On which date exactly in history was Jesus Christ born?

Answer 1

No one knows. It cannot be proven that he ever lived.

Answer 2

It depends.

Constantine set the date for Christmas at the Council of Nicea; as Dec 25th- which was the solstice at the time and the festival of Saturnalia, not to mention other pagan rites.

In the Middle Ages, when Monks consulted King lists and counted backwards to find out what year AD it was, they miscounted. (FYI: dates were done by years of reigns, so it was the 3rd year of Richard III's reign for example).

It is believed that the historical figure in question was actually born in the year 4 or 7 BC.

As per the exact date, it is difficult to say. Romans would perform a census every 10-15 years, but there wasn't an exact date in each area which would be used. July-August is the local time span, because it is not a time generally that farmers are needed in the fields, it is not cold or snowy in the northern parts. But it also likely took that long to perform a census in the first place- we aren't talking about a fast process even for today's census- and we don't have to go anywhere, just fill a form out.

And its not like people even recorded the year of people's births for the most part then either; let alone the day. People's ages were record by census. So a child would be 1 census old, or two, to be elected to office you had to be recorded on X number of them.

Answer 3

It is generally accepted by most scholars that Christ was born sometime between 7BC and 1 BC. There are a number of historical markers that allow us to pin the date down to this time period. Using only the historical fact of the Roman census, in connection with the account of the birth of Jesus......
In 2 BC Augustus was given his most prestigious title, the highest honor that could be bestowed on any Roman - that of “Pater Patriae”, or “Father of the Country”. A decree went out from Augustus that required “the entire Roman people” to register their approval of Augustus receiving this title, before it could be bestowed upon him. This oath took place in the late summer and early fall of 3 BC and was required of all Roman citizens and others of distinguished rank among the client kingdoms associated with Rome.
This universal census of allegiance to Augustus was demanded of those who claimed any kind of authority within the Empire. It was also required of any person, most notably the Jewish communities, who could trace their ancestry back to the great Jewish royal families. Jesus’ parents, Mary and Joseph, both being descendants of King David, fell into this category. They, among others, were required to swear an oath that neither they, nor any of their offspring would usurp the throne. It was Jewish custom that, during such a census, each travel to the city of their ancestry. In the case of Mary and Joseph, this city was the city of David - Bethlehem.
It was also customary for provincial Romans to periodically have their citizenships affirmed and imperial privileges renewed .Romans were evidently required to renew these privileges every five years. There were official censuses held every 20 years for taxation purposes. The last such census had occurred in 8 BC, making 3 BC exactly five years from the previous Roman census.

The tradition of his birth on December 25th is one that is man made. We have no way to place an actual date...day/year.

Answer 4

The archives were burnt during the Spanish Civil War, but anyway, the general opinion is that the baby Jesus was born 4 to 7 years B.C.

Without the files, it is hard to tell

Answer 5

Since there is little reliable truth to substantiate that there ever was a person called "jesus' - there is no substantial answer to this question.

Why is it there are those people who say "there is much proof that jesus lived" - yet other than the bible and josephus they fail to provide any? What makes these two sources so veritable? The fact is no one has to accept these sources as being any more historically valid than any of the things the historians Herodotus and Thucydides wrote in their books.

Get over that.

I too am amazed - at how little proof is ever given, and how easily people are fooled.

Answer 6

Some people say 4 B.C.E. and others 6 B.C.E. Shepherds would not be watching their flocks in the winter; so Jesus probably wasn't born in December. See excellent answer below.

Answer 7

The 4BC-6BC answers are most reliable, although it is almost imposslbe right now to say for sure.

The existance of Jesus as a human being is well documented, regardless of what the previous answerer tries to claim. His divinity is certain fro some, doubted by some, and disclaimed by others, but no one who knows anything about history claims he never existed.

Answer 8

Nobody really knows for sure. It wasn't recorded at the time, and Christmas wasn't really celebrated until several centuries after Christ lived.

Here's an article that gives a good summary about what is known about the date of Christ's birth...

http://www.ucgstp.org/lit/gn/gn008/gn008f03.htm

Answer 9

If you believe the Bible it was sometime in (the current) June or July, when the Romans took census and collected taxes. That's why Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem in the first place. It definitely was not in the middle of winter. The Catholic Church just moved it there so they could replace the pagan Midwinter festival with a Christian festival.
.

Answer 10

According to Josephus, a Jewish Historian, Jesus was a problem within the Roman/Jewish political relationship. Therefore Jesus IS a historical Fact. Get Over it.
His exact birthdate is not known because at the time of his birth he was not known to be of importance politically.

Answer 11

Hard to say. Jewish peasants didn't usually keep track of birthdays 2000 years ago. Most written accounts of Jesus' life were written many decades after he supposedly died. The standard calendar in use has changed several times since then. There's no irrefutable evidence that Jesus ever actually existed. It's extremely unlikely that Christmas day was the day Jesus was born (assuming he was born at all).