Notwithstanding the great uncertainty revolving around the date Jesus’ birth, there was also a considerable amount of interest in the second century.
The earliest mention of 25 December as Jesus’ date of birth comes from a mid-fourth century Roman almanac that lists the dates of death of various Christian bishops and martyrs.
Was Jesus really born on 25 December? Probably not. The Bible does not mention an exact date of birth, and the Nativity story in the gospels contains conflicting clues. For instance, the biblical mention of shepherds tending their sheep by night when they hear the news of Jesus’ birth might suggest the spring lambing season.
Yet most scholars would urge caution about extracting such a precise but incidental date from a narrative whose focus is theological rather than an actual historical account of events.
The extra-biblical evidence from the first and second centuries is equally spare.
There is no mention of birth celebrations in the writings of early Christian writers such as Irenaeus (c. 130-200) or Tertullian (c. 160-225). Origen of Alexandria (c. 165-264) goes so far as to mock Roman celebrations of birth anniversaries, dismissing them as “pagan” practices, a strong indication that the birth of Jesus was not celebrated at all at this point.
Strangely enough, Easter was already widely celebrated to mark the death of Christ.
Notwithstanding the great uncertainty revolving around the date Jesus’ birth, there was also a considerable amount of interest in the second century. However, by the fourth century, two dates were widely recognized and by then, also celebrated: 25 December in the western Roman Empire and 6 January in the East (especially in Egypt and Asia Minor).
The modern Armenian church continues to celebrate Christmas on 6 January. For most Christians, however, 25 December prevails while 6 January eventually came to be known as the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the arrival of the magi in Bethlehem to find Jesus in a manger.
The period between became the holiday season, later known as the 12 days of Christmas.
The earliest mention of 25 December as Jesus’ date of birth comes from a mid-fourth century Roman almanac that lists the dates of death of various Christian bishops and martyrs. The first date listed, 25 December, is marked: natus Christus in Betleem Judaea: Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea.
In about 400 C.E., Augustine of Hippo mentions a local dissident Christian group, the Donatists, who apparently kept Christmas festivals on 25 December, but refused to celebrate the Epiphany on 6 January regarding it as an innovation.
Since the Donatist group only emerged after the persecution under Diocletian in 312 C.E. and then stubbornly remained attached to the practices of that moment in time, they seem to represent an older North African Christian tradition.
After 300 years following the birth of Jesus, we finally find people observing his birth in mid-winter.
The Romans had their mid-winter Saturnalia festival (honouring the agricultural god Saturn) in late December. Barbarian peoples of northern and western Europe kept holidays at similar times. To top it off, in 274 C.E., the Roman emperor Aurelian established a feast of the birth of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), on 25 December.
It is widely held that early Christians chose 25 December to celebrate Christmas to encourage the spread of Christmas and Christianity throughout the Roman empire because if Christmas looked like a pagan holiday, more pagans would be open both to the holiday and the God whose birth it celebrated.
The first recorded celebration of Christmas took place in 336 C.E. under the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine, who had slowly converted to Christianity. Around 350 C.E., Pope Julius I declared: “December 25th, Christ born in Bethlehem, Judaea.”
Originally, early Christians held a Mass service for Christ (hence the name Christmas) while debating the actual date of Jesus’ birth which was never stated in the Bible.
This explanation about the origins of Christmas, though popular and documented in Roman records, does not sit well with more conservative modern Christian scholars because of the link with pagan celebrations. But, if I may quote from the gospel of Luke 5:32 Jesus himself said: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
For the avoidance of doubt, I write with some authority on this subject as I was a student of Religious Education up to A levels. In the same breath, I must admit that I went astray on what may be termed as a long sabbatical, but here I am, back on track!
Whatever your conviction is, I wish all my readers compliments of the season!
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
