Should Christians Recognize the New Year?

[JackRT]

This just kee3ps getting more and more nonsensical. We have been told that as Christians we are not to celebrate Halloween, Christmas and Easter. Now we are being told that as Christians we also cannot celebrate New Years.

What rubbish.

Happy New Years everyone!!!

Thank you. I trust you had a Happy Hogmanay.

 

[FenderTL5]

We all know that Christians should not celebrate Christmas, Halloween, and Easter because these holidays can be connected to paganism. What's not often talked about, however, is the pagan origins of New Years. A quick glance at the Wikipedia article for New Years Day reveals this. And I quote:

"In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named."

How blasphemous.

Personally, I stopped recognizing New Years in 1993. So, for me, it will remain 1993 until Jesus returns. I'm grateful for this as 1993 was a pretty good year. Jurassic Park and Cool Runnings were released, etc. Shouldn't Christians discard this pagan holiday? Thanks in advance.

Well, it's a holiday, which literally means holy day. That would have to involve a religion or faith of some sort.

It's the same reason I refuse to celebrate the veterans or memorialday holidays; I won't worship American soldiers, living or dead.

 

[ArmenianJohn]

We all know that Christians should not celebrate Christmas, Halloween, and Easter because these holidays can be connected to paganism. What's not often talked about, however, is the pagan origins of New Years. A quick glance at the Wikipedia article for New Years Day reveals this. And I quote:

"In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named."

How blasphemous.

Personally, I stopped recognizing New Years in 1993. So, for me, it will remain 1993 until Jesus returns. I'm grateful for this as 1993 was a pretty good year. Jurassic Park and Cool Runnings were released, etc. Shouldn't Christians discard this pagan holiday? Thanks in advance.

Christmas and "Easter" are Christian holidays, so I don't know why you say Christians shouldn't celebrate them. In fact, ONLY Christians should celebrate them. I'm looking forward to Christmas this week.

As for New Year's, it's not a religious holiday. It is the beginning of the new year and if people want to ring it in with a celebration there's nothing wrong with it. If someone is actively worshiping Janus or another god or an idol in doing so then that is obviously wrong, but most people aren't doing that. From a personal growth and development perspective it's helpful to mark different time periods and significant changes in times, seasons, etc. It's also often cultural which is not inherently "pagan" or otherwise contrary to Christianity.

So, it's not that Christians "should" or "shouldn't" celebrate New Year's but rather that they can if they like and should keep it in proper perspective in relation to their Christian faith. It shouldn't be a complicated issue or one that people should wonder about - it's rather straightforward.

 

[ArmenianJohn]

Well, it's a holiday, which literally means holy day. That would have to involve a religion or faith of some sort.

It's the same reason I refuse to celebrate the veterans or memorialday holidays; I won't worship American soldiers, living or dead.

While the word "holiday" is derived from "holy day" the meaning of that English word is far more broad than specifically referring to actual religious "holy" days. It can mean virtually any day set aside for observance of any kind, including many of a non-religious nature. In fact, it is used by millions of English speakers to refer to any personal days off from work, particularly the British who refer to going on vacation as going "on holiday".

I refuse to celebrate veterans' day but that is more out of protest against how America mistreats veterans, minorities, etc. Same for 4th of July. But there is no religious issue with those as the word "holiday" doesn't actually MEAN "holy day" in those cases.

It's just like the days of the week or the months of the year. Do you observe "Thursday" which means "Thor's Day" for the norse god Thor? It's OK if you do because even though we recognize that day of the week as "Thursday" we don't believe in the god it's named for or the meaning behind it. It is just a name and it can't have any religious power unless you ascribe it to it. It's no different from how non-Christians can celebrate "Christmas" but not ascribe to the true meaning and rather reassign a secular or pagan meaning. When they celebrate Christmas it doesn't make them Christian in any way but they do it anyway.

 

[ArmenianJohn]

Nisan 1, 2019 is:

April 6, 2019.

This is the first day of the Hebrew calendar year.
I believe this is also the time Jesus is born, too.
I believe Jesus was born during the Lambing season.
Note: Lambs are generally born at a certain time of year (Which is usually Nisan). Jesus is the Lamb of God.
Also, Nisan 1 was the setting up of the Tabernacle.

"On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation." (Exodus 40:2).

Jesus tabernacled among us.

It really is unimportant when exactly Christ was born. If it were important it would have been made clear in God's Word but it wasn't. Christmas, the celebration of Christ's birth, however, is actually on January 6, for the record. And the New Year does actually begin on January 1 going by the Gregorian (Western/Christian) Calendar which is what we use globally today with few small exceptions (and even those still abide by the Gregorian Calendar in order to accommodate the rest of the world).

 

[Hank77]

Satire! Happy New Year!

Lol. Well played.....Happy New Year!

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Does anyone realize that Yahweh knows ?

 

[Albion]

As Christians we are supposed to be in the world but not of the world. The idea that we are not to be in the world needs to be reconsidered by a lot of people who regularly say that we should not vote, not have bank accounts, not celebrate any anniversaries, not belong to any organization that isn't a Christian church, not serve on juries, not do anything if some other religion also does it, and on and on.

That misses something important about our faith. Believe it or not, the idea isn't to take care that you do hide your light under a bushel!

 

[Not David]

I've said this once, I've said it millions of times.

I personally think that we should just speak Russian when talking about the days of the week to get rid of our blasphemous demon-invoking English days of the week.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Tiw's Day = Tyr's Day
Wednesday = Woden's Day = Odin's Day
Thursday = Thor's Day
Friday = Frigg Day
Saturday = Saturn Day
Sunday = Sun day

Russian does it way better.

