Commentary: A Celebration to Demons!

“What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20) RATHER, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to DEMONS and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” – 1 Corinthians 10:19-20.

The month of January (in Latin, Ianuarius) was named after their god Janus in the Roman pantheon.

So, since the LORD God──the very CREATOR God that every Protestant and Catholic alike claims to worship──does not begin a new year on January 1st, what is the origin of January 1st being New Year’s!?

In the year of our Lord 46 BC, Roman general, statesman, and later dictator of the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar (12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) declared that Ianuarius 1st would mark the beginning of a new year! All of Rome (and a great many in Roman conquered lands) prayed to Janus ── their god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. In Bulfinch’s Mythology, he is listed as “A solar deity; a doorkeeper of heaven and patron of the beginning and end of things. He had two faces, one for the rising sun and one for sunset. The first month of the year was named for him. The gates of his temples were kept open in times of war. He was the builder of the Janiculum which Aeneas saw when he set foot on Italian soil.” 1 They would pray to this false god when they wanted something new in their lives (such as resolutions).

So, the very month of JANUARY as well as Julius Caesar’s New Year is not of the LORD God! And, nowhere is it within God’s living word ── the Holy Bible.

Notice what the historian and first theologian to write in Latin (who was a heretic follower and who did not have the proper canon, and was a trinitarian), Tertullian wrote about winter celebrations, such as Saturnalia, in the late second century AD ──

“The Minervalia are as much Minerva's, as the Saturnalia Saturn's; Saturn's, which must necessarily be celebrated even by little slaves at the time of the Saturnalia. New-year's gifts likewise must be caught at, and the Septimontium kept; and all the presents of Midwinter and the feast of Dear Kinsmanship must be exacted; the schools must be wreathed with flowers; the flamens' wives and the ædiles sacrifice; the school is honoured on the appointed holy-days. The same thing takes place on an idol's birthday; every pomp of the devil is frequented. Who will think that these things are befitting to a Christian master, unless it be he who shall think them suitable likewise to one who is not a master? …

But, however, the majority (of Christians) have by this time induced the belief in their mind that it is pardonable if at any time they do what the heathen do, for fear the Name be blasphemed. … To live with heathens is lawful, to die with them is not. Let us live with all; let us be glad with them, out of community of nature, not of superstition. We are peers in soul, not in discipline; fellow possessors of the world, not of error. But if we have no right of communion in matters of this kind with strangers, how far more wicked to celebrate them among brethren! Who can maintain or defend this? … By us, … the Saturnalia and New-year's and Midwinter's festivals and Matronalia are frequented — presents come and go — New-year's gifts — games join their noise — banquets join their din! Oh better fidelity of the nations to their own sect, which claims no solemnity of the Christians for itself! … not Pentecost, even it they had known them, would they have shared with us; for they would fear lest they should seem to be Christians. We are not apprehensive lest we seem to be heathens!” 2

What Tertullian appears to be saying is that by observing Christmas (formally known as Saturnalia) and the New Year’s celebrations, Christians appear as heathens ── following after pagan gods and goddesses! True Christians SHOULD NOT be celebrating days that actually honor pagan gods and goddesses! New Year’s was observed to honor their goddess Strenua ── a goddess of the new year, purification, and wellbeing. She had a shrine and grove at the top of the Via Sacra.

Brethren, celebrating January 1st as a new year is celebrating for and with demons! Because it’s origin is from paganism.

And, how is New Year’s celebrated today? The traditions vary around the world. As an example: In Spain, revelers eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight, one for each chime of the clock. Each grape represents a month of the coming year, and eating them is believed to bring good luck and prosperity. In Japan, the New Year, or Oshogatsu, is a time for purification and renewal. Temples ring their bells 108 times to symbolize the cleansing of 108 earthly desires, according to Buddhist beliefs. And, in Denmark, people literally break into the New Year—by smashing plates! Residents hurl old dishes at the front doors of friends and family as a gesture of affection and good wishes. 3

In the  United States of America, along with other  Western cultures, many people still make New Year’s resolutions. The very expression “strenas diabolicas observare” roughly translates from Google Translate to “to observe diabolical tricks.” So, it is highly likely that New Year’s resolutions ── Interestingly, a study found the practice of resolution setting may be more common in the U.S., as similar polls in Sweden found just 12% to 14% of people set goals for the new year. 4 ── originate from their goddess Strenua – of “purification and well-being.”

When Is the New Year?

The LORD our God has declared to all that the month of Abib/Nisan will be the FIRST MONTH OF A NEW YEAR ──

“Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2) ‘This month [Abib/Nisan] shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.’” – Exodus 12:1-2.

This month is equivalent to late March/early April. In the year 2025, the LORD God’s new year begins March 29th at sunset.

Again, January 1st is not the beginning of a new year for the LORD our God ── or any true follower of Christ Jesus! □

Bibliography

1 Bulfinch's Mythology, Bulfinch, T., Janus - Dictionary and Index, Crown Publishers, Inc., © 1979, pg. 917.

2 Tertullian, On Idolatry – Chapters X, and XIV. – New Advent - https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0302.htm.

3 Sarkar, O., New Year Traditions Around The World: A Celebration Of Cultures, ZeeNews, Retrieved 30 Dec. 2024.

4 Oscarsson M, Carlbring P, Andersson G, Rozental A. A large-scale experiment on New Year's resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals. PLoS One. 2020;15(12):e0234097.

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