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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