Why do Jehovahs witnesses not celebrate birthays?

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses DO sing. In fact, we even have a large book of songs, each one based on scriptures in the Bible that we sing from several times at each of our meetings at the Kingdom Hall and all of our larger assemblies and conventions. We have no prohibition against singing, dancing(not together). Larry Graham, a former member of the group Sly and the Family Stone became one of JW's, but he still writes, produces, and records music professionally to ths day.

AS far as birthday celebrations, Jehovah's Witnesses do not engage in them due to pagan origins.

The ancient jews, first christians celebrated birthdays. Pagans would celebrate the birthday of a person in honor of the particular god of the astrological sign that person was said to be born under. That was to appease that god, and supposedly bring good luck to the individual.

In the Bible, no servant of the true God is spoken of as celebrating their birthday, not even Jesus or his apostles. The date of Jesus' birth is not even mentioned in the Bible, and nobody knows what the actual date of his birth is. The only two birthday celebrations mentioned in the Bible were done by unbelievers, worshipers of false gods, and bad things happened on those occasions. These were an Egyptian Pharoah, in which he had his chief cupbearer hung, and in Jesus' day, King Herod had John the Baptist beheaded during his own birthday party.

Given the pagan origins of birthday celebrations, and the bad light cast on such celebrations by the Bible, Jehovah's Witnesses choose not to engage in birthday celebrations.

Answer from One of Jehovah's WitnessesIt is true that Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays. Jesus Christ did not celebrate His either. He is our role-model and we are encouraged to be Christ-like. Birthday celebrations were regarded by the first Christians and the ancient Jews as Pagan, because it was Pagan religious traditions from which they originated.

** According to the German magazine, SchwäbischeZeitung: "The various customs with which people today celebrate their birthdays have a long history. Their origins lie in the realm of magic and religion. The customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating-complete with lighted candles-in ancient times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming year. . . . Down to the fourth century Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom." April 3/4, 1981, p. 4.

** The book, The Lore ofBirthdays (New York, 1952), Ralph and Adelin Linton, pp. 8, 18-20 says: "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. . . . Birthday greetings and wishes for happiness are an intrinsic part of this holiday. . . . Originally the idea was rooted in magic. . . . Birthday greetings have power for good or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day."

The Bible does not put birthday celebrations in a favorable light. There are only two such celebrations in the Bible - both are celebrated by non-believers and horrific things happened on those "special" days. One was Pharoah's birthday: He had the chief of the bakers executed by hanging. The other was Herod's birthday: He had faithful John the Baptist beheaded. (See Genesis 40:20-22and Matthew 14:6-10.) Jesus made no mention about celebrating birthdays, and neither did the first century Christians, the apostles, or even the ancient Jews. The reason? They all regarded birthday celebrations as pagan rituals and thus would take no part in such. (See Matthew 7:21-23 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.)

Birthday celebrations originated in ancient pagan religions long before Jesus Christ was on earth. Pagans celebrated the birthday of a person to honor the god of the astrological sign which the person was born under. Their celebrations were very similar to common birthday gatherings today, complete with gifts, cake, candles, and the traditional birthday wish, which was made to the aforementioned god.

Jehovah's Witnesses choose not to engage in celebrations which we feel mimic ancient pagan rituals, such as most holiday and birthday celebrations. We feel doing such would violate the law of the God of the Bible, Jehovah, who requires that we not give any worship to false gods. (Exodus 20:3).

We also respect the opinions of those who do not share our views on this matter, and do not try to hamper their choosing to celebrate whatever they wish.

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Although some have tried to use the book of Job as a reference to a (Christian)"Birthday Celebration", it is clearly a cause of concern to Job that his children are having some kind of "feasting". He goes to offer a burnt offering for Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned..." In any event, Job was the faithful worshipper of the true God, not so much could be said of his children. The Bible account does not seem to include Job in this feasting. How this is twisted into "Christianity" is a true art.

There is also the fact that not even ONE reference to ANY faithful Israelite, even their Kings, nor any follower of Jesus, in the early days, is ever involved in a "birthday celebration" of any one.

Add in the inspired word of God at Ecclesiastes 7:1 "A good name is better than precious ointment: and the day of death than the day of one's birth." Then consider there are Biblical references to only two "Birthday" celebrations by non-worshipper of the true God that went bad, but they are not the leading "reasons" that they do not "Celebrate" birthdays, there is also the concern about showing an undue amount of uplifting of the creation even more than the Creator. Many, many birthday celebrations glorify the individual far more than the Creator of their life. Many celebrations of that kind have warped into idolizing the person instead of showing due concern of the true God. Many Jehovah's Witnesses do not want to be viewed as just one of the crowd. Most Witnesses will keep tract of the years, and will show great concern for the development of there children, but will also be on guard against anything that will be twisted, by others, into a "Birthday Celebration" that does not honor the true God.

Answer 2

Basically, Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays because they find their pagan origins objectionable.

Pagans celebrated the birthday of a person in honor of the particular god of the astrological sign on which that person was said to be born under, to appease that (false) god, and supposedly bring good luck to the individual.

According to the German magazine, Schwäbische Zeitung: "The various customs with which people today celebrate their birthdays have a long history. Their origins lie in the realm of magic and religion. The customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating-complete with lighted candles-in ancient times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming year. . . . Down to the fourth century Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom." April 3/4, 1981, p. 4.

