SHOULD WE CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARIES?
By Guy Josia Ndombo
Without always admitting it some people feel uncomfortable with the idea of celebrating anniversaries and birthdays. Many among them are simply confused and don’t suspect the Bible is having directives for such issues. Besides them stands the category of those who simply don’t care: “it is not a matter of salvation and you may do it as you feel or understand.” Some others claim to read from the biblical data a strong abhorrence of anniversaries. The last group includes people of the far left: the Bible does not have any proscription about anniversaries, so they feast as they feel. Where should we stand? Should we celebrate anniversaries?
To attempt to answer such a question, we will look first at the (1) meaning of an anniversary; after doing that, we will examine (2) what the Bible says about anniversaries and subsequently (3) decode the methodology and the pedagogy of God with memorials in an attempt to answer the basic question to know if we can celebrate anniversaries. The last step of our exercise will be to investigate on (4) what Ellen G. White said concerning anniversaries.
Definition of an anniversary
Coming from the Latin “anniversarius” (returning annually), etymologically constructed from “annus” (year) and the past participle of “vertere” (to turn), the English word “anniversary” refers to “the annual recurrence of a date marking a notable event” or its celebration. Anniversaries involve personal commemorations of birthdays, marriages, enthronements, funerals, etc. and collective or national commemorations of various victories or specific events. Biblical Data about anniversaries
1) Anniversaries of Birth
The word “genesia” is found only twice in the Bible (Matt 14:6; Mark 6:21). Originally the early Greeks were using it for funeral commemorations, celebrations of deceased persons. Later on it referred to the celebration of anniversaries or birthdays of individuals. The two occurrences of the NT are in fact just one reference, namely the birthday celebration of Herod Antipas.
Another birthday celebration is referred to in Gen.40:20. The text by itself does not use one word but a combination of words: “yom hulledet ‘et-phare’oh” (day of the birth of pharaoh), the same combination is used in the LXX translation: “hemera geneseôs ên pharaoh” . Here the Greek translation did not use the direct word for birthday celebration “genesia” but used “genesis” (origin, birth) and combined it with “hemera” (day). Such a combination elsewhere does not refer to an anniversary (cf. Eccl 7:1; Hos 2:5), but the context of Gen.40:20 shows that that very day was the celebration of the birthday of pharaoh.
We can take note that the two birthday celebrations are taking place in two different cultures: one is taking place in Egypt while the other is in Palestine; the two separated by a very long span of time. It has been observed that “there is no record of the Jews ever celebrating the birthdays of private citizens.”[2]—Herod stands as the only biblical case—while other civilizations observed personal birthdays. When one assesses this data of the Bible on birthdays, he soon realizes that all the two depict unfortunate events that took place during the celebration. The two birthdays are shadowed by the bloody execution of two prisoners: Pharaoh orders the hanging of the chief baker (Gen.40:22) while John the Baptist is beheaded at the command of Herod. A careful observation of these birthdays shows further common elements like the pomposity of the celebration: Pharaoh “made a feast for all his servants” (Gen.40:20, emphasis supplied) while Herod “gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee” (Mark 6:21). While the account of Pharaoh’s celebration focuses on the scope of people who feasted, Herod’s one highlights the quality of the elite group that participated. To organize such parties required great expenses and it is at this level that the account of the Bible intersects with the accounts of celebrations of that time recorded elsewhere. It is also there that we clearly grasp how great expenses were including human sacrifices. 2) Annual Festivals
Annual commemorations are widely observed in the Bible. We will mention here some of the feasts of the OT and talk about some New Testament practices.
Anniversaries in the OT Israel
The nomenclature of Jewish festivals had an annual cycle of celebrations. These celebrations were to take place “each year” (Lev.23:41, NIV) and intended to be perpetual (Lev 23:14, 21, 31, 41). It should be noticed that except the Passover, most of the feasts listed in Leviticus 23 are not linked to some particular events in the past history of Israel. The yearly feasts were celebrating the acts of God they actually experienced that year while the Passover was commemorating an event most of them did not personally experience: the liberation from Egypt.
