Yes, Christ Was Really Born on December 25: a Defense of the Trad Date for Christmas

taylormarshall.com ^ | December 11, 2014 | Dr. Taylor Marshall

[NYer]

The Catholic Church, from at least the second century, has claimed that Christ was born on December 25. However, it is commonly alleged that our Lord Jesus Christ was not born on December 25. For the sake of simplicity, let us set out the usual objections to the date of December 25 and counter each of them.

Objection 1: December 25 was chosen in order to replace the pagan Roman festival of Saturnalia. Saturnalia was a popular winter festival and so the Catholic Church prudently substituted Christmas in its place.

Reply to Objection 1: Saturnalia commemorated the winter solstice. Yet the winter solstice falls on December 22. It is true that Saturnalia celebrations began as early as December 17 and extended till December 23. Still, the dates don’t match up.

Objection 2: December 25 was chosen to replace the pagan Roman holiday Natalis Solis Invicti which means “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.”

Reply to Objection 2: Let us examine first the cult of the Unconquered Sun. The Emperor Aurelian introduced the cult of the Sol Invictus or Unconquered Sunto Rome in A.D. 274. Aurelian found political traction with this cult, because his own name Aurelianderives from the Latin word aurora denoting “sunrise.” Coins reveal that Emperor Aurelian called himself the Pontifex Solis or Pontiff of the Sun. Thus, Aurelian simply accommodated a generic solar cult and identified his name with it at the end of the third century.

Most importantly, there is no historical record for a celebration Natalis Sol Invictus on December 25 prior to A.D. 354. Within an illuminated manuscript for the year A.D. 354, there is an entry for December 25 reading “N INVICTI CM XXX.”  Here N means “nativity.” INVICTI means “of the Unconquered.” CM signifies “circenses missus” or “games ordered.” The Roman numeral XXX equals thirty. Thus, the inscription means that thirty games were order for the nativity of the Unconquered for December 25th. Note that the word “sun” is not present. Moreover, the very same codex also lists “natus Christus in Betleem Iudeae” for the day of December 25. The phrase is translated as “birth of Christ in Bethlehem of Judea.”[i]

The date of December 25th only became the “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun” under the Emperor Julian the Apostate. Julian the Apostate had been a Christian but who had apostatized and returned to Roman paganism. History reveals that it was the hateful former Christian Emperor that erected a pagan holiday on December 25. Think about that for a moment. What was he trying to replace?

These historical facts reveal that the Unconquered Sun was not likely a popular deity in the Roman Empire. The Roman people did not need to be weaned off of a so-called ancient holiday. Moreover, the tradition of a December 25th celebration does not find a place on the Roman calendar until after the Christianization of Rome. The “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun” holiday was scarcely traditional and hardly popular. Saturnalia (mentioned above) was much more popular, traditional, and fun. It seems, rather, that Julian the Apostate had attempted to introduce a pagan holiday in order to replace the Christian one!

Objection 3: Christ could not have been born in December since Saint Luke describes shepherds herding in the neighboring fields of Bethlehem. Shepherds do not herd during the winter. Thus, Christ was not born in winter.

Reply to Objection 3: Recall that Palestine is not England, Russia, or Alaska. Bethlehem is situated at the latitude of 31.7. My city of Dallas, Texas has the latitude of 32.8, and it’s still rather comfortable outside in December. As the great Cornelius a Lapide remarks during his lifetime, one could still see shepherds and sheep in the fields of Italy during late December, and Italy is at higher latitude than Bethlehem.

Now we move on to establishing the birthday of Christ from Sacred Scripture in two steps. The first step is to use Scripture to determine the birthday of Saint John the Baptist. The next step is using Saint John the Baptist’s birthday as the key for finding Christ’s birthday. We can discover that Christ was born in late December by observing first the time of year in which Saint Luke describes Saint Zacharias in the temple. This provides us with the approximate conception date of Saint John the Baptist. From there we can follow the chronology that Saint Luke gives, and that lands us at the end of December.

