Why was Jesus born on 25th December?

Question

If our calendar is based on Jesus' supposed birth date, then why isn't the date of his birth classed as 1st of January. Therefore when it was 23rd December year 0, what was the date according to those people around. This is not an anti religious question, as I believe in God. Just querying the makers of the calendar system. I hope you understand what I'm trying to get at.

Answer 1

he wasn't.
LUke chapter 1 explains when Jesus was conceived. only a real scholar can figure it out though.

Zechariah followed the course of ABIA.....when is Abia? back then it was June 16th or so. He was told his wife/Elizabeth would conceive a child. He went home. it took a few days to get home which would be around June 23rd after he was done with his priest duties at the temple.

follow the story and SIX MONTHS later Mary enters prego with messiah and John "LEPT" in the womb of elizabeth knowing messiah was present. Six months from June 23rdish? DECEMBER 25th. Jesus was born in September. not december.


oh we got some real winners on here "christians to take over the winter solstice"???? oh that's funny....high larry ous! in a pathetic way of course.

dr. zoom gets thumbs down for a pathetic cut and paste job. you got any original thoughts in that empty melon? yeah didn't think so.

Answer 2

First of all, the calendars are not the same. We are now over 2000 years out of sync with the one used at that time and this year the actual anniversary could well be 25th December. Nobody knows. Easter is usually around April time which, under your own calculations, comes exactly 5 months after December.

Answer 3

Jesus was not born on December 25, The romans sun god was born on December 25 Jesus was born between October 1 and the 15

Answer 4

No onew knows the date of Jesus birth. Dec 25 is as good as any date since the sun is growing in strength. around then and light pushes back the dark. Around Dec 25 was the Roman celebration of thew Unconquerable Sun (Sol Invictus)and Christians celebrate the Victorious Son. The Romans had 3 calendars one started January I ( the month of the divinity who looks ahead and behind,Janus the Doorkeeper)),another on March 1 (which is why September means "seventh',October "eighth") and another on Sept 1(like our school year).
In the Middle Ages in the West March 25,the Annunciation and Conception of Jesus, was the 1st day of the year
Before Dionysius Exiguus figured out the year of Jesus Birth(he was probably wrong) in the 6th Cent AD(he came up with BC and AD),I think, there were different calendars. The Roman one started from the founding of the city of Rome and the Jewish from when they thought the world was made.

Answer 5

calendars used to be based on march being the beginning of the year, which comes from pagan times when we celebrated the spring as the start of the year, time of rebirth after the dead of winter etc. In the 1700s some time we changed for admin puporses to January as a star of the year. However, Jesus was cited as being born on 25th Dec because it coincided with an already celebrated date or time of year in the roman and pagan world. the gods that the romans celebrated were about that time (cant remember the name) also the pagans celebrated the midwinter solstace where they prayed that the rest of the winter would end quickly and without too much hardship so it made sense for those trying to sell christianity to put Jesus's birth in the existing dates.

Answer 6

Yule December 21st Yule or Midwinter, the winter solstice

It’s been said that the Roman Catholic Church made Christmas officially fall on Dec.25th, partly to make a Pagan holiday called "Saturnalia" celebrated a couple of days later less popular.No one really knows when Christ was born, we just remember His birthday on that day. Odds alone say there is a 1 in 365 chance of it, which is mufh better odds than a Wiccan love spell actually working (or any spell for that matter). Because of persecution of the early Christians from the Pagans, the date of his birth cannot be known with certainty, but Dec. 25th was being observed as early as the 2nd A.D., so it isn’t impossible that this is on or close to the correct date. There are many Christian sects who refuse to celebrate Christmas because it falls so close to Yule. During the last 6 months the amount of day light has decreased daily. Thus, Neopagans claim the Sun God is said to be born at Yule. Now with the sun god reborn, the light will begin to return. The altar may be decorated with evergreen tree branches, holly, mistletoe and there should be a Yule log in the fireplace, if the there is one. Few modern Wiccans seem to do this, and instead a log that can hold three candles may be used instead. In ancient Pagan cultures, so the story goes, the mother goddess gave birth to the god and he became her husband. So, the sun god was his own dad. It may remind you of the comedy song "I’m My Own Grandpa". Even though incest was a taboo in these cultures, it was thought OK for the gods to practice incest, seeing how gods could only marry other gods.Apparently the Pagan gods were hillbillies.

There are three reasons the ancient Christians decided to celebrate Christ’s birth on this day. One reason was the Roman Empire recognized this day as the birth of Mithras. In protest, persecuted Christians began to celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day. Good for them! Let us continue to celebrate it on this day if for no other reason than Pagans can't push us around! Another reason Christians derived this day to be the birth of Christ is that Jewish tradition held that a prophet died on the day he was conceived. Since we know Christ was crucified during Passover, which is close to March, counting down 9 months would take us to December. The third reason (and perhaps the most important) was that the Jewish festival of C'hanukka was celebrated for the very first time on what would hae been the equivalent of Dec. 25th on the Western calendar. C'hannuka is a festival of lights. We Christians too, celebrate Christmas with many lights. Christmas is simply our C'hanukka, just as Easter is our Passover. Christians should celebrate Christmas for these three reasons if nothing else.

Answer 7

Actually he wasn't born on December 25. That date was chosen because the early church was trying to convet the pagens to Christianity. There is/was a holliday that celebrates winter solstice. The early catholic church decided that making a Christian holliday at the same time would make the religous transition easier.

As for the true B-day, no one really knows. Some scholars believe it was spring time due to the fact that shepherds and their sheep were out at night. Others think it was fall. But either way, one can still celebrate Jesus' birth without the pagan ties.

Answer 8

The whole thing is Jesus wasn't born on the 25th of December, in fact there is proof he was born in spring or summer and not at any time in winter.

This was a cover up by the early christians to take over the winter solstice, which was the celebration of the sun god's birth.

Answer 9

There is no historical pinpointing of the birthdate of Jesus. It is what is called "an educated assumption" based on the dates when the census of the Roman Empire was made at the orders of Augustus. I believe there have been astronomical attempts to establish the date based upon the Star of Bethlehem and a possible astronomical event that may have caused it. From there, and taking elements from the Roman calendar, ours was created.

Answer 10

Catholics knows that Jesus do not born on that date. He born about year 6 or so during Jude summer so that's about July.

The Xmas was made in that date, to stop the advancement of a pagan celebration of old -Sol Invictus- about the sun solistice, because nobody knows in that moment what is the right date.
So that's works fine.

Answer 11

*Because of persecution of the early Christians from the Pagans - Dr Zoom Zoom*

Pagans didn't persecute early christians. The Jews did. In fact the Romans didn't want to crucify him, the situation came about due to the influence of temple elders.