понедельник = After the weekend
вторник = Second day
среда = Middle
четверг = Fourth day
пятница = Fifth day
суббота = Sabbath
воскресенье = Resurrection

Can us TRUE disciples of Jesus use Russian when speaking days of the week?

That's how you become Russian Orthodox.

 

[Blade]

1st OP thats your PERSONAL belief. The word said "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:"

Praise GOD glory to JESUS for Xmas.. JESUS came die rose WOW AMEN! And a NEW YEAR.. praise GOD!

 

[JacksBratt]

We all know that Christians should not celebrate Christmas, Halloween, and Easter because these holidays can be connected to paganism. What's not often talked about, however, is the pagan origins of New Years. A quick glance at the Wikipedia article for New Years Day reveals this. And I quote:

"In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named."

How blasphemous.

Personally, I stopped recognizing New Years in 1993. So, for me, it will remain 1993 until Jesus returns. I'm grateful for this as 1993 was a pretty good year. Jurassic Park and Cool Runnings were released, etc. Shouldn't Christians discard this pagan holiday? Thanks in advance.

I would have to disagree with the first sentence of your post..

"We all know that Christians should not celebrate Christmas, Halloween, and Easter because these holidays can be connected to paganism."

Some Christians may feel as you do...

However, in my experience, the vast majority of Christians celebrate Christmas.. without ANY pagan influence or dilution of the Virgin Birth of our Savior...Not a speck. In fact I watched for this specifically, since another thread had quite a run on this very topic... From what I can see... unless they were to specifically research it.... nobody would have any idea in the world that it was anything but a celebration of Christ's birth.

As they do for Easter, even though the name is pagan based, is still celebrated with 100% focus on the last week of Christ's time on earth, including the ascension .and...


As for Halloween, I have heard numerous stories of what this day represents and I do not do anything in celebration of this day. I would agree that this one is far far more connected with the occult.

One family that I know, do not have anything to do with it.. on purpose. They have a non Christian woman that comes to their home, on this day, every year.. because she knows she is safe in this Christian home.

As for celebrating the new year... I believe, as with any celebrations.. we should be careful not to make it an expression of idolizing anything.

No matter what some would make of it... to me.. it's the mile marker end of a year.. Time to reflect on your accomplishments, what you endured, the mistakes you made and even a time of re calibration of your moral compass and conscious redirection of your Christian walk.

We get together with friends and family, play some games, enjoy some food and have some fun.

I don't see any harm in that.

 

[Archivist]

Thank you. I trust you had a Happy Hogmanay.

Thank you! I celebrated the New Year by jumping in the Youghiogheny River. Don’t want to think of what the water temperature was...

 

[JackRT]

Thank you! I celebrated the New Year by jumping in the Youghiogheny River. Don’t want to think of what the water temperature was...

With a name like that my guess is that that river is in the Czech Republic. But maybe not --- too many vowels.

 

[Hazelelponi]

It was only natural that they replaced their former religious and celebratory occasions with Christian ones.

While this thread is meant in joking manner, I do have to disagree in all seriousness.

What is natural for a convert is quite the opposite of your aassumption here. It's more natural to distance yourself as far as possible.

I can't say "Allah" because there is an imperative in the Bible that we can't so much as speak the names of foreign Gods... Exodus 23:13 and because I was formerly Muslim I actually know that the Allah of Islam is indeed a foreign God. So now I can't say Allah because its stuck that way in my mind and it feels like a sin. (and yes, I know it's not a sin, doesn't stop the feeling).

My husband wanted me to respond to ISIS in writing (something I easily have the ability to do) and I couldn't do it because I couldn't handle even discussing Islam at the time.

I wasn't looking for ways to incorporate Ramadhan into Christianity, I was avoiding all things that even reminded me of Islam at all costs.

It's perfectly natural for me to be on my face in prayer before God, but I can't do it now that Im saved without it feeling too much like Islam, so my private prayer time with God is sitting up...

It's so hard as a newly saved Christian coming from another faith because you change everything, and you can't help the change because you have to make sure your talking to the right God and not causing Him offense because of how awesome He truly is!

So no... not natural at all to bring elements of ones former faith into Christianity with them. What's natural is to run away from your former faith when you realize just how wrong you were..

Maybe I'm the weird one, but I can't even imagine differently.

 

[Archivist]

With a name like that my guess is that that river is in the Czech Republic. But maybe not --- too many vowels.

No, western Pennsylvania. Native American name.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Cuz duh.

I'm a Christian and so I am going to honor Christ. The idea that Christmas, Easter, and Halloween are pagan is pure blithering faff, based on kooky internet misinformation, anyone who wants to look into these things seriously--and not just believe internet hokery--will find that historic Christian holy days are in fact Christian with Christian origins. Yes, I've personally looked at and read ancient primary sources.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[FenderTL5]

..Do you observe "Thursday" which means "Thor's Day" for the norse god Thor? It's OK if you do because even though we recognize that day of the week as "Thursday" we don't believe in the god it's named for or the meaning behind it...

no, I refuse to commemorate pagan gods. The fifth day of the week is Πέμπτη.

 

[ArmenianJohn]

no, I refuse to commemorate pagan gods. The fifth day of the week is Πέμπτη.

Not in the US. Here it is Thursday.

 

[Archivist]

Not in the US. Here it is Thursday.

Actually right now it is Tuesday!

 

[Tone]

I'm a Christian and so I am going to honor Christ. The idea that Christmas, Easter, and Halloween are pagan is pure blithering faff, based on kooky internet misinformation, anyone who wants to look into these things seriously--and not just believe internet hokery--will find that historic Christian holy days are in fact Christian with Christian origins. Yes, I've personally looked at and read ancient primary sources.

-CryptoLutheran

Yes, because christianity/churchianity, is an hybrid religion...not quite biblical and not quite pagan...a relatively new beast.