Tertullian More on Festivals

Tertullian provides an interesting reply to those who attacked the Christians of his day for doing things on festivals that the pagans were also doing. Christians are of course "no part of the world" but are not "out of the world" and the writer gave a masterful answer to the accusations that still apply today. People falsely accuse Jehovah's Witnesses of secretly celebrating Christmas if we get together on this day, even though we do nothing that is exclusively associated with Christmas and likewise the pagans accused Christians of celebrating their festivals such as Saturnalia (which fell on 25 December, called Brumalia, and was part of a Bacchanal or festival to Dionysius/Bacchus) simply for doing things that occurred on the day but which weren't exclusively associated with the day, such as bathing.

CHAP. XLII. But we are arraigned also on a different charge of injuries inflicted, and we are said to be unprofitable in business matters. How can this be true of men who live with you, who enjoy the same food, have the same manner of life, and dress, the same requirements for life? For we are neither Brahmins nor Indian gymnosophists, dwellers in the forests, and exiles from ordinary life. We remember the gratitude we owe to God our Lord and Creator; we reject no fruit of his works; though it is true we refrain from the excessive or wrong use of them. Consequently we cannot dwell together in the world, without the market-place, without the shambles, without your baths, shops, factories, taverns, fairs and other places of resort. We also sail with you and serve in the army and we till the ground and engage in trade as you do, we join our crafts, we lend our services to the public for your profit. How we can seem unprofitable to your business affairs, when we live with you and by you, I do not know. But if I do not frequent your rites, nevertheless even on your holiday I am a human being. I do not bathe at dawn on the days of the Saturnalia, lest I should lose both night and day; nevertheless I bathe at a proper and healthful hour, which will keep me warm and ruddy; I can be stiff and sallow enough after my last bath when dead. I do not recline at table in public at the Liberalia, as is the custom of those who contend with the beasts when partaking of the last meal of their lives; yet I dine anywhere on your supplies. I do not buy a garland for my head. What difference does it make to you, how I employ flowers which are none the less purchased? I think they are more pleasing when free and unbound and trailing everywhere. But even if we have them combined into a garland, we know a garland by the nose; let those who have perfumed locks see to it. We do not meet together at the public shows: if nevertheless I want what is advertised at those meetings, I will take them more freely from their own places. We absolutely refrain from buying incense; if the Arabians complain, let the Sabaeans know that their wares are used in greater quantity and at greater cost for the burial of Christians than for the fumigating of gods. 'Exactly,' you say, 'the revenues of the temples are daily failing; how few people now cast in pieces of money!' Yes, for we are not able to bring help both to men and to your gods when they beg, nor do we think that we ought to share with others than those who ask. So, let Jupiter himself hold out his hand and receive his share, while meantime our pity spends more street by street than your religion does temple by temple. But your other revenues will give thanks to the Christians, who pay down what they owe, in accordance with the belief by which we abstain from appropriating what is another's, so that, if the question is raised how much is lost to the revenues through the dishonesty and lying of your returns, a calculation can easily be made, as a complaint of one sort is balanced by the gain coming from all other calculations.

Origen on Birthdays

Origen coincides remarkably with Jehovah's Witnesses on the subject of birthdays. This lengthy quote comes from his Homilies on Leviticus:

[2] But Scripture also declares that one himself who is born whether male or female is not "clean from filth although his life is of one day." (Job 14:4-5) And that you may know that there is something great in this and such that it has not come from the thought to any of the saints; not one from all the saints is found to have celebrated a festive day or a great feast on the day of his birth. No one is found to have had joy on the birth of his son or daughter. Only sinners rejoice over this kind of birthday. For indeed we find in the Old Testament Pharaoh, king of Egypt, celebrating the day of his birth with a festival, (Gen 40:20) and in the New Testament, Herod (Mark 6:21). However, both of them stained the festival of his birth by shedding human blood. For the Pharaoh killed "the chief baker," (Gen 40:22) Herod, the holy prophet John "in prison." (Mark 6:27) But the saints not only do not celebrate a festival on their birthdays, but, filled with the Holy Spirit, they curse that day. (Origen - Homily on Leviticus VIII Trans. Barkley 1990 CUA Press)

I will stop here in the interests of avoiding breaching copyright, though Origen continues in this vein presenting proofs that the pre-Christian "saints" such as Jeremiah and Job cursed the day on which they were born and did not at all celebrate the day of their birth.

