Herbert W Armstrong

Plain Truth Staff  

Where did St. Valentine's Day come from? Should Christians allow their children to participate in Valentine's Day activities? What should I tell our children about these customs?

   SCHOOLS are supposed to educate our children. Yet how many were ever caught in school where the custom of Valentine's Day originated!
   Do you think Christ celebrated it? Or the apostles?
   It is time we learned why children have been encouraged to celebrate this day — when no such practice is ever so much as mentioned in the Bible!
   Did you know that centuries before Christ, the pagan Romans celebrated February 15 and the evening of February 14 as an idolatrous festival in honor of Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves"? The Romans called the festival the "Lupercalia." The custom of exchanging valentines and all the other traditions in honor of Lupercus — the deified hero-hunter of Rome — "have been handed down from the Roman festival of the Lupercalia, celebrated in the month of February, when names of young women were put into a box and drawn our by men as chance directed," admits the Encyclopedia Americana, article, "St. Valentine's Day."
   When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, there was some talk in church circles of discarding this pagan free-for-all. But the Roman citizens wouldn't hear of it! So it was agreed that the holiday would continue as it was, except for the more grossly sensual observances.
   But how did this pagan festival acquire the name of "St. Valentine's Day"? And why is the little, naked Cupid of the pagan Romans so often associated today with February 14? And why do little children and young people still cut out hearts and send them on a day in honor of Lupercus the hunter of wolves? Why have we supposed these pagan customs in honor of a false god are Christian?
   But who was the original "St. Valentine"?
   Valentine was a common Roman name. Roman parents often gave the name to their children in honor of the famous man who was first called Valentine in antiquity. That famous man was Lupercus, the hunter. But who was Lupercus? — and why should he have also borne the name Valentine among the heathen Romans?
   The Greeks called Lupercus by the name of "Pan" — the Semites called Pan "Baal," according to the Classical Dictionaries. Baal — mentioned so often in the Bible — was merely another name for Nimrod, "the mighty hunter" (Genesis 10:9). So the hunter Nimrod was the Lupercus — or wolf hunter — of the Romans. And St. Valentine's Day was a day set aside by the pagans in his honor!
   But why should Nimrod have been called "Valentine" by the Romans?
   Valentine comes from the Latin word Valentinus, a proper name derived from the word valens, meaning "to be strong," declares Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. It means literally "strong, powerful, mighty." Could this refer to Nimrod, the grandson of Ham? Indeed! We read in the Bible that Nimrod was the "MIGHTY hunter" (Gen. 10:9). It was a common proverb of ancient time that Nimrod was "the MIGHTY hunter before the Lord." Nimrod was their hero — their Strong man — their VALENTINE!
   One translation of Genesis 10:11 implies the same fact: "Out of that land he [Nimrod] went forth being strong and built Nineveh.... The Hebrew word "Asshur," usually found in this verse, means "to be strong," to be — as the Romans would say — a Valentinus, a Valentine!
   How plain that the original Valentine was Nimrod, the mighty hunter of wolves. Yet another of Nimrod's names was "Santa," meaning "Saint" — which we mentioned in the December Plain Truth. No wonder that the Roman Lupercalia is called "St. Valentine's Day"!
   But why do we associate HEARTS with a day in honor of Nimrod — the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites?
   The surprising answer is that the pagan Romans acquired the symbol of the heart from the Babylonians. In the Babylonian tongue the word for heart was "bal" (see Young's or Strong's Concordance). The heart — bal — was merely a symbol of Nimrod — the Baal or Bel of the Babylonians!
   Nimrod — the original St, Valentine — fled to Rome, according to ancient tradition, and was killed there for his crimes. Later the half-pagan Church in Constantine's day made Nimrod — the St. Valentine of the heathen — a Saint of the Church and continued to honor him by calling him falsely a Christian martyr,
   But why should the Romans have chosen February 15 and the evening of February 14 to honor Lupercus — the Nimrod of the Bible? (Remember that days in ancient times began at sunset the evening before.)
   Nimrod — the Baal or sun-god of the ancient pagans — was said to have been born at the winter solstice. In ancient times the solstice occurred on January 6 and his birthday therefore was celebrated on January 6. Later, as the solstice changed, it was celebrated on December 25 and is now called Christmas. It was the custom of antiquity for the mother of a male child to present herself for purification on the fortieth day after the day of birth. The fortieth day after January 6 — Nimrod's original birthday — takes us to February 15, the celebration of which began on the evening of February 14 — the Lupercalia or St. Valentine's Day.
   On this day in February Semiramis, the mother of Nimrod, was said to have been purified and to have appeared for the first time in public with her son as the original "mother and child."
   The Roman month February, in fact, derives its name from the februa which the Roman priests used in the rites celebrated on St. Valentine's Day. The februa were thongs from the skins of sacrificial animals used in rites of purification on the evening of February 14.
   Then how did "Cupid" come to be associated with this day?
   Another name for the child Nimrod was "Cupid" — meaning "desire" (Encyclopedia Britannica, art., Cupid"). It is said that when Nimrod's mother saw him, she lusted after him — she desired him. Nimrod became her Cupid — her desired one — and later her Valentine! So evil was Nimrod's mother that it is said she married her own son!
   Inscribed on Egyptian monuments of antiquity are pictures of Nimrod (the Egyptians called him Osiris ), who was said to have been "the husband of his mother."
   As Nimrod grew up, he became the child-hero of many women who desired him. He was their Cupid! In the Book of Daniel he is called the "desire of women" (Dan. 11:37). He provoked so, many women to jealousy that an idol of him was often called the "image of jealousy" (Ezekiel 8:5). Nimrod, the hunter, was also their Valentine — their strong or mighty hero! No wonder the pagans commemorated their hero-hunter Nimrod, or Baal, by sending heart-shaped love tokens to one another on the evening of February 14 as a symbol of him.
   It is about time we examined these foolish customs of the pagans now falsely labeled Christian. It is time we quit this Roman and Babylonian foolishness — this idolatry — and get back to the faith of Christ delivered once for all time. Let's quit teaching our children these pagan customs in memory of Baal the sun-god — the original Sr. Valentine — and teach them instead what the Bible really says!

