Why does our calendar begin January the 1, if it was meant to start with Christ's birth??

Question

I mean, December 25th and January 1 are supposed to be the same day!!

Answer 1

If you notice the names of the days and months, you'll see the calendar was NOT designed around christianity. January is named after the ROman God Janus, March after the Roman God Mars, July and August are named after Roman Emporers Julius and Augustus Ceaser. Sunday is named after the Sun, Monday after the moon, Thursday after Thor, the god of thunder.

In medeival times, an attempt to renumber the years to count from the birth of Jesus was attempted. And the Gregorian calendar made some changes in the 1500s to correct the natural error of a 365 day year, adding a leap day every 4 years. But the calendar was never designed around christianity.

Answer 2

Calendars are handled differently depending upon the religion and culture.

In the Catholic Church, the "Church Year" begins on the First Day of Advent.

Christ's birth is celebrated on Dec. 25th for many reasons. It falls within other "feast" days or "holidays" including pagan holidays- like Mithra's Birthday and the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Early church leaders put Christ's birthday in December to "win" over converts. It is believed by many historians that Jesus was born in the Spring.

There are 2 calendars followed in the "West"- Julian and Gregorian. The Julian calendar was named after Julius Caesar.

The Gregorian calendar is named after Pope Gregory.

I've included some links.

Answer 3

Our calendar currently used in the west is known as the Gregorian calendar and was not in common use until the mid-1500s. This was an adaptation of the Julian calendar which was calibrated on the Vernal Equinox and focused on Easter (a much more important event to Christians than Christmas). January 1 is calculated when the Golden Number which is based in a 19 year moon cycle (the phases of the moon repeats every 19 years when matched to the Julian Calendar) and the solar number were incremented. From this date, Easter can be calculated based on cycles of the moon.

Below is a really cool site the gives a much more detailed explanation on this and other issues about our calendar & year cycles.

Answer 4

First of all, Christ was not born on December 25th - He was born in the springtime and many suspect the actual date was April 6.

See link for more history on the Gregorian calendar that we use today

Answer 5

Only the years start with Christ's birth. Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. And the years don't even line up perfectly. It's all faulty calculations and the decision to not fix it.

Answer 6

I don't believe anyone knows the actual date of his birth so I figure it was a day that was guesstimated..

Answer 7

Who said?

Answer 8

because it is new years day thus begining the new year

Answer 9

Dont know.

Answer 10

dont know