Week Days and Months: Are They Named After Pagan Deities?

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Scripture reveals the names and order of Biblical months, however, none of the customary names of months and names of days found in the Gregorian calendar can be found anywhere in the Bible.  On the contrary, a little research shows us that the name of the months and days in the Gregorian calendar are names of pagan sun gods and goddesses.

According to the Encyclopedia International article “Week,” the days of the week are named after the ruling luminary — the days were names for the sun, the moon, and the five visible planets, are represented in the modern Gregorian Calendar week and all are associated with pagan deities.

The names of the days of the week and their meanings are as follows:

Sunday became the first day of the week.

• Latin: translates from dies solis, or “Day of the Sun”.
• Roman myth, Apollo was the god of the sun and of healing, so sick people prayed to him. Each day he drove his chariot of fiery horses across the sky to give light to the world.
• Greek Mythology; Helios was the god of the Sun.
• Saxon: sunnandaeg – god of the heat and light ball in the sky.

Monday is the second day of the week. Named after the Moon.

• Roman Myth: Luna, or Diana was goddess of the moon. Diana’s twin brother Apollo was the god of the sun.
• Saxon: mona – god of the light ball in the night sky, and tide maker.
• Latin: dies lunae, or “Day of the Moon”.

Tuesday is the third day of the week, named after the planet Mars, in honor of the god Mars.

• Latin: dies martis or “Day of Mars”. This day is named for the day of Tiw, or Tiu, and old Teutonic (Anglo-Saxon) deity. They also called it Tiw’s day.” So Tuesday” comes from the name of this Saxon god.
• Roman Myth: Tiu identifies with Tyr, which was the Norse god of war and sky and translated to Mar’s day.
• Mars: named in honour of the God of War, father of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.
• French: word for Tuesday is Mardi, as in Mardi Gras.

Wednesday is the fourth day of the week and named after the planet Mercury, and later named in honor of the Teutonic god Wedn or Woden.

• Latin: dies Mercuii, or “Day of Mercury.
• Old English: spells the word as “Odin” and refers to the planetary god of Roman mythology.
• Mercury: “the cunning God”, was the god of travelers. He had a winged hat and sandals, so he could fly and carried a staff with two snakes winding round it.

Thursday is the fifth day of the week and corresponds to the planet Jupiter. Later named in honor of the Teutonic god Thor.

• Latin: dies Jovis, or the day of Jove
• Norse god: The “Day of Thor”, “the Thunder god”

Jove compares to the Roman planetary god Jupiter, and the Greek god Zeus.

Friday is the sixth day of the week.

• Norse goddess: Frigg, or Frigga, names that day. Frigg was the wife of Wodin, or Odin, and the goddess of marriage.
• Latin: dies Veneris, or the day of Venus who was the goddess of love.

Saturday correspond to the planet Saturn, in honor of the Roman god Saturn.

• Latin: dies Saturni, or the “Day of Saturn”.
• Roman: The Romans had a mid-winter festival in honor of Saturn, called the Saturnalia. It lasted seven days, and there was much merrymaking. Public business was suspended and schools were closed. Parents gave toys to their children and there was a public banquet.
• Old father time: god of Time and agriculture and his weapon was a scythe. He ruled the gods before Jupiter.

Sources: Falk, Michael (1999). “Astronomical Names for the Days of the Week”, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 93:12

Astronomical

Day	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Luminary & symbol	Sun	Moon	Mars	Mercury	Jupiter	Venus	Saturn
Latin	dies solis	dies lunea	dies martis	dies mercurĭi	dies jovis	deis venĕris	dies saturni
Italian	domenica (1)	lunedì	martedì	mercoledì	giovedì	venerdì	sabato (2)
Spanish	domingo (1)	lunes	martes	miércoles	jueves	viernes	sábado (2)
French	dimanche (1)	lundi	mardi	mercredi	jeudi	vendredi	samedi (2)
Welsh	dydd Sul	dydd Llun	dydd Mawrth	dydd Mercher	dydd Iau	dydd Gwener	dydd Sadwrn
Old High German	sunnuntag	mānetag	zeistag Ziu’s day	wodenstag Woden’s day	donerestag Donar’s day	friatag Freia’s day	sambaztag (2)
German	Sonntag	Montag	Dienstag	Mittwoch (3)	Donnerstag	Freitag	Samstag (2) or Sonnabend (“sun’s eve”)
Dutch	zondag	maandag	dinsdag	woensdag	donderdag	vrijdag	zaterdag
Old Norse	sunnundagr Sunna’s day	mánandagr	tysdagr Tyr’s day	óðensdagr Odin’s day	þorsdagr Thor’s day	friádagr Freya’s day	laugardagr (5)
Swedish	Söndag	Mândag	Tisdag	Onsdag	Torsdag	Fredag	Lördag (4)
Finnish	sunnuntai	maanantai	tiistai	keskiviikko (3)	torstai	perjantai	lauantai (4)
Old English	sunnandaeg Sunne’s day	mónandaeg	tiwesdaeg Tiw’s day	wodnesdaeg Woden’s day	þunresdaeg Thunor’s day	frigesdaeg Frige’s day	saeternesdaeg
English	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Luminary & symbol	Sun	Moon	Mars	Mercury	Jupiter	Venus	Saturn
Day	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday

Source for graph.

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 worldly 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.

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