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Theories regarding the origin of
the date of Christmas
Christmas is officially celebrated on December 25 in all Christian
churches (Eastern Rite, Roman & Protestant). But since most Eastern
Orthodox churches have not accepted either the Gregorian calendar or the
Revised Julian Calendar reforms, their Ecclesiastic December 25 will fall on
the civil date of January 7 for the years from 1900 to 2099.
December 25
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Many different dates have been suggested for the celebration of Christmas
throughout the years. No explanation of why it is celebrated on December 25
is universally accepted. Theories include the following:
- It is an appropriation by early Christians of a day on which the birth
of several pagan gods, Osiris, Jupiter, and Plutus, or the ancient deified
leader Nimrod, was celebrated.
- It is an appropriation of the pagan Midwinter festivals, such as the
Germanic Yule and the Roman festival of the birth of Unconquered Sun,
celebrated on the day after the winter solstice, or the Roman festival of
Saturnalia.
- It derives from the tradition that Jesus was born during the Jewish
Festival of Lights (Hanukkah, the 25th of Kislev and the beginning of
Tevet). Kislev is generally accepted as corresponding with our
December.
- The date of Christmas is based on the date of Good Friday, the day Jesus
died. Since the exact date of Jesus' death is not stated in the Gospels,
early Christians sought to calculate it, and arrived at either March 25 or
April 6. Then, wishing to to calculate Jesus' birthday, they followed the
ancient idea that Old Testament prophets died at an "integral
age"—either an anniversary of their birth or of their conception.
In Jesus' case, they reasoned that he died on an anniversary of the
Incarnation (his conception) so the date of his birth would have been nine
months after the date of Good Friday—either December 25 or January
6.
A few Christian churches, most notably the Jehovah's Witnesses and some
Puritan groups, view Christmas as a pagan holiday not sanctioned by the Bible
and do not celebrate it.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from
Wikipedia
and from ShiningRise.com
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