Sunday, March 31, 2002

Dane Carlson asked: Why do we call today Good Friday and not "Sad Friday"? Does anyone have a better answer? [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson] Our comment: We can't find our dead-tree copy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, but the Catholic Encyclopedia does almost as well. In the article on Good Friday (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06643a.htm), they say, "The origin of the term Good is not clear. Some say it is from "God's Friday" (Gottes Freitag); others maintain that it is from the German Gute Freitag, and not specially English." Another explanation we've seen is that since Jesus' crucifixion is supposed to have saved us all from our sins, the day on which it happened is (paradoxically) a "good" day. Here at the Inquisition, we like the "Gottes Freitag" etymology much better. 4:55:43 PM