Follow up question on Jesus's birth date?

Question

Look, I know Jesus wasnt born on Dec 25th. My point is, if they stole that from pagan religions that came before it, then why can we not say the entire story of Jesus is a myth taken from pagan traditions??

Answer 1

Your question is a valid one. And yes, to get other's to believe in Jesus it was easier to make him more appealing to Pagans. Look up the birth of the Pagan God (Mirtha) so identical it's weird, even down to the virgin mother.

But the ENTIRE story is not made up. He was born! And there is historical proof of his existence. WHEN he was born doesn't really matter to me.

For Christians the focus should be on his death, not his birth. The main point (he suffered, died and was buried and on the third day he rose again). But for some reason, Christmas gets all the play and Easter gets lost with the Easter Bunny. (What the hell is that all about?)

Answer 2

The Bible doesn't mention a date or month. They picked the pagan celebration date because people were used to celebrating at that time anyways - it was an easier transition than trying to start a holiday on a new date. Dates aren't copyrighted, so they didn't 'steal' it from anyone. The way we currently keep time wasn't started until about 500 years after Christ's death, and the guy did the math wrong. It doesn't matter exactly when it happened, only that it happened. They picked a date that people would already be familiar with - that doesn't mean they made the whole thing up. There are Orthodox people who celebrate Christmas on January 6th - that doesn't make them any less Christian.

Answer 3

We can't say that the entire story is a myth because there is historical evidence from non-biblical sources that say that a man called Jesus did exist. Unfortunately, well-meaning but misguided people like Paul of Tarsus decided to try to make the religion of Jesus more palatable not only to Jews, but to the many cults surrounding him in his time such as Mithraism. He added many pagan and other concepts to the religion OF Jesus and turned it into a religion ABOUT Jesus.

Answer 4

Read up on history and then make your own conclusion.

A couple of points you might find interesting in your research:

Interestingly in all of the records left by the Romans, the Jesus character goes undocumented. It doesn't mean he didn't exist, it just means he didn't give the Romans any reason to document his existence and we have to dig further.

On the other hand Paul did. Paul was too young to be a comtempory of Jesus yet did evangelize throughout the Roman Empire concepts and values that have now become known as Christianity. In fact, Paul is regarded by many historical theologians as the catalyst which definitively split Christianity from Judaism. During much of Paul's evangelization many of the other disciples were still living. It appears as if Paul had contact with Peter and was in fact at odds with Peter over some of the concepts that Paul attributed to the Jesus character and the qualifications for one to become a follower of Jesus' ways. Paul's views appear to have been more broadly accepted by the surviving Christian community.

The 4 gospels included with the book we have assembled to be the Bible were written hundreds of years after Jesus was alive. Oral tradition and other written bodies of work were assembled by the gospel writers years later. In your research you may find their motivations for writing those gospels interesting. You will also find that there were other gospel candidates for inclusion in the Bible yet were not included for reasons including, but not limited to, questionable accuracy and then-political correctness.

For many historical theologians it is not clear exactly which of the Biblical stories within each gospel are factual documentaries of Jesus' life and which are concepts developed by others, including Paul, which exemplified the message Jesus had preached (or perhaps the message that developed thereafter).

In any event, it seems historically likely that a Jesus character did live at the time we believe he lived. It is very reasonable that a charasmatic person sparked a social rebellion that became Christianity. It is likely that many of the biblical stories are true. And for those that may be fictitious it is likely that the authors were fairly expressing the concepts and values that a Jesus character instilled in people who chose to document his life and evangelize his message for years thereafter.

To start your own research, I suggest reading the Bible cover to cover with a clinical eye toward history and the contemporary setting of the author of each book within. Not only the Gospels will spark your curiousity about history but many other books within the Bible will also spur academic questions that have been asked by many.

Answer 5

Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. It was April 6th. It is celebrated to coincide with the winter festival. Celebrating it during a different time of the year offers no proof, or even indication that it didn't happen. That Jesus lived is historical fact. The only arguable point about Jesus is whether He is who He said He was.

Answer 6

Your argument: Jesus was not born on December 25th, therefore the entire story of Jesus is a myth.

This is a non sequitur argument.

Also, if you'll check the Bible, you'll notice that Dec 25th is never mentioned as the date of Jesus's birth.

Answer 7

I think that is overstating the case, many ancient belief systems show parallels, this need not mean one was derived from another. The God that Dies and is Reborn is found as far apart as the Middle East (Yehosua), Egypt (Osiris), and Scandinavia (Odin). Diligent research could probably turn up plenty of others.
The Son of God begotten on a Virgin occurs in Greece centuries before Christ, in the legend of Dionysos. Dionysos is, by the way, also worshiped by the Sharing of Bread (his body) and the Drinking of Wine (his Blood). The Star foretelling the Coming Birth was shared by Mithras in Persia, and by Alexander the Great. Natural phenomena spark legends, that's just how it goes.

Answer 8

Because it is not a myth. Jesus was actually born, now Christmas Trees, presents and such can be attributed to pagan traditions.

Answer 9

NO> the gospels are historical whether you wan't to believe it or not> Jesus is a unique character and easily the most dominant in history> If the gospel stories were "fabricated" no body would believe in them!! But there were many eye-witness accounts of Jesus' ministry to support the gospels> It is like me saying that a celebrity was raised from the dead, you wouldn't believe me, but Jesus was witnesses by many people>

Answer 10

Because its not. The Roman Catholic church back in time when it had dominion over almost the whole world, to stop pagan feasts but still keep the people happy, they invented religious feasts on those day as a cover up.