Was Jesus really born in 25th December ? How do we know ?

Question

If he wasn't, then what are we celebrating on Christmas ? Santa Claus' birthday ?

Many people said Jesus wasn't born in December, then why can't we celebrate Christmas on other month ?

Answer 1

Most likely around the beginning of October.

We know when he died: In the spring near the end of March/Beginning of April. (Nisan 14 Jewish calendar.)

We know exactly how old he was when he died. His ministry began when he was 30 years old, according to Luke 3:23. His ministry lasted 3½ years.

Therefore he was 33½ years old when he died. Wheyther you go forward or backward ½ year from his spring time death, it brings you to about the start of October for his birth.

I would imagine that had Jehovah wanted us to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of his Son, that date would have been definitely established in Scripture.

Answer 2

No.
Some say spring around Passover, some say Fall. The Shepard's were in their fields-winter time would have been too cold. The Roman and Judean rulers knew that taking a census in winter would have been impractical and unpopular. Generally a census would take place after the harvest season, around September or October, when it would not seriously affect the economy, the weather was good and the roads were still dry enough to allow easy travel. According to the normal dates for the census, this would probably be the season of Christ's birth.

AND he was born like 5BC-some Cesear messed up the calender, it's off about 5 years!

In Rome December 25 was made popular by Pope Liberius in 354 and became the rule in the West in 435 when the first "Christ mass" was officiated by Pope Sixtus III. This coincided with the date of a celebration by the Romans to their primary god, the Sun, and to Mithras, a popular Persian sun god supposedly born on the same day. The Roman Catholic writer Mario Righetti candidly admits that, "to facilitate the acceptance of the faith by the pagan masses, the Church of Rome found it convenient to institute the 25th of December as the feast of the birth of Christ to divert them from the pagan feast, celebrated on the same day in honor of the 'Invincible Sun' Mithras, the conqueror of darkness" (Manual of Liturgical History, 1955, Vol. 2, p. 67).

Answer 3

Jesus was probably not born on December 25th, if at all. The Christmas date used to be directly tied into the Winter solstice (or summer i guess, if you're in the southern hemisphere), which usually falls around December 21st or 22nd. Since the date was always changing, they eventually decided to make an official date, which is December 25th.

Celebrating Christmas, whatever it means to you, happens on the 25th because that's what they put on our calendars, not for any other reason. You can celebrate it whenever you want!! You just might be the only one standing under your mistletoe...

Answer 4

Do we know for sure?

Well the Shepard's wouldn't have been out nor traveling the great distances they did to see the savior.

There are many facts that prove it couldn't have been at that time but the reason it is December 25 is b/c Christianity (Catholicism at the time) tried to get the pagans involved in church so they adopted their winter holiday.

I say if it isn't, who cares, at least they haven't taken that away and there is one day in the year I can not be chastised for saying AMEN and Hallelujah for my savior was born.

At least I still have one day in the year it is not offending anyone and I am not being PC to say Jesus was born!!!! Hallelujah.

Hallelujah for this one day, whether is was actually his birthday or not.

BTW-I never have a big party on my kids actual birthday, I usually wait until that weekend when everyone can come to a party.

God Bless

Answer 5

Nobody really knows the date of His birth. It became popular to think of the 25th December only two hundred years after His death! There were many festivals in Rome, its provinces and the neighbourging places associated with the shortest days of the year (e.g.: Yule, Saturnalia, Hannuhah), maybe the 25th of December was choosen because recent converts still wanted to celebrate that time of the year.

To know more you can have a look at Wikipedia.

Answer 6

Dec 25th was not the date of Jesus's birth. The date to celebrate that occurance was chosen to help overtake the Pagan holiday Yule. Many of today's current traditions were taken from Pagans as well: Yule log, christmas tree, etc.

You can read all about the traditions, religious aspects, and history of Christmas at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas.

Answer 7

Since shepherds do not tend their sheep on the hill sides during the winter it is generally believed that Christ was born in the spring. December was chosen by the church in order to compete with the Pagan holidays of Yule and the winter solstice.

Answer 8

This question gets asked a lot.
No, probably not. The catholic church had to decide on a day to celebrate his birth, since the Bible didn't give a specific date. They chose Dec. 25, because it coincided with a pagan festival they were trying to get folks to stop going to.
Come to church, instead of the big bonfire.
Jesus was probably born in the fall, because the Roman govt. would not have ordered a mass movement of people in the winter.
His parents traveled to Bethlehem to be counted for tax purposes, by order of the Roman govt.

Answer 9

He wasn't, no one knows when he was born or even IF he was born. Dec. 25th was taken from Pagan holidays as were most of the traditions such as the Yule log, Christmas tree, mistletoe, etc. The only addition from Christianity was the angel or star on top of the tree.

Answer 10

The exact date of his birth is not known. Roman Christians started the tradition of celebrating his birth on Dec.25