Why is it that Jehovah Witnesses do not celebrate Birthdays?--It baffles me.?

Question

I think J'W's are nice enough people, but some of their beliefs, such as not celebrating Christmas and Birthdays just seem so odd--why is this?

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses believe strongly in God Jehovah and in his Son Jesus Christ.

Regarding birthday celebrations, bible students are encouraged to consider:
: 0% of faithful biblical Jews celebrated birthdays
: 0% of first century Christians celebrated birthdays
: 100% of birthdays celebrated in the bible were by debauched enemies of God (See Mark 6:17-29; Gen 40:19-22)

Bible historians (M'Clintock, Strong, and others) have noted that faithful Jews of the bible did not celebrate birthdays, and that ancient pagan birthday celebrations were at least partially intended to honor the patron gods of the particular day.

By comparison with such paganisms, the bible does not even tell us the birthdates of Jesus or ANY of his apostles!


Jehovah's Witnesses practice strict political and nationalistic neutrality, so they do not celebrate nationalistic holidays such as Independence Day and Memorial Day.

Other holidays derive from false religion, and so are incompatible with pure worship as adulterating interfaith. For example, Easter derives from the pagan god Oestre and celebrates "rebirth" and "fertility" instead of commemorating Christ's Last Supper and death as Jesus commanded:
(Luke 22:1-22) [Jesus] dispatched Peter and John, saying: “Go and get the passover ready for us to eat.” ...14 At length when the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them: “I have greatly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it again until it becomes fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ... Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”

Seemingly innocuous holidays may have only a tangential connection with false worship, such as Mother's Day and Father's Day (although arguably derived from ancestor worship). Understated observance of these is not generally considered interfaith by Jehovah's Witnesses, but it is too easily misunderstood in some cultures.

Since such celebrations are not required in true worship, and can easily become a distraction, so Jehovah's Witnesses focus their attention elsewhere. In particular, they are focussed on the preaching work which *IS* a requirement for Christians:

(Luke 10:1-17) [Jesus] the Lord designated seventy others and sent them forth by twos in advance of him into every city and place to which he himself was going to come. 2 Then he began to say to them: “The harvest, indeed, is great, but the workers are few. Therefore beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/20050101a/article_01.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/rq/index.htm?article=article_11.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20001215/article_01.htm

Answer 2

Jehovah's Witnesses look at the origins of modern-day traditions and reject all those that have origins in pagan religious or mythical involvement. In the case of birthdays, the Bible text that describes the day of one's death has having more honour than the day of one's birth, added to the 2 examples of birthdays in the Bible, both of which had the spilling of innocent blood and a lack of examples of faithful worshippers celebrating birthdays is cited as enough proof that birthdays are not portrayed in a positive light in the Bible and therefore not adviseable for Christians. That being said, celebrating birthdays is not put on the same level as celebrating Christmas, which has a proven origin in pagan religion.

Answer 3

Certainly Noah’s building the ark at God’s command appeared strange to the antediluvians, even as did Abraham’s picking up and leaving his native land to the natives of Ur. What puzzled expressions must have been on the faces of the Egyptians as they watched the Israelites sprinkle blood on the sideposts and across the tops of their entrances. Some things do look strange dont they? But there is always a Explaination.

Answer 4

A JW told me the only thing they celebrate are wedding anniversaries.

An explanation I got for the ban on birthdays was that the death of an individual defines their life and the person they were, not births. As it was with Jesus.

For what it's worth.

Answer 5

I'm not a Jw but birthdays are pagan celebrations of the creature rather than the Creator. There are only two mentioned in the Bible - one in each testament and both were kings who had someone executed to celebrate his birthday. Disgusting.

God created us and our parents conceived us and our mothers birthed us. Who then should get ANY glory on OUR birthdays? Certainly not US!

Answer 6

Because on the birthday mentioned in the Bible (Herods), John the baptist got his head cut off, Christmas is based on the Pagan solstice which happines on Dec 25th

Answer 7

JWs do everyting based on Bible input.
Regarding birthdays, there are 2 references.
Both are presented in the negative.
Message?
Birthdays are played down.
Please note, birthdays are not 'celebrated'.
They are recognized and mentionned.
They simply aren't given a big pizzaz.

Answer 8

Because it comes from pagan beliefs.

--==Birthdays==--
“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.”—Schwäbische Zeitung (magazine supplement Zeit und Welt), April 3/4, 1981, p. 4.

“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 Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952), Ralph and Adelin Linton, pp. 8, 18-20.

“The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period in general.”—The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries (New York, 1848), Augustus Neander (translated by Henry John Rose), p. 190.

“The later Hebrews looked on the celebration of birthdays as a part of idolatrous worship, a view which would be abundantly confirmed by what they saw of the common observances associated with these days.”—The Imperial Bible-Dictionary (London, 1874), edited by Patrick Fairbairn, Vol. I, p. 225.

--==Easter==--
“Easter. Originally the spring festival in honor of the Teutonic goddess of light and spring known in Anglo-Saxon as Eastre. As early as the 8th century the name was transferred by the Anglo-Saxons to the Christian festival designed to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.”—The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible (Philadelphia, 1944), by John D. Davis, page 145.

“Everywhere they hunt the many-colored Easter eggs, brought by the Easter rabbit. This is not mere child's play, but the vestige of a fertility rite, the eggs and the rabbit both symbolizing fertility.”—Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore Mythology and Legend (New York, 1949), Volume 1, page 335.

--==Christmas==--
“The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin. The day of Christ's birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source. The fathers of the first three centuries do not speak of any special observance of the nativity.”—Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1981 reprint), by John McClintock and James Strong, Volume II, page 276.

“Most of the Christmas customs now prevailing in Europe, or recorded from former times, are not genuine Christian customs, but heathen customs which have been absorbed or tolerated by the Church. . . . The Saturnalia in Rome provided the model for most of the merry customs of the Christmas time.”—Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics (Edinburgh, 1911), edited by James Hastings, Volume III, pages 608, 609.

The Romans' favorite festival was Saturnalia, which began on December 17 and ended with the ‘birthday of the unconquered sun' (Natalis solis invicti) on December 25. Somewhere in the second quarter of the fourth century, savvy officials of the church of Rome decided December 25 would make a dandy day to celebrate the birthday of the ‘sun of righteousness.' Christmas was born.”

Answer 9

I'm atheist and don't celebrate my birthday. Instead, I send my mother flowers and thank her for having me, since she did all the work, not me.

Answer 10

If you start to wonder why religious people do baffling things, you'll never stop.