The Passover, guided by many instructions, was a commemoration of deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. The feast was celebrated from the time of Moses to the time of King Josiah. When it was falling out of memories it was revived. Even after they came from captivity, the Israelites still observed the Passover (Ezra 6:19-21). The New Testament Times
Among the OT anniversaries extending to the NT times, we find the Passover still celebrated by the Jews. We are informed that Jesus used to attend the feast in Jerusalem (John 2:13, 23) and “His parents used to go to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast” (Luke 2:41-42). We have already noticed that Jesus was executed during the Passover along with some other prisoners, and this custom of Governor of Judea can find its parallels in many of the pagan anniversaries polluted by bloodsheds. Although we observe the continuation of Passover celebration by the Jews after Jesus left (Acts 12:4), it is clear that most of the Jewish festivals became obsolete for Christians, who looked at them as “a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ” (Col.2:17). Specifically for the Passover, Paul said that “Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1Cor.5:7).
Another important Jewish anniversary we find in the NT is the “Feast of Dedication.” Although it is mentioned only once in the NT (John 10:22) it was a significant feast of the Jews and Jesus also attended it (John 10:23). It was a festival instituted to commemorate the purging of the temple and the rebuilding of the altar after Judas Maccabæus had heroically restored it (Cf. 1 Macc. 4:52-59). “Like the great Mosaic feasts, it lasted eight days, but it did not require attendance at Jerusalem. It was an occasion of much festivity, and was celebrated in nearly the same manner as the feast of tabernacles, with the carrying of branches of trees and with much singing. In the temple at Jerusalem the “Hallel” was sung every day of the feast.”[10] Should we celebrate anniversaries?
After we have briefly surveyed data of the Bible on anniversaries, we need to answer the critical question of whether or not we should celebrate anniversaries. Few preliminary observations need to be pointed out.
First, there is no prescriptive text in favor of personal birthdays. Instead, the few descriptive data available associate personal anniversaries with wrong behaviors. Second, collective anniversaries were commanded in the OT but the NT is moving the Christian believer to the ground of their spiritual significance. Some instances (like the last Passover of Jesus) also associate them with wrong behaviors. On the basis of such data, one could easily conclude that the Bible does not permit the celebration of anniversaries, but such a conclusion would be premature, ignoring the methodology and the pedagogy of God behind His intentional prescription of some commemorations. We will use two instances (one from the OT and one from the NT) to demonstrate that God is not necessarily against celebrations of anniversaries but against the manner of their celebration.
1) Evaluation of the Passover Institution
“Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.” (Ex.12:14)
The text by itself is showing an emphasis due to its basic parallelism.
| Exodus 12:14 (NKJV) |
| A | B | C |
| Now this day will be | and you shall celebrate | You shall keep |
| a memorial; to you | it as a feast to the LORD | it as a feast |
|
| throughout your generations. | by an everlasting ordinance |
The methodology:
The admonition was that they should keep the Passover as a “zikkarôn,” meaning “memorial,” “remembrance” stands as a reminder. The noun is from the verb “zākar” meaning to think (about), meditate (upon), pay attention (to); remember, recollect; mention, declare, recite, proclaim, invoke, commemorate, accuse, confess. We find this verb used in Ex.20:8 where the commandment of Sabbath is given as a day to be remembered, meaning a day to perpetually celebrate. The memorial was to be celebrated and kept by a festival. So the point was not a mere feast, but a feast intended to help the Israelites and their future generations to remember a specific event of their history. The remembrance by itself was to lead to activities of meditation and proclamation of what was done in the past. The permanence of the event is an important feature of the institution and was to revive year after year the memory of the acts of God.
The Pedagogy
The Passover was to be a feast to Yahweh (chag layhwh;ä). This points out that the direction of the celebration was to be God and not humans, not even the celebration per se. The Passover was to commemorate the mighty acts of God during their deliverance from the Egyptian bondage. This pedagogy is expressed by Moses in the following terms:
"And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. And it will come about when you enter the land which the LORD will give you, as He has promised, that you shall observe this rite. "And it will come about when your children will say to you, 'What does this rite mean to you?' that you shall say, 'It is a Passover sacrifice to the LORD who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.'" (Ex.12:24-27)
But the pedagogy of the Passover is not simply backward, it is also pointing out to a future event: Jesus Christ! He came as the sacrificial lamb that was to freed the world from the bondage of sin (cf. John1:29; 1Cor.5:7). So the Passover was a memorial of faith (Heb.11:28) leading to a future and more glorious event. In all these elements, the anniversary was not intended to be a mere celebration centered on human pleasure. Instead, God was to be the center and the direction both past and future events.
2) The Lord Supper Institution
The Methodology
Before His crucifixion, Jesus instituted the Communion Service that is celebrated by Christians. During the Supper, Jesus said the practice should be in His memory (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24-25). Actually, the word for memory or remembrance is the Greek “anamnesis” which is appearing four times in the NT and three of them in connection with the Lord Supper. “Anamnesis” is having the idea of memorial, remembrance, memory recollection, etc. Jesus was telling the disciples that they should celebrate the Communion service as His memorial, to remember that He was given as sacrifice for the world.