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"How could life have existed on the earth before Adam if the sun were created on the fourth day? (Gen. 1:14-18.)"

   Many have misunderstood Genesis 1. And for that reason, their preconceived ideas contradict what the Bible plainly says.
   The sun, moon, and stars had been created at the beginning (Gen. 1:1) long before the fourth day of re-creation.
   The concurrent article "Geology Reveals: Two Creations — Two Worldwide Floods" will show, in detail, how the earth became "without form and void" (Gen. 1:2). The rebellion of the cherub named Lucifer threw the earth into vast chaos (Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:12-17; Jude 6; II Pet. 2:4, and other scriptures).
   "Darkness was upon the face of the deep" (the surface of the earth which was completely covered by water because of the rebellion of Lucifer — Gen. 1:9-10).
   Why? Because of smoke and gases that encircled the earth! The light of the already existing sun and moon (Gen. 1:1) was unable to shine through this blanket until God began to clear away the atmosphere (Gen. 1:3-5). Enough of the atmosphere was cleared away on the first day that sufficient sunlight was filtered through to distinguish day from night.
   Genesis 1:14-18 says nothing to indicate that God was at that time creating these heavenly bodies. Rather, God was clearing away the remainder of the clouds and gases, thus allowing the sun, moon, and stars to shine through in their full brilliance upon the earth!
   In Genesis 1:16 the word translated "made" would be better rendered "appoint." God appointed "two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light TO RULE the night: he made (or appointed) the stars also." On that fourth day the heavenly bodies were arranged in their present orbits and positions in the heavens. They had been created long before.

Plain Truth Magazine

February 1964

Vol XXIX, No.2