more sad that anyone would need theses holidays that originated elsewhere to be happy. if you love yourself and want to have a good time you can do that anytime not on some specific day because everyone else does. at the end of the day if you have a true belief in the one true god of the bible, shouldn't you be trying to do what is needed to uphold those beliefs?