Did Early Christians Approve Birthday Celebrations?
Early Christian writers usually treated birthday celebrations with caution, especially when they were linked to pagan worship, excess, or bad rulers like Herod. Origen says he found no Scripture that a righteous man kept a birthday, and Lactantius and Arnobius connect birthdays with pagan gods and public games. At the same time, some Christian texts keep other anniversaries and festival days, so the evidence is mixed rather than a simple total ban.
134 early-church witnesses · 225 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about birthday Celebrations?
Early Christian writers did not give a simple, universal rule against every birthday meal, but they often treated birthday celebrations as tied to pagan worship, luxury, or moral danger. Origen speaks most directly, saying he found no Scripture that a righteous man kept a birthday and linking birthdays with Herod and Pharaoh.
Justin Martyr, Tatian, Arnobius, and Lactantius also use birthday stories and pagan birthday feasts in ways that sound critical, while the Apostolic Constitutions and later Christian writers show that some anniversaries and festival days were still kept in Christian practice. So the early picture is mixed: birthday celebrations are usually viewed with suspicion in the pagan setting, yet the evidence does not amount to one clear church-wide ban on every birthday observance.
Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Origen gives the clearest early comment: he says he found no Scripture that a righteous man kept a birthday.
- Justin Martyr, Tatian, Arnobius, and Lactantius all use birthday scenes in a negative or cautionary way.
- The Apostolic Constitutions show that some Christian anniversary observances did exist, so the early record is not a flat rejection of every special day.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians approve birthday celebrations?
Most early Christian writers here treat birthday celebrations with suspicion, not approval. Origen says he found no Scripture that a righteous man kept a birthday, while Justin Martyr, Tatian, Arnobius, and Lactantius connect birthday feasts with Herod, Pharaoh, pagan gods, or public games.
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching
...me. Her movements seemed graceful and pleasing to Herod, who was very fond of things connected with birthdays, and this became the cause of there no longer being a prophetic head among the people. Up to this point, I think that the movements of the Jewish people, which seem to be according to the law, were nothing but the movements of Herodias’s daughter. But the dancing of Herodias was opposed to that holy dancing, with which those who have not danced will be reproached when they hear the words, “We piped to you, and you did not dance.” And on birthdays, when the lawless word rules over them, they dance so that their movements please that word. One of those before us noticed what is written in Genesis about Pharaoh’s birthday, and said that the worthless man who loves things connected with birth keeps birthday feasts. Taking this suggestion from him, we find nowhere in Scripture that a righteous man kept a birthday. For Herod was more unjust than that famous Pharaoh. For on the latter man’s birthday feast, a chief baker is killed, Genesis 40:20. But by the former, John is killed, he than whom no one greater has risen among those born of women, Matthew 11:11, and about whom the
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching
Some one of those before us has observed what is written in Genesis about the birthday of Pharaoh, and has told that the worthless man who loves things connected with birth keeps birthday festivals;
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching
and we, taking this suggestion from him, find in no Scripture that a birthday was kept by a righteous man.
Why did some early Christians reject birthday feasts?
Some early Christians rejected birthday feasts because they saw them as part of pagan worship, public games, or moral excess. Lactantius and Arnobius say birthdays were tied to the gods and their festivals, and the Apostolic Constitutions warn believers away from feasts and shows honored to demons.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
For the celebrations of the games are festivals in honour of the gods, inasmuch as they were instituted on account of their birthdays, or the dedication of new temples.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
...ation of the games is a festival in honor of the gods, since they were established because of their birthdays or the dedication of new temples. At first, the hunts, which are called shows, were held in honor of Saturnus, and the stage games in honor of Liber, but the Circus games in honor of Neptune. Little by little, however, the same honor began to be given to the other gods also, and separate games were dedicated to their names, as Sisinnius Capito teaches in his book on the games. Therefore, if anyone is present at the shows where people gather for the sake of religion, he has left the worship of God and has gone over to those deities whose birthdays and festivals he has celebrated.
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Arnobius, Against the Heathen Direct teaching
...e to lie on softer cushions, the pillows are shaken up when they have been pressed down. "It is the birthday of Tellus," for the gods are born, and have festal days on which it has been decided that they began to breathe.
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Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness
It is the birthday of Tellus; for the gods are born, and have festal days on which it has been settled that they began to breathe.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
...cs, lest by joining ourselves to them we bring snares on our own souls, so that by joining in their feasts, which are celebrated in honor of demons, we may not be partakers with them in their impiety. You are also to avoid their public meetings, and those sports which are celebrated in them. For a believer ought not to go to any of those public meetings, unless to purchase a slave and save a soul, and at the same time to buy such other things as they need. Abstain, therefore, from all idolatrous pomp and state, all their public meetings, banquets, duels, and all shows belonging to demons.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
For if the Gentiles every day, when they arise from sleep, run to their idols to worship them, and before all their work and all their labours do first of all pray to them, and in their feasts and in their solemnities do not keep away, but attend upon them;
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Tertullian, On Idolatry Supporting witness
The same thing takes place on an idol's birthday;
More related quotations from this section 1 shown
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Arnobius, Against the Heathen Direct teaching
...when it is clear that God is everlasting, while the former is presented by you as having had a birthday and as having given a mournful cry because he was terrified by the strange sight?
