God and time

You established the sun and moon…you made both summer and winter (Psalm 74:16-17).

The twelve months of our calendar get their names from the ancient Romans. January honored their god Janus, the two-faced god who looked both backwards and forwards. February was named after Februa, a festival of purification. March belonged to Mars, the god of war. April was sacred to the goddess Aphrodite. May was dedicated to the goddess Maia and June the goddess Juno. July honored Julius Caesar, while August did the same for Caesar Augustus. September, October, November and December come from Latin words for the numbers 7, 8, 9, and 10. Under the Roman system, half of the calendar was dedicated to various gods and their worship.

The seven days of the week also reflect ancient religions. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday come from the old Roman calendar; Saturday was named for the god Saturn, Sunday honored the sun, and Monday the moon. Scandinavian gods account for the rest of the week; Tuesday was named after Tyr, the god of war. Wednesday upheld the name of Wodin the skyfather, Thursday was dedicated to his son Thor and Friday to his wife Frigg. The seven days of the week were named to honor gods and the forces of nature.

Is there any Christian influence in our calendar? Yes! The fact that each week has seven days is rooted in the Bible. In Genesis, we are told that God made the universe in six days and rested on the seventh; ever since, weeks have consisted of seven days.

One other place where Christianity has impacted our calendars is the birth of Christ. Our system of numbering years uses Christ’s birth as its starting point. Although the exact year is open to debate, many believe that 2,007 years have passed since Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Historical dates before the Lord’s birth are designated BC which stands for "Before Christ." Dates after the nativity are labeled AD which stands for anno domini, a Latin phrase meaning "the year of our Lord."

There are people who want to change this; they want to remove Christ from the calendar. They want ancient dates to be labeled BCE, Before Common Era, and they want modern dates to be labeled CE, or Common Era. The irony is, however, that unless many more changes are made, our calendars will still honor Roman and Scandinavian gods, they will still set work weeks according to the Bible, and our years will still be reckoned from when Jesus arrived in the world, an event that changed everything for all time.