The Augusta Chronicle, a newspaper covering my area, has run an article on Calvin’s 500th birthday:

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/07/11/rel_540493.shtml

The story devotes a lot of space to The Well, a seeker church set up with help from Mark Driscoll’s organization, Acts 29. (The Well is located the street from The Chronicle.) Because the informal attire at The Well reminds me of Dr. Morey’s casual attire in some of your photos, I can’t help wondering if your church, forum, or organization is at all linked to Mark Driscoll. From what I’ve read, Dr. Morey has moved away, and your church members are now attending other Presbyterian or Reformed churches in your area.

In Christ,
Frank

No, I didn’t think Calvin disliked birthdays. The verses he cited reminded me of JWs who’ve used them to support their belief that birthday celebrations are heathen. I thought it a good idea to cite some verses that show godly people have celebrated birthdays, too.

In Christ,
Frank

Thanks for the input.

I’m curious to know why you said Calvin’s comments remind you of JW’s “who shun birthday observances and cite Genesis 40:20; Matthew 14:6; and Mark 6:21 as evidence that birthday parties are heathen.”

Is the similarity just in the use of the same passages or did you take Calvin to be opposed to birthdays as heathen?

On Gen. 40:20 he said: “Nor is the custom to be condemned…”

On Matt. 14:6 & Mk. 6:21 he said: “The ancient custom of observing a birthday every year as an occasion of joy cannot in itself be disapproved…”

This is quite different from JW’s that condemn and disapprove birthday celebrations.

Though Calvin was born five centuries ago, his comments remind me of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who shun birthday observances and cite Genesis 40:20; Matthew 14:6; and Mark 6:21 as evidence that birthday parties are heathen.

David A. Reed’s book Jehovah’s Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse gives us a good rebuttal:

“In Job 1:4, it says of the patriarch Job’s family, ‘And his sons went and held a banquet at the house of each one on his own day; and they sent and invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them’ (NWT, italics added). That ‘his own day’ refers to each one’s birthday becomes clear when we read further: ‘It was after this that Job opened his mouth and began to call down evil upon his day. Job now answered and said: “Let the day perish on which I came to be born …”‘(Job 3:1-3, NWT, italics added). The Living Bible’s paraphrase of Job 1:4-5 expresses this thought: “Every year when each of Job’s sons had a birthday, he invited his brothers and sisters to his home for a celebration. On these occasions they would eat and drink with great merriment. When these birthday parties ended. …’

“Even the Watchtower Society’s own translation reveals that the birth of John the Baptist was celebrated, when it records this angelic announcement: ‘And you will have joy and great gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth’” (Luke 1:14 NWT).

Brother Reed reasons that the birthday celebrations for Job, his children, and John the Baptist prove that God proves of similar celebrations among His people today.

In Christ,
Frank

http://www.monergismbooks.com/John-Calvin-p-18182.html