2007? New Year's Day?

[cleglaw]

What we call the new year comes from a calendar based on the birth of a Jew of great spiritual stature. Many cultures use different baselines for their calendars' starting years.

The year in Japan is based on the reign of the current emperor--2007 would be Year 19 of the Emperor Akihito.

Today is the 12th day of Tevet in the Jewish calendar, year 5767. The exact origin of this calendar is not entirely clear, but appears to have been associated with Babylon.

It is the Kurdish year 2619. The Kurdish calendar started in the year that Cyaxares, the first king of the Medes' empire, occupied Nineveh and put the end to the Assyrian empire.

I have only mentioned a few. There are of course many other calendars, and reading about them is fascinating.

[Dark Phoenix Rising]

Erm, I think you'll find that what we call the new year is actually based on a "pagan" festival that was widely celebrated in Rome before christianity became the defacto religion. This festival was itself based on a solar festival (winter solstice).

[cleglaw]

There is an interesting story about when easter is celebrated as well.
The last supper was a seder, a Jewish ritual/traditional meal which is observed during the Jewish holiday of Passover. The date of Passover is determined by the Jewish lunar calendar and so the date of Passover on the Christian solar calendar consequently varies from year to year. Hence the date of Easter also varied from year to year and was determined by reference to the Jewish calendar specifically the 14th day of Nisan. This sometimes placed Easter in midweek. Even though Christ was a Jew, determining the date to celebrate Easter by referring to a Jewish calendar was intolerable to the church and so Easter Sunday was established as the rule.

[ss]

cleglaw said:

There is an interesting story about when easter is celebrated as well.
The last supper was a seder, a Jewish ritual/traditional meal which is observed during the Jewish holiday of Passover. The date of Passover is determined by the Jewish lunar calendar and so the date of Passover on the Christian solar calendar consequently varies from year to year. Hence the date of Easter also varied from year to year and was determined by reference to the Jewish calendar specifically the 14th day of Nisan. This sometimes placed Easter in midweek. Even though Christ was a Jew, determining the date to celebrate Easter by referring to a Jewish calendar was intolerable to the church and so Easter Sunday was established as the rule.

Off New years a bit,

This is a very informative read, although rather lengthly....but explains Easter in good detail...

www.biblebelievers.com/babylon/sect32.htm