I just cannot seem to get my head around this...
why is jesus' birthday (Christmas) not as January 1st.... I thought that the Calendar we use (also called christian calendar) should have started the day he was born....So how is it posssible that the Christian calendar started 11 months and 24 days before Jesus' birthday
2006-12-15 06:59:36 · 7 answers · asked by Renegade 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Other - Education
Here, I'll make it worse. In the church's liturgical calendar, the first Sunday of Advent is actually the beginning of the New Year.
2006-12-15 07:06:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
We don't really know the exact date of Jesus' birth. The calendar we now use has been modified several times - most notably by various Roman emperors who wanted a month named after them, both before and after Jesus' birth. There have been lots of intelligent and intricate arguments about when the exact day was, but really, all that matters is that it happened. As Christianity spread throughout the world, many times the local religions were incorporated into it, in order to help people understand Jesus' divinity. So a lot of pagan festivals gave way to Christian ones. A midwinter festival is a very powerful event, so placing Jesus' birth in the midwinter was a good way of ensuring that the local populace understood the importance of that event.
2006-12-15 15:29:15 · answer #2 · answered by Delora Gloria 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because it matched the Roman feast of Saturnalia.
worse still, what used to be called 'Old Christmas' is January 6th - I think it still is in some countries. This goes back to when we adopted the Gregorian calendar and the calendar slipped 11 days (1728 or so)
2006-12-15 18:07:02 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Christian year starts the first Sunday of December beginning Advent and ends on the day of Christ the King (I believe this is the correct day). The calenders we all follow and use are lunar calenders, which begin Janruary 1st and end December 31st. The calender and tracking system I believe predates the birth of Jesus.
2006-12-15 15:11:41 · answer #4 · answered by The Invisible Woman 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
historically, i think, the december 25th date was chosen by early christians because it was a seasonal pagan celebration or feast. (isn't the first day of winter like, uh, december 23? 24? - anyway, it was the shortest sunlight day of the year. winter solstice? i think?) so the sun ("son") is starting its ascent across the sky.
ok, check this: this author takes a couple of pages, so page down a couple of times:
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Other%20Pagan%20Mumbo-Jumbo/christmas.htm
2006-12-15 15:09:00 · answer #5 · answered by gggjoob 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not Jesus' birthday thats why.
It's the day the Romans chose (and now all of us) to celebrate His birth and life.
2006-12-19 03:59:24 · answer #6 · answered by alter ego 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do a search on yahoo or search topics here.
We use the GREGORIAN calendar.
2006-12-15 15:03:36 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