Saint Luke reports that Zacharias served in the “course of Abias” (Lk 1:5) which Scripture records as the eighth course among the twenty-four priestly courses (Neh 12:17). Each shift of priests served one week in the temple for two times each year. The course of Abias served during the eighth week and the thirty-second week in the annual cycle.[ii]However, when did the cycle of courses begin?

Josef Heinrich Friedlieb has convincingly established that the first priestly course of Jojarib was on duty during the destruction of Jerusalem on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av.[iii]Thus the priestly course of Jojarib was on duty during the second week of Av. Consequently, the priestly course of Abias (the course of Saint Zacharias) was undoubtedly serving during the second week of the Jewish month of Tishri—the very week of the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of Tishri. In our calendar, the Day of Atonement would land anywhere from September 22 to October 8.

Zacharias and Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist immediately after Zacharias served his course. This entails that Saint John the Baptist would have been conceived somewhere around the end of September, placing John’s birth at the end of June, confirming the Catholic Church’s celebration of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist on June 24.

The second-century Protoevangelium of Saint James also confirms a late September conception of the Baptist since the work depicts Saint Zacharias as High Priest and as entering the Holy of Holies—not merely the holy place with the altar of incense. This is a factual mistake because Zacharias was not the high priest, but one of the chief priests.[iv]Still, the Protoevangelium regards Zacharias as a high priest and this associates him with the Day of Atonement, which lands on the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishri (roughly the end of our September). Immediately after this entry into the temple and message of the Archangel Gabriel, Zacharias and Elizabeth conceive John the Baptist. Allowing for forty weeks of gestation, this places the birth of John the Baptist at the end of June—once again confirming the Catholic date for the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist on June 24.

The rest of the dating is rather simple. We read that just after the Immaculate Virgin Mary conceived Christ, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was six months pregnant with John the Baptist. This means that John the Baptist was six months older that our Lord Jesus Christ (Lk 1:24-27, 36). If you add six months to June 24 you get December 24-25 as the birthday of Christ. Then, if you subtract nine months from December 25 you get that the Annunciation was March 25. All the dates match up perfectly. So then, if John the Baptist was conceived shortly after the Jewish Day of the Atonement, then the traditional Catholic dates are essentially correct. The birth of Christ would be about or on December 25.

Sacred Tradition also confirms December 25 as the birthday of the Son of God. The source of this ancient tradition is the Blessed Virgin Mary herself. Ask any mother about the birth of her children. She will not only give you the date of the birth, but she will be able to rattle off the time, the location, the weather, the weight of the baby, the length of the baby, and a number of other details. I’m the father of six blessed children, and while I sometimes forget these details—mea maxima culpa—my wife never does. You see, mothers never forget the details surrounding the births of their babies.

Now ask yourself: Would the Blessed Virgin Mary ever forget the birth of her Son Jesus Christ who was conceived without human seed, proclaimed by angels, born in a miraculous way, and visited by Magi? She knew from the moment of His incarnation in her stainless womb that He was the Son of God and Messiah. Would she ever forget that day?[v]

Next, ask yourself: Would the Apostles be interested in hearing Mary tell the story? Of course they would. Do you think the holy Apostle who wrote, “And the Word was made flesh,” was not interested in the minute details of His birth? Even when I walk around with our seven-month-old son, people always ask “How old is he?” or “When was he born?” Don’t you think people asked this question of Mary?

So the exact birth date (December 25) and the time (midnight) would have been known in the first century. Moreover, the Apostles would have asked about it and would have, no doubt, commemorated the blessed event that both Saint Matthew and Saint Luke chronicle for us. In summary, it is completely reasonable to state that the early Christians both knew and commemorated the birth of Christ. Their source would have been His Immaculate Mother.

