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Why Some Christians Do Not Celebrate Birthdays-Do They Have Pagan Origins?

Celebrating birthdays is rooted in superstition and false religion, but that is not the sole or prime reason why some Christians avoid the practice.

Some customs that were once religious in nature no longer are in many places. For example, the wedding ring once had religious significance, but in most places today, it no longer does. Hence, many true Christians accept the local custom of wearing a wedding ring to give evidence that a person is married. In such matters, what generally is influential is whether a practice is now linked to false religion

There is no denying, though, that numerous reference works reveal the superstitious and religious antecedents of celebrating birthdays. The Encyclopedia Americana (1991 edition) notes: “The ancient world of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Persia celebrated the birthdays of gods, kings, and nobles.” It says that the Romans observed the birth of Artemis and the day of Apollo. In contrast, “although the ancient Israelis kept records of the ages of their male citizens, there is no evidence that they had any festivities on the anniversary of the birth date.”

Other reference works go into considerable detail about the origin of birthday celebrations: ‘Birthday parties began years ago in Europe. People believed in good and evil spirits, sometimes called good and evil fairies. Everyone was afraid of these spirits, that they would cause harm to the birthday celebrant, and so he was surrounded by friends and relatives whose good wishes, and very presence, would protect him against the unknown dangers that the birthday held. Giving gifts brought even greater protection. Eating together provided a further safeguard and helped to bring the blessings of the good spirits. So the birthday party was originally intended to make a person safe from evil and to insure a good year to come.’—Birthday Parties Around the World, 1967.

The book explains, too, the origin of many birthday customs. For example: “The reason [for using candles] goes back to the early Greeks and Romans who thought that tapers or candles had magical qualities. They would offer prayers and make wishes to be carried up to the gods by the flames of candles. The gods would then send down their blessings and perhaps answer the prayers.”

As mentioned, however, more is involved in this question than whether celebrating birthdays was or still is religious. The Bible brings up the matter of birthdays, and mature Christians wisely are sensitive to any indications it gives.

God’s servants of old noted when individuals were born, which allowed them to figure ages. We read: “Noah got to be five hundred years old. After that Noah became father to Shem, Ham and Japheth.” “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, . . . all the springs of the vast watery deep were broken open.”—Genesis 5:32; 7:11; 11:10-26.

As even Jesus mentioned, among God’s people childbirth was a blessed, happy event. (Luke 1:57, 58; 2:9-14; John 16:21) Yet, Jehovah’s God’s people did not memorialize the date of birth; they kept other anniversaries but not birthdays. (John 10:22, 23) Encyclopaedia Judaica says: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” Customs and Traditions of Israel observes: “The celebration of birthdays has been borrowed from the practices of other nations, as no mention is made of this custom among Jews either in The Bible, Talmud, or writings of the later Sages. In fact, it was an ancient Egyptian custom.”

That Egyptian connection is clear from a birthday celebration related in the Bible, one that true worshipers were not observing. It was the birthday feast of the Pharaoh who ruled while Joseph was in an Egyptian prison. Some of those pagans may have been happy over the feast, yet the birthday was linked to the beheading of the chief of Pharaoh’s bakers.—Genesis 40:1-22.

A similar unfavorable light is shed on the other birthday celebration described in the Scriptures—that of Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. This birthday celebration is hardly presented in the Bible as just innocent festivity. Rather, it occasioned the beheading of John the Baptizer. Then, “his disciples came up and removed the corpse and buried him and came and reported to Jesus,” who ‘withdrew from there into a lonely place for isolation.’ (Matthew 14:6-13) Do you imagine that those disciples or Jesus felt drawn to the practice of birthday celebrations?

Given the known origin of celebrating birthdays, and more important, the unfavorable light in which they are presented in the Bible, Christian people have ample reason to abstain from the practice. They do not need to follow this worldly custom, for they can and do have happy meals any time during the year. Their gift giving is not obligatory or under the pressure of a party; it is spontaneous sharing of gifts at any time out of generosity and genuine affection.—Proverbs 17:8; Ecclesiastes 2:24; Luke 6:38; Acts 9:36, 39; 1 Corinthians 16:2, 3.

More On The Origin of Birthdays

Then where did birthday celebrations come from? The astonishing answer is from the pagan practice of astrology! Thousands of years ago, when men looked up into the night sky and charted the stars, they invented calendars and calculated the birth dates, to the very hour, of kings, rulers and their successors. These ancient pagan astrologers meticulously examined horoscopes and birthday omens because they believed that the fate of the rich and powerful might affect an entire society. Even to this day, men have been putting their trust in horoscopes instead of God.

In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs ordered businesses to close on their birthdays and gave enormous feasts for hundreds of servants. In ancient Greece, wealthy males joined birthday clubs composed exclusively of men who shared their birth date. Once a month, the club celebrated with a feast. When a member died, he left money to help pay for future parties. In Persia, noblemen observed their birthdays by barbecuing an ox, a camel and a donkey and serving hundreds of small cakes to the celebrants.

