By Bob Barney
Most nations around the world hold that the New Year begins on January 1. This wasn’t always the case. In fact, for centuries, other dates marked the start of the calendar, including March 21 (The spring Equinox- which, according to God's Calendar, is the true New Year's Day!) and December 25. So how did January 1 become New Year’s Day? Well, you can thank the pagan Romans first, and the equally pagan Catholic Church next!
The first mention of using this date goes back to the Roman king Numa Pompilius. According to tradition, during his reign (c. 715–673 BC) Numa revised the Roman republican calendar so that January replaced March as the first month. Notice, even at this time, the entire world was still following Go's calendar, with March being the New Year! It took the evolution of paganism (Satanism) to replace God's true calendar with that of pagan gods... It was a fitting choice, since January was named after Janus, the Roman god of all beginnings, March celebrated Mars, the god of war. (Some sources claim that Numa also created the month of January.) However, there is evidence that January 1 was not made the official start of the Roman year until 153 BC.
In 46 BC, Julius Caesar introduced more changes, though the Julian calendar, as it became known, retained January 1 as the year’s opening date. With the expansion of the Roman Empire, the use of the Julian calendar also spread. However, following the fall of Rome in the 5th century CE, many Christian countries altered the calendar so that it was more reflective of their religion, and March 25 (the Feast of the Annunciation) and December 25 (Christmas) became common New Year’s Days. They chose March 25th, because that calendar was off by 4 days a year. They had the equinox on March 25th, and the winter solstice (now Dec 21st) on December 25th.
In designing his new calendar, Caesar enlisted the aid of the Alexandrian astronomer, Sosigenes, who advised him to do away with the lunar calendar and follow the solar year, as did the Egyptians. The year was calculated to be 365 and 1/4 days, and Caesar added 67 days to 46 B.C., making 45 B.C. begin on January 1, rather than in March. He also decreed that every four years a day be added to February, thus theoretically keeping his calendar from falling out of step. Shortly after Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C., Mark Anthony changed the name of the month Quintilis to Julius (July) to honor him. Later, the month of Sextilis was renamed Augustus (August) after his successor.
The true Christian Church, that was founded by Jesus and the Apostles frowned upon these pagan rituals, and that church stayed with the TRUE CALENDAR ordained by God! A great false Christian Church, which started in Rome, was a pagan church, originally worshippers of the God Mythra! This false church created the ecclesiastical calendar that we follow today. Scholars know that Jesus wasn't born in December, even the Biblical account of shepherds watching over their flocks in the fields – which would not have happened in winter – make a winter birth unlikely. But celebrating Jesus' birth during the time of the existing pagan celebration of the solstice was convenient and the Church usurped the holiday.
It later became clear that the Julian calendar required additional changes due to a 4-day miscalculation concerning leap years. The cumulative effect of this error over the course of several centuries caused various events to take place in the wrong season. It also created problems when determining the date of pagan Easter. Thus, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a revised calendar in 1582. In addition to solving the issue with leap years, the Gregorian calendar restored January 1 as the start of the New Year. While Italy, France, and Spain were among the countries that immediately accepted the new calendar, Protestant and Orthodox nations were slow to adopt it. Great Britain and its American colonies did not begin following the Gregorian calendar until 1752. Before then they celebrated New Year’s Day on March 25.
Over time non-Christian countries also began to use the Gregorian calendar. China (1912) is a notable example, though it continued to celebrate the Chinese New Year according to a lunar calendar. In fact, many countries that follow the Gregorian calendar also have other traditional or religious calendars. Some nations never adopted the Gregorian calendar and thus start the year on dates other than January 1. Ethiopia, for example, celebrates its New Year (known as Enkutatash) in September.
So, this is why January 1 is the New Year! Once again, the so-called modern world continues to follow the traditions of the pagan world of antiquity...think about that...
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