I had always been taught that there was NO WAY Jesus was born on December 25. But then where did December 25 come from? I was told that there was some sort of pagan Sun festival in Rome on December 25 and Christians wanted their own festival to calmly and humbly celebrate in their homes, minus the debauchery. That made perfect sense to me. Christmas seems like a commercialized pagan wasteland devoid of anything Jesusy. So I bought in. Over time, as I began to research the accusations of the pagan origins of Christmas, nothing really held up. Coca-Cola in the 1930’s, less than 100 years ago, definitely had more sway over Christmas imagery than anything pagan.
So wait a second, is there actually a chance Jesus was born on December 25? Well yes. I’m not saying it’s likely. I’m saying it’s possible. Here are just a couple common objections people make, and why they might be wrong.
Objection 1: It Was Too Cold for the Shepherds to Be Outside
We need to remember that Israel is in a stinkin’ desert, it’s not cold like Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This week in the town of Bethlehem, the low is 47 degrees, and the high is 64 degrees. Is that too cold to tend to sheep? The sheep have built in fuzzy blankets! And the shepherds obviously have wool coats. They tended sheep!! They had all the wool they wanted. Sure, it’s a little rainy. But let’s put this into context. Between November and January, Bethlehem gets apx. 20 inches of rain, or less than 7 inches of rain in December. That’s equivalent of what Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, or Washington gets. Do they keep farm animals outside during that month. Yes, and they don’t think twice about it.
Objection 2: December 25 Wasn’t Celebrated for Centuries After His Birth
Well, this is somewhat true but missing some context. People didn’t really celebrate birthdays back then. Origin said, “Only sinners celebrate their birthday.” But the early church was always looking to commemorate incredible events with both places and times of year. The Jewish people certainly commemorated their famous events, why wouldn’t Christians? They did as soon as they were able to. Don’t forget, it was illegal to be a Christian until A.D. 313. Everything before then was done in secret. So no, they didn’t build giant churches on their favorite sites nor hold outdoor celebrations on important dates. But RIGHT when they were allowed to, the early church started doing both those things immediately. One of the first special worship services established in both the eastern and western church was Annunciation Day. This is the day the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah. That special worship service was celebrated annually on March 25. Then in the year of our Lord 336 (just 23 years after Christianity was made a legal religion) the early church added 9-months to the Annunciation Day calendar and came up with the birthday of December 25. But this isn’t the first mention of Jesus’ birthday being December 25. The earliest mention of December 25th for Jesus birthday was by a man named Hyppolytus of Rome. He wrote a paper titled “Commentary on Daniel 4:23” and in it, he makes an off-handed comment of Jesus date of birth being December 25. He wrote that in the year 203! 2.0.3. Do we know the day Abraham Lincoln was shot? Yep, April 14, 1865. That’s about the same amount of time from when Hyppolytus wrote that and Jesus died on the cross. Him knowing Jesus’ birth date is not ridiculous, just like your history teacher knowing when Lincoln was shot is not ridiculous. Furthermore, Cyril of Jerusalem (348-386) claimed Jesus was born on the 25th of December. I know that doesn’t mean it’s for sure, but it blows my mind that people believe Robert Gillooly’s book in 1998 or Peter Joseph’s documentary in 2007 over Cyril’s claim in the 300’s.
Objection 3: But the Roman Sun God was Born on December 25! The SUN GOD!!!
First thing first, I’ve heard Horus, Osiris, Attis, Mithra, Heracles, Dionysus, Tammuz, Adonis and more were all born of December 25 and Jesus is just one more in a long list of virgin born demi-gods. The only problem with that is it’s ALL made up. People on the internet just say stuff. When you start pulling original sources, you’ll find out a majority of these mythological characters never had birthdays mentioned. Some were born “in the winter,” which is a quarter of the year. And some were born on the winter solstice, which is near December 25, but there’s only 365 days in a year, and saying anyone born 3-5 days near you as having the “same birthday as you” is insane. Want to really blow your mind? Google “The Birthday Paradox.” In a class of 23 of people, there is a 50% chance of someone sharing a birthday. What!?! Why?! Math is witchcraft sometimes. Go do the probability algebra yourself if you want to, but back to the main point. Didn’t the Roman Christians want to celebrate something on the same day as the Sun god? Well the Roman festival Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the Unconquered Sun) did seems to be held in Rome on December 25 with the “birth” of longer days. Here’s the problem, this festival was instituted by Emperor Aurelian sometime between 270-275. This is around 70 years after Hyppolytus first proposed December 25. Additionally, the eastern churches could not have cared less what the Roman churches were doing. In fact, they might have purposely pick a different date just to be contrarian like they do with almost every other Christian holiday. But then, some of you smart alecks might say, doesn’t the Orthodox church celebrate Christmas on January 7?!? No! They celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but they use the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian calendar which is 12-13 days off.
So is there anything we know for sure? Definitely!
Jesus, the Son of God, was miraculously born to a virgin.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem (and the Church of the Nativity is probably commemorating the right spot.)
Jesus is the most life-changing, eternity-affecting, calendar-altering person in history.
And I think it is a greater than 1/365th chance that He was born on December 25.
Joe Allotta 