CELEBRATING
BIRTHDAYS? by Keith Hunt APPENDIX
ARGUMENTS ANSWERED 1. Some quote from the early Roman Catholic church fathers, like ORIGEN, who wrote: "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 rejoicing over the day in which they were born into this world." MY ANSWER: 1. Who was this man Origen? Was he Moses? Was he David? Was he Elijah? Was he Peter or Paul? No! He was an apostate from the true Church of God, a minister of the synagogue of Satan, a founding leaders in the organization that became the Woman Whore of Revelation, that is drunk on the blood of the saints of God. He understood the truth of the Eternal about as well as Simon Magus in the book of Acts. Origen loved from 184-254 AD, in Alexandria, Egypt. He had a school there. He did not believe the Bible was the infallible word of God and he felt free to change it if he didn't like what it said. He did write commentaries on most of the books of the Bible. Notice what the New Standard Encyclopedia, vol.9 pg.0-155, says: "One of the most notable of Origen's ideas was his Logos doctrine. This idea had been expressed in John 1:1-5 and in other Christian writings but Origen gave it the fullest treatment. In Greek philosophy Logos was the name of the divine principle of creation and rational world order. Origen applied the principle to Christ's person and work. Subordinating the Son to the Father, he treated Christ as the Logos (created by God) who brings reason to the world. In this treatment he neglected the figure of Jesus Christ as a man who lived and taught on earth. This doctrine provided the foundation for the fourth century Arian Doctrine." Origen taught that Jesus was a created being, created by the Father God. He did not even believe that Jesus lived physically on this earth. There are many contradictions in the writings of Origen. Origen turning nearly all Bible events into allegories wrote: "The Scriptures are little use to those who understand them as they are written" (McClintock and Strong, Art, "Origen" ). Origen was a student of Clement, and through him he learned the teachings of the Gnostic heresy and like his master, lightly esteemed the historical basis of the Bible. As Schaff says: "His predilection for Plato (the pagan philosopher) led him into many grand and fascinating errors" (Church History, vol.2, p.791). Origen made himself acquainted with the various heresies and studied under the heathen Ammonius Saccas, founder of Neo-Platonism. He taught that the soul existed from eternity before it inhabited the body, and that after death, it migrated to a higher or lower form of life according to the deeds done in the body; finally all found return to the state of pure intelligence, only to begin again the same cycles as before. He believed that the devils would be saved, and that the stars and the planets had souls, and were, like men, on trial to learn perfection. If fact he turned the whole law and Gospels into an allegory. Origenism flooded the Roman Catholic Church through Jerome, who worshipped at his feet, and wrote: "I love...the name of Origen... I will not listen to the notion that so great a soul was lost" (Dr. Newman, Apologia, chapter 7, p.282). As one studies these so-called early "Church Fathers" one can see they were FAR from being true ministers of the true God. They had little bits of truth here and there, and that is often how Satan works, but overall they were deceived heretics, who had some pretty wild and crazy ideas at times, founded upon the philosophies and reasoning of the world. 2. Did Origen ever write a full in-depth study article carefully expounding from the word of God as to WHY the celebration of some loved one's birthday is evil or sin? Not that I know of. He just like many others jumped to wrong conclusions by a lack of serious study of the word of the Lord. 3. God the Father held a celebration with joy together with the host of heaven, some lowly shepherds and some rich wise kings of the East, at the birthday of Immanuel when He was born into the world of flesh and blood. And God the Father is NO SINNER!! 2. Others may say we have no example of Christ celebrating birthdays in any way. MY ANSWER: Just because Christ in the gospels is not recorded as "doing" something DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY make what is not recorded WRONG/EVIL/ or SIN! Can you find in the gospels where Christ is recorded as DANCING? No, you cannot! Does that mean "dancing" is per se wrong or sin? Can you find where Jesus ever played a musical instrument? No, you can not find it! Does that mean playing a musical instrument is sin per se? Can you find where Christ ever attended, on an annual basis, as a custom, something like the "World Series" of the Baseball of His day? No, it is not there, nothing like that is recorded! Does the attending and having a celebration of joy with an event like the "Super Bowl" or "Rose Bowl" game each year, constitute evil or sin per se? Maybe we have some off the wall fanatical "religious" person out there who will say yes to the above, and that such are sin. Well as they say, it takes all kinds to make the world go around. Can you find Jesus attending and celebrating a person's "wedding anniversary"? No, you can not! Does that mean celebrating wedding