The honest reason is that it is near a pagan holiday and it is much easier to co-opt a person than to kill them (plus killing them builds up resentment in others)
2007-04-14 12:37:03
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answer #1
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answered by Experto Credo 7
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I'm guessing you already heard the reason.
In the days of Jesus Christ, birth dates were not often recorded, though a famous person's death date would be recorded. The Gospel of Luke says that Jesus was born during the time when Caesar Augustus was taking a census for tax purposes. This gives an approximate year.
The Gospel also says that the shepherds were out in the fields with their flocks on the night the Angel announced Jesus' birth. This would not have been in December, but in the Spring, when the ewes were giving birth or so I am told.
So why is Jesus' birth celebrated on December 25, a day that has no apparent connection to him?
The most common explanation is that it was celebrated at that time in order to compete with the Roman Saturnalia. The Saturnalia was a pagan festival heavily involved with activities inappropriate for followers of Christ. So they celebrated the coming of Christ (or, as you might say, Xristos in Greek, hence the abbreviation X-mas) to demonstrate a greater joy than that found in the Saturnalia.
2007-04-14 19:44:55
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answer #2
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answered by The First Dragon 7
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The reason why Christmas is celebrated on December 25 is because of this reason.
In the early days of the Christian Church. The priest was trying hard to convert the pagans around them. There was a group of Celtic-like peole who celebrated a holiday around the december season. In a attempt to convert them, they told the people that Jesus was their actually the God they have always praying to. The peole soon accepted Christinity, and before peolpe knew it. December 25 became the "official" day of Jesus birth. But historians have found out that jesus real birth day was sometime in late March or early April.
2007-04-14 19:44:47
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answer #3
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answered by mikahiwatari 2
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In all actuality Dec. 25th is a pagan holiday. The church people didnt know what day they should post as his birthday so they chose a day they used to celebrate on. If you look at almost all "spiritual" based holidays you'll find that they all land on a pagan holiday.
2007-04-14 19:37:08
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answer #4
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answered by hypur_lil_one 3
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It is on December 25 because that was originally the date of Saturnalus, a pagan holiday, and the Christians thought that would be a great date to have a Christian holiday because it is the goal of Christians to erase all proof that anything other than Christianity ever existed. Jesus couldn't have possibly been born in December because all biblical evidence points to Jesus being born in Spring.
2007-04-14 19:37:25
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answer #5
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answered by Bryan H 3
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Pre-Christian winter festivals
A winter festival was traditionally the most popular festival of the year in many cultures, in part because there was less agricultural work to be done during the winter. From a Christian perspective, Easter was the most significant feast in the church calendar.[ Christmas was considered less significant, and the early church opposed the celebration of birthdays of church members.[ The prominence of Christmas in modern times may reflect the continuing influence of the winter festival tradition, including the following festivals:
The Romans held a festival on December 25 called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun." The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the god of Emperor Aurelian (AD 270-274); and Mithras, a soldiers' god of Persian origin.[10] Emperor Elagabalus (218-222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday.[11]
December 25 was also considered to be the date of the winter solstice, which the Romans called bruma.[7] It was therefore the day the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered" despite the shortening of daylight hours. (When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar in 45 BC, December 25 was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21 or 22.) The Sol Invictus festival has a "strong claim on the responsibility" for the date of Christmas, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.[2] Solar symbolism was popular with early Christian writers[12] as Jesus was considered to be the "sun of righteousness."[13]
[edit] Yule
Main article: Yule
Pagan Scandinavia and England celebrated a winter festival called Yule in the late December to early January period on a date determined by a lunar calendar. With the coming of Christianity and the adoption of the Julian calendar, Christmas was placed on December 25 in order to correspond with Yule.[ Christmas, a minor Christian festival in the Early Middle Ages, owes much of its popularity and character to Yule. The twelve-day celebration characteristic of Medieval Christmas may have originated with the twelve-day Yule celebration.[ Pagan Yule traditions survive in the form of the Yule log.[ In England, Yule was the common name for Christmas in Medieval times. Jul is still the common name for the holiday in Scandinavia.
2007-04-14 19:39:11
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answer #6
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answered by Linda 7
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j c was born in the fall , but church needed a holiday to compete with the pagan winter solstice on DEC 22 . so the church moved it to the 25 th .
2007-04-14 19:37:25
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answer #7
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answered by Anonymous
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For some people it is to recieve gifts and spend time with family, for others it is to celebrate the birth of Christ. Learn how to spell.
2007-04-14 19:33:45
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answer #8
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answered by Angela F 5
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Are you serious? It's Christmas and it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Whether you believe in Christianity or not, it's pretty common knowledge.
2007-04-14 19:35:10
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answer #9
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answered by Maverick 3
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Because some people have wanted to take Christ out of the holiday, they have changed it to x-mas instead of Christmas. I think that is really sad.... Jesus Christ is the reason for Christmas. He's what it's all about.
2007-04-14 19:35:57
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answer #10
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answered by Minx 3
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