Is Christmas truly christ's birthday?

Answer 1

No.. history does not reveal exactly the day..i'm sure God has a reason for that.
we celebrate the birth of Christ at this time since we don't actually know ..it wouldn't make much sense to change it now..and if someone would want to ..then what would be the day...needless to say it has no bearing on our/your salvation...SO no need to go into poverty..since that is not the purpose of Christmas anyway..God bless

Answer 2

Most likely not. Late fall say September is more likely from the descriptions in the Bible and the climate in that part of the world. The Church took over the pagan winter celebrations and gave them a "christian" twist. The tree that once was the Yule Log became a symbol of the Cross. Feasting and partying was always a part of the celebrations and that did not change. it is now the accpeted date and it if you want to celebrate the birth of Christ and the great Gift to mankind then Dec 25, Christmas is the time to do it although the time we chose to celebrate His birth does not really matter and Jesus probably would not want us celebrating His birthday anyway.

Answer 3

Sorry to say, but no. Actually his birthday is during the Jewish celebration of Sukkot, also called the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths).

The clues are in scripture.
1) The shepards were in the fields with their sheep. This is only done spring, summer and fall. In winter time the sheep are penned to protect them from the elements.

2) There was a census. To have a govenment order its citizens to return to their birth towns for a census is a stupid way of being in government. The Romans didn't keep their empire by being stupid. They knew enough that the Torah of the Jews commanded them to come to Jerusalem three times a year (ref Deut 16:16-17) to worship their God. The smart thing to do would be to allow the Jews to come to Jerusalem to celebrate their holy days and then take a census. In other words, the Roman government didn't go out to chase them for the census, they let the Jews come together first on their own.

3) "stayed in a manger" - many assume, including the convert Luke, that Jospeh and Mary was in Bethlehem for the census, actually they were there for a place to stay while celebrating the Feast of Booths. Part of the celebrating is leaving one's home and living in a temporary structure for seven days. This is why they were in a "manger". Not because the "inn" was full, but because they were obeying Torah in celebrating God's Sukkot.

4) By using the month mentioned in Luke and remembering Jews used the Lunar calendar back then and not the Roman calendar, one can find the dates of John's birth and Yeshua's conception and birth.

Answer 4

No. Any study of Christmas will prove this out. Jesus was actually born either in the spring or in the Sept. time-frame. There are very good arguments for either one. After that, the sheep were not in the fields, because it was the rainy season and the wadi's cause flooding. Rome chose Dec. 25th because it corresponded to a lot of pagan rituals. In Rome's quest to Christianize the pagan empire under the Pax Romana, they chose Dec. 25th to honor the birth. Scripturally, there is no call to celebrate His birth, even though I do very happily. There are other feast days that we were commanded to keep, and most scholars believe that his birth corresponded to one of these. Any research will show this to be true. Nevertheless, I don't think there's anything wrong with arbitrarily choosing a day to honor him.

Answer 5

Nope, it's a time picked to celebrate the birth of Christ. Though, most of the traditions, the colors, the tree, the wreath, all stem from Pagan traditions. This doesn't bother me, 'cause I'm not a Pagan, and I dont' look at my tree like it's a pagan worship. It's like..if one person is a pagan and buys a specific kind of incense for a ritual or something, just 'cause I buy the same incense doesn't mean I'm doing the ritual...maybe that's a bad example. If you know what I mean, it makes sense.

Answer 6

No. The date was borrowed by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages as a way to convert Pagans. The Bible even says it wasn't winter as shepherds don't watch their flocks at that time of the year. The date was chosen because various Pagan gods were also born of a virgin on the Winter Solstice and the Catholics didn't like the competition. And the celebration was even banned for a number of years before the Church decided to cave in and steal the date in order to gain converts.

Answer 7

No. Someone else could give you a more complete explanation, but essentially, the date got shifted around for political and social reasons- for example, when trying to sell Christianity to the pagans, the celebration of Christ's birth was shifted to match up with the pagan celebration of Winter Solstice, which is around December 22.