anniversaries per se are evil or sin? Are you getting the point? Are you understanding a very important Bible principle and truth? The word of the Lord is not a textbook on EVERYTHING! The word says nothing about the car you are driving, or should buy. It says nothing about the Internet, if it is evil per se. It says little or nothing about societies changing customs from age to age or nation to nation, as to their evil or good per se. Some people have formed themselves into groups that will not use the radio, TV, car, and a whole host of other things because they said such modern change of custom was evil, and not of the Bible. The word gives the basic Holy Commandments of the Lord and says they will never change, they are good for all peoples of all nations, everywhere. But a custom introduced in some age of using a Microwave oven to cook in, instead of a wood camp fire, is not mentioned as being evil or good per se. A nation that decides to stop eating with "chop sticks" and use instead the "knife and fork" at some point in history is not mentioned in the Bible as being good or evil per se. A nation of people that have had a certain custom for centuries and then decide to stop practicing that custom for whatever reasons, is not mentioned in the Bible as being either good or evil. On the other hand a people that never observed a certain practice, like setting aside a day to thank the secretaries of the land, and call it "Secretary's Day" and then do decide to observe such a custom, is not mentioned as being evil or good per se in the Bible. Get the point? There are many things in life that God does not say anything about, as to whether they are sin or evil per se. Some customs come and some customs go for different reasons within different societies over long or short period of time. If the word of God has no DIRECT command against such customs then a person needs to go very slow indeed in claiming such practices are evil or sin. The principles of this article should apply in such cases - if it's not from paganism to be used to directly worship God with, then great care should be taken before declaring such a custom is sin. 3. As birthday celebrations are a tradition and custom of a nation or society (some nations may not have such a custom I would guess) then often Matthew 15:9 and Mark 7:7 are given as proof we should not observe, for it would be vain worship. MY ANSWER: As covered in this article, the celebrating of a loved one's birthday is usually a private family (close association group) matter. Usually very personal. And is not done as some kind of religious festival or worship service to directly say you are obeying and worshipping God, by keeping His commandments. For God has said nothing in His commandments one way or the other regarding "birthday celebrations." Like eating meat or not eating meat, both are acceptable with God. You can eat meat or not eat meat, the Lord will accept you whichever you decide. It makes no difference in your right standing with Him as to which you choose to practice. God does not command you to do either. So it is with celebrating birthdays. God does not command you to celebrate a birthday. But He also does not tell you in His word that it is a sin or something evil or an abomination if you do decide to celebrate a birthday of a loved one. He leaves it to you. Whether you do or do not is your free choice within the law of God. It is your freedom in Christ. God accepts him who does and He accepts him who does not. When you understand the truth of the matter, that nowhere does God condemn or say it is sin to celebrate birthdays, it COULD, in a particular situation become WRONG for you NOT TO celebrate a birthday! For it is written, "Render.....tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor" (Rom.13:7). If you are in a country that greatly honors BIRTHDAYS, it is very important to celebrate loved one's birthdays, they make a big thing about it, THEN you knowing it is not condemned as sin by God, would be wrong if you did not honor their custom. There are many different customs in many different nations that come and go, stay for a period of time only or stay for centuries, and many of those customs many not violate any law of God. They are not condemned by God, and He leaves it to the nation of people to do it or not to do it, for a short or long period of time. And in the case of eating meat or not eating meat it is an individual matter, within whatever the general practice is of the country you live in. Because one nation for centuries does not practice a certain custom does not automatically mean that custom is sin in the eyes of the Eternal. Sin is defined by the word of the Lord NOT by what some nation for centuries does or does not do. Just because it was not the national custom to practice birthday celebrations in ancient Israel, does not mean that makes it automatically sin. They did not celebrate wedding anniversaries either in ancient Israel, nor did they have grade 12 graduation celebrations, but that does not automatically make such celebrations, sin. The Jews normally celebrated a wedding for 7 days, with lots of wine and dancing. Does that make it righteous just because ancient Israel did it. Does that fact of Israel having such a wedding