Why is Good Friday Called Good Friday?
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Good Friday is a Christian holiday that commemorates Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and death as narrated in the Holy Book, The Bible. The Good Friday holiday is celebrated in the Holy week, two days before Easter Sunday.
The day is also known by other names like Black Friday, Great Friday, Easter Friday or Holy Friday. Some sections of the Christian community observe fast and visit the church. Many people also participate in church service specifically on the day.
What remains a question for many is why the day is called ‘Good’ Friday. If religious people are to be believed then the term good associated with the day basically means holy or pious in this context.
Background
There are many theories as to why the day that remembers Jesus’ death on the cross is known as Good Friday. One school of thought is that Good Friday stems from the words “God’s Friday”, while others understand “good” in the sense of “observed as holy”. According to yet another interpretation, despite the horrors Jesus endured on that day, the event ultimately represents an act of love and constitutes one of the central and most cherished themes of Christianity: that Jesus died to pay the price for humankind’s sins. Many Orthodox Christians call the day Great Friday. The day is also known as Black Friday or Sorrowful Friday, as well as Long Friday.
The Good Friday date is one of the oldest Christian holidays, with some sources saying that it has been observed since 100 CE. It was associated with fasting during the early years of its observance and was associated with the crucifixion around the fourth century CE. The…