Many Christian holidays contain traditions that come from pagan holidays. For example, the very name "Easter" comes from the pagan celebration of "Ostara," which is about fertility- thus the symbols of rabbits and eggs.

Answer 8

No.

There is no record of a census taken in Demember in that area.

There is no way shepards would be in the fields in those days. It's just too cold.

Constaine and his group just picked the day to be close to the Pagan rituals for the Winter Solstice.

Answer 9

Nope.

Is Christmas a celebration based on the Bible?

Date of the celebration

M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia says: “The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin. The day of Christ’s birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source.”—(New York, 1871), Vol. II, p. 276.

Luke 2:8-11 shows that shepherds were in the fields at night at the time of Jesus’ birth. The book Daily Life in the Time of Jesus states: “The flocks . . . passed the winter under cover; and from this alone it may be seen that the traditional date for Christmas, in the winter, is unlikely to be right, since the Gospel says that the shepherds were in the fields.”—(New York, 1962), Henri Daniel-Rops, p. 228.

The Encyclopedia Americana informs us: “The reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the ‘rebirth of the sun.’ . . . The Roman Saturnalia (a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun), also took place at this time, and some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration.”—(1977), Vol. 6, p. 666.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges: “The date of Christ’s birth is not known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month . . . According to the hypothesis suggested by H. Usener . . . and accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated the dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the invincible sun). On Dec. 25, 274, Aurelian had proclaimed the sun-god principal patron of the empire and dedicated a temple to him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome.”—(1967), Vol. III, p. 656.

Wise men, or Magi, led by a star

Those Magi were actually astrologers from the east. (Matt. 2:1, 2, NW; NE) Although astrology is popular among many people today, the practice is strongly disapproved in the Bible. (See pages 144, 145, under the main heading “Fate.”) Would God have led to the newborn Jesus persons whose practices He condemned?

Matthew 2:1-16 shows that the star led the astrologers first to King Herod and then to Jesus and that Herod then sought to have Jesus killed. No mention is made that anyone other than the astrologers saw the “star.” After they left, Jehovah’s angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt to safeguard the child. Was that “star” a sign from God or was it from someone who was seeking to have God’s Son destroyed?

Note that the Bible account does not say that they found the babe Jesus in a manger, as customarily depicted in Christmas art. When the astrologers arrived, Jesus and his parents were living in a house. As to Jesus’ age at that time, remember that, based on what Herod had learned from the astrologers, he decreed that all the boys in the district of Bethlehem two years of age and under were to be destroyed.—Matt. 2:1, 11, 16.

Gift giving as part of the celebration; stories about Santa Claus, Father Christmas, etc.

The practice of Christmas gift giving is not based on what was done by the Magi. As shown above, they did not arrive at the time of Jesus’ birth. Furthermore, they gave gifts, not to one another, but to the child Jesus, in accord with what was then customary when visiting notable persons.

The Encyclopedia Americana states: “During the Saturnalia . . . feasting prevailed, and gifts were exchanged.” (1977, Vol. 24, p. 299) In many instances that represents the spirit of Christmas giving—an exchanging of gifts. The spirit reflected in such gift giving does not bring real happiness, because it violates Christian principles such as those found at Matthew 6:3, 4 and 2 Corinthians 9:7. Surely a Christian can give gifts to others as an expression of love at other times during the year, doing so as often as he wants to.

Depending on where they live, children are told that gifts are brought by Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Père Noël, Knecht Ruprecht, the Magi, the elf Jultomten (or Julenissen), or a witch known as La Befana. (The World Book Encyclopedia, 1984, Vol. 3, p. 414) Of course, none of these stories are actually true. Does the telling of such stories build in children a respect for truth, and does such a practice honor Jesus Christ, who taught that God must be worshiped with truth?—John 4:23, 24.

Answer 10

No. The pagans celebrated the winter solstice and Yule. Christmas was conveniently moved so that pagans could be persuaded to celebrate the holiday and so that it would make more sense to them.