In ancient Rome, the emperor gave huge parties in honor of his own birthday, which included parades, circuses, and gladiatorial combat. The celebration of days was so important to the average Roman citizen that the Roman calendar designated a majority of days for some form of celebration—including many birthdays of gods and famous men.

The Roman calendar, with its emphasis on continual celebration, has had great influence on modern society. Consider the following quote about the origin of the Roman calendar:

“Our [Roman] calendar is not Christian in origin. It descends directly from the Egyptians, who originated the 12 month year, 365 day system. A pagan Egyptian scientist, Sosigenes, suggested this plan to the pagan Emperor Julius Caesar, who directed that it go into effect throughout the Roman Empire in 45 B.C. As adopted it indicated its pagan origin by the names of the months—called after Janus, Maia, Juno, etc. The days were not named but numbered on a complicated system involving Ides, Nones, and Calends. It was not until 321 A.D. that the seven-day week feature was added, when the Emperor Constantine (supposedly) adopted Christianity. Oddly enough for his weekdays he chose pagan names which are still used.” (Journal of Calendar Reform, Sept. 1953, p. 128.)

Modern birthday parties and celebrations by children take their form mainly from Germany, where the birthday child received gifts, chose a menu and received a candle-ringed butter or jam cake. The lighted candles for the cake may have originated from the birthday of the Greek moon goddess Artemis. Pagan worshippers honored her every month with moon-shaped honey cakes. Because the moon glows with light, the cakes were decorated with lighted candles.

Saying “happy birthday” to friends and loved ones was society’s superstitious way of protecting them from evil spirits. Birthday thumps, bumps, pinches, etc., were said to bring luck and send away evil spirits. Party snappers, horns and other noisemakers were also intended to scare off bad-luck spirits.

It should now be clear that birthdays are not only unbiblical, they are pagan!

Why It Matters to God

Why does God care whether or not you celebrate birthdays? After all, it is a chance for you to give presents to someone and make him or her feel good. What could be wrong with this?

Here’s what God commands: “Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed by them. For the customs of the people are vain” (Jer. 10:2, 3).

After God freed Israel from slavery, He clearly instructed them, “After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein you dwelt, shall you not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, where I bring you, shall you not do: neither shall you walk in their ordinances” (Lev. 18:3). God commanded that they not defile themselves with the practices and customs of the surrounding nations (vs. 24-29). “Therefore shall you keep My ordinance, that you commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that you defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God” (vs. 30).

This is an emphatic command from God. He does not want His servants dabbling in the customs of this world.

But what about those who reach age eighty, ninety or one hundred years old—should we ignore altogether the many years of life experiences they have gained? No. In our current society, where senior citizens are routinely ignored and considered to be a burden, it is certainly permissible to acknowledge someone who has reached a considerable number of years. Someone who has lived through two world wars, the Great Depression, the Atomic Age, the creation of the modern nation of Israel, the Cold War, men walking on the moon, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy assassination, civil rights marches, race riots, the rise and collapse of the Berlin wall and the worldwide growth of the Internet, has reached an age where special honor should be naturally conferred upon them.

Proverbs 16:31 says, “The hoary [white or gray] head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” People who have lived to great age, sometimes reflected by pure white hair, often have great wisdom and experience to share with younger generations. Simple acknowledgment that they have reached age 70, 80, 90 or 100 shows them honor and appreciation. It is not wrong to acknowledge that one has reached a milestone in a long life.

What we have described above is far different than celebrating birthdays with all of the usual pagan traditions! Celebrating the day of one’s birth, as though it were a special occasion, is wrong. It violates God’s command. It keeps people selfishly focused on their temporary, physical lives, when God’s purpose is to give mankind eternallife in His Family. True Christians should be focused on how their lives are preparing them for rulership on this earth at the Return of Jesus Christ.

The Day of a Man’s Death

We have just read that the Bible explains the day of a man’s death is better than the day of his birth. This is a stunning statement. Most people do not think of death as particularly wonderful. When it happens to a family member or close friend, it is usually a day of terrible sadness and emotion. No matter how or when death comes, no one celebrates the event. The Bible describes death as an enemy and a defeat. Consider some of the following verses describing death. Keep in mind that the Bible still says this day is better than the day of birth.

Solomon also wrote, “As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit has he that has labored for the wind?” (Ecc. 5:15-16). Does this sound like a day to look forward to? The Bible still states that the day this verse describes is better than the day of one’s birth.

The apostle Paul was inspired to write, “For the wages of sin [that you earn by breaking God’s laws] is death” (Rom. 6:23). Death is the penalty for sin. It is not pictured in the Bible as a day of triumph or, as so many like to picture, “as a friend one meets at the end of life’s highway.” Paul also wrote, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) and “…it is appointed unto men once to die” (Heb. 9:27). Sin leads to death. John was inspired to write the definition of sin: “Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). The penalty—the wages—of sin is death. This is not an event to look forward to.

But there is hope!

Jesus Christ is returning to this earth to rule—to put all things, including His enemies, under His feet. This includes the enemy called death. Notice: “Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemythat shall be destroyed is death…So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 15:24-26, 54-56).

Realize that God hates all pagan customs and traditions – birthday celebrations are not an exception.

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