custom for centuries like that, make it evil or sin for some other nation NOT to have the same custom, but only celebrate a wedding for one day, and not seven, and perhaps drink no wine? The Lord says nothing per se about wedding celebrations and how long they were to last, with certain activities (wine/dancing/singing etc.) during that event. It was left for the people of the nations to decide for themselves, of course within the law of God, if you were a nation under God. Such customs and traditions did not nullify or "do away with" any law or commandment of God. It was freedom WITHIN the law of God! If the Jews decided after centuries of observing weddings with a 7 days celebration, to now only have a two-hour celebration, with no dancing or wine, would that CHANGE in custom automatically mean it was now evil and sin? If the Jews after centuries of not observing wedding anniversaries, now decided to observe such an event, would that by itself mean it was now sin to celebrate such times? So likewise, after centuries of not observing birthdays of loved ones by the Jews, they now decide to observe such days, does not make those celebrations evil per se. The world does CHANGE, things are not as they were in Abraham's day, nor in the days when Jesus walked this earth. The world changes and customs change, and NOT ALL of those changes are EVIL. God changed the law of circumcision under the NT age, so also the law of Jerusalem being the center of worship, and the Levitical priesthood was also changed. Change from time to time in ways of practice in a nation or with a people, is not automatically sin. A nation of people moving from not observing birthdays to observing birthdays, does not of and by itself mean sin has been committed. Now to specifically answer Matt.15:9 and Mark 7:7. Please follow the important rule of study - read the CONTEXT. The scribes and the Pharisees had introduced customs and traditions that they taught their followers WERE TO DIRECTLY WORSHIP GOD WITH. These ways of worship towards God were actually "doing away with" some of the clear commandments of the Lord. They were claiming these ways "worshipped" the Lord. Jesus said they were HYPOCRITES! Their form of worship towards God was all lip service while their heart was far from the truth. These customs being discussed that were man made, were being used to effect worship with God., while they nullified the Lord's commandments that came first. This form of worship towards God was truly in VAIN and was useless! But as I have stated before, I know of no one nor any religious group, that teaches the observance of celebrating a birthday of a loved one, is a religious form of direct worship towards God, the same as worshipping God on the Sabbath day. As before stated, birthday celebrations are personal private celebrations of thanksgiving towards the human person you love, and for what they mean to you in your life. Certainly you may also thank God for giving them birth and giving them life, and giving them to you to have and to love, but you are not directly effecting worship towards God by honoring their life on their birthday. It is not at all the same as worshipping God on the weekly Sabbath and Holy Festival seasons of the year. We do not use "Secretary's Day" of appreciation (maybe with a card and flowers) to effect direct worship towards God. So it is with birthday celebrations. Then also, the celebrating of birthdays does not make the "commandments of God of none effect" for it does not nullify nor is it against any command of the Lord, as there is no command of God that says, "you shall not celebrate the day of your loved ones birth." 4. It is often argued that Christian "Church History" does not record the early Christians celebrating on a wide scale - birthdays. MY ANSWER: Christian Church History also does not record early Christians as a whole, observing "Wedding Anniversaries" - "Mother's Day" - "Father's Day" - "Grandparent's Day" or "Secretary's Day." Nor does it record them observing the feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, or the Feast of Tabernacles. And come to think of it, it does not record them observing the 4th of July. It also does not record them observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day either, on January 19th. When we understand that Christian Church History is a record in the main, the vast main, of the Mother of harlots and her daughters who came out of her, then we will see little is recorded in any detail as to how the true Church of God, lived, taught, and practiced in their daily life. Then again even within the true Church of God, customs and practices that are within the liberty that is in Christ Jesus, are allowed to change, come and go, as dictated by the ever moving and to some degree ever changing, world and societies of the nations down through the ages of time. Jesus prayed that His disciples would not be taken "out of the world" but be "kept from the evil that is in the world." I hope you have seen in this long and painstaking study from the Bible, that birthday celebrations per se are not evil. ......................................... Written November 1995. Appendix was revised in January 1998.
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