There is a strong coincidence here with the OT idea of the Passover: the prescription of the Lord Supper follows the commemorative pattern of the Passover. But the coincidence does not end there: the presence in 1Cor.11:25-26 of the Greek adverb “osakis” (as often as, whenever) points out to the permanence of the practice. The same as God prescribed the perpetual celebration of the Passover, Jesus prescribed the permanent celebration of the Lord Supper. Once more, the commemoration of a landmark event was attached to a specific ritual. But there is a slight difference here: the Passover was an anniversary while the periodicity of the Lord Supper is not given.
The Pedagogy
The coincidence of the Passover institution with the Lord Supper is not incidental nor simply methodological. We have already noticed that that Passover led to the reality in Christ. The fact that Jesus institutes the Supper during the Passover time is stressing an important movement: the Passover comes to its end; the Passover lamb is sacrificed; the typological festival meets its reality and ends. On the meantime, the Lord Supper begins the same memorial work of the new landmark, the one of commemorating the salvation of the whole world. With the Communion service God centralizes everything in Jesus and His sacrifice stands as the memorial point for all the generations, past and future. The memorial focus is clearly established: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.” (1Cor.11:26).
A careful study of the context of the passages concerning the Lord Supper in 1Corinthians 11 is very important for the unlocking of the question to know if we can celebrate anniversaries. Apostle Paul discusses the Lord Supper issue in the context of regulating a split that is ongoing in the Church. From 1Cor.11:16 Paul talks about a possible contentious or quarrelsome ( philoneikos) person. In verse 18 he says there are divisions (schismata ) when they gather as a church; and even in verse 19 he recognizes that there should be factions (aireseis).
From these passages, it is clear that the Corinthian church is having some problems and especially when they assemble together. The verses 20-22 stand as the practical description of the division in the church. The tension is visible when they gather for what should be “the Lord Supper” (v.20) but many come and manifest their selfishness by eating “his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk” (v.21). It is from this background that Paul comes to refocus the teaching on the Supper. He writes the memorial verses on the Lord Supper (vv.23-25).
The point is sufficiently clear: The spirit Jesus instituted the Supper with had disappeared from Corinth. Jesus had been shifted out of the center and individual interests and selfishness have replaced Him. There is a possibility of celebrating the Lord Supper unworthily, which is doing it without centering on Jesus (1Cor.11:27-29) while the contrary is advisable. The point for our discussion is that Paul did not conclude of the obsolescence of Supper because of wrong behaviors overshadowing it.
Applications:
We can infer from the observation of the methodology and the pedagogy of God behind the Passover and the Lord Supper that what matters for God is the spirit of commemorating. Even though the feasting of anniversaries is not specifically prescribed, it is not also proscribed. Instead, there is emerging evidence that God prescribed some institutions as memorials of His acts. While the timing of the celebration of these memorials is not always given—never overlook the fact that the Sabbath timing remains the seventh day of the week—the way we are to celebrate these memorials should always focus our meditation, our thinking and our praise to God; Jesus should be the center and human interest and pleasure should fade in front of the worship of the Divine. Having said that, we can conclude that anniversaries can be celebrated provided they commemorate the acts of God and glorify His majesty. Moreover, the celebration should be prevented of wrong behaviors as we observed from the personal birthdays recorded in the Bible.
Ellen G. White’s position on anniversaries
The statements of Ellen G. White on anniversaries are many. Here we provide the quotations summarizing her thought on the issue. One will soon realize that her position is similar to our previous conclusions.
We discover first that for her birthdays stand as a time to Praise God.
Under the Jewish economy on the birth of children an offering was made to God, by His own appointment. Now we see parents taking special pains to present gifts to their children upon their birthdays; they make this an occasion of honoring the child, as though honor were due to the human being. Satan has had his own way in these things; he has diverted the minds and the gifts to human beings; thus the thoughts of the children are turned to themselves, as if they were to be made the objects of special favor. . .