Further testimony reveals that the Church Fathers claimed December 25 as the Birthday of Christ prior to the conversion of Constantine and the Roman Empire. The earliest record of this is that Pope Saint Telesphorus (reigned A.D. 126-137) instituted the tradition of Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Although the Liber Pontificalis does not give us the date of Christmas, it assumes that the Pope was already celebrating Christmas and that a Mass at midnight was added. During this time, we also read the following words of Theophilus (A.D. 115-181), Catholic bishop of Caesarea in Palestine: “We ought to celebrate the birthday of Our Lord on what day soever the 25th of December shall happen.”[vi]

Shortly thereafter in the second century, Saint Hippolytus (A.D. 170-240) wrote in passing that the birth of Christ occurred on December 25:

The First Advent of our Lord in the flesh occurred when He was born in Bethlehem, was December 25th, a Wednesday, while Augustus was in his forty-second year, which is five thousand and five hundred years from Adam. He suffered in the thirty-third year, March 25th, Friday, the eighteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, while Rufus and Roubellion were Consuls.[vii]

Also note in the quote above the special significance of March 25, which marks the death of Christ (March 25 was assumed to corresponded to the Hebrew month Nisan 14 – the traditional date of crucifixion).[viii] Christ, as the perfect man, was believed to have been conceived and died on the same day—March 25. In his Chronicon, Saint Hippolytus states that the earth was created on March 25, 5500 B.C.  Thus, March 25 was identified by the Church Fathers as the Creation date of the universe, as the date of the Annunciation and Incarnation of Christ, and also as the date of the Death of Christ our Savior.

In the Syrian Church, March 25 or the Feast of the Annunciation was seen as one of the most important feasts of the entire year. It denoted the day that God took up his abode in the womb of the Virgin. In fact, if the Annunciation and Good Friday came into conflict on the calendar, the Annunciation trumped it, so important was the day in Syrian tradition. It goes without saying that the Syrian Church preserved some of the most ancient Christian traditions and had a sweet and profound devotion for Mary and the Incarnation of Christ.

Now then, March 25 was enshrined in the early Christian tradition, and from this date it is easy to discern the date of Christ’s birth. March 25 (Christ conceived by the Holy Ghost) plus nine months brings us to December 25 (the birth of Christ at Bethlehem).

Saint Augustine confirms this tradition of March 25 as the Messianic conception and December 25 as His birth:

For Christ is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day also he suffered; so the womb of the Virgin, in which he was conceived, where no one of mortals was begotten, corresponds to the new grave in which he was buried, wherein was never man laid, neither before him nor since. But he was born, according to tradition, upon December the 25th.[ix]

In about A.D. 400, Saint Augustine also noted how the schismatic Donatists celebrated December 25 as the birth of Christ, but that the schismatics refused to celebrate Epiphany on January 6, since they regarded Epiphany as a new feast without a basis in Apostolic Tradition. The Donatist schism originated in A.D. 311 which may indicate that the Latin Church was celebrating a December 25 Christmas (but not a January 6 Epiphany) before A.D. 311. Whichever is the case, the liturgical celebration of Christ’s birth was commemorated in Rome on December 25 long before Christianity became legalized and long before our earliest record of a pagan feast for the birthday of the Unconquered Sun. For these reasons, it is reasonable and right to hold that Christ was born on December 25 in 1 B.C. and that he died and rose again in March of A.D. 33.

Taylor’s new book The Eternal City also makes an argument in defense of the traditional BC/AD dating as being 100% accurate.

---

[i] The Chronography of AD 354. Part 12: Commemorations of the Martyrs.  MGH Chronica Minora I (1892), pp. 71-2.

[ii] I realize that there are two courses of Abias. This theory only works if Zacharias and Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist after Zacharias’ second course – the course in September. If Saint Luke refers to the first course, this then would place the birth of John the Baptist in late Fall and the birth of Christ in late Spring. However, I think tradition and the Protoevangelium substantiate that the Baptist was conceived in late September.

[iii] Josef Heinrich Friedlieb’s Leben J. Christi des Erlösers. Münster, 1887, p. 312.