Further, the book, The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952), Ralph and Adelin Linton, pp. 8, 18-20 says: "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. . . . Birthday greetings and wishes for happiness are an intrinsic part of this holiday. . . . Originally the idea was rooted in magic. . . . Birthday greetings have power for good or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day."

Jehovah's Witnesses reason that the ORIGINS of particular practices is relevant. When the Israelites "adopted" pagan religious practices, changed them (presumably disregarding their original meaning) and celebrated them for their own reasons, calling it a festival to THEIR God, (Yahweh/Jehovah), the God of The Bible, was far from pleased.

Answer 3

Actually Jehovah's Witnesses DO sing. Singing is part of their weekly meeting and assembly programs, where their gatherings start and end with song as well as have at least one (and sometimes more) singing interludes. Jehovah's Witnesses often also enjoy song when they gather on social occassions and there are even some Witnesses who make their living as professional singers. Links below contain some examples from Jehovah's Witness singing from around the world.

Answer 4

Jehovah's Witnesses refrain from all celebrations whose origins are pagan (non biblical). See related links below for details.

FURTHERIn regards to Christmas, the Bible makes no mention of a birthday celebration for Jesus. The exact birth date of Jesus is unknown, but we do know for certain that he was NOT born on December 25 in the cold of winter in that part of the world. Luke states that when Jesus was born, "shepherds [were] living out of doors" minding their flocks. (Luke 2:8-11) Because Bethlehem is subject to cold rains and snow in December, flocks were wintered under cover (in stables) and shepherds would not have been "living out of doors." Additionally, Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus had ordered a census. (Luke 2:1-7) It is highly unlikely that Caesar would have commanded a people who were resentful of Roman rule to travel to their ancestral cities in the dead of winter.

The roots of Christmas are found in ancient pagan festivals, such as the Roman Saturnalia, a celebration dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture. Likewise, the devotees of the god Mithra (sungod) celebrated December 25 as the "birthday of the invincible sun."

The New Catholic Encyclopedia sates that "Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome," about three centuries after the death of Christ. During their celebrations, pagans exchanged gifts and feasted in honor of the sun god.

As regards birthday celebrations, the Bible only mentions two birthday celebrations. Both were done by non-worshippers of the true God, and on both occasions horrific things happened. One was Pharoah's birthday when he had one of his servants executed by hanging, and the other was Herod Antipas, on which occasion he had John the Baptist beheaded. (Genesis 40:20-22; Mark 6:21-29)

The World Book Encyclopedia, states that "the early Christians considered the celebration of anyone's birth to be a pagan custom." The ancient Greeks, for instance, believed that each person had a protective spirit that attended the person's birth and thereafter watched over him.

The book The Lore of Birthdaysstates that on that day, their spirit "had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born." Birthday celebrations have a long-standing link with Astrology and the horoscope.

Because of the strong links to pagan religion, Jehovah's Witnesses choose not to engage in birthday celebrations, as well as many traditional worldly holidays.

Answer 5

Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays because in the Bible it mentions only two birthdays. And in both of those accounts someone got murdered. If God wanted us to celebrate birthdays, would he give us those accounts??

Answer 6

Because Jehovah's Witnesses look very carefully at the origin of things. We also look in the Bible for clues. We do not guide our lives by 'common practices' around us.

One clue: We realize that Christ Jesus did NOT celebrate his own birthday; nor did he suggest to his disciples that they celebrate it every year. To us, this is a clue. If we weren't told to celebrate Jesus birthday - why would we celebrate our own?

The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: "There is no historical evidence that our Lord's birthday was celebrated during the apostolic or early postapostolic times"?

Another clue: The Bible records 2 birthday celebrations. Both celebrations were by NON-worshipers of Jehovah. Terrible things happened at both birthdays in the Bible. This is a clue to us about the light in which birthdays were written about in the Bible. There is not one record of in the Bible of Christians or the pre-Christian Israelites as celebrating birthdays.

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."

Then we also give consideration to the 'effects' that comes out of celebrating birthdays.

Catholic priest Peter J. Riga pointed to one cause of the problems: "As one psychologist has said, Americans feel obliged to reaffirm the ideals of kindness, generosity and love at Christmas (and other birthdays) in order to atone for their neglect of these same ideals in their day-to-day lives. To see and to feel people return to their ordinary greed and unconcern can be devastating to lonely and sensitive persons in our society." (brackets are my addition)

Other psychologists have pointed to the problems when people 'expect' gifts, just because it's mandated by society.

But this does NOT mean we don't have parties. It DOESN'T mean we don't have fun. It DOESN'T mean we don't give gifts. You should not equate not celebrating something, with not having fun. Therein lies the misconception.

Answer 7

Jehovah's Witnesses do sing. You can find some of our songs on the Watchtower download website. You will find a piano version, and a vocal version. These are nothing like the sanctimonious hymns of mainstream religions; neither are they hip-hop revival songs.

Regarding Birthdays: This question has been answered on answers dot com already.

Briefly to repeat:

• Jehovah's Witnesses don't make a big deal about the word 'CELEBRATE'.
• We don't seem to find a command in the Bible about celebrating birthdays.
• We notice that the early Christians did NOT celebrate birthdays.
• They did not even celebrate Jesus' birthday.
• Jehovah's Witnesses also consider the 'ORIGINS' of things. This matters to us. If Jehovah God did not originate something; combined with, if something originates with ancient pagan peoples who did not worship Jehovah; we kind-of tend to avoid such things.

But we certainly do have parties, and other social gatherings. We also do believe in giving gifts; just not on some 'human-mandated' day.