We clearly observe here a warning against wrong celebrations of birthdays. She continues:
On birthday occasions the children should be taught that they have reason for gratitude to God for His loving-kindness in preserving their lives for another year. Precious lessons might thus be given. For life, health, food, and clothing, no less than for the hope of eternal life, we are indebted to the Giver of all mercies; and it is due to God to recognize His gifts and to present our offerings of gratitude to our greatest benefactor. These birthday gifts are recognized of Heaven. But she goes further than the idea of honouring God and restraining from wrong behaviours. Birthdays are also a Time to Review the Year's Record:
Teach them to review the past year of their life, to consider whether they would be glad to meet its record just as it stands in the books of heaven. Encourage in them serious thoughts, whether their deportment, their words, their works, are of a character pleasing to God. Have they been making their lives more like Jesus, beautiful and lovely in the sight of God? Teach them the knowledge of the Lord, His ways, His precepts. Recalling her personal experience, she advises that gifts should be directed to God’s work: “I have said to my family and my friends, I desire that no one shall make me a birthday or Christmas gift, unless it be with permission to pass it on into the Lord's treasury, to be appropriated in the establishment of missions.” In a more summarizing picture of her thought on the issue she says elsewhere:
Satan's suggestions are carried out in many, many things. Our birthday anniversaries and Christmas and Thanksgiving festivals are too often devoted to selfish gratification, when the mind should be directed to the mercy and loving-kindness of God. God is displeased that His goodness, His constant care, His unceasing love, are not brought to mind on these anniversary occasions.
If all the money that is used extravagantly, for needless things, were placed in the treasury of God, we should see men and women and youth giving themselves to Jesus, and doing their part to cooperate with Christ and angels. The richest blessing of God would come into our churches, and many souls would be converted to the truth. Conclusion
After a brief survey of biblical data on anniversaries, both for personal commemorations and for collective memorials, we have come to the conclusion that the spirit of commemoration is part of God’s methodology and pedagogy for his people. They constantly and permanently need to celebrate his mighty acts and this implies a work of memory.
After a careful investigation we safely concluded that God did not proscribe nor specifically prescribe the celebration of personal anniversaries. Data available show that number of people associated commemorated their birthdays with criminal behaviours. When discussing a similar issue, namely the Lord Supper, Paul brought a corrective approach. Methodologically, what we learn is that refocusing on Jesus and God is what is needed, not necessarily the rejection of the commemoration. Memorials should always be celebrated with the good “why” and the best “how.” Pagan models of associating pompous celebrations with crimes and carnal pleasures are to be strongly rejected.
The reading of Ellen G. White’s statements on anniversaries and birthdays is securing the idea that when properly oriented and conducted, anniversaries may not be bad. Not only advising that we should glorify God during anniversaries and not put children or humans at the center, she advises that what is spent for pompous organizations and for gifts should be oriented to the work of evangelism.
Cf. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed. (2004), s.v.: “anniversary” [2] Siegfried H. Horn, , Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary (SDAD), (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1979), sv. “Birthday”.
Cf. Gen.40:20; 2Macc.6:7, respectively instances in Egypt and for the Roman general Antiochus Epiphanes. The practice is observed in Egypt and elsewhere: Josephus talks about the birthday festival for the son Ptolemy (Ant. XII, iv, 7, 9), which was to be kept by the "principal men of Syria, and the other countries subject to him." In The Wars of the Jews Josephus mentions how Titus, the Roman general, "solemnised the birthday of his brother [Domitian] after a splendid manner, and inflicted a great deal of the punishment intended for the Jews in honour of him; for the number of those who were now slain in fighting with the beasts, and were burnt, and fought with one another, exceeded two thousand five hundred." (War, VII, iii, 1). He mentions that "After this, Caesar came to Berytus, which is a city of Phoenicia, and a Roman colony, and stayed there a long time, and exhibited a still more pompous solemnity for his father's birthday, both in the magnificence of the shows, and in the other vast expenses he was at in his devices thereto belonging; so that a great multitude of the captives were here killed after the same manner as before." (War, VII, iii, 1). Celebrations of individual birthdays are also mentioned to have taken place among the Greeks and the Persians. (See, Horn, ibid).
The Hebrew term “Kôl” expresses the idea of totality and the feast here was for everyone. Except indicated otherwise, Bible quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1986, both by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Ex. 12:11, 21, 27, 43, 47-18; 34:25; Lev 23:5; Num 9:2, 4ff, 10, 12-14; 28:16; 33:3; Deut 16:1-2, 5-6; Josh 5:10-12; 2 Kgs. 23:21-23; 2 Chr. 30:1-2, 5, 15, 17-18; 35:1, 6-8, 11, 13, 16-18
[10]William Smith; revised and edited by F.N. and M.A. Peloubet, Smith’s Bible dictionary computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997) s.v. “Dedication, feast of”.
