Who declared that December 25 is the birth of Jesus Christ? Does the exact date accounted in the Bible?

Question

Additionally, if His birth date record is really an opposed to what whe have been celebrating/believing in..why the church is not correcting it and yet still participating, promoting the celebration?

Answer 1

Some pope made it so.
IF one thinks of the Bible as an historical document (which most theologans and historians do NOT), then the birth of Jesus (who did actually exist as a person, if he was 'divine' is a matter of faith) likely occured around September/October.
Early Christians got a LOT more converts if they allowed local people to keep their long-standing festivals and traditions. "Christmas" simply became the new Christian name for the traditional European/druidic winter festivals that had occurred for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years before the birht of Christ.

Answer 2

The exact birthday of Jesus is unknown. However, evidence in the Bible shows that Jesus was probably born in late spring/early summer. December 25th or 24th (depending on the country) was taken from the Roman Pagans celebrating Saturnalia. A pagan holiday that actually ended on December 23rd, beginning on Dec 17th. The celebration included the giving of presents, and the wearing of "pileus". The pileus was known as the freedman's hat. The idea is that even slaves would be regarded and respected as if they were their own masters. The design was very similar to the hats which Santa's elves would wear. The idea here is that Christ set the slaves/captives free (that is from sin), but this was adopted as a similarity. The Catholics (which are necessarily Christian) added this holiday during a period in time which Paganism was still the norm but Christianity was being adopted as the New Religion of Rome. However, true Christianity is lost in the process. There's so much to this. Also, Christ's birth was never celebrated by 1st Century Christians. The only days celebrated where the Passover and Pentacost. Christianity doesn't have any mandated holidays. The short answer is that the Bible doesn't give us a date, but it was definitely not during the winter. December 25th is not even close to Jesus' birthday.

Answer 3

nobody has the exact date of when jesus was born, so the fact that people use december 25 as his birthday is purely guessing. as to who declared it, well here is the history first of all,
Christmas has its origins in several pagan holidays. The celebration known as Saturnalia included the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia). This holiday was observed over a series of days beginning on December 17 (the birthday of Saturn) and ending on December 25 (the birthday of Sol Invictus, the "unconquered sun"). The combined festivals resulted in an extended winter holiday season. Business was postponed and even slaves feasted. There was drinking, gambling, and singing, and nudity was relatively common. It was the "best of days," according to the poet Catullus.[4]

During the time in which Christianity was spreading throughout the Roman Empire, another similar religion known as Mithraism was also gaining widespread acceptance. The followers of Mithraism worshipped Mithras, a god of Persian origin, who was identified with Sol Invictus. [citation needed] The followers of Mithraism, consequently, adopted the birthday of Sol Invictus as the birthday of Mithras. In 274 AD, due to the popularity of Mithraism, Emperor Aurelian designated December 25 as the festival of Sol Invictus.

Around 220 AD, the theologian Tertullian declared that Jesus died on March 25, 29, but was resurrected three days later. Although this is not a plausible date for the crucifixion, it does suggest that March 25, nine months before December 25th, had significance for the church even before it was used as a basis to calculate Christmas. Modern scholars favor a crucifixion date of April 3, 33, which was also the date of a partial lunar eclipse (These are Julian calendar dates. Subtract two days for a Gregorian date.).[5]

By 240 AD, a list of significant events was being assigned to March 25, partly because it was believed to be the date of the vernal equinox. These events include creation, The Fall of Adam and Eve, and, most relevantly, the Incarnation.[6] The view that the Incarnation occurred on the same date as crucifixion is consistent with a Jewish belief that prophets died at an "integral age," either an anniversary of their birth or of their conception.[7][8]

The idea that December 25 is Jesus' birthday was popularized by Sextus Julius Africanus in Chronographiai (221 AD), an early reference book for Christians. This identification did not at first inspire feasting or celebration. In 245 AD, the theologian Origen denounced the idea of celebrating the birthday of Jesus "as if he were a king pharaoh." Only sinners, not saints, celebrate their birthdays, Origen contended.

As Constantine ended the Christian persecution and began the persecution of non-Christians, Christians began to debate the nature of Christ. The Alexandrian school argued that he was the divine word made flesh (see John 1:14), while the Antioch school held that he was born human and infused with the Holy Spirit at the time of his baptism (see Mark 1:9-11). A feast celebrating Christ's birth gave the church an opportunity to promote the intermediate view that Christ was divine from the time of his incarnation.[9] Mary, a minor figure for early Christians, gained prominence as the theotokos, or god-bearer. There were Christmas celebrations in Rome as early as 336 AD. December 25 was added to the calendar as a feast day in 350 AD.[9]

for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Day#History

Answer 4

Actually, the 25th of December is the date of conception of Christ. His birth date falls around the 29th of September. The exact date of birth is not stated but may be extrapolated from information contained in the original manuscript translations in ancient Hebrew, Greek, Chaldea, and Aramaic.

Also, there are native American tribes in the United States which place the actual date of birth at the end of September as well.

Answer 5

I read somewhere that the first record of a celebration of Christ's birth placed it in spring.
The shepherds story shows quite clearly that the writer was not thinking of December - it is too cold to have flocks out in the field at night then in that part of the world.

Answer 6

Off topic, the exact date of Jesus' birth is 6 April, as revealed in the Doctrine and Covenants, a set of revelations followed by the LDS Church.

Answer 7

the start of winter means party time to shake off the doldrums. your christmas tree is even a sign of life in winter. seems everyone was giving presents from the heathens to the jews so christians did too. most christian holidays are picked as convenience. cover the old pagan ways with a new christian tradition. we do know it was lambing season because the shepherds were watching their flocks at night. this is traditionally a winter thing but probably later in the winter than the first few days of winter. think februrary/march.

Answer 8

December 25 was a holiday held by the Druids when they were conquered, instead of destroying that belief they added the date to the new christian religion.

Answer 9

JESUS WAS BORN IN SEPTEMBER. THE CLUE IS WHEN JOHN THE BAPTIST'S FATHER PULLED TEMPLE DUTY AS ASSIGNED BY KING DAVID.