Ambrose on Birthdays

Ambrose of Milan had this to say about birthdays:

"[T]he day of our burial is called our birthday (natalis), because, being set free from the prison of our crimes, we are born to the liberty of the Saviour" (Serm. 57, de Depos. St. Eusebii)

Unfortunately I am unable to find much more of this, it appears that none of Ambrose's sermons are on the net in English. This quote comes from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopaedia.

It appears that in early Christianity they followed the early Jewish belief, which is mentioned in such as Wikipedia but I cannot find on the net anywhere (which is becoming a pattern), that birthdays were not celebrated and instead that they celebrated the death of a person as their true day of birth. This belief is in keeping with Ecclesiastes 7:1 "A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one's birth." (WEB) as well as several other places where the faithful of God expressed hatred for the day they were born.

Tertullian on Festivals

A quote from Tertullian regarding the celebrating of festivals - his example here is about the birthday of the Caesars but many of his points apply to other festivals:

CHAP. XXXV. On these grounds then the Christians are regarded as public enemies, because they do not offer to the emperors either useless or lying or ill-advised honours, because men of true religion celebrate even their regular festivals conscientiously rather than wantonly. It is forsooth an important duty, to bring out hearths and couches into the public street, to feast parish by parish, to efface the city under the guise of a tavern, to produce mud by wine, to run about in crowds for the committal of outrages, insults and incitements to lust. Is it thus that public joy is expressed by public disgrace? Does such behaviour become the festal days of emperors, which befits not other days? Shall those who observe order out of regard to Caesar, abandon it on account of Caesar, and shall loyalty grant a licence for immorality, and religion give occasion to indulgence? Verily we deserve to be condemned! For why do we, chaste, sober and honest people, fulfil the vows and joys of the Caesars? Why on the festal day do we not cover over our door-posts with bay garlands or violate the day with lamps? Is it an honourable practice, when a public festival demands, to clothe your house with the garb of some new brothel? I should like however to show your faithfulness and truth in the matter of this cult also of a second majesty, with reference to which we Christians are arraigned on a second charge of sacrilege, because we do not celebrate in your company the annual festivals of the Caesars in a manner in which neither sense of fitness nor modesty nor chastity allows them to be celebrated, but which the opportunity of pleasure rather than any worthy reason has prompted, lest perchance here too those who are unwilling that we should be considered Romans, but only as enemies of the Roman emperors, should be found worse than the Christians. I appeal to the citizens of Rome themselves, to the native populace of the seven hills, I charge you to say whether that Roman tongue spares any Caesar belonging to it. Witness not the Tiber only but the training-schools of wild beasts as well. Again, if nature had drawn over our breasts some transparent substance 'through which the light could pass, who is there whose heart would not appear to be engraved with the likeness of one new Caesar after another, presiding over the distribution of a dole? Even at that hour at which they shout: 'May Jupiter add years to thine from ours!' (Apology, Alexander Souter translation 1909)

Many of the things he mentions, the garlands and lanterns for example, sound very much like Christmas.

First Post

Hello and welcome to my blog.

Don't expect big things from it, I don't :D but you never know. I have created this blog as a way to gather quotes and other information that I find while researching and which I think will be useful later on. I will write posts on various things, mostly religion and animation because they are my main interests, I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses and I am studying a Bachelor of Interactive Entertainment majoring in Animation.

A lot of things that I post here will just be quotes from Early Church Fathers, collections of Scriptures on a subject, news, the occasional rant and the occasional graphics related thing that catches my eye.

But enough of this, on with the show and once again, welcome to my new blog, I do hope it can be useful to someone other than me occasionally - if it is it will make this all the more worthwhile.