[iv] The Greek tradition especially celebrates Saint Zacharias as “high priest.” Nevertheless, Acts 5:24 reveals that there were several “chief priests” (ἀρχιερεῖς), and thus the claim that Zacharias was a “high priest” may not indicate a contradiction. The Greek tradition identifies Zacharias as an archpriest and martyr based on the narrative of the Protoevangelium of James and Matthew 23:35: “That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.” (Matthew 23:35)

[v] A special thanks to the Reverend Father Phil Wolfe, FSSP for bringing the “memory of Mary” argument to my attention.

[Biggirl]

That is why we have adaptations called Christmas and Easter, about the Savior.

[roamer_1]

Did not that ended when after Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple ripped in two? That means that the Kingdom of Heaven was made open for ALL peoples by God Himself.

The first influx of gentiles was when? The exodus. And Joseph's two kids were half-breeds. It has always been open to all people.

and the prophets deny your thought - as they plainly say Torah, to include the sabbath and moedim, will be kept throughout the world. Inevitably, we must go from here to there, and that tells me that what y'all profess is in error.

[mountn man]

That is why we have adaptations called Christmas and Easter, about the Savior.

Why have adaptations?
Why not the real things?

Sukkot follows Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur is an extremely solemn day of fasting, prayer , self deprivation and repentance of the previous years sins. In contrast, Sukkot, 5 days later, is extremely joyous.

6 months later is Passover. When a lamb was slaughtered, and its blood put on the door frame, protecting the Jews from death.

Jesus became our Passover lamb, that whosoever believes on his name, should not perish, but have eternal life. John The Baptist proclaimed in John 1:29 the Jesus was the Lamb Of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Peter in 1 Peter 1:19 compares the blood of Christ, as that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Understanding the Feast Of Passover, helps one understand and appreciate the death of Christ and when it happened, and what it symbolizes.

To separate it does an injustice to both the Passover Feast (which God himself instituted) and Christ the Lamb Of God (whom God sent)

[Biggirl]

Jesus is the fullfilment of the Hebrew scriptures prophecies and the Christian Church calendar’s feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost with the focus on Jesus is as close as one can get to the Jewish feasts.

For example, Easter, with the focus of the passion, death, and resurection of Jesus, He becomes the Passover lamb who conquers sin and death. So they do come very close to the observances of the OT.

[Biggirl]

“To separate it does an injustice to both the Passover Feast (which God himself instituted) and Christ the Lamb Of God (whom God sent) “

NO, they DO NOT DO any injustice whatsoever to the Jewish Passover or to Christ, the Lamb of God. They come to fruition BOTH the Jewish Passover Feast and to Christ the Lamb of God.

Just simple gentle correcting.

[editor-surveyor]

The feasts are for Yehova’s elect, that is the truth.

If his feasts are not for you, it follows that you would not be one of his elect.

The feasts were proclaimed for all the inhabitants of the Earth. Those that love him, are anxious to “watch” for his coming, and his feasts are the only way given to do so.

Your mileage may vary.

[Biggirl]

“Today, Gentiles are adopted into the Hebrew family tree. Their celebrations of God should be our celebrations.”

...Yes, the gentles are adopted into the Hebrew family tree. That is why on Christmas eve, the reading of Jesus’s family tree leading up to His birth, as in Mathew is read in a number of churches on Christmas Eve.

[mountn man]

The first influx of gentiles was when? The exodus. And Joseph's two kids were half-breeds. It has always been open to all people.

It's important to note, that Rahab the harlot is one of 3 women mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. 2 who were not Jewish.

Matthew 1:5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.

Nowhere else are women listed in the lineage Jesus. It's always so and so was the son or father of so and so...and so on an so on.

[Biggirl]

Yet those FALSE gods are LONG FORGOTTEN. That is truly a blessing of Christmas.

[mountn man]

“Today, Gentiles are adopted into the Hebrew family tree. Their celebrations of God should be our celebrations.”

...Yes, the gentles are adopted into the Hebrew family tree. That is why on Christmas eve, the reading of Jesus’s family tree leading up to His birth, as in Mathew is read in a number of churches on Christmas Eve.

