JOSEPH W. TKACH
PASTOR GENERAL

October 1988

Dear Friend:

You asked for an explanation of the names of the days of the week and the months.

According to the Encyclopedia International article "Week," the days were names for the sun, the moon, and the five visible planets, all of which were associated with pagan deities. The names of the days of the week and their meanings are as follows:

DAY CORRESPONDS TO:

SUNDAY - The sun, in honor of the sun god.

MONDAY - The moon, in honor of the moon god.

TUESDAY - The planet Mars, in honor of the god Mars. The Saxons named this day after their god Tiw and called it Tiw's day. "Tuesday" comes from the name of this Saxon god.

WEDNESDAY - The planet Mercury. Later named in honor of the Teutonic god Wedn or Woden.

THURSDAY - The planet Jupiter. Later named in honor of the Teutonic god Thor.

FRIDAY - The planet Venus. Later named in honor of the Teutonic goddess Frigg or Freia.

SATURDAY - The planet Saturn, in honor of the Roman god Saturn.

But how did this planetary week come to be so commonly used in the professing Christian world?

Hutton Webster, in his book "Rest Days," provides the answer: "The early Christians had at first adopted the Jewish seven-day week with its NUMBERED weekdays, but by the close of the third century A.D. this began to give way to the planetary week .... The use of planetary names by Christians attests the growing influence of astrological speculations introduced by converts from paganism .... Thus, gradually a PAGAN INSTITUTION was engrafted on Christianity." Emphasis added. See pages 220-221.

This planetary week with its days named after pagan deities is not of God. God Almighty DID CREATE the week with seven days. But He merely numbered the days one through seven (Gen. 1; 2:1-3). The only day He named was the seventh day. He called that day "Sabbath" (Ex. 16:22-26; 20:8-11).

The names of the months and their meanings are as follows:

Month - From the Latin:

JANUARY - Januarius, in honor of the Roman god Janus.

FEBRUARY - Februarius, in honor of the Roman festival of general expiation and purification.

MARCH - Martius, in honor of the Roman god Mars.

APRIL - Aprilis, which was derived from APERIO, a Latin verb meaning to open. So called because it is the month when the earth opens to produce new fruits.

MAY - Maius, in honor of the Greek goddess Maia.

JUNE - Junius, in honor of the Roman goddess Juno.

JULY - Julius, in honor of Roman emperor Julius Caesar.

AUGUST - Augustus, in honor of Roman emperor Augustus Caesar.

The rest of the months -- September, October, November, December -- are derived from the Latin words for the numerals 7, 8, 9, and 10. They were the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months of the old Roman calendar. For further information about the calendar, request our free booklet HAS TIME BEEN LOST?

Thank you for your interest. We would enjoy hearing from you again.

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT