The Ransom for All

  We are not told to celebrate birthdays in the Bible. Christians, however, are free to observe or not observe any day as long as it done as to God. (Romans 14:5,6) Nevertheless, this does not give us liberty to bring idolatrous or occult spiritistic practices into our worship. Any scriptural principles concerning celebration of birthdays would have to do with idolatry and occultism, and whether our actions might lead others into thinking their idolatry or occult practices are okay, not specifically with celebrating birthdays as such. -- Romans 8:1-13; 10:14-32. However, many are not aware that some of the customs usually involved in birthday celebrations are actually rooted in idolatry and occultism. Birthday cakes and making prayer-wishes to candles comes from idolatrous occult worship, derived from offering candles and cakes to Artemis, the ancient Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt. The scriptures tell us of cakes made for the worship of "queen of heaven". (Jeremiah 4...

And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [ neshamah: Strong's Hebrew #5397 ] of life; and man became a living soul [ nephesh, Strong's Hebrew #5315 ]. -- Genesis 2:7, American Standard Version. Also it is written, the first man Adam became a living soul [ psuché: Strongs Greek #5590 ]. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. -- 1 Corinthians 15:45, ASV The Scriptures present a clear picture of the human soul. In Genesis 2:7, we read that God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the “breath of life” (Hebrew  neshamah ). As a result, man became a “living soul” (Hebrew  nephesh ). From this passage, it is evident that a human being consists of two essential elements: the physical body, which originates from the ground, and the divine breath of life that animates it. When a person dies, the life‑giving breath departs, and the soul ceases to exist as a conscious, living entity. This reversal o...