Fear of Friday the 13th has spawned a horror movies franchise, its own hard-to-pronounce term — paraskevidekatriaphobia — and a tradition of widespread paranoia when it rolls around each year.
While folklore historians say it’s tough to pinpoint exactly how the taboo came to be, many believe it originates from the Last Supper, and the 13 guests who sat at the table on the day before the Friday on which Jesus was crucified.
“When those two events come together, you are reenacting at least a portion of that terrible event,” Dr. Phil Stevens, 74, an associate professor of anthropology at the University at Buffalo, tells TIME. “You are reestablishing two things that were connected to that terrible event.”
I can’t help but wonder how much of Christianity this associate professor actually understands. To someone who knows nothing at all about Christianity, it may seem that Jesus’ crucifixion was a horrible event.
However, for those who do understand the very basis for Christianity, they will know that the “horrible” event wasn’t Jesus dying on the cross. In fact, the “horrible events” are all the things that we people have done to each other, and therefore to the God who created us. Christianity is all about how Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for all the things we have done, are doing now, and will continue to do. That’s why Christians call the Friday commemorating Jesus’ crucifixion Good Friday – not “horrible friday”. One more time – not because of the way Jesus died, but because of the fact that we made Jesus’ death necessary by our own actions. It’s Good Friday, because that death is what saves us from God’s judgement.
If you want to read the entire article, it’s at msn.com. It’s unfortunate that MSN couldn’t have come up with something better – or said nothing at all.