Ohhhhh...Isn't that speeciaaal.
The adopted children graciously include the Hebrew family into their man made traditions. How Speeciaaal.

[editor-surveyor]

What you call “the church” is the arm of Satan tribulating Yehova’s assembly.

Irenaeus declared the loss of “the teaching,” and his disciple Hippolytus affirmed it.

Nowhere in the NT are Bishops presented for adulation, nor worship. Yeshua declared the absolute equality of all of his sheep. None were to be elevated above the many.

Matthew 23:

[8] But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
[9] And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
[10] Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
[11] But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
[12] And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
.

[mountn man]

Yet those FALSE gods are LONG FORGOTTEN. That is truly a blessing of Christmas.

You offer up Christmas and Easter to God, as if they are some wonderful offering. You claim a day of celebration by pagans as an offering to God. You have taken a day of worship and sacrifice off the altar of pagan gods and put it on Gods altar and offer it to him.

God always calls for a perfect, unblemished offering or sacrifice, and you offer up the leftovers of other gods and think your doing YHWH a great service???

You kick aside Gods appointed feasts, as if they are trash and then claim holydays coopted from pagan religions as Holy days to God.

Baaaaaahhhhhh. The mere thought turns my stomach.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Yet those FALSE gods are LONG FORGOTTEN” <<

.
No, they are not forgotten, they are celebrated daily as the Mass, as the adherents of the sun god share a piece of his ancient symbol, the baked cake of the sun, and reproduce the symbol of his times: Winter solstice, summer solstice, vernal equinox, autumnal equinox, across their hearts.

.

[Biggirl]

I have enough love and respect for the Jewish people to NOT take any part in their festivals, which God gave for them to observe. The Christian feasts are for those who follow Jesus to observe because they follow the life of Christ and His teachings.

Now I understand what the non-Jewish Christians went through when being burdened with Jewish ritual law practices which they should not have been burdened with in the first place.

[editor-surveyor]

.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3236269/posts?page=173#173

.

[Biggirl]

Your opinion and opinion only.

[editor-surveyor]

Torah is Yesha’s chief teaching.

It is the source of love between his sheep.

He taught Torah every day of his earthly ministry.
.

[Biggirl]

Yet Jesus also warned against those who want to burden those with ritual practices.

What Jesus taught is to LOVE GOD and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Yet Jesus also warned against those who want to burden those with ritual practices.” <<

.
Those were the false, man made laws of the Pharisees, whom you claim to love and respect. Judaism is the denial of the Torah that Yeshua loved and taught as the gospel of the kingdom every day.

>> “What Jesus taught is to LOVE GOD and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR” <<

.
And that was what he declared to be the heart of Torah, from which every other part proceed out.

Matthew 22:

[37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
[38] This is the first and great commandment.
[39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
[40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

.

[mountn man]

I have enough love and respect for the Jewish people to NOT take any part in their festivals, which God gave for them to observe. The Christian feasts are for those who follow Jesus to observe because they follow the life of Christ and His teachings.

Now I understand what the non-Jewish Christians went through when being .

WHAAAAAAT???

Absolute rubbish.

God himself appointed those Feasts. Not as burdens, but as celebrations. You obviously have no clue about the Feasts.

The Feasts weren't meant to be a burden to the people, they were meant as a celebration of who God is. The "burdens" you see in the Feasts, were set as reminders of God's holiness, of his mercy, of his deliverance and providence.

Passover has become EVEN MORE special, because of what Christ has done, for everybody. We, as adopted children, should celebrate God's deliverance of the original Passover, as well as Christ's fulfillment of Passover. As children adopted into the family, their past becomes our past.

Once again, you kick aside what you yourself called "burden[ed}s of Jewish ritual law practices which they should not have been burdened with in the first place" (given by GOD) to be replaced by burdens of man made ritual law practices.

You call Gods Feasts, burdensome Jewish ritual law practices which they should not have been burdened with in the first place.

And you call MANS ritual practices as Christian "feasts".

Pure agenda driven spin.