History links Christ’s birth to Xmas Day
Dec 23, 2004
The Sunday Vision of December 19, 2004, ran in the Special Christmas edition projecting Christmas as ‘a time when church attendance is and will be in excess and bars full.’
The Sunday Vision of December 19, 2004, ran in the Special Christmas edition projecting Christmas as ‘a time when church attendance is and will be in excess and bars full.’ The Sunday Magazine also published an article suggesting that Jesus was born on September 13. If that is true then the world has been celebrating on the wrong day, it said.
Biblical and extra-biblical evidence agree on the historicity of the birth of Jesus Christ. However, complications are caused by the different methods by which the years of monarchs were reckoned and by the intricacies of the Jewish calendar. For example, Matthew 2:1 says Jesus was born ‘in the days of King Herod’ (who died about 4 BC) while Luke 2:2, says it was during ‘the first enrolment made when Quirinus was governor of Syria’ (which probably was 6-9 AD). What both prove is that the birth of Jesus was a fulfilment in history of God’s promise to save the whole world.
From its beginning, Christmas day, commemorated, not the birthday of Jesus, but his birth! Moreover, in the first three centuries of Christianity, Christmas was not in December or on calendar anywhere.
The earliest mention of the birth of Christ, being a celebrated festival was in the Philocalian calendar of ancient Rome on December 25, 336 AD.
Until 336, December 25 had celebrated two pagan related festivals: natalis solis invicti — Latin for the Roman ‘birth of the unconquered sun’ and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian ‘Sun of Righteousness’ whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers. Because of this parallel pagan custom, church leaders vehemently opposed the celebration of the birth of Christ.
Origen (c.185-c.254) preached against honouring Christ in the same way Pharaoh and Herod were honoured. He argued that birthdays were for pagan gods not Jesus Christ who revealed God’s presence, power and purpose to human beings.
Not all of Origen’s contemporaries agreed that Christ’s birthday shouldn’t be celebrated. This is how speculations on the date started (actual records having been long lost).
Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215) favoured May 20 but noted that others had argued for April 18, April 19, and May 28. Hippolytus (c.170-c.236) championed January 2. November 17, November 20, and March 25. In this wave, September 13 was lined up.
After much debate, the church leaders decided to introduce a new festival in ways that challenge, transform and adapt the pagan culture of the old feast to a new, authentic expression of faith in God becoming man in Jesus Christ.
After Emperor Constantine, had made Christianity the state religion, observing December 25 as official celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, spread from Rome to the West. At first, the East had developed their different tradition and celebrated Christmas on the closely related feast of Epiphany on January 6. But later in the 4th century and by the mid 5th century, most of the East had adopted December 25.
By the 19th century when missionaries from the West extended the gospel to Africa and Asia, where world Christendom, has currently found its new centre in the South, the association of the celebration of the birth of Christ with Christmas day on December 25, had become part of the gospel to be proclaimed, believed and lived out by most Christians.
These Christians believe that whereas the world may seem less concerned with the birth of Jesus, who is the reason for Christmas celebration, and more with santa, food, drink, new clothes, dance and drama, each Christmas season draws our attention to his daily presence with us and his final coming on earth.
The writer is vicar of St. Luke’s Deeplish of the Church of England and Visiting lecturer in Practical Theology at Manchester University, UK
Biblical and extra-biblical evidence agree on the historicity of the birth of Jesus Christ. However, complications are caused by the different methods by which the years of monarchs were reckoned and by the intricacies of the Jewish calendar. For example, Matthew 2:1 says Jesus was born ‘in the days of King Herod’ (who died about 4 BC) while Luke 2:2, says it was during ‘the first enrolment made when Quirinus was governor of Syria’ (which probably was 6-9 AD). What both prove is that the birth of Jesus was a fulfilment in history of God’s promise to save the whole world.
From its beginning, Christmas day, commemorated, not the birthday of Jesus, but his birth! Moreover, in the first three centuries of Christianity, Christmas was not in December or on calendar anywhere.
The earliest mention of the birth of Christ, being a celebrated festival was in the Philocalian calendar of ancient Rome on December 25, 336 AD.
Until 336, December 25 had celebrated two pagan related festivals: natalis solis invicti — Latin for the Roman ‘birth of the unconquered sun’ and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian ‘Sun of Righteousness’ whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers. Because of this parallel pagan custom, church leaders vehemently opposed the celebration of the birth of Christ.
Origen (c.185-c.254) preached against honouring Christ in the same way Pharaoh and Herod were honoured. He argued that birthdays were for pagan gods not Jesus Christ who revealed God’s presence, power and purpose to human beings.
Not all of Origen’s contemporaries agreed that Christ’s birthday shouldn’t be celebrated. This is how speculations on the date started (actual records having been long lost).
Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215) favoured May 20 but noted that others had argued for April 18, April 19, and May 28. Hippolytus (c.170-c.236) championed January 2. November 17, November 20, and March 25. In this wave, September 13 was lined up.
After much debate, the church leaders decided to introduce a new festival in ways that challenge, transform and adapt the pagan culture of the old feast to a new, authentic expression of faith in God becoming man in Jesus Christ.
After Emperor Constantine, had made Christianity the state religion, observing December 25 as official celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, spread from Rome to the West. At first, the East had developed their different tradition and celebrated Christmas on the closely related feast of Epiphany on January 6. But later in the 4th century and by the mid 5th century, most of the East had adopted December 25.
By the 19th century when missionaries from the West extended the gospel to Africa and Asia, where world Christendom, has currently found its new centre in the South, the association of the celebration of the birth of Christ with Christmas day on December 25, had become part of the gospel to be proclaimed, believed and lived out by most Christians.
These Christians believe that whereas the world may seem less concerned with the birth of Jesus, who is the reason for Christmas celebration, and more with santa, food, drink, new clothes, dance and drama, each Christmas season draws our attention to his daily presence with us and his final coming on earth.
The writer is vicar of St. Luke’s Deeplish of the Church of England and Visiting lecturer in Practical Theology at Manchester University, UK