Did early Christians keep any special days or anniversaries?
Yes, some Christian writings show that believers did keep certain anniversaries and festival days. The Apostolic Constitutions mention festival days, and Julius Africanus and Polycarp refer to memorial days for martyrs, which shows that not every special day was rejected.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
Brothers, keep the festival days. First of all, celebrate the birthday on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month. After that, let the Epiphany be the most honored among you, in which the Lord showed you His own Godhead. Let it take place on the sixth day of the tenth month. After that, you are to observe the fast of Lent, since it contains a memorial of our Lord's way of life and His legislation. But let this solemnity be observed before the fast of the Passover, beginning on the second day of the week and ending on the day of the Preparation. After these solemnities, when you have ended your fast, begin the holy week of the Passover. During it all of you are to fast with fear and trembling, praying during those days for those who are about to perish.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
Let the third day after the departed person be observed with psalms, readings, and prayers, because of Him who rose within three days. And let the ninth day be observed in remembrance of the living and of the departed. And let the fortieth day be observed according to the ancient pattern, for in this way the people mourned Moses, and also the yearly day in memory of him. And let alms be given to the poor from his goods as a memorial for him.
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Polycarp, The Martyrdom of Polycarp Supporting witness
... as opportunity allows, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord will grant us the ability to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom. This is both in memory of those who have already completed their course and for the preparation of those yet to walk in their steps.
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Julius Africanus, Extant Writings Supporting witness
The next day, Emperor Adrian came again to the temple of Hercules. He ordered their bodies to be carried away together and thrown into a deep pit. The priests gave that place the name, "To the Seven Biothanati." After these things, the persecution stopped for a year and a half. During that time, the holy bodies of all the martyrs were honored and carefully placed in tombs built for that purpose, and their names are written in the book of life. Also, the birth into heaven day of the holy martyrs of Christ, the blessed Symphorosa and her seven sons, Crescens, Julian, Nemesius, Primitivus, Justin, Stracteus, and Eugenius, is kept on July 18. Their bodies rest on the Tiburtine road, at the eighth milestone from the city, under the kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
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Julius Africanus, Extant Writings Supporting witness
The natal day, moreover, of the holy martyrs of Christ, the blessed Symphorosa and her seven sons, Crescens, Julian, Nemesius, Primitivus, Justin, Stracteus, and Eugenius, is held on the 18th July.
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Epistles and Epistolary Fragments Supporting witness
The most gladsome festival of all, however, has been celebrated by those perfect martyrs who have sat down at the feast in heaven.
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Epistles and Epistolary Fragments Supporting witness
But our more pious and godly prince has passed his septennium, and is now in his ninth year, in which we are to celebrate the festival.
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Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died Supporting witness
...ends of May. Exactly eight years earlier, Daia had received the rank of Caesar. Licinius chose that day in the hope that Daia might be defeated on the anniversary of his reign, just as Maxentius had been defeated on his own anniversary. Daia, however, planned to fight earlier, on the day before those Kalends, so that he might win on the anniversary of his reign. Reports came that Daia was on the move. The soldiers of Licinius armed themselves and advanced. A barren, open plain called Campus Serenus lay between the two armies. They were now within sight of each other. The soldiers of Licinius placed their shields on the ground and took off their helmets. Then, following the example of their leaders, they stretched out their hands toward heaven. The emperor then spoke the prayer, and they all repeated it after him. The army, doomed to swift destruction, heard the low sound of the prayers of their enemies. Now when the ceremony had been performed three times, the soldiers of Licinius became full of courage, put their helmets back on, and took up their shields again. The two emperors came forward for a conference, but Daia could not be led to make peace. He looked down on Licinius a
Common Questions
Did the early Christians celebrate birthdays?
Some Christian writings mention special days and anniversaries, but the strongest early comments on birthdays are cautious or negative, especially in Origen, Justin Martyr, Arnobius, and Lactantius.
Which Bible passages mention birthday celebrations?
Genesis 40:20, Matthew 14:6, and Mark 6:21 are the main passages. They show birthday feasts, and the Herod story is the one early Christians most often cited.
Did early Christians think birthdays were pagan?
Often, yes in the writers here. Lactantius and Arnobius connect birthdays with pagan gods and public games, while Origen treats birthday keeping as something not found for righteous people in Scripture.
Source Index for Birthday Celebrations
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 225 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 134
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 91
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.