Sunday

Probably Sunday is the easiest to figure out. It was named after the sun hence the name “Sun-day” or “day of the sun.”  

Image via Wikipedia (The sun)

The sun was worshipped by many early cultures hence its position as the first day of the week.

Monday

Once you figure out Sunday it is not too hard to figure out that Monday is really “Moon-day.” The word “month” also comes from the word “moon.” We have the word “lunar” which is the adjective for the word “moon” so even in Spanish and French we have Monday being called “Lunes” and “Lundi” respectively meaning “the day of the moon.”

Image via Wikipedia (The moon)

Tuesday

Tuesday was named after the Germanic-English god of war Tiwaz. Tuesday was called “Tiw’s day.”

Image via Wikipedia (An artist’s impression of Tiwaz)

Wednesday

Wednesday was named after the Anglo-Saxon god Woden referred to as “Wodan” by Germanic peoples. He was also called Odin. Wednesday was really “Woden’s day.” He is said to be identical with the Germanic god Mercury. We see the co-relation even in French where Wednesday is “Mercredi.”

Image via Wikipedia (Woden or Odin)

Thursday

Thursday comes from the name of the Germanic god of thunder called “Thor.” Thursday means “Thor’s day.” Thor is commonly depicted as having a hammer in his hand.

Image via Wikipedia (Thor)

Friday

The word “Friday” originates from the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Frige. She is often seen as the wife of Woden. (I guess they let Thor [Thursday] get between them).

Image via Wikipedia (Frige)

Saturday

The name “Saturday” means “Saturn’s day.” It was named after the Roman god Saturn which is also the name of a planet. Of interest here is the fact that the planet Saturn has a halo-like ring around it while Saturday is called “Sábado” in Spanish which means “Sabbath” the holy day of rest observed by Jews and Seventh-day Adventists. In many languages the word for Saturday is Sabbath. See here.

Image via Wikipedia (Saturn)

So there is the origin of the names of the seven days of the English week. It is full of names of planets, gods, or luminary bodies.

You may be interested in the following articles:

What Does The Name of The Month March Mean?

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The Greatest Earthquakes in the Bible

Georg Wilhelm Fredrich Hegel who saw the world as an experience and not set in rules first challenged the Bible. This idea led Ferdinand Baur to make people forced to see Jesus in a different light. The thought that Jesus might not be what everyone thought He was came into context. ‘All this was a speculative trend, but stimulated much historical inquiry into the actualities of what we could know about Jesus’ (Smart 354).

People began to see the Bible in more terms than belief. The Bible was beginning to be treated historical wise and not authoritatively. This was reinforced by Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, which was published in 1859. Evolution was what Darwin proclaimed. The human species came from the mutation of animals and apes. This challenged the Creation of God, which leads to humans not believing that they were created for a purpose and that they were to serve God so that they could enjoy a life after death in Heaven.

Evolution, away from the Christian aspect, should have been considered a step above and towards the right direction. ‘Evolution is good news: it hints at how we have risen from earlier stalkings and screams in the undergrowth to our present moral stature-above all, so the argument goes, the Christian religion-has played crucial part’ (Smart 356).

The Roman Catholic Church revived religion by reaffirming the authority that it had in the Vatican I in Rome in 1870. The Pope and his doctrine would be held in high regard and people were to listen to the Pope and the authority that he held. Some people rebelled against this to form Christian Socialism and started Methodists and Baptists.

The teaching of Karl Marx and other thinkers such as Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin once again challenged Christianity. Many philosophers had great influence as well. The blending of countries and domination over each other in Europe leads to the work of missionaries. Karl Barth, who wrote Church Dogmatics, challenged the Church by saying that everything that we know about God is through revelation only.

The Ecumenical Movement after World War II and the Vatican II (1962-1965) proved that the Catholic Church had become less reserved and that it’s doctrine was more loosely translated. Strengths and weaknesses were prevalent in the Church but where there were weaknesses the strengths confirmed the movement of religion. ‘The weakness is that the Churches appear statistically in decline; the strength is that voluntary religion is deeper than conforming religion’ (Smart 363). Christianity in Europe changed from being forced into it to deciding what was good for the individual. When people weren’t forced into it they started to seek out religion for themselves and take on their own view of the Bible.

North America was also hit with a tremendous change in Christianity. Christianity broke into many different sects with different denominations such as Mormons, Baptist, and Methodists. The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment led to a form of different beliefs and the breakdown of Christianity. Many different people took bits and pieces of Christianity and formed there own religion but all based on the belief in God.

The Methodists was started by John Wesley and was influenced by Moravians and Pietism. His goal was to revitalize the Church of England. Roman Catholics were allowed to tithe in North America by the passing of The Quebec Act of 1774. ‘Maryland had in principle been a colony for English Catholics, but a Puritan majority in the colony repealed the Act of Toleration in 1664, and Catholics were deprived of voting rights’ (370).

Unitarian Christianity thought that Christ was not God and was subordinate to Him. This movement was lead by William Ellery Channing in 1819. Transcendentalism that was featured by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau reverted back to Nature. Joseph Smith II who said that an angel came down and told him about gold plates, which became The Book of Mormon, started the Mormans. He was killed and one of his followers, Brigham Young moved the people from Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah. Many Mormans were persecuted because of their belief in polygamy and the new teachings.

Mass immigration lead to the start of many Catholic schools in North America and many different forms of Christianity. After the Civil War many former slaves became interested in their own “black religion”. Richard Allan started the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816. Africa was a genuine symbol for many African Americans who felt that in order to practice their “black religion” freely was in Africa. ‘Ministers found it natural to blend into secular organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and in general to take part in politics’ (374).

Other forms of Christianity that started in the 19^th century were the Seventh Day Adventists, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Christian Science. Seventh Day Adventists believed that the holy day is the seventh day of the week, which is a Saturday and was started by Ellen Gould White and her husband James. The Jehovah Witnesses believe in the name of Jehovah and that Satan has been ruling the world and that it is there duty to bring people to the love of Jehovah. Mary Baker Eddy started Christian Science, which believes in the blend of science and religion. She believed that she recovered from an accident because she was reading a book of Christ’s healings. She started the First Church of Christ Scientist in Boston, in 1892.

Another movement of Christianity is the fundamentalists and evangelicals. The fundamentalists believe in the infallibility of the Bible, The Virgin Birth of Christ and the Second Coming. Evangelicals believe in the authority of the Bible and the spiritual life. Dwight L. Moody started the premillenial movement during the middle of the 19^th century. C.I Scofield translated the Bible and believed in closely reading it.

Equal Rights and women again challenged Christianity and the formation of it and still continue to do even today. Things began to change because of the variety of Americans and social classes. Classes and race affect religion as do cultural integration. As we have seen Christianity was greatly affected by different people and different religions. It is impossible to obtain one certain religion with out being influenced by other religions.